A man has criticised a booking system at a Worcestershire hotel after an error left him out of pocket and “extremely disappointed”.
Daniel Brown, from Norwich, was travelling to Bewdley when he realised there were no buses running on a Sunday.
He decided to stay overnight at the Travelodge in Kidderminster before resuming his journey the next day.
Mr Brown said he was told by staff that rooms could only be booked online, even though he was already at the hotel.
He said: “I travelled from Norwich as I was going to do the Worcestershire Way. It was a bit ridiculous as I was standing in the hotel reception. I asked if they could just check me into a room, but they said I had to book online.
“There was no reception so I had to use their wi-fi. I l clicked ‘tonight’ when selecting the room dates, but when I went to the desk to check in, they said they couldn’t find the booking and they were actually fully booked for the night.
“The booking system had defaulted to the next available day without me realising, so I’d actually booked the wrong night.”
Mr Brown, who is a bar manager, said staff told him they could not change the booking and advised him to call customer services.
During the call, he was told there was a room available but it was a disabled-access room and would cost an extra £1.
Mr Brown said he was willing to pay the £1, but was told he would also need to pay the £12.50 fee to change the date on the booking.
Daniel Brown has criticised the Travelodge booking system (Image: Supplied)
He said: “I was told that I needed to pay the fee as I’d not selected the amendable option on the booking system. It was ridiculous, why would I select an amendable booking when I was stood in the reception of the hotel I wanted to stay in that night? I had no intention of changing my mind.
“I was speaking to the customer service team on the phone, but we were just going around in circles. It was like banging my head against a wall.
“I was left extremely angry and disappointed with Travelodge and the ridiculous booking system. I think it’s the worst booking system ever.”
Mr Brown said he ended up paying the fee and staying in the hotel as it was 10pm and he was tired from his day of travelling.
He claims he has since tried to get a refund from Travelodge, but it has been refused.
He said: “The whole ordeal lasted about 45 minutes. Travelodge have been completely unhelpful and refuse to give me any compensation. I’m not asking for a full refund as I did stay in the hotel, I just want the booking fee refunded. It’s not a lot but it’s the principal of it.
“I will be purposefully avoiding Travelodge in future.”
A spokesperson for Travelodge said: “We would like to sincerely apologise to Mr Brown for his experience at our Kidderminster hotel.
“We have processed a full refund for his booking, and we hope to welcome him back in the future.”
