Did Hojos Cancellation Policy Change?

[disney-super-mom]

I like the change fee idea. I wouldn't make it non-changeable at 30 days though. As I said, I usually can't be sure until a few weeks before, so even that would leave me out in the cold.

I sure hope Hojo management considers modifying their policy. It's clear that the new policy will leave a lot of us out. There are a lot of very loyal customers here that will be forced to look elsewhere. A change fee is a very reasonable compromise.

-Bob

Maybe something like charging a $20 fee for changes/cancellations made more than 30 days out, and charging a $30 fee plus one night's lodging for cancellations made 30 days out or less.

I don't know....something like that.

The NO changes/cancellation policy just seems so extreme. HOJO should implement something (like a fee) that will discourage people from making a bunch of Retro Rate reservations and then just sitting on them, yet at the same time still allow people to be able to make changes/cancellations when absolutely necessary without being on the hook for the entire cost of the reservation.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

What date did this become effective? How do we know if our reservations are effected?

 

[lillybug]

If I read this right, I think it sounds like a good thing for a lot of people. If people are prevented from scooping up a large number of dates very far in advance, it should leave dates that are available for people who are booking on a short time frame. So, just book at regular rate and hopefully the ET rate will be available when you feel like you can confirm your stay. If not, no penalty for canceling

 

[Kayla's Mom]

What date did this become effective? How do we know if our reservations are effected?

Not sure of the exact date, but I made reservations on Jan. 18th and it wasn't in effect then. To double check my reservations (I booked online) I went to their site and pulled up my reservation with my confirmation number and name. The cancellation policy is on that.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

If I read this right, I think it sounds like a good thing for a lot of people. If people are prevented from scooping up a large number of dates very far in advance, it should leave dates that are available for people who are booking on a short time frame. So, just book at regular rate and hopefully the ET rate will be available when you feel like you can confirm your stay. If not, no penalty for canceling

Ah, good point. Maybe if enough people are skittish like me about this new policy, the hotel's bookings will stay so low that I can just book a couple days before going down and there will still be ET/AP rates available. But then I'd feel bad that I had been squatting on the good rates I was getting from whatever hotel I already booked with 3, 6, or 9 months in advance.

Oh well. Like I said before, I hardly ever cancel my reservations with Hojo or anyone, so I don't even know how to rate squat, but this still makes me nervous. And what if I want/need to add or drop a day. Just seems that a more moderate solution would be nice. While I won't stop liking Hojos and keeping my eye on their rates, they won't necessarily be my absolute go-to place every time now.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I'm pretty sure all my reservations were made prior to that so hopefully we are safe. I e-mailed the reservation desk to be sure.

Thanks!

 

[disneydreamerbelle]

This is too bad. I can see why they did it, however it was one of things that we liked about the hotel. We loved that we had flexibility in case there was a storm coming that would make our drive down too risky. I guess we will be finding a new alternative or just booking at the regular rate so we have flexibility and then hoping that there are still the rates available when we arrive. Thankfully our three trips for this year were booked before the policy took effect.

 

[Sherry E]

Ah, good point. Maybe if enough people are skittish like me about this new policy, the hotel's bookings will stay so low that I can just book a couple days before going down and there will still be ET/AP rates available. But then I'd feel bad that I had been squatting on the good rates I was getting from whatever hotel I already booked with 3, 6, or 9 months in advance.

Oh well. Like I said before, I hardly ever cancel my reservations with Hojo or anyone, so I don't even know how to rate squat, but this still makes me nervous. And what if I want/need to add or drop a day. Just seems that a more moderate solution would be nice. While I won't stop liking Hojos and keeping my eye on their rates, they won't necessarily be my absolute go-to place every time now.

I do agree. While I can understand where HoJo's is coming from, business-wise - because they are so enormously popular now and there are probably tons of "squatters" holding rooms all year long who never ultimately use them - it does seem like they took an extreme route very fast, like from 0-100 overnight. It seems like there could have been ways to start making the policy a bit more stringent and squat-proof while still allowing people a teeny bit of wiggle room. A happy medium, in other words.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Just got this e-mailed from Desi at HOJO:

Hi Kim,
We are sorry to worry you, but your reservations will not be affected by the change. If you were to book after February 1st then you would not be allowed to cancel if you used the entertainment rate, but because you booked prior to that you still have the 48 hour cancellation policy.
Thank you,
Desi

 

[chrissiecutie]

A former hotel mgr and director of guest services, this policy makes NO sense! Hojo's is "cutting off it's nose, to save it's face" so to speak! By providing poor customer service to those of us who plan in advance and "try" to take advantage of the ET rate (ie. The squatters) just so they can provide "better" service to the others who don't?? Wow! Such poor business and customer service sense!

Here's what I would do...implement a change poliy AND fee. I think it's safe to say that we "get" why hojo's feels the need to make a change. But that doesn't mean they've gone about it correctly. I called and made a changed just yesterday and was NEVER told of this new policy! Another big mistake for a hotel that is usually right on target.

So when making a ET rate reservation, guests should be TOLD of this policy eiher online or via phone BEFORE booking. I agree with a NO cancellation on these special rates but there most definately SHOULD be a change policy. At the very least hojo's should allow you to make changes at NO additional fee. We all grab up those excellent rates and as we get closer hope we can make those dates work with airlines, school, work schedules etc. But c'mon Hojo! It's not always possible to have NO changes. So I vote for a 48 hour change policy at NO charge. I also say Hojos should have a cancellation policy but by adding a small fee (some hotels it's equal to 1 nights stay) that may help relieve some of their issues with "squatters"

go back to the drawing board on this one Hojos...2 thumbs down!

 

[gapoochi]

SOOOO glad I booked our rooms last week! I have to cancel one night on either end of the trip (airlines and work schedules didn't mesh) so I'm glad I still have that option.

 

[abouley]

I just talked a friend of mine into their first Disney Trip as a family and gave her all the info to get the good rate at Hojo's. She pointed out the no cancellation policy to me and I was so upset. We are planning our trip for November (10 months out) and a lot of things can change by then so we can't commit to a no cancellation policy. Maybe we'll get lucky and 3-4 months out we'll stil be able to get the entertainment rate, but we can't count on it so I'll start shopping around for other hotels.

This policy needs to change or we won't be staying at Hojo's anymore and I certainly won't be suggesting it to my friends. I understand preventing people from hoarding dates and not allowing cancellations quite so last minute but not at all makes it no longer my preferred hotel.

 

[dalepool]

I am trying to make this "new cancel fee" workable for me.

I suppose I can make a reservation, as I usually do, using the regular rates. Then get vacation time ok'd and airfare booked . Keep an eye out for ET rate and switch over regular reservation to the ET rate. If I understand the rules there will be no fee for canceling a regular rate reservation.

I always knew this new cancel fee would come up. So many times I would see posts from people that had an entertainment rate saved but were going to cancel if they could get an AP rate or a special rate at one of the Disney Hotels.

I am well aware that some may think I was wrong securing 1-2 days either side of reservation for the purpose of timing room, air, and vacation time. I hope HOJO will change the policy to where you have 14 days to cancel no fee to give people like me planning time. They might also say it must be done 30 days before arrival. Knowing how HOJO Anaheim always takes care of its guests, I am sure they are even now, looking at this policy and making sure they are happy with the new restrictions.

A HOJO Fan

Patty

 

[NewbieMouse]

Just got this e-mailed from Desi at HOJO:

Hi Kim,
We are sorry to worry you, but your reservations will not be affected by the change. If you were to book after February 1st then you would not be allowed to cancel if you used the entertainment rate, but because you booked prior to that you still have the 48 hour cancellation policy.
Thank you,
Desi

I just talked a friend of mine into their first Disney Trip as a family and gave her all the info to get the good rate at Hojo's. She pointed out the no cancellation policy to me and I was so upset. We are planning our trip for November (10 months out) and a lot of things can change by then so we can't commit to a no cancellation policy. Maybe we'll get lucky and 3-4 months out we'll stil be able to get the entertainment rate, but we can't count on it so I'll start shopping around for other hotels.

This policy needs to change or we won't be staying at Hojo's anymore and I certainly won't be suggesting it to my friends. I understand preventing people from hoarding dates and not allowing cancellations quite so last minute but not at all makes it no longer my preferred hotel.

Looks like if you book before February 1st you will still be on the old policy terms - maybe you could do that?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I always knew this new cancel fee would come up. So many times I would see posts from people that had an entertainment rate saved but were going to cancel if they could get an AP rate or a special rate at one of the Disney Hotels.

So weird to me. It's when I do have the entertainment rate booked that I wouldn't trade for any other hotel or rate. If I can stay at Hojos, a hotel my whole family loves and feels comfortable at, for $69 (deluxe) or $99 (kid suite) per night, how can I possibly justify to myself or DH spending more money to stay anywhere else (even a Disney hotel) just because they're offering a special? The time we did try the Disneyland Hotel was specifically because the cheapest Hojo rates were over $100 per night even for standard and with a discount, so we decided if we were going to spend that much anyway, let's make it big and try something we wouldn't otherwise do.

My objection to the non-refundable policy is the apparent complete inflexibility (what if I need to add a day or two to an existing reservation? drop a day? make a change to a trip planned for six months out?) and my fears that real life might interfere with my Disney life necessitating some unexpected change. Mind you, I'm a person who has never canceled a hotel reservation closer to the arrival date than one month out, and not very often either, but stuff happens, and you never know what you might need to do.

 

[GrandBob]

Looks like if you book before February 1st you will still be on the old policy terms - maybe you could do that?

I just plugged my Nov dates into their website, put in the LKEP code, and got rate quotes with the following disclaimer:

Cancellation Policy: There will be no credit or refund for early departures, cancellations, no shows, or changes in your reservation for any reason. Guests will not receive any refund or credit.

It looks like, despite the email reported above, that the new cancellation policy is already in effect.

-Bob

ETA - And again it added a day to those that I had requested, just as longtimedisneylurker pointed out in an post #16. Be careful out there, folks. This bug, together with the new, completely inflexible change policy, could cost you money!

 

[Mom2Joce]

Wow...tough crowd!!! I would never say that I'm not going to book with HOJO ever again because of this policy...no matter how much I don't like it...sheesh!! I will just plan my trips accordingly!!

 

[toocherie]

Ok, here's the deal:

Due to the high demand of our "Retro Discount" we have implemented a non cancelable/non changeable policy on these reservations to prevent "date squatting" by making multiple tentative reservations.​

Basically, we're finding that some folks were "squatting" on a bunch of dates and snatching them up as soon as they were posted. This makes the dates unavailable to other AP/ET members, and we were ending up with too many last-minute cancellations. The rates are still available; we just want to limit this great deal to those who sincerely plan to use it!

Any reservations made prior to this implementation are exempt from the policy.

Jonathan, GM

Please keep in mind this policy is ONLY for the special AP/ET "Retro Rate". Our standard 48 hour cancellation policy remains intact for all other reservations.

Although I absolutely understand the reasoning for a change in policy, it seems just a little itty-bit extreme.

Why not implement something like a cancellation/change *fee* (like a $15 or $20 fee for example) for all AP/ET Retro Rate cancellations/changes made more than 30 days out, and then implement a non-cancellation/change policy for reservations 30 days out or less.

Maybe something like charging a $20 fee for changes/cancellations made more than 30 days out, and charging a $30 fee plus one night's lodging for cancellations made 30 days out or less.

I also think this policy change is over the top. Even Disney has a five day cancellation policy. I think Capri's idea sounds like a good compromise--Hojo you really need to re-visit this change.

 

[TiggerCat]

The policy makes perfect sense to me. This is no different than an "Advance Puchase" rate offered by most mainstream hotels. You get a great rate but it is non-refundable. That's the trade off. Let's face it, there are a large number of people out there who hoard dates and cancel at the last minute. This makes it difficult for the hotel to fill leaving them with a lower occupancy rate and lower profits. I'm betting that HOJOs will have no problem selling those discounted nights regardless of how many people say they won't go back.

TC.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I'm betting that HOJOs will have no problem selling those discounted nights regardless of how many people say they won't go back.

TC.

I don't know... I think HOJO gets A LOT of business by positive word of mouth from THIS board. Sounds like there are a lot of unhappy people.