e2e4 Buxton Congress : 29 June - 1 July 2012

[Sean Hewitt]

We travel for the first time to Buxton's Palace Hotel, situated within 5 acres of grounds in the beautiful spa town of Buxton on the edge of the Peak District National Park.



The hotel is beautiful, Buxton is beautiful. We hope the weather will be beautiful! What more could you want?

Oh yes - some chess! Well, there will be three 5 round sections, with the Open and Major FIDE rated. The Open is a FIDE rated swiss, open to all players ; the Major is also FIDE rated and open to players rated below 1950 (or graded below 165 if unrated) with the Minor open to players with an ECF grade below 135.

As usual, we have great rates for guests staying at the hotel and of course there is discounted entry for those who staying. So why not get your entry in today?

http://www.e2e4.org.uk/buxton

[Sean Hewitt]

With two weeks to go to this event, we've sold out of bedrooms now but there is still room for players so you can still enter.

For those wanting to stay in Buxton, further acomodation details can be found at http://www.laterooms.com/en/k16282104_b ... otels.aspx

[Carol Williams]

Not at all happy that our reservation which we booked and had confirmed in May at the hotel has been cancelled today just because we didn't book it through e2e4. Have booked direct with other hotels before (for very good reasons) so why the problem now? Nothing on the e2e4 website states you have to book through them.

[Alan Walton]

Not at all happy that our reservation which we booked and had confirmed in May at the hotel has been cancelled today just because we didn't book it through e2e4. Have booked direct with other hotels before (for very good reasons) so why the problem now? Nothing on the e2e4 website states you have to book through them.

I had a similar mail this morning saying my room on Saturday was cancelled and they put me in another hotel 30-40 mins away (no good considering I am not driving), and I think once they realized I booked through the website (I was actually the first as well) they said there wasn't a problem, I had a small panic for 15 mins before they emailled back, where I actually told Sean I would withdraw if this was the case

[Carol Williams]

Not at all happy that our reservation which we booked and had confirmed in May at the hotel has been cancelled today just because we didn't book it through e2e4. Have booked direct with other hotels before (for very good reasons) so why the problem now? Nothing on the e2e4 website states you have to book through them.

I had a similar mail this morning saying my room on Saturday was cancelled and they put me in another hotel 30-40 mins away (no good considering I am not driving), and I think once they realized I booked through the website (I was actually the first as well) they said there wasn't a problem, I had a small panic for 15 mins before they emailled back, where I actually told Sean I would withdraw if this was the case

Glad you got it sorted Alan.

My panic lasted a bit longer (and I had to come home from work to try and resolve) as at first we were offered nothing and no word from Sean. We are now booked in 30 minutes drive away but as my son and husband don't drive still have a bit of a logistical issue, perhaps we should have told Sean we would withdraw. Still really unhappy and will seriously think about playing in future e2e4 events if a confirmation hotel booking can be cancelled like this

[Sean Hewitt]

Not at all happy that our reservation which we booked and had confirmed in May at the hotel has been cancelled today just because we didn't book it through e2e4. Have booked direct with other hotels before (for very good reasons) so why the problem now? Nothing on the e2e4 website states you have to book through them.

You don't have to book through e2e4 - everybody is free to book into any hotel they wish whether it is with us or not at any rate and terms that they can agree privately. The vast majority of players staying over do book their hotel room via e2e4, but that is their choice.

The e2e4 website does not say that you have to book through e2e4 because you don't have to. It is implied that to get the discounted rate you need to book through us (we say that the discount is available only to those who book through us, and we say that you can book a room via your online entry, ringing our reservation line or emailing us). However, I will change this to make it explicit in future.

At each event we agree to take a certain number of rooms from each hotel at an agreed rate. If someone wants one of our rooms at our rate then it must be reserved through us so that we can allocate one of our rooms to you. If it was done another way then we would have no idea if we had any rooms left to allocate or not. When we confirmed the e2e4 rooming list to the hotel in Buxton you were not on the list because you had not booked with us (I had no idea that you had booked with the hotel). My guess, if you have done this before, is that other hotels had room to accommodate you and fitted you in. On this occasion the hotel is absolutely full and there are no spare rooms. I am aware that the hotel has had to move some guests (both in the chess group and another group) to a sister hotel as a system glitch at their end created some double bookings. They have also had to cancel some bookings completely.

I'm sorry that you have had this experience with the private booking that you have made direct with the hotel. The first I knew of this matter was when I read your post on the ECForum. I have checked my email and don't seem to have received anything from you on this subject.

Of course, if you would prefer to withdraw just let me know and I will make a full refund of your entry fee.

[Carol Williams]

Not at all happy that our reservation which we booked and had confirmed in May at the hotel has been cancelled today just because we didn't book it through e2e4. Have booked direct with other hotels before (for very good reasons) so why the problem now? Nothing on the e2e4 website states you have to book through them.

You don't have to book through e2e4 - everybody is free to book into any hotel they wish whether it is with us or not at any rate and terms that they can agree privately. The vast majority of players staying over do book their hotel room via e2e4, but that is their choice.

The e2e4 website does not say that you have to book through e2e4 because you don't have to. It is implied that to get the discounted rate you need to book through us (we say that the discount is available only to those who book through us, and we say that you can book a room via your online entry, ringing our reservation line or emailing us). However, I will change this to make it explicit in future.

At each event we agree to take a certain number of rooms from each hotel at an agreed rate. If someone wants one of our rooms at our rate then it must be reserved through us so that we can allocate one of our rooms to you. If it was done another way then we would have no idea if we had any rooms left to allocate or not. When we confirmed the e2e4 rooming list to the hotel in Buxton you were not on the list because you had not booked with us (I had no idea that you had booked with the hotel). My guess, if you have done this before, is that other hotels had room to accommodate you and fitted you in. On this occasion the hotel is absolutely full and there are no spare rooms. I am aware that the hotel has had to move some guests (both in the chess group and another group) to a sister hotel as a system glitch at their end created some double bookings. They have also had to cancel some bookings completely.

I'm sorry that you have had this experience with the private booking that you have made direct with the hotel. The first I knew of this matter was when I read your post on the ECForum. I have checked my email and don't seem to have received anything from you on this subject.

Of course, if you would prefer to withdraw just let me know and I will make a full refund of your entry fee.

Sean - I don't actually care whether we got the discounted rate or not - we told the hotel when we booked that we were coming to play in the tournament and they gave a price which turns out to be the discounted rate and was confirmed in writing.

There appears to be some confusion over when you knew of this matter as I have an email from Anthony Cleckner at 10.36 this morning stating that he has spoken to you Perhaps you could clarify

[Andrew Camp]

We received an email saying they had made a mistake and that we would have to go to another hotel on Saturday night.

Shortly afterwards, we received a second email saying they were mistaken about their mistake and that we could in fact stay.

I think we'll give e2e4 events a miss in the future.

[Sean Hewitt]

We received an email saying they had made a mistake and that we would have to go to another hotel on Saturday night.

Shortly afterwards, we received a second email saying they were mistaken about their mistake and that we could in fact stay.

I think we'll give e2e4 events a miss in the future.

Andrew - no problem. I've refunded your entry fees now.

[Andrew Camp]

I do not wish to pull out - my family and I will still be attending.

[Sean Hewitt]

Not at all happy that our reservation which we booked and had confirmed in May at the hotel has been cancelled today just because we didn't book it through e2e4. Have booked direct with other hotels before (for very good reasons) so why the problem now? Nothing on the e2e4 website states you have to book through them.

You don't have to book through e2e4 - everybody is free to book into any hotel they wish whether it is with us or not at any rate and terms that they can agree privately. The vast majority of players staying over do book their hotel room via e2e4, but that is their choice.

The e2e4 website does not say that you have to book through e2e4 because you don't have to. It is implied that to get the discounted rate you need to book through us (we say that the discount is available only to those who book through us, and we say that you can book a room via your online entry, ringing our reservation line or emailing us). However, I will change this to make it explicit in future.

At each event we agree to take a certain number of rooms from each hotel at an agreed rate. If someone wants one of our rooms at our rate then it must be reserved through us so that we can allocate one of our rooms to you. If it was done another way then we would have no idea if we had any rooms left to allocate or not. When we confirmed the e2e4 rooming list to the hotel in Buxton you were not on the list because you had not booked with us (I had no idea that you had booked with the hotel). My guess, if you have done this before, is that other hotels had room to accommodate you and fitted you in. On this occasion the hotel is absolutely full and there are no spare rooms. I am aware that the hotel has had to move some guests (both in the chess group and another group) to a sister hotel as a system glitch at their end created some double bookings. They have also had to cancel some bookings completely.

I'm sorry that you have had this experience with the private booking that you have made direct with the hotel. The first I knew of this matter was when I read your post on the ECForum. I have checked my email and don't seem to have received anything from you on this subject.

Of course, if you would prefer to withdraw just let me know and I will make a full refund of your entry fee.

Sean - I don't actually care whether we got the discounted rate or not - we told the hotel when we booked that we were coming to play in the tournament and they gave a price which turns out to be the discounted rate and was confirmed in writing.

There appears to be some confusion over when you knew of this matter as I have an email from Anthony Cleckner at 10.36 this morning stating that he has spoken to you Perhaps you could clarify

No confusion. As I said, I had no idea that you had booked direct with the hotel until I sent them our confirmed rooming list. I spoke to Anthony Cleckner and confirmed that you had not booked a room through us. I think I was correct in saying that. I have no idea what happened after that as your booking is a private matter between you and the hotel. You did not make it through us.

[Alan Walton]

I think what has happened is the bloke (Andrew) at Puma Hotels down in Hinckley had a problem, without realising about Sean's block booking, sent out mails to all and sundry, realised his mistake that Sean had an agreement for a certain volume of room,and quickly sent out the other mail apologising for his mistake.

As Sean said a private booking is between yourselves and the hotel, other non-chess people will be affected as well. These things happen sometimes at hotels, and the offer what I saw was reasonable (free 2 course meal), unfortunately a logistical nightmare for participants

[Andrew Camp]

Fair enough - just caused a little panic here as we booked quite a long while ago and with a young daughter coming with us, we like to know things are in place.

Seems to be the hotel's fault rather than e2e4 therefore I apologise for the flippancy in my previous post.

We are looking forward to the event.

[Sean Hewitt]

I think what has happened is the bloke (Andrew) at Puma Hotels down in Hinckley had a problem, without realising about Sean's block booking, sent out mails to all and sundry, realised his mistake that Sean had an agreement for a certain volume of room,and quickly sent out the other mail apologising for his mistake.

Almost spot on - but it was the hotel at Buxton (or their system) which allowed the same rooms to be block booked by us and also by another group rather than Anthony. Anthony is our national account manager, and it was he who took on the gauntlet of trying to sort things out. We agreed that the hotel would have to honour all of our bookings one way or the other. That has meant 9 chess players, plus 12 non chess players being switched over to their sister hotel. I negotiated a free dinner in the hotel restaurant for the affected chess players (I didn't tell them how much chess players eat ), plus taxi's for those without transport. I though that this was as much as I could realistically do. I also insisted that Anthony contact the 9 (not sure how he ended up contacting Alan and Andrew, but I'm guessing things were pretty hectic for his this morning) because I did not want people to think that I had screwed up. I did agree that anyone who did not want to switch could have a full refund, and cancel their hotel booking at no cost. Under the curcumstances, I'm not sure there was more we could have done. One thing I am sure of, the hotel did not do this deliberately!

Those who play our events regularly will know that this is not what normally happens at e2e4 events, and I apologise unreservedly for any inconvenience caused.

[Sean Hewitt]

Fair enough - just caused a little panic here as we booked quite a long while ago and with a young daughter coming with us, we like to know things are in place.

Seems to be the hotel's fault rather than e2e4 therefore I apologise for the flippancy in my previous post.

We are looking forward to the event.

No worries. I apologise again for any inconvenience caused.