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My father made a reservation via booking.com for an apartment stay at seaside as a surprise present for me. Unfortunately, we aren't able to travel on the days that he booked. He cancelled the reservations immediately, only a few hours after making them, and three months in advance of the booked dates.

However, this was the first time he saw that apartment had a "full charge cancellation policy". He contacted booking.com who said they'd contact the owner to see if there is anything they can do, but he's not yet received an answer. He also asked if he can cancel the cancellation, someone else could go, but they said no.

The booking was made with a debit card that is nearly empty and he doesn’t need it for anything else. What are his options? I think he is prepared to go to court over this but he is so upset I'm realy worried for his health. He is 70 and has already had 2 heart attacks.

We live in the European Union and the apartment is also in the EU.

David Richerby
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Kaderin
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    Hotels offer you a cheaper price if you book uncancellable. If you take the cheaper price, you take the risk too. Why do you think it should be illegal to offer you to take the risk yourself for less money? He could have booked the slightly higher cancellable price - but he didn't. – Aganju Mar 07 '17 at 13:52
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    Not really a solution but it might help to understand how it works: low fares for transportations or rates for hotels have conditions like that to prevent cannibalizing profit from higher rates. That way, an hotel can get business from price-conscious people while still charging more from those who can afford it or value the flexibility (it's called price discrimination). Letting someone else use the room obviously does not cause a direct loss but ff they would let you change or transfer a booking without limitation, it would devalue their more expensive rate. – Relaxed Mar 07 '17 at 13:52
  • That's why your arguments about rebooking, etc. are a bit beside the point. That said, even low-cost providers sometimes have a very short free-to-cancel period and it might be illegal not to offer one (although it is often legal and I have seen very short periods like 4 hours). To know whether this applies to you, you would need to specify where you are located. – Relaxed Mar 07 '17 at 13:56
  • Possibly useful for you, if your father is willing to break the law: https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/40586/ive-booked-a-hotel-on-booking-com-using-an-empty-debit-card-can-the-hotel-stil – JonathanReez Mar 07 '17 at 14:09
  • Where are you all based? If your father and the accommodation are in Europe, the Distance Contracts Directive (as transposed into local law) may be of assistance. – MadHatter Mar 07 '17 at 14:12
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    @MadHatter in most jurisdictions, accommodation for specific periods of performance is exempted from the statutory right of withdrawal period. For example, in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/429300/bis-13-1368-consumer-contracts-information-cancellation-and-additional-payments-regulations-guidance.pdf (see the exemptions section and accommodation). –  Mar 07 '17 at 14:24
  • @Moo sorry, you're dead right. What national law says is not material if it not a transposition of the directive, but the exemption is in the directive. I was misled by Article 3(1), which makes it clear that property rental is not excluded; but Art. 3(2) says that Art. 6 (the right of withdrawal) does not apply "to contracts for the provision of accommodation [...] where the supplier undertakes, when the contract is concluded, to provide these services on a specific date or within a specific period". My bad, thanks for jumping in! – MadHatter Mar 07 '17 at 14:33
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    Since you're in the EU you are safe, just take all the money out of the card so that the card cannot be charged. You can then ignore any debts, because of good customer protection laws we have here. This doesn't mean that your father is legally correct, but in the EU the owner of a debt has far less legal possibilities to force someone to pay. In the US this is totally different, there the laws protect the business owner far more than the customer. – Count Iblis Mar 08 '17 at 08:34
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    @CountIblis oh my god that is terrible advice, stop giving it. The debt can be pursued, it doesnt just go away because you want it to - your credit score can be hit and the debt can be passed to debt collectors. Even the EU directive on distance contracts doesnt support the consumer here. –  Mar 08 '17 at 15:13
  • @Moo debt collectors have less means to pursue a case than in the US. This is different if the government is involved, e.g. if there are unpaid fines. But if you own a company and a customer hasn't paid and you sell the customer's debt to a private debt collector's agency, then that agency doesn't have any more legal rights to collect a debt as any other private citizen has. The debt collector will sent new bills, make threats, but ultimately they'll have to go to a judge to get their money if the customer refuses to pay. – Count Iblis Mar 08 '17 at 19:16
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    @CountIblis it is still terrible advice precisely because a debt collector has more motivation to collect, because quite often they have bought the debt. It can ruin your credit, and it can hamper you for a long long time - and in some jurisdictions in the EU they can make you involuntarily bankrupt. Never give advice to simply ignore it, and never tell someone they are safe to ignore it, thats the worst advice you could possibly give. –  Mar 08 '17 at 19:21
  • @Moo Yes, but in the EU this is far more a theoretical problem unlike in the US. In practice, a debt collector won't go to a court in the first place, because there the debt collector has to prove the original case beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge will not take the claims, all the bills and the fines that have been racked up at face value. A judge is not bound by the law either, the application of the law in every case has to be seen to be reasonable. So, the OP's story about the booking that stood for a few hours will be very relevant in a court setting. – Count Iblis Mar 08 '17 at 19:31
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    @CountIblis I dont know where you are from, but we have TV programs here in the UK where debt collectors go to court for county court or high court judgements and bankruptcy orders. So yes, judges do take the claims, stop saying they dont. And I will repeat - even the EU directive exempts hotel accommodation from cooling off periods, so thats a huge mark against your argument that a judge would throw such a case out. You are, quite simply, wrong. –  Mar 08 '17 at 19:35
  • @Moo The UK may be different from mainland Europe, and there is a difference between the very common problem of a business having gone bust followed by an attempt to escape the financial consequences of that by starting a new business under a new name, and someone who owes a $500 bill for a very procedural reason when the original expenses made are of the order of $0.05. – Count Iblis Mar 08 '17 at 19:48
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    @CountIblis what makes you assume Im talking about businesses in my earlier comment? I know enough about several EU countries legal positions in this area to know I'm on safe ground and you are not - in fact, if you were a lawyer, you would have just opened yourself up to a massive malpractice suit with the advice you are giving in this thread, which makes it a good thing that we dont give legal advice here... –  Mar 08 '17 at 20:09
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    @Moo We don't live in a legal dictatorship, while there are laws, the laws are not going to be 100% perfect, that's why there exists a very elaborate justice systems. Now in the US and also in the UK to some degree, there is less leeway to take exceptional circumstances into account, compared to mainland Europe. I'm not saying that we should all just ignore the law, but simply that people do have a real input even if they are formally on the wrong side of the law; applying the law blindly doesn't always lead to justice which appears to be the case here. – Count Iblis Mar 09 '17 at 00:38

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Unfortunately he has no options, the cancellation terms are quite plain and straightforward, regardless of the period of notice given. If you aren't willing to abide by the conditions, then you shouldn't book under them.

If you attempt to report this as fraud, the website and hotel can show that you agreed to the terms and the card issuer won't refund your money.

A court is extremely unlikely to do anything in this situation - you would spend more money on lawyers than a positive outcome.

If the card fails, then the charge can be sent to debt collection, as its a valid debt.

I'm sorry, but thats the way it is.

Edit: MadHatter added in the comments that the EUs Distance Contracts Directive may help here as it has an inbuilt cooling off period during which the consumer can withdraw from the contract without penalty.

But unfortunately, as he also noted, accommodation is actually exempted from that cooling off period:

  1. Articles 4, 5, 6 and 7 (1) shall not apply:

...

  • to contracts for the provision of accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services, where the supplier undertakes, when the contract is concluded, to provide these services on a specific date or within a specific period;
MadHatter
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  • There is no need for any refund as they haven't charged anything yet. The payment terms were to pay in cash upon arrival. – Kaderin Mar 07 '17 at 14:02
  • @Kaderin then its a debt to pay, hence my second to last sentence - if you are lucky the card payment may bounce and the hotel may decide it isnt worth pursuing it, but dont count on that. –  Mar 07 '17 at 14:04
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    I'm not. That is why I'm preparing. I consolted the lawyer at my company and he said that under EU law, standard contract terms used by traders have to be fair. This doesn't change if they're called "terms and conditions" or are part of a detailed contract that you actually have to sign. The contract is not allowed to create an imbalance between your rights and obligations as a consumer and the rights and obligations of sellers and suppliers. I'm writing to European Consumer Centres Network - for help with cross-border disputes to see what they will say – Kaderin Mar 07 '17 at 14:10
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    @Kaderin wheres the imbalance here? The cancellation terms were made available up front and they were agreed to as part of the package. These cancellation terms are not rare and they havent been successfully challenged in court yet. I myself lost some money because of full-payment terms with Premier Inn several years ago when I had to move my wedding and had booked my parents in on "cheap" rooms, so I have been through the same situation. –  Mar 07 '17 at 14:13
  • But he didn't choose a cheaper room. It was the only one offered for the asked dates. And the cancellation terms were not very available. You really had to dig to find them. Which he unfortunately didn't. – Kaderin Mar 07 '17 at 14:31
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    @Kaderin I've used Booking.com and I know the cancellation terms are front and centre when booking, they aren't hidden. And the fact that it was the only room on offer at the time doesn't have any bearing on this at all, he could have booked another hotel completely. –  Mar 07 '17 at 14:34
  • Similar experiences of other people - http://www.frugalhack.me/2015/01/07/experience-canceling-non-refundable-hotel-room/ – nikhil Mar 08 '17 at 03:48
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No, there is no any alternative for this..You should be careful before doing the reservations..because there is clearly written about the terms and conditions..so if you complain against the site also then still I do not think that they will refund your money..

arya_amit
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Firstly, please tell your father not to worry and put a strain on his health. Since you've mentioned that he used a debit card without much balance and also that this transaction hasn't posted to the account, they're in a strong bargaining position.

There are various things you can do at this point, the easiest being cancelling this card and getting a replacement issued. You can report to your bank that the card may have been compromised or lost.

If you didn't want to do that or couldn't do that and for some reason the merchant decided to pursue the matter, they would need to do so in a Small Claims Court in a jurisdiction which should be specified in your booking and cancellation document. This is not a criminal matter and no penalties can be imposed on your father, except for the amount the court decides. It is extremely unlikely that any reasonable court will find your father in the wrong given these circumstances. It is also highly likely that the merchant in this question can't pursue a case against your father but needs to go through the arbitration process that they agreed to on that site. See Section 13 here, this may not exactly be the same but it will be on those lines. So in all practical terms any formal legal proceedings are out of the question.

Please note this is not legal advice and shouldn't be treated as such. Please do share your experience with us of the outcome, so that it helps others in a similar situation.

nikhil
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    Actually, in most European jurisdictions, the claimant doesn't even need to go to court or arbitration - they can pass it to a debt collector, put a bad notice on your credit report and pursue you without ever involving a court. If they want to have the ability to send bailiffs then they need to involve a court. Its also likely that the court would find against the father, as the terms and conditions are proven industry ones and the hotel and booking site can prove the father agreed to them. Cancelling the card doesnt make the debt go away. –  Mar 08 '17 at 08:39
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    "You can report to your bank that the card may have been compromised or lost." - you are right when you say "this is not legal advice" ! Advocating fraud is kinda frowned-upon on this site, I think... – AakashM Mar 08 '17 at 09:27
  • @Moo it's a lot hard if OP lives abroad. – JonathanReez Mar 08 '17 at 15:10
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    @JonathanReez OP has already said hes in the EU and my comment isnt limited to one jurisdiction. –  Mar 08 '17 at 15:14