Warning: Velocity hotel bookings via VA Holidays - hidden fees

[Jack_OC]

Hi all, just a word of warning. I recently made my first hotel booking via Velocity, since they switched the booking system away from Agoda to VA holidays. I booked what appeared to be a standard flexible rate. On the screen at the time of booking, and also in the confirmation email I received, it stated:

Cancellation policy:
Starting from xx-xx_-17 [the day before arrival], the hotel cancellation fee is xx_.xx AUD

There is no mention of any fee if the booking is cancelled before then, so I believed I could cancel for free before the stated date (as is the norm with flexible hotel bookings).

It turns out I had to change my booking, and to my annoyance, I found that it's impossible to cancel or make any changes online, so I phoned them. The agent said no problem, we can change that for you, and I will send a gift card for the difference between the old total and the new one. I queried that - why a gift card? "We don't give refunds. It's in the terms and conditions". Not impressed by that, but whatever, I can use a VA gift card easily, so I said ok.

Then I get the confirmation and find I have been charged a $50 fee, so the gift card is actually for the difference, minus $50. There was no mention of this during the call, so I call back. Again "It's in the terms and conditions - there is a fee for any changes."* I reiterated that this was not mentioned at the time of booking, in my confirmation email, or even by the agent on the phone when I made the change. "But it's in the terms and conditions. You clicked a box to say you agreed".

I asked for a supervisor, and pointed out how misleading this is. "It's in the terms and conditions". Yes I know, but why was it not stated on the screen at the time of booking, in the email confirmation, or by the agent on the phone? It really seems like you have made an effort to avoid me noticing this fee - why are the actual cancellation fees not clearly stated under "Cancellation policy" at the time of booking? "I don't agree that we have done anything wrong, but we'll waive the fee just this once".

At least they waived the fee eventually, but I find the idea of concealing fees in the small print to be quite objectionable. I suspect I won't be the only one who will make the mistake of failing to read the 7,000+ words of T&Cs just to check if they're hiding anything important in there, so I thought I should give everyone a heads up.

* this is correct, it turns out, although the T&Cs actually say that the fee is $80 per person per booking. Weird.

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Unfortunately you didn't see this previous thread - http://www.australianfrequentflyer....tels-via-virgin-australia-holidays-80210.html

Also note additional fees for flights booked through Virgin Holidays - http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ning-virgin-holidays-flight-change-77209.html

 

[Jack_OC]

Unfortunately you didn't see this previous thread - http://www.australianfrequentflyer....tels-via-virgin-australia-holidays-80210.html

Also note additional fees for flights booked through Virgin Holidays - http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ning-virgin-holidays-flight-change-77209.html

You're correct - unfortunately I had not seen that thread. Or the one about additional fees with flights. More contempt shown by VA to its supposedly loyal customers - the only incentive to book with VA Holidays is the ability to earn Velocity points.

Anyway, hopefully my post will be helpful for others who were similarly out of the loop about this.

 

[Virgin Bart]

I had the same extremely misleading situation with Amex Travel recently.

 

[Jack_OC]

I had the same extremely misleading situation with Amex Travel recently.

While Amex Travel also imposes their own change/cancellation fees, at least they seem to be transparent about this. For example, I just did a dummy booking with Amex Travel for the same hotel as I have booked with Virgin Holidays, and the following message appears during the booking process - right under the box accepting the T&Cs (their bolding):

Please note, in the event of a booking amendment or cancellation, American Express reserve the right to apply the following service fees in addition to any charges assessed by the relevant airline and or supplier.
Amendment Fee: $33.00 per person, per change
Cancellation Fee: $55.00 per person

I wouldn't generally book with Amex Travel as a result of these fees, but at least they make people aware that the fees exist.

 

[clipped_wings]

When you consider the volume of people who would, for some reason or another - have to amend or cancel their plans, this must be a glorious little money spinner.

I do understand that changes/cancellations over the phone involves human effort which translates to a justifiable fee. But in this day of e-ticketing/online bookings and the ability for a person to complete travel/accommodation arrangements independent of a Call Centre - why are we also not extended the opportunity to amend those same bookings online without this silly price gouge?

 

[Jack_OC]

When you consider the volume of people who would, for some reason or another - have to amend or cancel their plans, this must be a glorious little money spinner.

I do understand that changes/cancellations over the phone involves human effort which translates to a justifiable fee. But in this day of e-ticketing/online bookings and the ability for a person to complete travel/accommodation arrangements independent of a Call Centre - why are we also not extended the opportunity to amend those same bookings online without this silly price gouge?

It certainly is a price gouge. A fee of $80 per person is certainly not representative of the costs they incur in making a typical change. The initial call to change my booking took about 2-3 minutes once I finally got through to someone, which is clearly not $80 worth of a call centre agent's time, or even $50 worth, which is what they charged me initially. To make it more ridiculous, if my booking had been for my family of 4, per the T&Cs they could have charged me $320 for those 2-3 minutes! The refusal to give actual refunds, but instead only issue credit vouchers for VA Holidays, is also outrageous.

Leaving all that aside though - I take the view that service providers can charge whatever fees and impose whatever restrictions they like, as long as they are fully transparent about it before a customer books. Customers could then make an informed choice about whether to accept the fees/restrictions, or not.

However, not only does VA avoid telling customers about the fees/no-refund policy, it's even worse than that: by prominently displaying a "Cancellation Policy" on the screen, which suggests there would only be a fee if a booking is changed/cancelled at the last minute, they are actively leading customers to believe that there are no other fees or restrictions. If they said nothing about cancellation rules, even that would be an improvement, as I would then go out of my way to find out what the rules are. It was because of their sneaky and misleading statement about the "Cancellation Policy" that I thought I was ok. TBH, I'm not even sure how this practice is legal.

Perhaps the worst thing of all is, I think it's reasonable to assume that VA knows that a lot of customers would take their business elsewhere if they were properly informed, hence the underhand tactics.

 

[AdMEL]

It certainly is a price gouge. A fee of $80 per person is certainly not representative of the costs they incur in making a typical change. The initial call to change my booking took about 2-3 minutes once I finally got through to someone, which is clearly not $80 worth of a call centre agent's time, or even $50 worth, which is what they charged me initially. To make it more ridiculous, if my booking had been for my family of 4, per the T&Cs they could have charged me $320 for those 2-3 minutes! The refusal to give actual refunds, but instead only issue credit vouchers for VA Holidays, is also outrageous.

Leaving all that aside though - I take the view that service providers can charge whatever fees and impose whatever restrictions they like, as long as they are fully transparent about it before a customer books. Customers could then make an informed choice about whether to accept the fees/restrictions, or not.

However, not only does VA avoid telling customers about the fees/no-refund policy, it's even worse than that: by prominently displaying a "Cancellation Policy" on the screen, which suggests there would only be a fee if a booking is changed/cancelled at the last minute, they are actively leading customers to believe that there are no other fees or restrictions. If they said nothing about cancellation rules, even that would be an improvement, as I would then go out of my way to find out what the rules are. It was because of their sneaky and misleading statement about the "Cancellation Policy" that I thought I was ok. TBH, I'm not even sure how this practice is legal.

Perhaps the worst thing of all is, I think it's reasonable to assume that VA knows that a lot of customers would take their business elsewhere if they were properly informed, hence the underhand tactics.

Perhaps make a complaint to Consumer Affairs or similar?

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Escalate with Virgin/Velocity first, inviting management to act.

An unsatisfactory response could then be taken to consumer affairs.