Ok here's the situation:
Was to attend a conference in Toronto this coming weekend. Conference cancelled due to
respiratory virus concerns (SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome).
Link - Reuters
Link - Toronto Star
So I call to cancel my hotel reservation, they said I can reserve the room for a later date when the conference is rescheduled.
I am a student and plan to be elsewhere in the year and would not be able to attend the conference.
Their cancellation policy states $50 (Canadian dollars) if cancels > 15 days. Just got noticed of the cancelled conference Wed night when it's supposed to start this coming Saturday. So cancellation policy states in my case then that they will charge 1 night regular rate ($250 Canadian, about $156 US dollars). My rate for 5 nights was around $89 (US) per night. But the regular rate does not appear anywhere on their site until you actually try to book a room, but even then, they do not charge anyone that rate (for example, say I book 1 night (for this coming Fri), without any discounts, etc, they would only charge me $139 (canadian, or $106 US).
They did say on their site that they "On occasion, we will make exceptions to the above rules". They are aware of the conference cancellation by the SARS scare, and their "special" offer was to rebook the room for another date with no penalty, but I won't be able to go later in the year.
I made a special request to plea my case that this was a special circumstance situation (SARS scare, and a major convention was cancelled at the last minute) and that I'm a poor student. Person said she will talk to the manager about it on my behalf.
So my situation: I don't want to be charge $156 US for the room (regular rate), even though it's in their policy, since it was beyond my control that the conference was cancelled due to SARS. BTW, my credit card has already been charged 30 days ago when I made the reservation for almost the full amount of the 5 days (approx 5 x $89 rate). I realize they're losing a lot of business, etc., I would gladly go, but have no business there and don't want to go now w/ the SARS scare (160 estimated infected in Canada, 6 SARS-related deaths in Greater Toronto area; Toronto is the only major site associated with SARS-related death outside of Asia).
If the manager refuse to see my situation, I was planning on disputing the charge thr. my credit card company. Used Amex Blue, I've been good to them over the years and they've been good to me...
What do you think?
Was to attend a conference in Toronto this coming weekend. Conference cancelled due to
respiratory virus concerns (SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome).
Link - Reuters
Link - Toronto Star
So I call to cancel my hotel reservation, they said I can reserve the room for a later date when the conference is rescheduled.
I am a student and plan to be elsewhere in the year and would not be able to attend the conference.
Their cancellation policy states $50 (Canadian dollars) if cancels > 15 days. Just got noticed of the cancelled conference Wed night when it's supposed to start this coming Saturday. So cancellation policy states in my case then that they will charge 1 night regular rate ($250 Canadian, about $156 US dollars). My rate for 5 nights was around $89 (US) per night. But the regular rate does not appear anywhere on their site until you actually try to book a room, but even then, they do not charge anyone that rate (for example, say I book 1 night (for this coming Fri), without any discounts, etc, they would only charge me $139 (canadian, or $106 US).
They did say on their site that they "On occasion, we will make exceptions to the above rules". They are aware of the conference cancellation by the SARS scare, and their "special" offer was to rebook the room for another date with no penalty, but I won't be able to go later in the year.
I made a special request to plea my case that this was a special circumstance situation (SARS scare, and a major convention was cancelled at the last minute) and that I'm a poor student. Person said she will talk to the manager about it on my behalf.
So my situation: I don't want to be charge $156 US for the room (regular rate), even though it's in their policy, since it was beyond my control that the conference was cancelled due to SARS. BTW, my credit card has already been charged 30 days ago when I made the reservation for almost the full amount of the 5 days (approx 5 x $89 rate). I realize they're losing a lot of business, etc., I would gladly go, but have no business there and don't want to go now w/ the SARS scare (160 estimated infected in Canada, 6 SARS-related deaths in Greater Toronto area; Toronto is the only major site associated with SARS-related death outside of Asia).
If the manager refuse to see my situation, I was planning on disputing the charge thr. my credit card company. Used Amex Blue, I've been good to them over the years and they've been good to me...
What do you think?
