No refund for my canceled vacation?

Question: My wife and I booked a long weekend at the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Ariz. We have always enjoyed the service we receive at Marriott properties, so we used the Marriott website to make our lodging arrangements. A link on the Marriott site took us to Marriott Vacations, where we booked a prepaid, three-night stay for $1,041, which we charged to our Visa credit card.

The morning of our departure, our son, who has Down syndrome, woke up with the flu. We can’t leave our son with caregivers when he is sick, so we immediately called the airline and the hotel to cancel our reservations.

The woman who took the call at the hotel canceled the reservation and gave us a contact number for the customer care department to confirm the cancellation. But after two months, the credit did not appear on our Visa card, so I called the hotel.

This started a very long process of several phone calls and hours on the telephone, until I spoke to someone directly in the Marriott corporate accounting department. They informed me that a credit had been issued to Marriott Vacations’ travel agency, and that I needed to contact the agency. I did, but I haven’t heard back from them. Can you help us get our money back? — Kelly Strong, Ames, Iowa

Answer: If Marriott promised you a refund, then you should have received one. I’m not convinced it ever offered one, though.

When you called the hotel to cancel, and it passed you along to Marriott Vacations, someone should have advised you that your hotel room was nonrefundable. So are your airline tickets. Here are Marriott’s terms and conditions.

It’s possible that someone decided to make an exception because of your son’s health, but simply referring you to the refunds department at Marriott Vacations doesn’t mean your refund is a sure thing. (I’m not going to get into the politics of whether this was a Marriott booking or a Marriott Vacations booking, which technically is handled by a third party. As far as you’re concerned, the buck stops with Marriott; and I would agree.)

Marriott Vacations should have recommended travel insurance, particularly since you have a child with special needs. You could have made a claim and received a full refund from your insurance company. At the time I worked on this case, the only mention of insurance on its site was in its terms: “We recommend that you contact an independent insurance carrier to protect your travel investment.”

I hope the representative you spoke with also told you about insurance.

You also spent a lot of time on the phone when you probably would have been better off writing to Marriott with your request. A brief, polite email sent through its main site would have started you down the right road — not to mention saved you lots of time. An email allows you to succinctly state your case and it is easily forwarded to a manager, if your request is rejected the first time.

It was generous of Marriott to offer a full refund of your vacation, but it would have been even more generous if it had actually issued the refund to you. I contacted the company on your behalf. A representative contacted you, apologized for the delay and refunded $1,041 to your Visa card.

(Photo: Shaya/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • http://www.sanibel-rentals.net Sylvia

    Chris to the rescue again. I know it’s been said before, but it’s worth repeating: travel insurance.

    The vacationers were fortunate you interceded, Chris. I think the hotel was totally within its parameters to not issue a refund for a very last minute cancellation.

  • Steve

    I’m glad that Marriott made an exception and I think it’s good customer service…but why would you book a prepaid, nonrefundable trip (especially one as expensive as this one) knowing that something as minor as a case of the flu could derail it? I’m not criticizing the parents for deciding that they needed to skip the trip for their son, but frankly – they weren’t entitled to a refund. Marriott was very nice to accommodate them, but had they held firm I wouldn’t feel any worse about them.

  • John M

    I agree with Steve on this, especially since the difference between refundable and non-refundable stays are frequently less than 20%.

  • http://www.facebook.com/orlandovacations Sheena

    Travel insurance is the one thing you should never forget when travelling. It was nice that Marriott Gave them a great consideration=)

  • Mel

    Once again, people who think that their “special” circumstances should supersede the restrictions they agreed to. Why would people who have a child w/ special needs NOT buy insurance? Oh wait…they probably knew someone would intercede on their behalf… so why bother? It was awesome of Mariott to give them a refund, but the average traveler who cancels and doesn’t know to turn to a “Chris Elliott” would have likely had to swallow the costs of a non-refundable trip.

  • Sarah Di

    If you know that there is a good chance you may have to cancel your hotel/air for whatever reason; you should either never book something nonrefundable, purchase travel insurance or only spend as much on a nonrefundable purchase as you are able to lose (i.e. you are self-insured).

    I completely understand why they had to cancel, but I don’t know if they should have completely expected a refund. It’s one thing to ask and see if the hotel will make an exception, but if not, it’s the hotel’s right to keep the money.

  • Carver

    @John M

    difference between refundable and non-refundable stays are frequently less than 20%.
    ===============================

    That’s generally true for hotels, but not necessarily true for vacation packages, expecially when airfare is part of the package.

  • Charles

    I think Marriott was very nice to refund this package, considering that it was non-refundable. That said, regarding some of the comments about travel insurance and non-refundable stays:

    Travel Insurance is a gamble. We always buy travel insurance when going out of the country, not so much because we’re concerned about losing our money, but out of a real concern about what would happen were we injured or sick and needed evacuation. I don’t think many people realize that that can be a bankruptcy-level expense. In general we don’t buy in the US. TI usually costs about 1/20 of the cost of the trip. So, if you feel you may have a problem no more than one out of 20 trips you are better off without it. Yes, you may eat one trip and that may seem to hurt, but you would have paid as much for the TI. In general, we think our domestic ratio is likely to be something like that and, in fact, has likely surpassed that since we’ve never had an expensive problem before. For international trips we’ve also never made a claim, but losing $3000 is one thing. Losing $100,000 for a medical evacuation is quite another.

    If you book a “vacation” or anything that includes airfare, it will likely be non-refundable. I don’t know that there really is a refundable option much anymore. Just about ever hotel we book has a cancellation option if we book directly and those are usually pretty good (often up to 24 hours before). But, I figure “non-refundable” is really just a fact of life these days other than when you book direct with the hotel.

  • http://www.cutcat.com Regina

    Here we go again…If you book a nonrefundable vacation and don’t buy travel insurance, don’t expect a refund. Whether it was promised or not is almost beside the point. Chris, I love your site and your advice, but please consider not taking on these cases and save your negotiating power for people who really have been wronged.

  • Roger

    I’m suspicious of the line “Our son, who has Down Syndrome”.

    As soon as I read that, I assume the sympathy card is about to be played. In this case, the reason they didn’t go on the vacation was because their son got the flu, which has nothing to do with his Down Syndrome, so why mention it?

    I think you should have declined to get involved simply for the fact that the OP is attempts to play on emotion rather than fact.

    - Roger

  • Raven

    I agree with Roger. Why mention the child’s ailment?? It’s totally not relevant unless she was looking for pity points.

  • Bill

    Shameful.

  • MeanMeosh

    Whoa – it looks like some commenters are jumping to conclusions just a little. The facts as presented don’t indicate that the travelers actually asked for a refund in this case. All Mrs. Strong said was that they called to cancel, and were given a cancellation number for further follow up. The way I’m interpreting this, it sounds like either Marriott implied to them that they were making an exception and would grant a refund, or they provided vague information on whether a refund was due or not. As an aside – I don’t think there’s anything wrong with politely asking for an exception to the rules when canceling, and if Marriott implied that they would grant one, they should pay up promptly.

  • Raven

    @MeanMeosh:
    If the OP had just stated that and left her “son with down’s syndrome” out of it, I would’ve agreed with you. However, I’m sick of people pulling their pity cards on the rest of the public. What does the son have to do with this situation? NOTHING.

  • Carver

    The people that are claiming that the kid’s illness is irrelevant and that the OP is looking for pity points need to read the article closer before becoming so judgmental.

    The OP stated that their son came down with the flu. Because he has Down’s Syndrome they cannot leave him with caregivers. That’s why they had to cancel the trip. This information provides context so that we know that the cancellation wasn’t arbitrary.

    Accordingly, their son’s illness is completely relevant and arguably necessary to the article.

  • Mike Z

    @Carver. Agree completely. The reason for the cancellation is indeed needed to put the cancellation in context. Normally a child with the flu would be no big deal for some people, but a special needs kid that needs medical care might be a completely different problem.

    However, in reading the first few paragraphs again, it shows that originally the hotel never offered a refund and that it was just expected by the OP. Normally even hotel rooms are cancellable 24 hours in advance but this was well within that window. I think that the hotel chain went above and beyond what they needed to do and offered a refund. In my opinion they should not have, and instead just offered a future credit minus any airline fees and a small fee for the paperwork.

  • Carver

    @MikeZ

    In my opinion they should not have, and instead just offered a future credit minus any airline fees and a small fee for the paperwork.
    ——————

    That’s the one place where we disagree. There is something distastefully judgmental about saying that the business was too generous with the OP. Nothwithstanding this snafu, the OP’s happy, the business is happy, at the point, I’m leaving well enough alone.