General News
21 May, 2025
CopperString woes: Richmond hotel loses out from cancellations
The pub says it was fed up with the overbooking and subsequent cancellations by contractor ATCO.
Mud Hut Hotel bookkeeper Kerrie Taylor says the pub lost significant income after Powerlink contractor ATCO repeatedly cancelled dozens of booked rooms at the last minute.
She said the ATCO cancellations always took place within the 24-hour window provided to avoid having to pay for any bookings at the Richmond hotel.
Ms Taylor said the 36-room hotel had lost customers on a weekly basis because it repeatedly turned away other travellers to cater for ATCO’s booking demands.
“ATCO came in and said ‘we will more than likely book between 20 and 30 rooms constantly for the next six months’,” she told North West Weekly.
“They were sending me emails saying they need 30 rooms for the next week, so you block all these rooms out. Then a day or two before check in, I’d get an email that only had a list with five or six blokes on it.
“ATCO had a 24-hour window, where if they cancel the booking 24 hours prior to check in, then they are not liable for the first night.
“So, we were being left with all these empty rooms we could have booked out.
“In the meantime, we had to say no to Queensland Rail or medical staff like physiotherapists or other contractors because those rooms had been booked out by ATCO.”
Ms Taylor said the Mud Hut Hotel had installed new split system air conditioners in each room and taken on four additional staff in anticipation of the increased workload from the camp construction.
But the repeated cancellations had end up costing the business money.
“ATCO were just expecting everyone to put everything on hold for them,” Ms Taylor said.
“I would send ATCO emails asking if they knew what was going to happen in the next few weeks because they had all these rooms booked.
“In the meantime, we have other people calling and asking us if we can provide them rooms.
“And this was happening every week. So, I told ATCO recently that I will no longer book out rooms for them, it will just have to be pot luck, whatever we have available at the time.”
A spokesperson for the Powerlink joint venture contractors denied there had been any accommodation issues between ATCO and the Mud Hut Hotel.
“ATCO has not repeatedly nor consistently booked and cancelled rooms,” the spokesperson claimed.
“The owners of these businesses have always been extremely welcoming and accommodating for the ATCO team and workers.
“ATCO directly engages with the local providers and business owners – it’s been a very positive experience working together to support the staffing levels required for the project.”