Right state, wrong Ramada

Question: I made a huge error when I was making a reservation through Ramada Inn’s Web site, and I need your help fixing it.

I was traveling for business to a military base in Enid, Okla. I had just booked my flight reservations to Oklahoma City, which is the closest airport.

I knew that I wanted to stay at a Ramada Inn, but when I searched for the property, I accidentally typed the airport code for Oklahoma City — OKC — and ended up reserving a nonrefundable room near the airport, which is 1-1/2 hours away from the base.

After I got the confirmation, I noticed what I had done. So I called the hotel to correct the error. I told them I needed to stay at their hotel in Enid, not Oklahoma City.

They told me I could not cancel this prepaid reservation because it was some kind of cheap, online, nonrefundable rate. I was transferred to the customer service department, but they told me they couldn’t do anything either. Am I stuck with this room? — Donald Johnson, San Antonio, Texas

Answer: In a word, yes. You clicked on the hotel’s Web site and booked a nonrefundable room. Rules are rules.

But that doesn’t mean you’re out of options. I think you had a reasonably good case for asking Ramada to at least transfer your reservation — with any applicable rate difference — to the Enid property. But calling the company isn’t the best way to get its attention.

A brief, polite e-mail is far more effective. I would start by sending a note through its online form. Here’s the link.

If that doesn’t work, try a written appeal to the general manager of the Ramada in Oklahoma City. It’s pretty easy to find the manager’s address, either by calling the hotel or by running a quick online search. (Here’s a tip: most addresses at Ramada follow the convention of firstname.lastname(at)wyndhamworldwide.com).

Why not a phone call? Because the written word is easier to track and harder to ignore.

I tried to duplicate your erroneous reservation, and I couldn’t. In order to book a nonrefundable rate at the Oklahoma City airport property, you would have had to gloss over the hotel names and locations and ignore important rate information. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but you might have been in a real hurry when you made your reservation.

At the same time, I think Ramada’s site could stand to be a little clearer when it comes to its rate restrictions. I pulled up several quotes, and I was never entirely sure if the rate was refundable or not. To be fair, I didn’t follow the booking through until the end, because I didn’t want to end up like you — stuck with a room that I didn’t want.

But my point is, I think the site can be improved. That, plus your willingness to make a booking at the Enid property, should have given you a relatively strong case. I think a written request would have done the trick.

Next time, either slow down when you’re booking a hotel or use a travel agent. A qualified travel counselor knows the difference between Oklahoma City and Enid, and can make sure you’re staying at the right hotel for the right price.

I contacted Ramada Inn on your behalf and it refunded your first reservation.

  • Carver Farrow

    I’vedone that by accident. I have found that being open and upfront and letting them know that you consider it a favor if they made the change often helps. I also found that being a member of the hotel’s loyalty program really helps.

  • Charles Lichtenwalner

    I often use hotel websites to book rooms and usually find that the rates for nonrefundable reservations are markedly lower than any other “deal”. That said, it behooves one to ensure that the room will be utilized as per the reservation. I recently booked a room at the Charles De Gaulle Airport Hilton and the advance purchase nonrefundable rate was about $130.00 or less than the not-as-convenient, poorly-rated Holiday Inn nearby. I’m counting on being able to use the room and if a tagedy occurs to preclude my staying there. I’m probably out the money but I figure I have a 99.9% chance of saving real dollars with the rate.

  • Carrie Charney

    When I book through the hotel website, I never take the cheapest nonrefundable room, just in case. The exception is when I am staying at a hotel for a day or two before meeting a group tour, usually out of the U.S.. Then, I include it in my trip insurance policy.

  • Aaron

    Chris, I need to disagree here.

    The advanced purchase (often cheapest) rates are always very clearly listed as nonrefundable. If one is going to book one of these rates, they need to be certain that it is indeed the property and rate they want.

    As such, I never book the advanced purchase rate. I want the ability to rate shop if the rate drops.

  • Chicky

    I’ve found the online, N/R rates are usually best for last-minute travel. If my hubby and I want to head up to Nashville, for instance, on a Friday evening and decide we want to do it Friday afternoon, then the N/R rate is usually the best deal going. We’re pretty well certain we’re going to use the room and it has always worked for us. However, ALWAYS call the property directly to make sure they have your room booked. Learned that on this Web site. LOL.

    At any rate, I’m glad Mr. Johnson was able to get this resolved in his favor.

  • Jennifer (the other one)

    It was nice of them to let him change it, but really… everyone should know to double-check names, dates, and places for non-refundable reservations.

  • Dave

    I booked a flight with Frontier (nonrefundable, obviously) and got am/pm confused. I realized my error within minutes and called them, confessing my error and asking for help. They quickly fixed it, changing the reservation to another flight which was the same price. I wish they would use the 24 hour clock when listing flights! I also resolve to be more careful!

  • Geoff

    If you are acting as your own travel agent, then you are responsible for the errors that you make. Our office would have charged you $30.00 to get the exact same rates and would be responsible if we sold the wrong property. As they say “a lawyer that represents himself has a fool for a client” the same applies for traveling

  • Jennifer

    Geoff, I understand when travel agents are necessary, but for a couple nights’ stay in a U.S. hotel? Absolutely in no circumstances would I hire a travel agent to do a booking I can easily do myself in 5 minutes or less. $30 is $30 especially when the room rate is $75 or $100 a night. I understand your need for work, but sorry, no way in this situation. And I’m not a fool.

    I would also agree that a person needs to recheck and recheck their reservation to make sure it’s correct before they hit the “confirm” button.

  • Nigel Appleby

    Last August we flew to England with Zoom airlines who promptly stopped operating 2 days later. For my return I had booked a room at Gatwick’s Hilton Hotel because Zoom flew from Gatwick to Vancouver. I had to rebook my flight with British Airways who had a special for stranded Zoom passengers and who fly from Heathrow. I tride to change my booking from the Gatwick Hilton to Heathrow’s. No was the firm reply because my booking was non-refundable; I even tried the Zoom sob-story! In the end it was cheaper to use the shuttle bus to Gatwick and return to Heathrow. Fortunately I had the time. I certainly never expected that I would want to change hotels but it was ok in the end. By the way my wife was to fly back from Belfast, which is one reason we flew Zoom – they were the only airline which had a direct service Belfast to Vancouver, BC. So she had to terminals at Heathrow. Not the funnest thing in the world.

  • Mike

    I understand the need for hotels to have non refundable clauses, but as we all know anything binding can be changed when all parties agree to the change. For a hotel to not change an obvious mistake within minutes of the booking is wrong if you ask me. I could see if it were booked two weeks before and only the night before he was to arrive the problem was noticed. This was not the case. Shame on Ramada for allowing a dumb policy to override good customer service.