In Reply to: Over-booking advice? posted by glm on Saturday, 27. September 2008 at 21:06 Bali Time:
who causes the problem. its the hotel.
i work in the tourism industry in bali now. i dont work in a hotel, i work for a ground operator here. about 3 weeks ago i warned my biggest client that a major hotel (not the jayakarta) was overbooked by 70 rooms (last report was 'down' to about 40). since then, i have heard about jayakarta and another big hotel in sanur who is around 100 over booked. there are many more.
my client has been on to most of the hotels about this since i advised them of the problem. hotels are doing all they can to place people but it is proving to be difficult.
if this happens, you can complain to your agent, but its USUALLY the hotel who is at fault. your agent will then pass on the complaint to their wholesaler, who will then pass it on to the hotel. the process is not fast, but it will certainly work in your favour in the long run. you will not be able to get any kind of refund on the ground here in bali. any refund will need to be done through your travel agent.
ground operators here are working with the travel agents association and the hotels association to try to stop this over booking practice. it is a serious problem and one that has to stop.
if you do find yourself in that situation, all i can do is ask you to be patient and try to not lose your cool with the staff trying to help you. its not the guides fault, its not your drivers fault, nor the person on the front desk. these people are under a lot of stress at the moment they really are doing their best to help you.
the first thing you should do is accept the offer that the hotel makes to you. getting angry about it wont make a room appear out of nowhere. remember, you MAY only be displaced for a day or two.
if you have come over via a big agent such as garuda orient or flight centre, you should have a 24 hour contact number in australia that you can call to get assistance. that should be your next step. call them and let them know what has happened.
the main thing to remember is that you are on holidays, and you are in bali! even though it may not be the perfect start to your holiday, you are still on the island of the gods and people are doing all that they can to help you.
we are on YOUR side.