Oasis fans frustrated and scammed after hotel cancels Manchester bookings

Oasis fans who booked rooms in a Manchester hotel in anticipation of seeing the band on its reunion tour have been left feeling “frustrated” and “scammed” after their reservations were cancelled because of a “technical error”.

Oasis fans who booked rooms in a Manchester hotel in anticipation of seeing the band on its reunion tour have been left feeling “frustrated” and “scammed” after their reservations were cancelled because of a “technical error”.

Maldron Hotels denied it cancelled Oasis fans’ bookings to “resell rooms at inflated prices” and said a “technical error with our booking system” meant more rooms were booked than were available for the band’s Manchester gigs.

A number of disgruntled customers posted screenshots on X of an email appearing to be from Maldron Hotels, stating that “due to a technical error, you have received a confirmation for a booking that was not successfully made”.

David O’Gorman, 37, an Oasis fan from Ireland, booked a room at Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre for roughly £90 at 8.03am on Tuesday for July 20 2025, with the hope he would also be able to secure a ticket to see Oasis perform in Manchester that night.

However at 8.15pm on Tuesday, he received an email from the hotel which said: “Due to a technical error, you have received a confirmation for a booking that was not successfully made. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate your booking at this time.”

Mr O’Gorman, who works in marketing and lives in Ashbourne, in County Meath, told the PA news agency: “The minute I saw that email from the hotel, I opened up Booking.com and the exact same room I booked is now around £350, so there’s no technical error there.”

He said he is “limbo”, adding: “Realistically, I’ll probably be priced out of that date so I can’t go for that ticket as I will also need to book a flight.

“I feel really frustrated and it feels so unfair as I tried to be ahead of the curve. I’m a massive fan (of Oasis) but have never got to see them live, so thought it would be amazing to go to Manchester to see them.”

Meanwhile, Leah Nesbit, 26, from Hull, hopes to attend her first Oasis concert but found herself in a similar position after she booked a one-night stay at the Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre ahead of the reunion tour.

Ms Nesbit, who works as a paramedic, plans to head to the city with 17 other friends and booked a room for £86 on Tuesday July 20 2025 via Booking.com and chose the Maldron Hotel for its free cancellation service until July 19 2025.

She received a notification at 10.30am and an email at 11.15am on Wednesday from the online travel agency which said: “The hotel have initiated a free cancellation of the booking – please confirm if you’d like to cancel the booking.”

“Obviously none of us confirmed that we want to cancel it because we haven’t said we want to cancel the room,” Ms Nesbit told PA.

“But then underneath it says that you have 24 hours to consider after, then the free cancellation offer for this booking will expire and you need to reapply again on our site.”

She looked online to see hotel rooms being priced more than four times what she paid at £300 to £400.

She feels the hotel is “scaring us into saying if you don’t confirm the cancelation within 24 hours, there’s going to be a fee”, but Ms Nesbit has no intention of cancelling.

She said the situation is “scary” and she feels “like you’ve be scammed”.

“I understand hotels up their prices when there’s events on, but I think it’s completely wrong,” she added.

“A hotel price should be a hotel price. You’re not getting any more for your money. It’s not like they’re doing up the room for you.

“You’re getting the same hotel room whether it’s an event or not an event.”

The company operates two hotels in Manchester.

On Wednesday morning, neither had any rooms available from the start of July next year onwards.

Oasis are playing at Manchester’s Heaton Park on July 11, 12, 19 and 20.

Maldron Hotels said in a statement: “Due to a technical error with our booking system on 26 and 27 August, substantially more rooms were booked than were available for the nights of the Oasis concerts on 11, 12, 19 and 20 July 2025 at Maldron Hotel Manchester City and Maldron Hotel Cathedral Quarter.

“As a result, we are unable to honour all bookings made on these dates, and we are actively engaging with customers regarding their bookings.

“The hotels are currently not taking any bookings while we investigate the issue.

“This is not an attempt to resell rooms at inflated prices, rather an overbooking issue due to a technical error with our booking systems.

“Additionally, due to the same technical error, a small number of customers were able to book the rooms at a higher price later that evening.

“We will also be unable to accommodate these bookings.

“We will be honouring all bookings made prior to 26 August.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Published: 28/08/2024 by Radio NewsHub