Beware Changing a Premier Inns Booking

[clifford]

I had a prepaid booking for a Premier Inn hotel in London for next January and needed to change it to September this year. Premier Inns allows free date changes for the same hotel, subject to any difference in price.

In my case the new dates were GBP10 cheaper, so I received a refund for this amout. So far so good. However, for some reason, best known to itself, the online system "lost" another GBP82, and then claimed I only had GBP1 credit left, so I'd have to pay another GBP82 on arrival (effectively being charged twice).

I spoke by phone to a customer service rep at PI, who claimed that I had actually been sent a refund for the missing GBP82. Clearly this is not the case, so I have effectively been fleeced of the money. Needless to say I have raised a dispute with my CC company.

 

[asterix]

I've got bookings for end of December and early January that I've cancelled and rebooked. I guess I've been fortunate as the system has refunded me the correct amount for all four rooms that I've cancelled and rebooked at a lower rate.

 

[clifford]

Well, there was a happy ending to this story. I have just received a cash refund (to my Visa debit card) for the outstanding amount.

It was really a matter of finding the right person at Premier Inn, who actually knew what they were talking about and knew how to work through their computer systems to track down what had actually gone wrong. I was told that the error occurred because I had changed the dates of my reservation several times and the system couldn't handle it.

So for anyone who has a complex problem with a Premier Inn booking, I would strongly recommend contacting them via Facebook messenger. It was the only way I could get a sensible outcome. Phoning and email yielded no results.