Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will allow consumers to cancel hotel reservations, with a full refund at no charge, up to 24 hours after they make a booking with hotels, short-term rentals and third-party booking services.
Senate Bill 644 says people must book at least 72 hours before their stay.
“This first-in-the-nation law will end the confusing maze of misleading cancellation policies for lodging on the Internet,” the bill’s author, state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, said in a statement. “Now, consumers will have a chance to correct mistakes and cancel bookings they hadn’t intended to make and get a full refund.”
The bill, which did not receive any no votes when the full Assembly and full Senate each weighed in on it, allows for civil penalties of up to $10,000 for violations.
Funny I can do this now on the hotel booking website that I use now. (Hotels.com)
Usually 24 hours notice. Works all the time.
(Boy Governor Newsome thinks he’s the savior of all)
I was thinking the exact same thing! I can do that now. All you have to do is take five minutes to read the cancellation policy, or refund policy, or additional fees policy, etc, before you book. In most cases, it’s not even in fine print. It’s right in front of your face. For hotel rooms and even airline tickets. Why is it so hard for some people to think for themselves and take responsibility for their own actions?
Steve Glazer, the bill’s author, rode into politics promising to fix BART, didn’t do much about BART besides resigning from an oversight group he failed to influence, but here created a bill that the hotel chains I stay in already observe, so it’s a nothing for me. Meanwhile his record looks like a nothing when compared to CA’s high taxes, crime, homelessness, water and electricity shortages, declining school scores, fentanyl, potholes, illegal immigration, $100 billion waste of money on high speed rail, and so on but I guess he sure showed them who’s boss with that hotel reservation thing. What a loser and Democrats love him cause he represents everything they care about in politics: being Democrat, empty promises and the Democrat smirk of getting away with it.
This Bill was originally pushed as up front pricing , so all the B.S. fees would have to be disclosed before you clicked on reserve or purchase….
I’ve never an issue following the refund rules…..
This is absolutely terrible. Is it even legal? The government needs to stay out of people’s business. Who are they to tell anyone what fees to charge and what not to charge? So far, the responses here are from people who haven’t had any problems canceling reservations because they read the hotel’s policies. Imagine that……people actually reading the rules/policies for themselves, figuring it out all by themselves, without Glazer’s idiotic bill. Man, they want to be in every single aspect of our daily lives……disgusting.
@Cyn
Talking about the government staying out of businesses’ business. Why is it that the government has decided that $950 or less is a misdemeanor? Shouldn’t it be up to each individual business to decide how much theft they consider to be a permanent ban from the store and how much they considered to be grounds for pressing charges? Government going as far as tying law-abiding citizens’ hands who get attacked by someone during the commission of retail theft because charges will be thrown out and criminals will be released to continue on.
@PESFG
Like I said, disgusting.
Is Newsom now going to claim in his Presidential campaign that he brought “consumer protections” to California? Seems like we had all that pretty much under control until he suspended it during Covid
… another example of dealing with the small stuff rather than dealing with the real and more difficult issues in Calif ….. he’s so plastic 🙁 … this is what voters wanted? sad 🙁