Hi – I’ve recently made what I thought was an enquiry to book a guest house in the Japanese countryside. The website was a bit confusing and only half translated for me so I did a bit of guess work.
I put in the dates I wanted to book and asked if there was availability.
I didn’t receive any response so ended up booking somewhere else. Yesterday I got an email saying they are expecting me the next day and when I tried to explain that I didn’t get a reply so have booked somewhere else they are insisting I pay the full amount plus more (because on their website the cancellation policy states this it it’s within a day of the stay).
I feel really bad for the owners that this happened and would happily pay a fee to compensate them – the full amount is really a lot of money though. I don’t understand why they have booked me in when they didn’t receive any word back to confirm.
Unfortunately the confirmation from them went to my junk mail.
I really can’t afford to pay this now but they are persistently emailing with bank details and saying they will get the police involved if I don’t pay.
Any advice? I know it’s a bit of me being in the wrong not understanding the translation on the website but also it seems strange to confirm a stay for someone without having any further contact and then only when it’s the day before to get in touch?
9 comments
No it’s not strange and quite common if you book through their website.
They sent you a confirmation. You’re the one who missed it…
I see nothing especially strange from their part, I have booked places via e-mail and they just replied with the confirmation, they are just nice by sending a reminder.
That kind of cancellation policy is also not unusual.
It is pretty much on you for missing their confirmation/not checking junk mail and not understand the cancellation policy.
The only misunderstanding I see is if you only wanted to know if it was available and did not ask to book. And that might have been lost in translation.
Cancel with the 2nd one and just stay in the first one that was booked
It’s quite common for emails from hotels to be diverted to junk mail. Consider this an expensive lesson learned, and don’t be a jerk to this business – you are liable for whatever payment you agreed to per their terms and conditions.
How much are you talking about?
Yeah definately – I’m sure it is. I think today has just been tough as I’m off the beaten path so felt very stressed by the situation. Thanks for commenting – will have to work out how to pay the Japanese bank account. Does anyone have a recommendation for ways to do this or do I need an IBAN number?
I mean. Obviously I think you should pay it since to me it sounds like you made the mistake. They did their part.
I don’t know if you live here or not?
If you don’t, just don’t pay it if you don’t want to I guess. Not that much they can do.
You received confirmation, but it went to your junk mail. Why do you keep saying you received no confirmation? This is all on you and you are on the hook for the cost of cancellation. If you stiff the hotel, they will, no doubt, complain to the government and you may have no end of problems being in Japan.
>The website was a bit confusing and only half translated for me so I did a bit of guess work.
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>Unfortunately the confirmation from them went to my junk mail.
This is purely on you.
If you didn’t fully understand the website, why continue with the booking?
It’s on you to continuously check you junk mail.
It sounds like you’ve also lied to them. You tell them you didn’t receive a confirmation but state that it was in your junk mail.
Pay up.
This will just make things worse for other non-Japanese travellers. There are already places who refuse service to non-Japanese. Your act of non-paying is just confirming their pre-conceived thoughts.
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>I know it’s a bit of me being in the wrong not understanding the translation on the website but also it seems strange to confirm a stay for someone without having any further contact and then only when it’s the day before to get in touch?
This is all on you, not a “bit”.
It is not strange for them to not having further contact after they already did confirm. And, anyway, they did have further contact, they sent a reminder – an email saying they are expecting you. This is standard with western hotels. It’ might be an email or text message.
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>It’s £230 which at this point is a lot for me as I’ve saved up for this trip and spending every last penny.
Always carry/have in the bank spare money in case of emergencies. It sounds like you weren’t ready for this trip if you don’t have any reserve currrency. Y