I booked two rooms at a London hotel to celebrate my daughter’s 18th birthday. I used the hotel’s website and chose two ‘Studio Suites’. This room type was also described as having a mini-bar with an extensive selection of drinks.
When we checked in, the rooms we were given looked nothing like the pictures on the website and instead of a mini-bar there was an empty fridge.
In fact, the rooms were strikingly similar to another, cheaper room on the website. Yet when I complained, I was simply told they were ‘studio suites’ — which was completely wrong. The hotel is also described as five-star but is actually very tired and in need of refurbishment.
D. D., by email.
Dean Dunham replies: It’s a common complaint that hotels and hotel rooms look nothing like the pictures on a website.
Where the hotel has been booked as part of a package holiday, your route would be to complain via the booking agent, where you would be relying on the Package Travel Regulations. However, as this is a UK hotel, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is applicable here.
This Act says that goods, including the hire of goods such as a hotel room, must be ‘as described’. In this respect, the law also provides that photographs shown of goods form part of the description. Consumer laws also make clear as a basic principle that consumers should never be misled.
‘When we checked in, the rooms we were given looked nothing like the pictures on the website and instead of a mini-bar there was an empty fridge’
Dean Dunham
So if the room did not have a mini-bar and looked nothing like the pictures on the website, it will amount to a breach of contract on the part of the hotel. This means you are entitled to recourse.
Set out your complaint in writing and accompany this with screenshots of what the hotel website says and the photos of the room it displays. Also, have a look on the likes of Tripadvisor to see if other guests have made similar complaints, as this will be good evidence to support your claim.
Ultimately, you want the hotel to provide a price reduction to take account of the fact that the room you stayed in was worth less than you paid for it. You could also claim compensation for loss of enjoyment. There is no set formula for this, and it would be calculated on individual circumstances.
If the hotel continues to ignore your complaint, you could ask your card provider (if you paid via debit or credit card) to reimburse part of the money to you under a chargeback claim. When you make a chargeback or Section 75 claim, your bank/card provider refunds you (fully or partially as the case may be) and then claims the money back from the trader.
Can I make a Section 75 claim after retailer failed to fix my faulty watch?
I bought a watch online in April and paid via Google Wallet. It stopped working so I sent it back to the retailer. I was then told there is an issue with the mechanism that’s a common issue with this watch.
Since then, the retailer has not communicated further nor has it returned the watch. It’s now been four months so I contacted my card provider to ask about a Section 75 claim but was told I cannot claim as I paid via Google Wallet.
Simon Grant, by email.
Dean Dunham replies: It is a common response from card providers but the good news is that it’s wrong. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 lets you raise a claim against your bank or lender for a breach of contract or misrepresentation by the supplier of goods or services. When you use Google Wallet you are able to use Section 75 if something goes wrong, as unlike some of the other payment platforms such as PayPal you pay the seller directly.
- Write to Dean Dunham, Money Mail, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB or email [email protected]. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
