Ugh. I’m really annoyed right now.
US folks may be unaware that booking terms and conditions for UK people are very, very, different than for US people.
I’m trying to cancel my throwaway room. We don’t get the five days in advance, no penalty terms you get. We have to cancel much further in advance and we pay a penalty.
And they put as many roadblocks as possible in your way to stop you doing it.
So first I called them. They’ll let you do anything by phone. Make reservations — even change reservations. (Though, unlike you US folks, we have to pay £50 to do so. That’s — what? — $70 to switch from one hotel to another!)
But cancel? Nope. You have to e-mail them. Why? No idea.
So I e-mail them. I get an auto-response. They aim to deal with e-mails in 5-7 working days. Five to seven!
So I wait for the response. Which I got today. No dice. They won’t cancel because I sent the e-mail from the wrong e-mail address. No matter that I gave them all manner of detail about the booking.
But here’s the thing. I can’t send them an e-mail from the address they have on file because it’s an address that only receives e-mails. I own my own domain — and to control spam, I give every business I deal with a different e-mail address. So Disney has disney@mydomain.com. All these e-mails come to the same address, myname@icloud.com, and that’s the one I use to send e-mails from.
Why can’t UK people cancel hotel reservations online like US people can? (I think?) Why can’t we do it by phone? Why do we get charged £50 each time? Why do we have to give much more notice?
I’ve replied to their e-mail telling them to call me on the number they have on file. Why didn’t they think of this themselves and try that?
I cancelled a VIP tour that cost twice as much as the room I’m cancelling is costing. They let me do that by phone. What’s so special about room reservations? When I tried to cancel the room by phone I gave them all manner of “security” details to confirm it was me.
I’m really, really, really irritated right now.