C
CaliforniaVacationer
Guest
- Jurisdiction
- California
My wife recently called a small rural hotel in the greater Lake Tahoe area in California and booked a room. She did not have the necessary credit card on hand, so she had me call them 10-20 minutes after she got off the phone with them, so that I could give them the card number. When my wife asked them what the cancellation policy was, they said they would tell me when I gave them the charge card information. When I called, I gave them the number and again asked about their cancellation policy. They responded by saying that they had already told my wife. When I insisted, I was told that they accept cancellations within 14 days of the reservation.
Two days later, we received notice of an important family event that same weekend, so I called the hotel to cancel the reservation. When I spoke with the woman at the front desk, she then informed me that there is a $50 service fee charged for cancellations. When I tried to tell her that we were not previously informed of this, even when we asked directly, she basically just called me a liar and refused to wave the service fee. There is no statement of the cancellation policy on their website. We did receive a hard copy reservation confirmation in the mail, which did include a written out copy of the cancellation policy, which corresponded to her statement, five days after I called to cancel the reservation. Also, I called to cancel the reservation 51 days prior to the reservation date.
My question is this, do they have the right to charge a service fee without providing notice at the time the reservation is made?
Two days later, we received notice of an important family event that same weekend, so I called the hotel to cancel the reservation. When I spoke with the woman at the front desk, she then informed me that there is a $50 service fee charged for cancellations. When I tried to tell her that we were not previously informed of this, even when we asked directly, she basically just called me a liar and refused to wave the service fee. There is no statement of the cancellation policy on their website. We did receive a hard copy reservation confirmation in the mail, which did include a written out copy of the cancellation policy, which corresponded to her statement, five days after I called to cancel the reservation. Also, I called to cancel the reservation 51 days prior to the reservation date.
My question is this, do they have the right to charge a service fee without providing notice at the time the reservation is made?