Help needed re hotel booking in Vanuatu

[sinophile888]

My son has contacted me to see if I can find out his best course of action. These are parts of his emails.
Message 1 (19/04/14)
We landed this morning, caught a taxi to the resort and on arrival were told they had double booked and were going to send us to a different place they owned. Which rather than being a beach resort, is a long stay apartment on a lagoon. They offered free dinners, so I countered with a full refund and free accommodation at the other place, which they've accepted.

Message 2 (23/04/2014)
The owner is now trying to renege on the offer of full refund, offering us nothing. Can you do your thing and research what we can do (if anything). It's illegal in Australia, but I've no idea about here in Vanuatu.

We booked through hotels.com who then book through Expedia.

Can you also find out what happens if I cancel my credit card, ie can they still charge me for the dinners we have if I've cancelled it, but they have my details from previously? It's my nab cc I booked with and I'm thinking of just leaving without checking out and settling the costs, if he doesn't come through with the refund.

I am currently on line with hotels.com and they are looking into the situation.
Does anyone have any suggestions for us?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Simo]

If you cancel the CC or don't pay for the meals it could be very ugly/Police involved.

Does the accommodation venue have the arrival and departure times for the flights??

 

[sinophile888]

Does the accommodation venue have the arrival and departure times for the flights??

Thanks for your reply.
I don't know about flights. Why is that of interest?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for your reply.
I don't know about flights. Why is that of interest?

if you checked out without paying they could call the police who would pick you up at the airport.

full refund AND a free stay at another place? that doesn't seem right from a contractual point of view (although I'm not familiar with the law in Vanuatu). Many hotel chains will accommodate you at another property in the event they over book. But why would you get a refund and free stay?

if this was australia it would be a straight out breach of contract. You could get a refund which you then apply towards comparable accommodation, and you could sue for the balance if you needed to pay extra. I'm not familiar with a total free stay concept... you have still taken and used a service.

 

[sinophile888]

A follow-up to my son’s accommodation problems in Vanuatu.

The hotel manager had forgotten?? that they were booked out for a wedding. A number of other couples were also affected; they were sent an email regarding the change of hotel on the day after the cancellation period expired. They were offered and accepted 2 free meals and 2 30-minute massages as compensation.

The replacement hotel was very substandard but as it was over the Easter/Anzac Day period, no other accommodation was available.

After some other dodgy moves by the manager/owners, my son received a full refund. I was very surprised when it actually came through to his account. He was delighted. I got flowers for my part.

So thanks go to the people who responded to my post.

All this makes me so glad that I have HH Gold status and stay at a Hilton/Conrad whenever I can.