A tale of no accommodation
This is more of a personal tale. Before going away it is a good idea to check that your accommodation is booked even if you think you have paid for it. We have used the same booking site for years without issue but one time there was fine print. We had to call A number to confirm the booking but we didn't notice that text that had stated this and missed their email apparently. Companies should at least call as well before giving away accommodation.
The company was not really helpful at first. They kept saying that they would send a key but we then find out four hours after repeatedly contacting them that the accommodation was cancelled. They obviously should have told us that at the beginning. Luckily one room was available late at night at the same hotel, which was an unexpected expense. My sister's friend offered to let us stay but her house was not wheelchair accessible so we would have had to leave the wheelchair at the hotel that we were not staying at. I have trouble sleeping in good circumstances due to pains and looking at a computer screen constantly which keeps me alert. I didn't want to sleep on a floor with who knows what noises around.
The next day my sister's friend visited the booking site's office and got them to relocate us. We were incredibly grateful. In the end the company didn't have to relocate us but did. It is very unfortunate that the company didn't ring us before canceling otherwise the situation could have been avoided and the delay in telling us about the cancelled booking was unacceptable.
The accessibility lessons that should be learned here are: You should at least ring people before doing something significant such as canceling their accommodation. While I personally prefer to be Emailed Email is sometimes not reliable. In this instance I was not the one who booked the apartment so the Email didn't come to me. Some old people are not good at accessing Email so ringing them in addition is a good idea. Finally customers should ring the booker to confirm that everything is OK after the booking is made; ask them when to pay so that is clear.
The third and final lesson is governments should regulate accommodation so a good amount of accessible accommodation is available. In cities other than Auckland it would probably have been impossible if a concert was on and the there were limited options for accommodation that was accessible. They should probably regulate booking companies so that communication is smoother too. This is more of a personal tale. Before going away it is a good idea to check that your accommodation is booked even if you think you have paid for it. We have used the same booking site for years without issue but one time there was fine print. We had to call A number to confirm the booking but we didn't notice that text that had stated this and missed their email apparently. Companies should at least call as well before giving away accommodation.
The company was not really helpful at first. They kept saying that they would send a key but we then find out four hours after repeatedly contacting them that the accommodation was cancelled. They obviously should have told us that at the beginning. Luckily one room was available late at night at the same hotel, which was an unexpected expense. My sister's friend offered to let us stay but her house was not wheelchair accessible so we would have had to leave the wheelchair at the hotel that we were not staying at. I have trouble sleeping in good circumstances due to pains and looking at a computer screen constantly which keeps me alert. I didn't want to sleep on a floor with who knows what noises around.
The next day my sister's friend visited the booking site's office and got them to relocate us. We were incredibly grateful. In the end the company didn't have to relocate us but did. It is very unfortunate that the company didn't ring us before canceling otherwise the situation could have been avoided and the delay in telling us about the cancelled booking was unacceptable.
The accessibility lessons that should be learned here are: You should at least ring people before doing something significant such as canceling their accommodation. While I personally prefer to be Emailed Email is sometimes not reliable. In this instance I was not the one who booked the apartment so the Email didn't come to me. Some old people are not good at accessing Email so ringing them in addition is a good idea. Finally customers should ring the booker to confirm that everything is OK after the booking is made; ask them when to pay so that is clear.
The third and final lesson is governments should regulate accommodation so a good amount of accessible accommodation is available. In cities other than Auckland it would probably have been impossible if a concert was on and the there were limited options for accommodation that was accessible. They should probably regulate booking companies so that communication is smoother too.