# 1800hotels.ie gone bust?



## nic (12 Jul 2010)

I made a booking with 1800hotels on July 3. I received the confirmation email as usual, and the money was taken from my credit card. I arrived at the hotel this afternoon to find there was no longer any reservation for me. GTA Travel, which appeared on the confirmation email, had contacted the hotel on July 10 to cancel the booking. I received no emails about any of this.

The hotel staff were extremely helpful and contacted GTA directly. It turns out that 1800hotels have apparently gone bust. I have no idea if this is true but there's clearly something going on, and I'd advise anyone who has booked through their website to contact the hotel directly to check out whether they do in fact have a reservation.


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## MaryBe (12 Jul 2010)

OMG 1800hotels were always very competetive.  I hope you are wrong - but nothing surprises me now.  It looks like direct bookings with hotels is the route to go (providing the hotel does not go bust)  Did the hotel honour your reservation or do you have to pay again?


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## aristotle (12 Jul 2010)

Hmm, looking ominous. More here... http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66879110

I checked my hotel booking with the hotel and they have no record of it. Money has been taked off the credit card a few weeks ago.

Bit of a disaster.


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## MaryBe (12 Jul 2010)

aristotle said:


> I checked my hotel booking with the hotel and they have no record of it. Money has been taked off the credit card a few weeks ago.
> 
> Bit of a disaster.


Write to your credit card company asking for a refund.  It might just work for you given it is only a couple of weeks since your card was debited.


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## nic (12 Jul 2010)

MaryBM said:


> Did the hotel honour your reservation or do you have to pay again?



The hotel staff were really good to us and gave us a staff rate for the couple of nights. We were lucky that they had rooms available I suppose. Not having received any payment in relation to our reservation they didn't owe us anything but really did the best they could for us. Hopefully we'll manage to get our money back from the credit card company.


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## MaryBe (13 Jul 2010)

How about giving the Hotel name a mention.  Not many hotels would be so accommadating.  Good service deserves a mention!


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## oldnick (13 Jul 2010)

Anyone can set up a website offering worldwide accommodation without any security whatsoever for the client. Yes, chasing up credit card companies may help but if one has paid by Laser, cheque or ,for example, walked into the Clontarf office of 1800 and paid cash then the customer loses .

Its the same with airlines - there is no consumer protection if one books a flight with an airline and the airline goes bust.

Only licensed travel agents in this country offer full protecion. We have to have bonds, audited accounts, government inspections etc, all of which are an expensive drag.
Considering that less than 20% of overseas travel is now booked through travel agents we wonder why accommodation websites, airlines etc are not subject to the same scrutiny as the quickly diminishing number of travel agents (just twenty traditional retail agents left in all of Dublin)

And ,of course, if one gets  really rotten deal on a hotel then at least with a travel agent there is a chance of complaining face-to-face with a human being -and ,it often happens, getting some compensation.

Sorry about the rant.


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## bobalong (13 Jul 2010)

On LIVELINE today ( 13 July 2010 ) - load of people caught out on holiday having to pay ... again. Apparently 1800 had not paid the hotels. Also a load of people with advance bookings having paid in full.

Maybe some return on credit cards?

PLUS go here - www.1800hotels.ie

GONE ....

Cheers
Bob


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## bobalong (13 Jul 2010)

Apparently they based out of Florida USA also at:

http://www.1800hotels.com/

Gone also Im afraid ..

Bob


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## mathepac (13 Jul 2010)

bobalong said:


> Apparently they based out of Florida USA also at:
> 
> http://www.1800hotels.com/
> 
> Gone also Im afraid ..


No, I've just managed to find a hotel-room  in Dublin for one night for two people on 27-28 July 2010 and get as far as the booking form ...


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## Eithneangela (13 Jul 2010)

I assume that means that all related 1800 sites have gone wallop - we've used the car hire loads of times and got really good rates for US car hire.  Real pity if it's gone.


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## PaddyBloggit (14 Jul 2010)

More here:

[broken link removed]


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## SlugBreath (14 Jul 2010)

This is a copy of the DNS information that is freely availalbe on the internet about 1800hotels
Domain name: 1800hotels.com
Registrant Contact:
1800hotels
graham peakin ()
Fax: 
1-2 The Grain Store
Distillery Lofts, Distillery Road
Dublin, 000000
IE
Administrative Contact:
1800hotels
graham peakin (claire@1800hotels.ie)
+353.599183072
Fax: +353.599146329
1-2 The Grain Store
Distillery Lofts, Distillery Road
Dublin, 000000
IE
Creation date: 05 Mar 1998 05:00:00
Expiration date: 04 Mar 2011 05:00:00
domain: 1800hotels.ie
descr: 1800 Hotels Limited
descr: Body Corporate (Ltd,PLC,Company)
descr: Discretionary Name
renewal: 14-April-2011
status: Active
person: Claire McAnaspie
nic-hdl: AAR948-IEDR
source: IEDR


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## franmac (15 Jul 2010)

I booked a hotel in Rome with 1800hotels in May, son getting married there in Sept and yesterday on liveline on rte I heard the news that there were problems.

 Our booking was for two rooms costing approx 11000 which was taken out of the visa account. 

On hearing about the debacle  I rang the hotel involved and they have no record of a booking or even a cancellation of a booking.

Who can advise me


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## salaried (15 Jul 2010)

according to the radio show liveline today they are now bankrupt,you should get your money back as you paid by visa ,can take up to 30 days,from the info i found so far you will need to send them a copy of your print out,but contact your bank first, a few people told me they have already contacted their bank and they will recieve a refund, but having to find another hotel and pay again until your refund comes through is annoying,also avoid roomsnet.com things are a bit shaky there also,i would book directly with hotel,or one of the bigger hotel websites,all is not lost ,its just a glitch in your case.


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## EvilDoctorK (15 Jul 2010)

franmac said:


> Our booking was for two rooms costing approx 11000 which was taken out of the visa account.
> 
> On hearing about the debacle  I rang the hotel involved and they have no record of a booking or even a cancellation of a booking.
> 
> Who can advise me



€11000 for two rooms ..  how long are you staying for ? 

Regardless of the actual amount as you paid with Visa you'll be fine - as salaried says contact your bank - it may take a little while to get refunded but you'll get your money back

The people who could be in trouble are those who paid with Debit Cards or in Cash as you don't have the same protection in such cases.


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## SlugBreath (15 Jul 2010)

Unfortunately this type of thing will put people off booking with similar sites now causing further instability in the market.

If you can close up shop and "disappear" just like that, others will try it on.


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## JP1234 (15 Jul 2010)

Having worked in the accounts section of a hotel who used several of these online booking companies I would always advise against using them. They were always a nightmare to get money out of, generally they won't pay up until after the customer has stayed, one in particular (can't name them obv) would insist we sent an invoice with proof the client stayed then would take up to 3 months to pay up, despite the hotel having a standard 30 day policy. in theory, if  a customer booked on line in January for a stay in July, the hotel may not receive payment until October...

Much better to negoitate direct with the hotel for a good rate and pay when you get there.


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## twofor1 (15 Jul 2010)

I tried a few hotels I liked recently in Portugal, but they were all 30% - 40% dearer direct than the same room with pool view etc booked through Alpharooms.

I went with Alpharooms, paid with a credit card, if anything does go wrong hopefully I can claim on the card.


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## aristotle (16 Jul 2010)

I filled out a credit card charge back form on wednesday with NIB and got refunded yesterday. I rebooked directly with the hotel and it cost about an extra 20 a night but overall I am quite happy with the result. NIB proved great to deal with.


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## vfillafan (16 Jul 2010)

I  had a reservation with 1800hotels.ie for appartments in Ibiza for September 4th -14th. This was paid for by Laser card on May 25th. I contacted the appartments and they had no record of the booking.

Finally I e-mailed hotelbeds in Ibiza who are the bed bank and the advised me that the booking has been cancelled.

Obviously 1800hotels are not paying the bed banks very quickly (judging by our case). I am now left with having to re-book the appartments and I have no idea if I will get my original money back. 

AIB Bank were helpfull and I have completed a form to backcharge the Laser transaction but I am by no means certain of a refund. 

I had no idea that they were not a bonded agent.


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## redwood park (17 Jul 2010)

On Irish Times today that customers of 1800 affected by collapse can rebook with hotels.com with 20% Discount. They must ring 01-6569447 and provide booking ref they had with 1800. Offer valid until July 21st for bookings until 31st Dec.


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## COYW (17 Jul 2010)

I recently had to cancel a booking with these and had a lot of trouble getting my refund back. I must have contacted them on 8 occassions before I got my money back. I got the best satisfaction out of the american branch of their operation.


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## MaryBe (19 Jul 2010)

Does anybody know if any BOI Credit Card customer has received a refund.


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## shrek (19 Jul 2010)

*just returned today from hols only heard the news now*

where do i go from here. I have been away the past 2 weeks on holidays and have not logged onto any of my favourite websites for updates over the hols. So only getting to see read the news now.  Needless to say i am in shock. I had booked accommodation with 1800 in May to stay for 1 week family of four at xmas time in lanzarote. we booked by visa. 
Do I contact our bank or the hotel firstly?
thanks


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## aristotle (19 Jul 2010)

Shrek, first contact the hotel to see if the reservation has been cancelled. If its not then check that the hotel have been paid. More than likely its all cancelled and your credit card has been charged but the hotel didnt get the money. Also check on the 1800 booking email it should state some other company that will actually pay the hotel e.g. travco. Contact them also to see if the reservation has been cancelled.

If so then ring your branch, you will have to go in and fill out a "charge back" form and you will have to supply copies of the bookings and emails etc just as evidence. You will get your money back, I got mine refunded via NIB after 24 hours (with Mastercard).

If rebooking it seems hotels.com are doing some sort of 20% discount on rebookings for 1800 customers, you need your 1800 booking ref. Personally I rebooked directly with the hotel, I think I have had enough of these internet based intermediaries.


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## summerday (19 Jul 2010)

i have booked a hotel with 1800 in jan with visa, what do i do. can I go into NIB too or do i have to be a customer. Also I booked it with my HALIFAX credit card which is cancelled

Any help appreciated


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## aristotle (19 Jul 2010)

For a start you would need to be a customer of NIB to contact them.

Try Halifax.


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## summerday (19 Jul 2010)

I booked hotel with 1800hotels.ie through my HALIFAX debit card. Does anyone know how I can contact Halifax to get my money back


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## franmac (20 Jul 2010)

EvilDoctorK said:


> €11000 for two rooms ..  how long are you staying for ?
> 
> Sorry the actual cost was only 1100euro.   Thanks for your help.


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## oldnick (20 Jul 2010)

summerday -if you used a halifax debit card then i dont think halifax have to give you anything . A debit card is like paying by cash or cheque -unless halifax had some special debit card guarantee system which i doubt.
Only credit cards give you some protection when buying a holiday from an unlicensed supplier of travel services.
Licensed Travel agents give you full protection when buying travel starting from Ireland - no matter how you pay.


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