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If you're going to book through a third party site for accommodation please at least read the fine print.
Had a few calls lately from people being screwing themselves over because they get tangled in the red tape.
The chain is usually the guest then the agent then the accommodation. Needless to say, most of these idiots skip the agent and go straight to us.
If you want to cancel the reservation because you disagree with the prepayment policy, go through the channel you booked through. We, most of the time, cannot cancel the reservation from our end because we need a notification from the agent to remove it from our system. Same with date changes. It's not the accommodation who charged you, it's the agent. And even when there are times when the accommodation charges your credit card, we're just following the instructions given to us by the agent. Our hands are tied in relation to any of this.
Had a lady call up the other day who had to cancel a booking back in 2020 during the peak of everything going to hell. Prepaid by the agent. Between when she booked and cancelled however, she cancelled the credit card put down on the booking and so when it was refunded the money got lost in transit so to speak. They called up trying to ask for credit and I refused as it was prepaid by the agent and so any screw ups is on their end. Anyway, they were WAY over the window of being able to redeem any credit.
My advice? If you don't want to be wrapped up in any red tape going through third party sites, just book directly with the accommodation. It's pricier yes, but it beats being at the mercy of foreign companies.
Had a few calls lately from people being screwing themselves over because they get tangled in the red tape.
The chain is usually the guest then the agent then the accommodation. Needless to say, most of these idiots skip the agent and go straight to us.
If you want to cancel the reservation because you disagree with the prepayment policy, go through the channel you booked through. We, most of the time, cannot cancel the reservation from our end because we need a notification from the agent to remove it from our system. Same with date changes. It's not the accommodation who charged you, it's the agent. And even when there are times when the accommodation charges your credit card, we're just following the instructions given to us by the agent. Our hands are tied in relation to any of this.
Had a lady call up the other day who had to cancel a booking back in 2020 during the peak of everything going to hell. Prepaid by the agent. Between when she booked and cancelled however, she cancelled the credit card put down on the booking and so when it was refunded the money got lost in transit so to speak. They called up trying to ask for credit and I refused as it was prepaid by the agent and so any screw ups is on their end. Anyway, they were WAY over the window of being able to redeem any credit.
My advice? If you don't want to be wrapped up in any red tape going through third party sites, just book directly with the accommodation. It's pricier yes, but it beats being at the mercy of foreign companies.
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