Entertainment For Lively Minds
Shabby Doings at the Hilton Hotel
Posted by badartdog on 31 October 2011 - 10:59pm.
A friend of mine has had a very shitty and tragic time in the last couple of years. Things finally looking up, she booked a night in an executive suite at the Manchester Hilton hotel - the huge tower on Deansgate. Booked and paid for 3 months ago.
She and her new partner arrive last Saturday to be told that they would only be having a regular room as they were booked up - Manchester City had been given the executive suites on the eve of their derby at Old Trafford.
She was given a £100 refund and the room was lovely, but still - sounds like shoddy treatment and shady business practice to me.
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if Mansour City stay in hotels
when they're only going across Greater Manchester, how long do they stay away for when playing in London?
Trafford United
Used to come and have an afternoon kip in the Midland before a home game when I worked nearby.
She Should Ask
for a full refund.
As an American friend of mine would say
'I'd be owning the hotel by the time I was through with them'
The very minimum I would demand
Is a replacement night in the best room with dinner thrown in. And I wouldn't stop telling them how many people I would tell about this until they sorted it out.
That's disgraceful.
The only consolation I guess is at least they didn't have to share a floor with a load of overpaid, pampered Kickball players.
I suggest she file a complaint with Trading Standards via Manchester City Council.
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200098/trading_standards/2908/trading_...
Hey! That's Man City you're talking about...
...What do you mean the non-playing Carlos Tevez is not worth £200,000 per week...er...
Surely she had an agreed contract..
....in place M'lud.
They (The Hilton) decided to break that contract and then they must pay whatever damages are reasonable to achieve a similar standard of stay.
The issue here is that your friend decided that £100 was a fair recompense for breaking the agreement. I'm not sure she has much leverage at this point to go back & ask for something else after accepting their offer. It's worth a shot though - always write directly to the top dog !
I think I would have walked out & booked myself into a suite in the Lowry and sent them the bill accompanied with a stiff letter. I do appreciate though that it's not always easy to get stroppy / cause a fuss in those situations.
Totally agree though - shoddy customer service
Trip Advisor
A nice detailed but non-ranting post on Trip Advisor is a good idea as well. If nothing else, it will give the satisfaction that it's put at least a couple of people off booking rooms.
Agreed x 2
(1) By accepting the £100 she effectively agreed to their offer to change the contract they had in place, which I would think snookers her legally.
(2) A letter to the top brass might not go amiss, especially one that says she and her friends will continue to tell all their friends how shoddy the service they received was until she feels she has been adequately recompensed.
There's truth in what Red Umpire says, and yet...
...I STILL think (aside from moral room) there's legal room for complaint, on the basis that the contract had been agreed 3 months previous and that your friend was ONLY 'offered' the change of contract compromise or (presumably) full refund had she not accepted WHEN she had travelled to the venue and cleared her diary for three days.
The hotel was leaving her with little practical alternative. If I were your friend, I would certainly write to the top management citing this no-notice aspect as the reason she accepted the compromise on the ground, as it were, but stating that her stay was not meant to be purely functional but a treat, a luxury, and that simply 'a roof over your head for 3 nights' in Manchester was not what she was wanting.
NO hotel customer who makes a good faith booking with a reputable hotel expects to turn up to find that their room has been simply given to 'someone who we think is more important than you are'. It's a bloody disgrace. But to have caused a scene at the time would - your friend can reasonably argue - have risked ruining her break altogether.
If she wishes to be able to quote a bit of law/best practice in her letter to the managemernt she should call her local Citizens Advice Bureau - there's various quotable phrases under the Supply of Goods & Services Act that it would be good to put in.
She should also ask, having stated her case, if - as the luxury stay itself had been the goal - the hotel would consider offering her a free stay by way of compensation.
Personally, given the reputational damage that she could infliect by whingeing to local newspaper, watchdog media, etc, I'd be surprised if she didn't receive such an offer.
It's likely that there is no contract
when you book the room unless the room has been paid for at the time of booking. If she did, then she has a contract and not supplying the room would be a breach and she would be entitled to reasonable damages. As they provided her with a room, and some recompense, the damages are likely to be small (or even none given that they gave her a room and £100 - that's if I understand the OP properly).
If she didn't then it really is just a matter for how Hilton want this to impact their reputation and future business. Local papers, Watchdog, Trip Advisor are likely to have some impact on this.
The 'contract' is made when you book by phone...
...trust me: the booking conversation stands as the contract (verbal) in this case, and a verbal contract has the same status in law as a written one. In this case, there's no questioning on either side that there WAS a contract - the questions arise over the manner/timing of when that contract was changed: so that it would, in effect, either unfulfilled (if the friend asked for a full refund/compensation) or partially fulfilled (a lesser room plus some cash).
I agree that the moral argument is the strong card to play here. I'm speaking as both a voluntary CAB advisor (off duty, without access to CAB info system) and as someone who has been in a very similar situation personally a few years back. Mrs H - who used to work in hotels - NEVER tolerates this kind of thing. We arrived at a 4 star place in London where something or other had happened to the room we'd actually booked, having seen online pics etc, and we were shown to a furnished cupboard. Mrs H said 'This isn't good enough' and asked to see the manager. After various delaying tactics ('he's in a meeting' etc), around half an hour later the manager appeared and conceded that, ok, it's a fair cop (no money back/partial refund had been offered) - and as his hotel was literally full, had us transferred to a sister hotel of, as it transpired, even higher spec.
My reaction would have been, on arrival, 'Damn, it's a bummer, but what can we do, let's put it down to experience, write a letter when we get home etc'. But Mrs H was - rightly - not accepting anything less than what had been agreed. If she had been in your friend's position she would have insisted that the football guy was turfed out of the room - there was an existing contract, end of story. Obviously the hotel wouldn't have done that but they'd have CERTAINLY offered a transfer/upgrade or serious money. But then hotel's bank on travellers simply not wanting the aggro on their arrival...
You're right
My shaky memory of A level law made me think of the consideration in the wrong context. There was consideration (a room and some money) in the deal even though it hadn't passed between parties yet.
Legally
she has no case. If the compensation was roughly equal to original monetary value and, more importantly, has been accepted as settlement of the matter.
Morally, she may have a case but only as a ploy to extract further recompense
Tactically, her best bet may be to approach Man City, rather than the Hilton, laying the disappointment on with a trowel.
Who knows maybe match tickets, a firework party with Mario Balotelli or a chance to sit on the subs bench instead of Tevez may follow.
thanks
for all comments and advice - I did tell her I'd post here about it, I'll pass on your thoughts at work today.
I would suggest
That she gives them a final chance to make it right before she involves trading standards, trip advsor (and even Watchdog). Tell them that's what you giving them - a final chance. Good luck.
Post a blog
link to it on Twitter, ensure named and shamed and copy in @HiltonOnline. Ensure pals RT it.
United & the Lowry
I'm pretty sure something similar happened to one of the GLW's friends, who had a long standing booking for her wedding anniversary at the Lowry and was bumped at short notice to meet the requirements of MUFC.
I would have to check to be certain, but as I recall the hotel offered her an alternative room and dinner at no charge.
It's undoubtedly shoddy treatment
but in terms of business practise it makes perfect sense. What's the cost one muggle's weekend away being compromised worth, compared to letting an entire floor of executive suites with the promise of more business to come?
I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying I'm not surprised.
Agreed
Football clubs are worth a lot of business to hotel firms, so it's no surprise that they bend over backwards to accomodate them.
However, I think anyone who has their booking affected by this should be fully reimbursed.
It's a shame
... that there isn't some way for football teams to predict in advance where they will be playing their league matches.
Again?
Saw the thread title and thought, what? Again?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7844335/Hilton-hotel-c...
Commented previously
about observing some rum goings-on at The Hilton, as seen from the platform of the Deansgate station during the evening rush hour. Involved a naked couple and camera flashlights.
Disgusting. Almost missed my train.
For anyone who can't get the link, it says...
The Hilton hotel in the central Chinese city of Fuqing was closed down by the police, who said the premises would remain shut indefinitely. A receptionist at the hotel confirmed it was not taking any bookings until mid-July at the earliest.
The vice squad raided the Diamond Dynasty karaoke club in the basement of the hotel on Saturday, arresting 102 people, of whom 22 were formally charged with offences, according to a spokesman.
A statement by the Fuqing police said that an investigation had uncovered “a complete chain” of people involved in prostitution “involving the hotel managers, security guards, luggage carriers, receptionists and staff”.
However, a spokesman for Hilton Worldwide said the hotel company was not responsible for the running of the karaoke club, which the police believe was used for prostitution. “Hilton Worldwide abides by all laws in every country in which its brands operate and is fully co-operating with the investigation,” he said.
/report continues but you get the gist
//names may have been changed for very childish reasons indeed
I have it on good authority
that something very similar can be found on Floor 3 of many hotels in China, in the guise of a 'Spa'.
I once complained ...
... to the Marriott in Liverpool. Having given us an executive room for 4 nights, they asked us to move after 2. We were in the middle of a Beatle tour when they phoned asking us to immediately get out of the room as it was needed for somebody else.
We came back at our own convenience and did as we were requested, making clear we were unhappy about the situation. A stern email to the management followed and the result was they invited us to stay for free on a future weekend of our choice.
Always worth complaining.
And if complaining gets you nowhere,
always worth booking in for a night's B&B at a later date, and making sure you have a good supply of Superglue in your luggage when you arrive. Locksmiths are so expensive these days.
The trouble is, the Hilton brand is just not special any more
However, that one is better than many.
Still, at least she didn't have to stay at the Britannia.
"Shudders at memory........." I had a room without a window there although behind the curtains, a window, complete with view, had been thoughtfully painted on the brick wall.
Say what you like abut the Britannia
But how many other hotels in Manchester give you access to such a range of ladies with whom you may share your (windowless) room for an hour or two?
Allegedly. ALLEGEDLY!
*looks over shoulder nervously for Word lawyers*
Legend had it that "company" could be provided via the concierge
and would appear on the bill as "extra blankets"
If you think
If you think the Manchester Britannia is bad, you should try the one in Standish (Wigan)...
No! I won't hear of it...
...there's this place in Earl's Court...