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Post by tealpaperowl on Mar 6, 2022 1:05:41 GMT
Has this ever happened to anyone?
We went to FL last week, had reserved a resort/condo at Westgate resorts as we were interested in seeing what they had to offer for possible ownership in the future.
We get there and there are like 5 families in the lobby, all upset. Turns out they have no rooms, they overbooked. We were there til 4:30am trying to get a room. I was in tears and we wound up having to book at a Holiday Inn at 2.5 times the cost. They were SO unfriendly and just said they had no rooms, even though we had reservations for weeks.
One family in the lobby had drove from NY and couldn't afford to get another hotel (as Westgate is prepaid) and were sleeping in their car with their children. This seems so wrong!
We filed a dispute with our CC and got our money back from Westgate. After speaking to some timeshare owners there we learned they tend to book 10% over capacity assuming some people will cancel. This is my 29th time going to Disney and I have never heard of such a thing!
Is this a thing??
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Post by Bitchy Rich on Mar 6, 2022 1:12:08 GMT
If you Google "Westgate resort reviews" the top results are a shit ton of negative reviews and stories.
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Post by gar on Mar 6, 2022 1:14:38 GMT
Most if not all hotels do it - better over booked than empty rooms if they have no-shows.
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Post by epeanymous on Mar 6, 2022 1:46:21 GMT
I have had it happen, although I managed to talk them into giving me their unused wedding suite for the same price (they obviously did not want to because it was like five times as big as what I booked, but I stuck with it until they did).
It is not great!
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Post by stingfan on Mar 6, 2022 1:55:25 GMT
We checked in to a Marriott brand hotel and when we got up to the room, it hadn't been cleaned since the last person was there. We went back to the lobby to get a different room, and they didn't have any others. But they got on the phone to other Marriotts in the area and sent us to one of those. So while it was late and we were not happy about having to drive 10 miles back in the direction we'd come from, Marriott did their best to fix it for us. They also ate the cost of the room and didn't charge us the points we'd booked it with.
So I think that Westgate should have been obliged to find different accommodations for you and not charge you one cent.
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Post by nightnurse on Mar 6, 2022 1:57:21 GMT
Most if not all hotels do it - better over booked than empty rooms if they have no-shows. If I sell something I don’t have, I’ve committed fraud. How the f$&@ do airlines and hotels get away with this? And a no show is still charged, you have to cancel in advance o get your money back so they win either way. This practice needs to end. |
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Post by Merge on Mar 6, 2022 2:08:44 GMT
I had that happen at a convention several years ago. I was so mad. I’m sorry it happened to you.
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keithurbanlovinpea
Pearl Clutcher
Flowing with the go...
Posts: 4,287 
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Post by keithurbanlovinpea on Mar 6, 2022 2:24:56 GMT
Westgate is horrible! Don't get me started on shitty timeshare companies.
Hotels overbook like airlines but if you have followed the rules, they are obliged to find you accommodations. Period.
Pretty sure timeshares don't have to follow those rules though because they suck.
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Post by bc2ca on Mar 6, 2022 3:44:31 GMT
I'd be furious and looking for more than just my money back.  We had a situation where a hotel booked 4 of us into a 3 person room. I'd actually talked to a person when making the reservation, saw the check-in notes that there were 4 of us and was still sent up to the room.  DH was parking the car and I texted him to meet me at the front desk where the staff was awful. Told me that was the room I booked and there wasn't anything else available that could sleep four. It wasn't until I took a photo of the check-in screen clearly saying 4 guests and asked if any single bed rooms were available that she brought in a manager. They begrudging gave us a second room. |
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garcia5050
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,739
Location: So. Calif.
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Post by garcia5050 on Mar 6, 2022 3:59:27 GMT
I read a book called ‘Heads in Beds’ about this. Hotels typically have a 10% cancellation rate, so they can overbook up to 110% capacity. If they become overcapacity, they are obligated to pay for accommodations that are at a higher level (more premium). This is called ‘being walked.’ I’ve never seen it happen, but yes, it sounds like a pain in the ass. Because, the stay in the other hotel is just for one night. You’ll be expected to move back to the destination hotel after the one night.
It was a very interesting book. I read this many years ago and always remembered this concept.
This book also caused me to change my ways about how I book hotel rooms. I always book directly with the hotel, but will pay whatever price matching I get from another site. It always works. The book said that if they have a choice to walk a direct sale v a reseller, they will always walk the resale.
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Post by cadoodlebug on Mar 6, 2022 4:19:28 GMT
Hotels can also not make guests leave on the day they say they will. We had that problem at my 50th high school reunion. When some of my classmates arrived at the hotel they were told there were no rooms for them because other guests had not checked out. They did, however, find them other rooms about a mile away. I would have been ticked because our hotel was *the* place to hangout with other classmates for the 3-days of festivities. However, some people got really ugly with the young man at the front desk and it was totally out of his control.
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Post by worrywart on Mar 6, 2022 4:25:43 GMT
Yes it happened to us once and it was awful. There were no other rooms in town. By some miracle we were able to find something only a few miles outside of town but it was extremely inconvenient and stressful!!
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Post by buddysmom on Mar 6, 2022 5:01:25 GMT
I (almost) always book direct.
About 15 years ago I booked though Expedia or similar.
The room was on a floor that they were doing renovations, a lot of mess, noise, etc on the floor.
Another one they left out some significant details about the area.
So now I usually book direct (except for our local airport hotel on the night before our flight-- and I do it by transferring Chase points to the hotel points so I "think" they see it as booking directly with points.)
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Post by buddysmom on Mar 6, 2022 5:06:35 GMT
Hotels can also not make guests leave on the day they say they will. We had that problem at my 50th high school reunion. When some of my classmates arrived at the hotel they were told there were no rooms for them because other guests had not checked out. They did, however, find them other rooms about a mile away. I would have been ticked because our hotel was *the* place to hangout with other classmates for the 3-days of festivities. However, some people got really ugly with the young man at the front desk and it was totally out of his control. About 10+ years ago we stayed at a hotel (maybe for a concert, not sure) but we had to sign something specifically saying we would check out the day we said we would because the Super Bowl was being played there and I'm sure the prices were a lot more expensive for those dates. Never had that happen before--or since. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Mar 6, 2022 5:18:44 GMT
If you have a prepaid booking and they have no room for you, they are obligated to either upgrade you on property or find you a room at another nearby hotel. It hasn’t ever happened to me personally but I know people who it has happened to, and in their case they didn’t have a rental car so the hotel had to provide transportation to get them to the other hotel too.
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smginaz Suzy
Pearl Clutcher
Je suis desole.
Posts: 2,606
Jun 26, 2014 17:27:30 GMT
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Post by smginaz Suzy on Mar 6, 2022 7:26:55 GMT
A reservation guaranteed with a credit card should entitle you to a guaranteed room, so if they oversell, they must find accommodations at no additional cost somewhere. I generally check with the hotel before I book to ensure they have a guaranteed reservation process.
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Post by gar on Mar 6, 2022 10:35:17 GMT
Most if not all hotels do it - better over booked than empty rooms if they have no-shows. If I sell something I don’t have, I’ve committed fraud. How the f$&@ do airlines and hotels get away with this? And a no show is still charged, you have to cancel in advance o get your money back so they win either way. This practice needs to end. But it won't. |
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Mar 6, 2022 12:12:02 GMT
I’ve never had it happen to me, but know others who’ve experienced it. It would be aggravating at any time but especially after a long drive or very late at night.
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kibblesandbits
Pearl Clutcher
At the corner of Awesome and Bombdiggity
Posts: 3,305
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Post by kibblesandbits on Mar 6, 2022 12:28:35 GMT
I read a book called ‘Heads in Beds’ about this. Hotels typically have a 10% cancellation rate, so they can overbook up to 110% capacity. If they become overcapacity, they are obligated to pay for accommodations that are at a higher level (more premium). This is called ‘being walked.’ I’ve never seen it happen, but yes, it sounds like a pain in the ass. Because, the stay in the other hotel is just for one night. You’ll be expected to move back to the destination hotel after the one night. It was a very interesting book. I read this many years ago and always remembered this concept. This book also caused me to change my ways about how I book hotel rooms. I always book directly with the hotel, but will pay whatever price matching I get from another site. It always works. The book said that if they have a choice to walk a direct sale v a reseller, they will always walk the resale. I read the same book - and, same, changed how I make reservations. BTW - Westgate Resorts are horrible, and offer insanely low prices in order to shill their timeshares. Sometimes a deal is not a deal, if you know what I mean. Sorry you got rooked. |
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Post by aj2hall on Mar 6, 2022 14:44:24 GMT
We stayed at an all inclusive in Mexico. They were overbooked so they offered an upgrade to a fancier resort and offered to take us in a shuttle to the new hotel. Sorry that happened to you, that sounds really frustrating. I’m guessing based on other responses, the rules for timeshares are different.
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paigepea
Drama Llama
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Posts: 5,609
Location: BC, Canada
Jun 26, 2014 4:28:55 GMT
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Post by paigepea on Mar 6, 2022 14:51:59 GMT
Yes. When we went to Chicago it happened to us. Our flight was late so we got in after midnight. Got to the hotel and no room. They put us in their sister hotel and paid for our cab ride there. We didn’t get there until after 1am. And the next day they put us in their presidential suite in their hotel. So we moved hotels again in the morning.
Our room had a handwritten note of apology, Champaign, fruit, chocolate and chocolate fruit. Plus they didn’t charge us for 2 of our 4 nights.
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julie5
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,611
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Post by julie5 on Mar 6, 2022 15:09:19 GMT
Read “heads in beds”. Really helps put the hotel industry into perspective. I’ve yet to try handing a baby brick to a check in agent but I have changed how I view the whole process.
Reserving a room is one thing. But checking in and being assigned an actual room is another. It’s one big reason why we bought a camper. The hotel industry in general sucks.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Mar 6, 2022 15:18:41 GMT
It has happened to me, but they placed us at another hotel.
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Post by brynn on Mar 7, 2022 3:20:57 GMT
I had that happen at a convention several years ago. I was so mad. I’m sorry it happened to you. My experience and feelings exactly. |
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Post by hop2 on Mar 7, 2022 3:41:49 GMT
It happened to us once and we were sent to another related property closer to where we wanted to be at the same rate. They then wanted us to move back next day MID DAY and we refused because we had stuff scheduled. They did finally agree to leave us for our whole stay. It wasn’t a bad thing for us but it was annoying.
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katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,404
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Post by katybee on Mar 7, 2022 11:55:38 GMT
It happened to me with a car rental. Had my reservation for moths, even called to confirm. Get there—No car.  |
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maryannscraps
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,744
Aug 28, 2017 12:51:28 GMT
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Post by maryannscraps on Mar 7, 2022 15:56:38 GMT
So my story goes back about 37 years. Our wedding night, when we left the party, we went to a hotel in Boston around 11pm. We were shown to a conference room with a table and 8 chairs and a couch. The bellhop proudly pushed the table aside, and opened up the couch into a crappy sofa bed. Can you imagine? It got better, because shortly after we got ready for bed, one of the booze cruises docked outside and a giant brawl broke out just outside our window. Must have been a dozen police cars and ambulances show up and we had a ringside seat.
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Post by tealpaperowl on Mar 7, 2022 18:27:01 GMT
Wow thank you all! I didn't know this was a thing - I guess I've been lucky all these past trips. I booked with them, and planned to see about ownership but not now. It wound up costing us an extra $1300 for the week rental at another place, due to it being last minute.
Adding that book to my amazon list too! You pea's know best, I should have asked here BEFORE I booked a resort!
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Post by Susie_Homemaker on Mar 7, 2022 18:30:40 GMT
I’ve yet to try handing a baby brick to a check in agent What does that mean?? |
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Post by cmpeter on Mar 7, 2022 18:52:50 GMT
I’ve heard about hotel reservations being walked, but have not experienced it personally.
I do want to know more about the baby brick thing.
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