Scotland closed

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susanm
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Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 1:52 pm
Location: Helensburgh, Scotland
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Scotland closed

Post by susanm »

Today the Scottish Government announced that all accommodation providers must close. I wasn't taking any new bookings anyway but have one coming up that was booked through Booking.com. I need to cancel this booking, but there's nothing in Booking.com's Covid-19 guidance that applies to Scotland (or the UK). Do I just go ahead and cancel the booking?...or do I ask the guest to cancel? I don't want to end up paying the booking.com fee (£232!!).
Andy & Lana
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Location: St Blazey Gate, Cornwall
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Post by Andy & Lana »

From the way it was worded during the press briefing, the First Minister only said "hotels, B&Bs and the like should not be taking bookings", more of a suggestion than instruction.
If it is made official policy and it becomes mandatory to close, then Booking.com (and other OTAs) will have to accept cancellations initiated by you - Booking.com's COVID-19 Force Majeure policy currently does not apply to 'domestic' bookings...
....until then, I'd suggest contacting the guest and inviting them to urgently reconsider their plans - we started doing that last week, and have now extended it to those within the next eight weeks. You can now point out that holiday travel has been officially deemed 'non-essential'...
Took the plunge, bought a guest house!
susanm
Posts: 88
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 1:52 pm
Location: Helensburgh, Scotland
Contact:

Post by susanm »

Whilst that was the wording she used whist specifically talking about hotels, self-catering etc,..she started the press conference with "The advice should not be considered optional – it should be seen instead as a set of rules to be followed".

It isn't a domestic booking - it is someone from Kuwait!

I want to do the right thing and cancel this guest but stuck between a rock and hard place at the moment and the guest isn't replying to my messages (arrival is this friday).
Andy & Lana
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:20 pm
Location: St Blazey Gate, Cornwall
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Post by Andy & Lana »

susanm wrote:Whilst that was the wording she used whist specifically talking about hotels, self-catering etc,..she started the press conference with "The advice should not be considered optional – it should be seen instead as a set of rules to be followed".

It isn't a domestic booking - it is someone from Kuwait!

I want to do the right thing and cancel this guest but stuck between a rock and hard place at the moment and the guest isn't replying to my messages (arrival is this friday).
It is now official - we are all ordered closed, effective immediately, so booking.com have no option but to let you cancel the booking:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... inalVF.pdf
Took the plunge, bought a guest house!
susanm
Posts: 88
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 1:52 pm
Location: Helensburgh, Scotland
Contact:

Post by susanm »

It has been official in Scotland for 2 days now. Surprisingly Booking.com cancelled the booking very quickly after I contacted them- I expected them to be unable to cope with the volume of enquiries but it only took an hour or two.
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