There are myriad honest reasons @Tungsten might have had the bad experience, and there are also some unscrupulous owner/hosts who take advantage. Without being the host who accepted and then cancelled the booking everything else is conjecture.
The crux of the question is
It appears probably not unless there is something in the T&C beyond the glib ACCC statements already alluded to. If there is more would someone post a citation?
That would be appropriate. It is possible the management could provide further information, engage, or just remain silent.
Similar for the T&Cs attached to the âPolicyâ menu selection from the louvre icon near the top of the page. Itâs revealing in what it does not say.
Itâs far simpler than those of the well known chains such as Accor.
Menso are the ones who take the bookings and put you into any available apartment. It is not like Airbnb where the owners individually rent out the apartments. Menso are the ones who called me to ask me to cancel my booking.
You have confirmed what I thought. The apartments are all owned by investors, and Menso takes the bookings. The one you were booked into was taken off rental for whatever reason, and alternatives were more expensive.
I would still complain to Menso about the behaviour of one of their apartment owners.
Possibly, although we looked at a similar investment. There will be a binding contract between each investor owner and Menso the Hotel Operator. Itâs not to the benefit of the operator to have a booking put at risk by the action of the investor owner.
None of us have access to that agreement (private contract). None of us has knowledge of what may have transpired with Menso and the investor owner. The situation reflects poorly on both.
Of greater interest is whether similar situations are reliably captured on any of the accommodation review sites. Note that nearly all only accept reviews from actual customers. Cancelled bookings may not qualify.
They are for individual sale and privately owned. Seriously bad flooding around south Bris and nearly every suburb. Could be the owners absolutely need to be there.
I was displaced from my inner city apartment for weeks and Thousands of properties are uninhabitable still and will be for a long period.
Nearly all accomm is being used by insurers to house the insured.
I doubt there is any rent gouging conspiracy going on here. Itâs pure economics ie demand and supply
How would you characterise a confirmed booking for $, and then the same property advertised for 2$? If it were an owner who needed accommodation themselves why would it be getting let? If it was to supply demand the confirmed booking should have essentially been a contract, and it probably was but âloadedâ in the ownerâs favour.
There are many reasons things happen. One theory is the simplest and most obvious is usually âthe reasonâ.
A conspiracy is never the simplest true answer. The accommodation advertised may not be the same apartment at all. As I have ascertained they are individually owned. As is the one I live in which I used to Airbnb but do not any longer. It is not the same apartment as the one down the corridor who also Airbnbs and at a different price range.
Cancelling a booking and doubling the price is far from a conspiracy, and that was 180 degrees from what was intended. One could call it greed, good business, or as you indicated even a misunderstanding. Yet as a âhotelâ type complex a booking should have been a booking.
Seems a bit of interesting evidence to me. It might be akin to whether the airline cancels your flight or you do, regarding your rights.
We can only speculate. I certainly have had that happen to us with Airbnb bookings. However as this is a platform that relies on reputation some compensation was usually paid. Certainly that varied depending how close to the booking it was. I agree with you that itâs not very good business practice but unfortunately as it was not book d directly with the service there is little that could be done in this case. I have learnt over my travelling life never to use third party booking agencies. These have caused the most grief during the pandemic
For the issue raised by @Tungsten the Hotel is not operating as an Airbnb. What happens with an Airbnb is not relatable.
Itâs been suggested previously that none of us know the exact details of the contract between the Hotel operator and apartment owner. Typically it will be in one of two forms.
EG
To be successful the Hotel operator needs to have surety of supply to have assurances they can derive sufficient income to cover costs and make a profit. The needs include the total number of room nights and unit availability. Itâs not necessary to speculate.
Yes. Airbnb is just an example of a booking agent that does provide compensation. The OP used a third party provider. Thatâs all I was trying to say. The contract is with the agent.
Many hotels offer early bird or multiple stay discounts. As outlined in a previous post, this particular hotel offers a multiple stay discount of around 30%. It is also likely that they offer early bird discounts as well (early bird may be a campaign run by a independent booking patform). This can explain why a booking which was made some time ago has a different rate to those closer to the booking.
Early bird type discounts are common in the tourism and hospitality industry. A good example is airlines which offer heavily discounted tickets, where the same seats purchased the day before flying can be many multiples of the early bird price.
It appears the room on one night became unavailable for some reason (why possibly the original booking was requested to be cancelled) and since time had passed the room rates were significantly more expensive (may not longer advertised at a discounted rate). Furthermore the original multi-day became untenable as there was one day in the middle which could not longer be booked. We may never know why this mid-booking day became unavailable and why the hotel hasnât disclosed the reason for why the booking needed cancellation⊠resulting in the original booking not been honoured nor why alternatives could be provided.
It wonât be as the hotel in question has a number of suites the same size/configuration. Bookings will be managed to minimise the number of vacant nightsâŠand the suite one is assigned with can be set on the day of check-in - once they know what bookings they have received for the night (one night and multiple night bookings). Minimising vacant rooms is standard and good hotel management practice.
That is correct and the terms and conditions will be that for the booking site used by the travel agent. Not many travel agents book direct with a provider as it takes considerably more time. Going through a booking platform (could be a commercial or industry one such ATW), the booker will be subject to the terms and conditions outlined on the booking platform, as they as the party the accommodation is booked through. The terms and conditions on the hotel website wonât apply. Quite often booking platform T&Cs are very different to the accommodation providers T&Cs as they are somewhat inflexible in nature and what can be included.
We may never know who the travel agent booked through or terms and conditions agreed at the time of booking, including responsibilities at times of cancellation. One would need to see these T&Câs to gain an appreciation of whether the request to cancel was reasonable and what the resulting resolution should have been.
The issue was a confirmed and then cancelled by the venue booking requiring the OP to pay 2X, even for the same (category) room as subsequently re-advertised. If the OP cancelled the booking (as was apparently requested of him) there would be no grounds to complain about having to pay 2X - but that seems not how it came down.
A requirement that venues cancelling confirmed bookings be required to either provide similar alternative accommodation at their own cost, or if they cannot to reimburse their customer for their alternate costs (to a cap) would be welcomed by travellers, especially those âbittenâ.
When I was a road warrior any time a hotel could not honour a booking on my arrival they always provided one there or elsewhere, sometimes superior and they made up the difference in cost, or if lesser standard sometimes at no cost to myself for the trouble or at worst the lower cost. That might be the extreme other side of the equation, but how it was. There were no âcancelled by the venueâ, just apologies and making it happen.
Probably out of interest more than the expectation of any benefit I called QLD Fair trading to discuss the matter with them.
I was very surprised at their response.
They asked me if there were any cancellation fees in the T&C and I mentioned the $960 payable by me if I had cancelled. They then stated that I was lucky not to have to pay the $960 fee when the provider cancelled my booking!
They then asked me directly âWhat do you wantâ and if I was after compensation. When I replied that I was significantly out of pocket, and it seemed reasonable to be compensated, they stated I should go to small claims court and hung up!
I note that QCAT is only for disagreements about âagreed and fixed amount of money, or liquidated demandâ and specifically not if âthere was no previous agreement for the money to be paidâ which is the case here.
Iâm astounded at the bad advice from QLD fair trading hereâŠ
They are telling you straight so time and effort isnât wasted on both sides.
From QLD fair trading website.
What we cannot do
We canât provide compensation or force a business to provide a refund or other remedy. We canât make judgments or orders on any matterâonly a tribunal or court has the power to do this.
We donât have the authority to investigate some types of disputes. In which case, we can pass your complaints onto the relevant agencies.
When you incur costs or suffer losses due to failure of goods or services to meet a consumer guarantee, you may be able to claim compensation from the seller, manufacturer or service provider.
You can only claim compensation where the loss can be reasonably attributed to the failure of the supplier to meet the guarantee.
We cannot get compensation for you and you may wish to seek independent legal advice.
I would have wasted a lot of time and probably actual money if Iâd followed their advice and tried to make a claim with QCAT when it is not covered by QCAT.
Presumably the functionary you spoke to from Fair Trading was not a lawyer experienced in the area of claims. They told you that FT does not handle compensation claims, and that is correct. It is the courts that handle that.
Which court? For that you need the advice of a lawyer practicing in this area.
