Whose fault is it?

London, December 6th. I arrive at the Royal National Hotel, for a meeting on the 7th. Have to check in and go to meet my hosts at 6pm in a restaurant. The hotel lobby is full of Spanish tourists...

Get to the counter and give a reservation number. My host (University of London) has booked a room for me and will pay. The clerk man comes back with a fax from my host, in which they effectively have cancelled my booking. He says the room is still available, but I have to pay myself for it.

I am astonished. I have not been told anything. I ask the clerk to ring my host. There is an answering machine (it is about 5pm). He says that it is up to me now to decide. I ask if they can help me sort out the problem. He says: "It is not our fault, you have to deal with your host directly".

I get furious. I have heard the same story over and over again. When there is a problem, it is always the customer's fault. I ask to speak to the manager. She is as inflexible as the clerk. I ask them if I can get a copy of the fax. The hotel's policy will not allow it.

I pay and get my room. Get ready and go to meet my host. I tell them that there is a problem with the reservation. They ask me to go back to the hotel and check, as they have made the reservation, but possibly under my full surname (Cordoba-Pachon instead of Pachon).

Back at the hotel after dinner, another queue (yes, lots of Spanish tourists continue arriving!). I get to speak to the same clerk. We search for a reservation, and there is none. I apologise to the clerk, he and I have had a tough day. Next morning, I phone my host and tell them. They meet me afterwards. They have a big apology to make, as it happened, they cancelled the initial reservation and booked me into another hotel. And they forgot to tell me.

Solution: I fill in a reimbursement form and I leave London. Still, feel that there is no one to blame. Each party could have done better (including myself), but whose fault is it?
We live in a society where the customer is the 'king', but also s/he needs to understand what happens behind the scenes.