When guests leave early

Where do you stand if your guests decide to leave part way through a booking? Solicitor Michael Gwilliam shines some legal light on this grey area

The problem

A party of tourists booked four rooms for three nights in peak season. After staying one night they said they would be leaving, as the beds were too small and the rooms were too hot. Our tariff states that deposits are non-refundable in the event of cancellation, but no mention is made of early departures or late cancellations. This very late cancellation of four rooms has left us seriously out of pocket. Are we legally entitled to request the cost of their stay less meals not taken?

The law

This is a question of contract law. The contract here is simple: you have offered to supply accommodation for three nights at a certain price; the tourists have agreed to pay the price offered in return for accommodation.

The booking is bound by written and implied contractual terms. You will know your written terms as your "tariff" or "booking conditions". In addition to those written terms you may have made certain promises to customers via your website, brochure or other literature, or even verbally. For example, if you advertise enormous beds, then those features will form part of your customers' reasonable expectation and, therefore, part of the contract. They are known as implied terms to the contract and are binding on both parties.

Expert advice

Provided that you meet the promised standard of accommodation you will have fulfilled your side of the contract and should, therefore, be entitled to request the full price of the customers' holiday.

However, if you have failed to provide accommodation of the standard promised, and the customers' complaint is reasonable, the customer might have good grounds to check out early and, in extreme circumstances, even request a refund for time stayed.

The question of reasonableness is the central issue here, and it will determine whether or not you will be entitled to demand the full cost of the booking. Both parties' actions, which include customers giving you the opportunity to rectify any problems, must be considered against this test of reasonableness in determining who is right and who is wrong.

In the current scenario, even without a specific term in your booking conditions, it seems likely that you will be able to request the inclusive price of the booking. The complaints about the beds and the room temperature appear to be relatively trivial and it is probably unreasonable for them to depart early. However, if the beds were significantly below standard size, or if the rooms were so hot as to be truly uncomfortable (and nothing could have been done about it), then their decision to leave would be reasonable and you would have no right to demand that they pay up.

Check list

• Do you have a clause within your terms and conditions that provides for payment of accommodation in the event of early departure?

• Place your terms and conditions in a place where the customer can read them before they enter into the contract. For example, if customers book online, design your website so that they read and accept your booking conditions before the reservation is finalised. If the reservation is made over the telephone, notify the customer that it is made subject to your booking conditions and make sure you send them a copy. The booking conditions should be set out on the back of a payment invoice and/or confirmation of the booking.

• Consider asking for full payment upon arrival. It is much better for you to decide to refund a customer than chase due payments after the event.

• Check your website, brochure and literature to ensure that they accurately reflect the accommodation on offer. Do not verbally misrepresent your facilities.

• As a matter of custom, have you previously allowed customers to depart early without full payment? If so, regular customers may have good grounds to rely upon this in future. Alert customers to the change in procedures.

• Ask customers to refer any matters of complaint to you so that you can try to resolve the problem.

Beware!

Ensure that your property and all advertised facilities reflect what is advertised - otherwise you may have no redress.

Contact

mjg@vizardswyeth.com