But when he phoned the Quality Airport Hotel Dan, it let him off the hook. “We will cancel the reser

S erban Constantinescu's Scandinavian tour didn't get off to the best start. He missed a flight connection from Cleveland to New York because of bad weather, and was a no-show for his hotel in Copenhagen.
But when he phoned the Quality Airport Hotel Dan, it let him off the hook. "We will cancel the reservation and will not charge a cancellation car rental in montreal canada fee," a representative told him. He even was able to get their promise in writing.
"We are really sorry," a representative wrote to Constantinescu. "As much as we want to issue a refund, we are bound by the hotel's terms and conditions so we do not have any control over the charges associated with the reservation."
Fortunately, this was an open-and-shut case. He'd asked for, and received, a written assurance that the Quality Airport car rental in montreal canada Hotel wouldn't charge his credit card, which is the equivalent of a letter of credit. Taking that correspondence to your credit card company virtually assures you can dispute the charge – which is exactly what he did.
There's a lesson in here for all of us. If you want a travel company – or any company, for that matter – to make an exception to its published policies, get it in writing. The company can later deny that it made such a promise, but a credit card company will interpret it as a letter of credit. And it will act accordingly.
Constantinescu's case brings up another question: What happens when a travel agency policy car rental in montreal canada conflicts with that of an airline, cruise line or hotel's? For his trip, the hotel had agreed to a refund, but Otel.com refused.
I'm sure there are some well-meaning car rental in montreal canada agents out there who believe their travel agency car rental in montreal canada policy trumps that of a supplier. Telling a customer, "tough luck" also allows an agent to protect any commissions and bonuses earned through the booking, and after all, agents are running a charity, are they?
But I believe that if a hotel is refunding the money to a travel agency, car rental in montreal canada then the agency has an obligation to send the refund back to the customer s credit card. I can't imagine any scenario under which an agency car rental in montreal canada (online or otherwise) should be able to pocket a hotel rate or even a cancellation fee.
Consolidators are agents, car rental in montreal canada too. For as long as they act as an intermediary between the buyer and seller car rental in montreal canada (i.e. airline or hotel) they are agents. Otel booked the reservation for Constantinescu with Quality Airport car rental in montreal canada Hotel Dan. If they were not an agent, then they could not do that.
Thanks Linda for assisting in explaining all this.  Now if Chris would change the title.  But we know how travel writers like to bash travel agencies and lump everyone together.  Sorry Chris but you are not being fair.
Well, maybe so but the credit card company found in his favour. By going to the hotel, he got his money back. If he d gone to Otel.com he probably car rental in montreal canada wouldn t have. So he did the best thing, even if it s not the technically correct thing.
It s extremely rare for a hotel manager not to have full discretion to refund a full amount for any reason. They have to in case of all sorts of things like overbookings or situations where the room provided is clearly unacceptable.  If they don t have full authority car rental in montreal canada to override their policy or contract, then what happens if there s a case where they can t provide a room?
If Otel won t play ball and negotiate some sort of settlement, I don t blame the cardholder for disputing the charge.  They could have worked something out but cited a strict contract which probably netted them both the refund and their normal cut.
Actually if it is a contracted rate, the manager would have to deal with their sales office car rental in montreal canada and they inturn talk with the wholesaler or tour operator.  Back when we sold commissionable nonrefundable tickets, the airlines use to refund but we couldn t and we were protected because of the contract .  The airlines would give the client back their full amount but we never gave the airlines back our commission and ARC backed us up on this.
Best Buys is either a distributor or reseller for Panasonic. They do not represent Panasonic. An agent represents the principal. Travel  agents represent airlines and hotels when they book seats and rooms for  travelers.
In a simple world this should have been an open and shut case. The seller (Quality Airport Hotel Dan) agreed not to charge car rental in montreal canada the buyer (Mr. Constantinescu) for the no-show caused by bad weather car rental in montreal canada and any intermediary car rental in montreal canada or agent for the hotel should respect the hotel s decision. But for some reason, the intermediary car rental in montreal canada feels so empowered to change the basic contract between the seller and the buyer. Something is really wrong if that can happen.
Hotels sell [or distribute] their rooms through different channels. But all these channels only act as agents for the hotel. The hotel still dictates the terms and conditions of sale. And, one of those conditions is how refunds for cancellations and no-shows are handled.
car rental in montreal canada So why is there so much confusion in this board about whether the OP should or should not get a refund? Perhaps car rental in montreal canada some are confused about the role of the agent that provides booking services. Let s talk specifically of how Otel and its mother company MetGlobal operates.
The way I understand it [I can be wrong in my reading], MetGlobal and its affiliates have net-rate merchant discounts and room allotments from hotels and make them available for other travel agents to book using their HotelsPro system. Otel and DHR dotcom are MetGlobal s retail travel agencies. Yes, they display the ASTA symbol or logo.
When one books a room through Otel, payment is either due immediately upon booking  or   paid at the hotel when one gets there. It is important to understand that how one pays does not alter refundability of the room rate. The different methods of payment was neccissated by the the different pricing car rental in montreal canada models. Let me explain.
In the net-rate merchant model, the hotel allowed the agency to remove his commission (customarily 20-30%) from the published room rates, then markup car rental in montreal canada up the rate himself. Obviously in the merchant model, the agency had to collect the traveler s money and then give him a confirmation voucher that he has to show the hotel to prove that he has paid the agent for his reservation. The hotel collects the voucher then bills the agency later.
It is important to understand that the customer (the traveler) does not really know the difference between the agency and merchant models. As far as the traveler is concerned his counterparty is the hotel and the travel agency is only an intermediary between them. For him, the hotel is still responsible for his stay, rates, rules and regulations. So, it is perfectly reasonable for the traveler to assume that when the hotel says he will not be charged for a no-show, that it is 100% true. If you don t believe me just take a look at this post between an agency car rental in montreal canada and MetGlobal -
How shocking. I had always preferred to do business directly with the hotel, mainly because if there is an issue I have one place to turn. I m fortunate that the slight savings through Expedia have never been that much of a draw.
Each agency has the option to charge any service fees/cancellation fees it chooses, so long as those are pre-disclosed to the client.  Just for the record, we do have a cancellation fee, but in cases such as this one, we would have waived it as a matter of course.  A standard no show or change of mind, we would have enforced.  Its a matter of being paid for the services you provide, balanced with what is right for the client in each individual circumstance.
Absolutely incorrect any wholesaler car rental in montreal canada or tour operator acts as an AGENT of the hotel or HOTEL CHAIN (which I think is where the problem lies here).  The individual hotel may have agreed to refund his monies, but if OTEL s contract is with corporate, then the agreement is moot, as the corporate car rental in montreal canada contract is the one which is enforceable we see this often in the industry, just most travellers here in the US are unfamiliar with this unless they have used an agent who uses wholesalers in the past.
He wrote he was charged $282. I looked up the hotel from my Travelport car rental in montreal canada Worldspan GDS. Below are the rates. They look lower than what he paid and NON OF THEM ARE PREPAID. So he could have avoided his problems all together by using a real person travel agent.
I think the Priceline model that causes the confusion.  When I purchase travel from Pricelines, the hotel has no further say regarding the room. If I want to cancel car rental in montreal canada it, I have to go through priceline.
I booked once through Otel.com for a room in New York. The next day we got a call from the fraud dept. of our credit card issuer. They wanted to confirm that we d made the charge since Otel.com is, or was at the time, based in .Turkey. I made the trip and stayed in the hotel and all was fine. But it seemed like it was asking for trouble to book through them again and I haven t. And now I m REALLY glad.
Carver, they are not using the Priceline model. What they are doing is offering the group or tour company discounted room rates PLUS MARKUP to INDIVIDUAL travelers. From what I read in the internet they have a travel company car rental in montreal canada in Turkey and teamed up with Miki Ltd of the UK. That s why they have access to discounted room rates.
If customers and travelers only know the cancellation protection benefits car rental in montreal canada they might lose when they book hotel rooms under the merchant model, then they probably will run away and not buy. The problem car rental in montreal canada is customers do not understand the difference.
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