canceling hotel reservations

If they have your credit card number and the charge shows up on your statement, contest it through the credit card's dispute process. I had to do it a couple times this past year and won in both cases. The credit card company forces the merchant to prove that the charge is valid, which is something a consumer could find more difficult, especially if the merchant is in fact attempting to scam you. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/your-money/what-happens-when-you-dispute-a-credit-card-charge.html Also, if you think it's appropriate, post a review on Trip Advisor about the hotel describing your experience. Hotels that pay attention to Trip Advisor realize that bad reviews, especially those suggesting possible fraud, can do serious damage to their business.

Thanks Rose. I don't intend on paying the cancellation fee, but I'm not sure if this Austrian Hotellerie cancellation policy has any legal standing. I found something called the "Austrian hotel contract regulations" online, but this seems like a very general guideline, and was never referenced anywhere on the hotels website or on my initial reservation confirmation email.

I'd say an attorney could probably best advise about the legal standing of the policy. It would surprise me if any actual lawyer would give advice on a public message board.

I just got charged 50% of a one night stay for cancelling within 1 day of booking (for a trip that is 4 months away). Unfortunately I used booking.com (third party) and did not read the fine print clearly enough - it basically said the cancellation policy was at hotel's discretion but did not say how much discretion they had. It looks like they had a lot! Lesson learned. The hotel I booked was a B & B, mom and pop kind of place. I'm pretty sore about it but I didn't negotiate with the owner strongly enough..I did suggest they'd let me out penalty free but that didn't fly. I guess the lesson I learned is 1) never assume anything before booking and 2) the onus is on you to find out the hotel's cancellation policy first before you book - every hotel has one, whether they advertise it or not. A lack of transparency (or specificity, in my case) is maddening. * Edit to post * Just to make clear, it's not booking.com that was the problem, it's just that I didn't carefully read the policy and it probably could have been a little clearer before I clicked "book". Had I booked on the main website, I would have gotten more leeway (and the price on booking.com and website was the same - usually booking.com is much less). For the record, I could have been penalized 100% of the 1 night stay. I think even 50% is rather steep though (because I cancelled so far in advance)....but oh well.

That's awful, Agnes. I recently made 4 separate bookings through Booking.com, and your post caused me to go look again at the email confirmation I received for each one. In every case in the section 'Room Details' the 'Cancellation Policy' is clearly spelled out. It's not boilerplate because two of them are different. #1: "If canceled up to 1 day before the date of arrival, no fee will be charged. If canceled later or in case of no-show, 100 percent of the first night will be charged." #2: "If canceled up to 1 PM on the date of arrival, no fee will be charged. If canceled later or in case of no-show, 100 percent of the first night will be charged." My experience with Booking.com has always been trouble-free.

I doubt that the hotel in question ( why don't you reference their URL?) is being unscrupulous. Cancellation policies are common and usually spelled out in the AGB (although in German, which you probably can't read), for which you probably checked that you had read and agreed.

Always book directly with the hotel. Some even have chat rooms where you can negotiate not only prices but amenities like an airport pickup, free breakfast, or a quiet room with a good view. Not always, but if you start off in their language, just a few polite phrases will do, they know you have taken the time and effort to respect their country and language. Amazing what you might receive in return. It never hurts to bring hotel staff a small gift like a refrigerator magnet or a post card from your state or city. You might find Kansas sunflower magnets across Old Town in Istanbul, Marais in Paris, or shops in Cape Town.

William which hotel was it.. I prefer to look at the website myself before I make a comment.

The Hotel in question was the Cityhotel Trumer Stube in Salzburg.

There is a link (IMPRESSUM in the left column) on the hotel website to the Austrian Hotel Industry Rules, which include a chart of cancellation fees (all in English). According to that chart, the hotel can charge a cancellation fee of 40% if the booking is cancelled within 1-3 months of the reserved stay. 1 week to 1 month before, they can charge 70%. Sounds to me like the innkeeper was generous with his refund since you cancelled only 2.5 weeks out. He could have charged you 70%. Lesson learned. Read the fine print about cancellation policies before booking. Policies in Europe are often different than the generous "call us by 6 pm" policy often practiced in the US.

In 2006 I booked a Munich hotel that was listed in Rick's Germany book, and it turned out after I booked that their cancellation policy was that if you cancel, you still have to pay the full price of the booking! We stayed there in the end but did not feel too great about that. Lesson learned on my part. I would suggest always get the cancellation policy before booking. I actually think online sites like booking.com are better because they state it clearly and explicitly, and if you do cancel it's automated. I don't think there is anything unscrupulous about not stating a cancellation policy, but if you ask they should of course volunteer it. By the same token it would be fair game to ding them on it on Trip Advisor. For me, what is reasonable depends upon the type of hotel. Plenty of smaller family run hotels in Europe charge no cancellation penalty if you cancel within a few days of arrival. Anything more strict is not very customer friendly and I would think twice before booking there. If it's my goof and I just didn't ask, I would probably pay it. Sounds like in this case, their policy is to adhere to the government standard which is what prevails if their stated policy is not something more lenient.

The lesson is certainly to understand EACH hotel's cancellation policy. Many DO charge for cancelling, even in advance. Many hotels give early booking discounts, but they usually come with non-cancelation policies. Understanding a foreign hotel's policy can be more difficult as some websites are not fully English compatible, but the responsibility is always on the booker. An earlier post suggested disputing the charge with your credit card. But that is likely to fail since the policy was linked on the website. Dinging them on tripadvisor or other review sites would be unfair and unscrupulous since indeed their policy was listed and linked on their website and they may have provided some relief from their strict enforcement.

An earlier post suggested disputing the charge with your credit card. But that is likely to fail since the policy was linked on the website. I suggested that before knowing that there was a link to the policy from the website. Of course, it's the responsibility of the person making the booking to read the fine print carefully each time and know the cancellation options and likely penalties. I suppose this situation is a reminder of the value of trip insurance, if the insurance would cover such a situation. That's an area where I need to better read the fine print myself.

Well I have a modest income, and love to travel, so I am very careful in all aspects of booking my trips.. I always book hotels that have what I consider a good/easy cancellation policy . I do this for two reasons, I do not get trip insurance, so unless something forces me to cancel my trip at last minute ( 24 hrs ) then I can cancel all my hotel bookings and just be out my train tickets.. I tend to get great deals on train tickets,, 30-, 40 euros etc.. so those I do risk.. My airline of choice allows me to change my ticket for 250 dollars and use it for another date up to a year later.. I have never had to use this .. but my 16 yr old dd did last year when she had a sudden event a week before her trip. She actually got to use the full value of ticket up to a year later ( which we did) and we only paid an additional 75 dollar fee, not bad since we didn't have insurance. I also like to change hotels if I find one I like better, I book hotels months in advance, but if something better comes up I go for it. William, I think in this case you got off easy as it appears the hotelier could have charged you double.This is just a case of not reading all the condtions of the hotel booking and really paying attention to the website. My obbessive love of planning travel helps me here, I practically know the color of the bathtowels before I book .. lol