Hotel changing confirmed price

[Lyndan]

Hi All,

I just booked a Chinese New Year package Hotel in KL. I received a confirmation for 350RM for 2 night stay. I have now been contacted by the hotels online reservation company to say that that was incorrect and it should have been 700RM for 2 nights as per a screenshot on the website. They have canceled my old reservation and now sent me a new confirmation - they did not even give us a chance to confirm we would accept the price change.

I'm from Ireland and this would not be accepted here as price confirmation received is the price you pay. Is it the same in this instance?

Let me know if you have any advice for me!

Cheers

[sundaymorningstaple]

Last I heard KL wasn't in Ireland. You are complaining that while you knew the price was 700 "according to the website screenshot" but you are whinging because you though you got something over the Hotel but they caught the mistake and corrected it. Did I get it right?

Cancel you reservation and stay home. OR go to KL and enjoy you stay. If you go and raise hell while you are there you'll just ruin your family's vacation as well as look like a fool because you are effectively trying to rip off the hotel because of mistake made by an employee.

[Plavt]

It's not the hotel's employee that made the mistake it was the online reservations company. I think the OP means the hotel was advertised at 350RM for two nights which was incorrect. The online company has not given the OP the chance to cancel it has simply charged him/her double the advertised price. Travel agencies in Asia seldom make refunds (to the best of my knowledge) for whatever reason but in this instance it was their mistake.

[hamamatsu1999]

From my understanding of the original message, Lyndan received a confirmation after payment stating 350RM for 2 night. She was then later informed that the price should be 700RM as stated in the website.

Now we have to ask if it is true that it was stated 700RM for 2 nights in the website before Lyndan made the payment and it was shown to Lyndan.

Let's say it is true that it costs 700RM for 2 night and it is shown to Lyndan, this is an offer. By paying in full or part (probably online credit card payment in this case), Lyndan had accepted this offer and a contract is established.

The confirmation which was generated only after the contract is established play little role in the contract as the confirmation is not a contract between Lyndan and the Operator.

The operator called to inform Lyndan there is a mistake in the confirmation. There is no changes to the contract as the confirmation has no effect to the contract.

However if it was stated 350RM for 2 night before Lyndan made the payment, the contract would have an offer of 350RM for 2 night instead of 700RM. And changing it to 700RM will be a breach of contract.

So Lyndan, is it the first case or the second case?

Anyone with law knowledge please correct me if I am wrong or give your opinion. thanks.

[cutiebutie]

Right up my alley:

However if it was stated 350RM for 2 night before Lyndan made the payment, the contract would have an offer of 350RM for 2 night instead of 700RM. And changing it to 700RM will be a breach of contract.

Correct.

With the advent of so many, and often uncontrolled, internet companies it is getting to be quite difficult to get any semblance of comfort from booking on-line, except for with the hotel directly.

In any case, the hotel is not liable as the obligations are between the internet site operator and the customer.

[sundaymorningstaple]

As I am not a lawyer, I'll accept the above explanations.

However, here in Singapore in the past two years there have been several instances where something was offered via website (company direct or middleman) I believe HP or Lexmark might have been one of them - a printer on offer and the price was indicated wrongly due an error by an employee (or external) webmaster. Several people here in Singapore found out about the offer and bought up large quantities of said products because a digit was left off make a $1000 printer sell for say $100.

It was found by the courts that they did not have to honor the agreement as the price was so ridiculously low that anyone in their right mind would have known this. In both cases the contract were considered null and void. In one instance the seller honored the purchases even though they didn't have to while in the other the contracts were voided as per the findings.

I have checked with several local Singapore sites and most have a variation of the following disclaimer in the wake of the incidences noted above.

Typographical Errors
In the event that a SingaporeXXXX.com Inc product is mistakenly listed at an incorrect price, SingaporeXXXX.com Inc reserves the right to refuse or cancel any orders placed for product listed at the incorrect price. SingaporeXXXX.com Inc reserves the right to refuse or cancel any such orders whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged. If your credit card has already been charged for the purchase and your order is cancelled, SingaporeXXXX.com Inc shall issue a credit to your credit card account in the amount of the incorrect price.

[jpatokal]

However, RM 350 for two nights is not "so ridiculously low" to qualify as an obvious mistake, there are plenty of decent hotels in KL to be had for that price.

I think that Lyndon would be legally and morally in the right to go to the hotel and demand two nights of accommodation for RM 350. However, in reality, enforcing this may be very difficult, especially with the booking company muddying the waters.

Have you already paid the online booking company for the stay (in which case you're probably screwed), or will you make payment at the hotel (in which case you have a fighting chance)?

[cutiebutie]

I think that Lyndon would be legally and morally in the right to go to the hotel and demand two nights of accommodation for RM 350. However, in reality, enforcing this may be very difficult, especially with the booking company muddying the waters.

Neither legally nor morally is the hotel responsible for the error of the internet booking company, unless the initial fault lies with the hotel in question, and that is not mentioned here.

[sprite]

I think that Lyndon would be legally and morally in the right to go to the hotel and demand two nights of accommodation for RM 350. However, in reality, enforcing this may be very difficult, especially with the booking company muddying the waters.

Neither legally nor morally is the hotel responsible for the error of the internet booking company, unless the initial fault lies with the hotel in question, and that is not mentioned here.

A lot of what ifs... there simply isn't enough information to make a real call here. Either way, if no money changed hands, the original poster can try to find another place. CNY is a terrible time to travel.

[road.not.taken]

Hi All,

I just booked a Chinese New Year package Hotel in KL. I received a confirmation for 350RM for 2 night stay. I have now been contacted by the hotels online reservation company to say that that was incorrect and it should have been 700RM for 2 nights as per a screenshot on the website. They have canceled my old reservation and now sent me a new confirmation - they did not even give us a chance to confirm we would accept the price change.

I'm from Ireland and this would not be accepted here as price confirmation received is the price you pay. Is it the same in this instance?

Let me know if you have any advice for me!

Cheers

This is slipshod, inferior 'service'. Did you actually pay a deposit down under the RM 350 price? Since 350 is half of 700, is it possible there was a mix up in the quantity originally confirmed? Either way, call the hotel directly and tell them what happened. If they value customer service, they should be interested in fixing this problem, or at least be given the chance to fix the problem.

[durain]

just get your refund back as going to KL during CNY is pointless. a lot of the shops are close.

[cutiebutie]

just get your refund back as going to KL during CNY is pointless. a lot of the shops are close.

Yes, but some are far away.


'slipshod' - what a nice word, I had never really thought about it. So many uses:

I'll have a slipshod on the rocks, please.

They're new slipshods on the Audi - much better cornering now.

Try the new rose-scented slipshod from Guerlain, guaranteed to please.

OB? The new Slipshod! Now you can go horseback riding!


Aah, I could go on, but work interferes. Sorry for going off the track.

[road.not.taken]

just get your refund back as going to KL during CNY is pointless. a lot of the shops are close.

Yes, many of the shops will be closed but that's besides the point. Many hotels have cancellation policies and won't give a refund on such short notice, especially during a major holiday.

CB, if your horse was slipshod, then you really would be off track.

[cutiebutie]

Slipshod in the third at Monterrey

Ah, so closed but not closed enough.

[jpatokal]

I think that Lyndon would be legally and morally in the right to go to the hotel and demand two nights of accommodation for RM 350. However, in reality, enforcing this may be very difficult, especially with the booking company muddying the waters.

Neither legally nor morally is the hotel responsible for the error of the internet booking company, unless the initial fault lies with the hotel in question, and that is not mentioned here.

It's not that simple. The hotel has sold a room to the internet booking company, and the internet booking company has sold the room to me. If I have paid the booking company and received my voucher, I am now entitled to a night at the hotel, and the hotel will happily give it to me -- their contract is with the booking company, not with me, and they probably don't even know how much I'm paying the booking company.

Now, if the booking company suddenly decided/realizes that my room was too cheap, there are two courses of action they can take. One, they can keep their word, pay the hotel the promised price and lose some money. (This is what they should do.) Two, they can attempt to cancel/unilaterally change my booking, so I pay them more and they make money. Unfortunately their blackmail is likely to work, because they can enforce it by canceling the hotel reservation if you don't comply... so the rational course of action is to tell the booking company to go sodomize itself with a retractable baton, complain to CASE and any associations etc that the agent belongs to, and find yourself another room for the night.