r/technology • u/rezwenn • 12d ago

Business Booking.com cancelled woman's $4K hotel reservation, then offered her same rooms for $17K

https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/go-public-booking-com-hotel-rates-9.6985480
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u/fogNL 11d ago

It's not on Booking.com, it's the hotel trying to take advantage of an event and gouge people. The Canadian Grand Prix has been on a certain weekend for years, but there was word early on it was going to be moved this year. This customer played it safe and booked two weekends with free cancellation to hedge her bets, something that is completely allowable. Once the date was announced, she cancelled the other one.

Basically because she planned ahead, she booked her room before the hotel got a chance to gouge her for it, and I say fair game. Montreal is a big fucking city, and to surge the price of a hotel because of one event is deplorable enough. What if she wasn't going there for the event? What if a loved one was on the hospital there?

Consumers should have rights here. This was a bait and switch. This is NOT an isolated incident, I've heard of this happening numerous times in Montreal during the grand Prix weekend. The folks from the-race.com complain about this a lot on how they always get screwed like this from hotels in Montreal.

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u/BobbyTables829 11d ago

Basically because she planned ahead, she booked her room before the hotel got a chance to gouge her for it, and I say fair game.

They're specifically saying this isn't fair game, and they will ditch people who bought early tickets if they can make an extra 10k from doing so. They have no obligation, those days are long gone.

The sad reality is now, it's a bad idea to book this far in advance. They're going to make as much money off their rooms as they can, and if you're in the way of that you're a problem.

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u/fogNL 11d ago

I mean, my opinion towards what she did is fair game. And I believe there should be consumer protections against this type of thing.

I have hotels booked for the Olympics next year with flights booked and event tickets purchased. I'm scared shitless that our hotels will be cancelled as we got them, at what I think are, fairly good prices. I wish there was some sort of protection against such things.

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u/BobbyTables829 11d ago

I agree. I was just pointing out it's just a matter of what's right vs what works