Hotel Stay: **UPDATE** Post 35 ** Would You Complain About Any of These Things?

[LiLIrishChick63]

the dog thing wouldn't bother me, but everything else would. i would definatly send an email or something.

 

[C.Ann]

I would have left and not spent the night there..

Agreed.. Then I would follow up with a letter to the corporate offices..

 

[erincon23]

A few years ago we stayed at a mid-level chain hotel in Miami. I had requested a room with 2 beds and a pull-out couch -- we have two boys (I think they were 13 and 9 at the time) who prefer not to sleep in the same bed. When we got to the hotel for check-in, they told us that they had no rooms with pull out couches. When we checked into the room, there was the pull-out! The door didn't latch properly, and we immediately called the front desk -- they said they'd "try" to get to it (we were there for several days). The bathroom had mold on the tub and surround, and was generally icky. We tried to change rooms, but because we were there for an event that was using this hotel as a "preferred" site, there were no rooms available. I complained every day of our stay about something significant -- and I'm not a complainer (although I do stand up for myself), and got very little satisfaction. When we got back, I sent an email to the general manager and cc'd corporate -- in 24 hours, I had an offer for a free stay at that location (which I declined, because I couldn't foresee being in Miami at any time in the future), and when I didn't take that, they took 50% off my bill. That big of a reduction surprised me, but I was satisfied with it. I hadn't asked for any compensation, just wanted to let them know how unhappy I was with the room and the service. Most places would prefer to know that you were unhappy, so they can make changes! So my thought is that you should definitely let them know (and make sure you cc the corporate office for the chain!).

Erin

 

[DawnCt1]

Sure, why not send the email? They are all legitimate complaints.

I would also mention that I'm not looking for any compensation, I just wanted them to know that I was uncomfortable in their hotel and won't be returning.

Why not? She didn't get what she paid for.

 

[momrek06]

I would have left and not spent the night there.

I'd have checked out, asked for a refund immediately and gone somewhere else.

I would have demanded another room, or left and stayed at another chain.

I would have checked out

That is not always easy to do.

My horrific incident with a hotel was in a RESORT area during THANKSGIVING weekend. We would have had NO luck finding anything else.

You have to keep in mind, just telling someone to check out is not all that easy between holidays and huge conventions ... hotel rooms are not always available like you may think.

And after I reported my ISSUES with the room, the corporate staff was very happy to speak to me and listen to everything I had issues with and then REFUND my stay! Along with that I did report the issues to priceline as well as post a review on tripadvisor.

 

[DarthKTrava]

I work as a housekeeper in albeit a small independant family-run hotel ....



Rubbish!!!!! Our handyman does repairs on "occupied" rooms all the time!

Personally i wouldve complained at the time, but fire off an email (i would say to their head office AND the hotel concerned) anyway and see what happens

Definitely rubbish, indeed. Maintenance was working on the tub faucet one year while I was at Disney; must've been called in by housekeeping as I didn't file a complaint about the faucet.

I did bring it up to hotel front desk staff about a loose sink faucet at a Hampton Inn, chipped paint/wall at a Days Inn, hair on the shower wall at a small motel here locally. Nothing worth a free night, IMO, but a "head's up" to the staff. Esp the hair as the Furniture Market people would make a big stink about it.

 

[Heidict]

This dog, was it by any chance a rat terrier? Cause if it was, then I would have been worried about more then a mouse.

I stay in hotel rooms (of major chains) about 300 days a year for work (I am a flight attendant).



With that said, I would have demanded another room, or left and stayed at another chain. I personally wouldn't waste my time emailing them, it won't do any good. Trust me. Hotels are gross in general, and most that ARE gross are run by people who don't care and who have terrible customer service. You paid and stayed. To corporate, they didn't miss out on anything. There will be other "you's" and they already have your money. It's so sad, but so true.

What she says is so true. They probably won't care. Let the consumers know though. Let others go in well informed. I would hate to think of the poor other people that would be staying there.

Tripadvisor is where I always go before booking a room and also post reviews for places I have stayed.

I can't help but wonder, but did you check for bedbugs? I would have checked out after seeing the mouse trap. lol

Ugh!! You just gave me the shivers. The thought!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

On the service dog note--

I'm a bit confused.

I know of dogs that are performing legit services other than leading the blind--
But don't they have to provide proof to an establishment with a no pets policy that their dog is working? B/c otherwise how would it stop anyoen from making such a claim about their pet?

I recall many moons ago, I was leading a student meeting at university. Someone had brought in an unjacketed pet. The pet yipped the whole meeting. .I politely ignored it (wasn't my institution).

Turns out--this dog was a hearing dog for its deaf owner. A disability advocate was with her and I got a lecture on not having an interpreter avialable. I was very livid at how I was treated, but that is a whole other matter. She did say the dog was "barking' b/c it is likely that the person behnd the owner was tapping the seat and the dog was alerting the owner.

Yep--alerting her so well as to create a disturbance that her owner ignored if the dog was indeed present to serve as her owner's ears. But the entire meeting, her owner sat stone faced.

I don't doubt her need for a service animal--but I can't stand untrained ones that go ignored. (recall a seeing eye dog at EPCOT--. The thing was quite out of control and its blind owner could not control it at all. Most bizarre thing I had witnessed. The dog had the harness, but no jacket and was unlike any service animal that I have ever met. It caused problems in one of the stores and had me concerned for my kids b/c it was almost liek a bull in a china shop).

Anyway--don't owners have to provide proof to teh establishment that their dog is a legitimately trained animal? It makes me wonder how many people are abusing the "service animal" status by making untrue claims. I'm sure it happens and then the hotel would be liable for any problems the animal causes to other guests.

 

[locolala]

Lisa, they cannot demand proof as that goes against ADA laws. All they can legally do is ask "Are you disabled? Is this a service dog? What tasks does he/she perform?" That's it.

 

[Ceila]

Anyway--don't owners have to provide proof to teh establishment that their dog is a legitimately trained animal? It makes me wonder how many people are abusing the "service animal" status by making untrue claims. I'm sure it happens and then the hotel would be liable for any problems the animal causes to other guests.

I think businesses are very limited in what they can ask due to privacy laws. People with service animals are not required to provide any kind of certification or proof that the animal is legit. I don't know the specifics, but I'm sure someone on here can provide that.

 

[Scurvy]

Anyway--don't owners have to provide proof to teh establishment that their dog is a legitimately trained animal? It makes me wonder how many people are abusing the "service animal" status by making untrue claims. I'm sure it happens and then the hotel would be liable for any problems the animal causes to other guests.

No, they don't. Which in my opinion is very unfortunate because it leaves the door wide open for people to bring their purse pets or untrained monster dogs and call them "therapy dogs". In my opinion there ought to be some sort of paperwork that you get when your dog finishes it's specialized training so you can show that it is actually trained to perform a specific job.

And to head off the angry responses that inevitably follow when someone suggests that on most message boards:
- No, I don't think that the paperwork ought to say what specific function the dog performs, so it wouldn't be a violation of the person's privacy. But service animals should recieve more training than the average pet so that they behave appropriately in public, and they should have paperwork to prove that.
- I realize that service dogs are very important and there are many different services they perform but I also know some people are idiots who would claim their dog was a service dog just so they could take it everywhere because it's their baby and they are entitled to take it everywhere they go.
-I assume that most people who have legitimate service dogs would probably also prefer that their service animals be issued some sort of certificate if it meant that other people wouldn't take their fake service dogs anyplace where they would then behave badly and give real service dogs a bad name.
ETA - http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm

 

[klacey1]

I definitely think you have legitamite complaints, but I seriously appreciate that you took a step back to check if what you were upset about was serious. My mom is a hotel manager and SO many people are just out to get a freebie or screw over the hotel for the silliest (sometimes completely made up) things. People RARELY fill out surveys for the good-- usually the bad. And you better bet that those survey count-- people lose their jobs over poor scores. Know your letter will definitely make an impact!

 

[happygirl]

If you spent the night at a national chain hotel would you complain about any of these things?

1. You are waiting to check-in, and you see a sign on the wall behind the registration desk that says "No pets please" yet the couple in front of you checking in has a dog on a leash with them. Not a leader dog for the blind. Just a regular looking dog.

2. There is a mouse trap on the floor of your room, by the air conditioner.

3. The door to the room doesn't latch properly. When you try to close it behind you to go to dinner it takes several tries to get it to latch. Then in the morning when you try to go downstairs for breakfast it will not latch at all after several tries.

4. Bedding for the pull-out couch is not in the closet. You call down to the front desk to ask for it and you are told that YOU have to go down to the front desk to get it. When you get there, there are FOUR employees sitting in the little room behind the registration desk. They are all petting a dog. Then as you are standing waiting for the elevator, laden down with sheets, comforter and pillows you are told if you need more towels to come back down.

5. In the morning, at check-out, you tell them the door isn't working properly. You are told they already know about it, that it is on the maintenance man's "to do" list but he couldn't fix it since the room was occupied.

So, would you send an e-mail to corporate (which in turn would be forwarded to the general manager of said hotel) to express your concerns over any of these matters?

I would complain about all of them but number one. You have no idea about the dog if it was staying there or it stayed in the car or maybe there were visiting someone in that town and they took the dog there.

 

[Lassie Lynne]

I would complain about all of them but #1 - - but the mousetrap one specifically...I would have called downstairs for a new room IMMEDIATELY. If I did not get the answer I needed, I would have picked up the trap with a towel and taken it to the front desk and firmly asked again.....and trust me, I would!

 

[MIGrandma]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses and suggestions.

I did e-mail corporate as that was the only e-mail address I had. In turn, they forwarded my e-mail to the general manager of the hotel. This happened several days ago. The GM called and left a message on our answering machine. He was very nice and said he did want to discuss my concerns with me, and that he would try to call again later in the day and also the next day if he did not reach me. He never called back. So I e-mailed him and asked him to please address my concerns. He e-mailed back a very generic "sorry you had a bad stay" type e-mail and barely touched on any of my concerns. So I e-mailed him again, and asked him to please address them. He e-mailed back a very rude, unprofessional response. Said my "requests were unrealistic" and I was "looking for something for nothing." Said he would give me a $25 credit on our credit card, "nothing more and nothing less, as the hotel is only a year old and mine was the first complaint."

Wow. I e-mailed him back and told him I thought he was very unprofessional. I never asked for anything (no refund) other than for him to address my concerns and he gave me very generic answers, and would not even talk about the door problem.

I also forwarded his e-mail to corporate. Heard back from them this morning that the general manager had let them know he had given me a $25 credit on our credit card. So they are considering the matter closed.

I will accept the $25 credit, but it's not what I asked for so I'm still not satisfied with their response and the rudeness of the general manager.

Oh well, I got it off my chest. And believe me, I did review the hotel on Trip Advisor.

 

[si-am]

Sorry about your experience, but....

What exactly do you consider "addressing your concerns"? Why isn't an apology enough?

 

[MIGrandma]

Sorry about your experience, but....

What exactly do you consider "addressing your concerns"? Why isn't an apology enough?

A generic "sorry you didn't enjoy your stay" isn't addressing the concerns I had. Did you read my original post, all of the things that were wrong?

I wanted to know why pets were allowed when clearly the sign said "No pets please", and why couldn't an employee bring the fold-out couch bedding to the room instead of telling me to come and get it myself, and why wasn't the door fixed (when they knew about it ahead of time) before they rented the room to us? Those were my main concerns.

Those, and the mousetrap on the floor by the air conditioner. Yikes!!

A generic "sorry" just didn't cut it with me.

 

[hereyago]

Some of the generic apology is probably due to the business not wanting to admit fault, especially the mouse and the door safety issues.

However, did you take pictures? because you could include them on the tripadvisor website.

Seems the GM of the hotel has forgotten the rule: If a guest likes a place he will only tell a few people, but if he has a unpleasant experience, he will tell a lot of people.

 

[si-am]

A generic "sorry you didn't enjoy your stay" isn't addressing the concerns I had. Did you read my original post, all of the things that were wrong?

I wanted to know why pets were allowed when clearly the sign said "No pets please", and why couldn't an employee bring the fold-out couch bedding to the room instead of telling me to come and get it myself, and why wasn't the door fixed (when they knew about it ahead of time) before they rented the room to us? Those were my main concerns.

Those, and the mousetrap on the floor by the air conditioner. Yikes!!

A generic "sorry" just didn't cut it with me.

Yeah but I just don't really see what he could have said, like whether you wanted a "There will never be a mouse trap in another room" or if you wanted to know WHY there was a mouse trap in your room.

Either way, it was there so I don't think addressing your specific concerns matters all too much in the end. I do think they could have comped your stay more than they did though.

 

[LilyWDW]

A generic "sorry you didn't enjoy your stay" isn't addressing the concerns I had. Did you read my original post, all of the things that were wrong?

I wanted to know why pets were allowed when clearly the sign said "No pets please", and why couldn't an employee bring the fold-out couch bedding to the room instead of telling me to come and get it myself, and why wasn't the door fixed (when they knew about it ahead of time) before they rented the room to us? Those were my main concerns.

Those, and the mousetrap on the floor by the air conditioner. Yikes!!

A generic "sorry" just didn't cut it with me.

1) You do NOT know that it was a "pet". You know nothing about the people checking in before you and are simply judging them. There are plenty of reasons that they would have had an animal with them, none of them having anything to do with it being a pet. This has already been explained to you in multiple posts.

2) Did you bring up the mousetrap or the door as SOON as you saw them? If not, why not? You should have spoken to the manager on duty at that time to get anything fixed. If you are not happy about something, the best time to deal with it is AT THAT MOMENT... not after the fact.

You are receiving a $25 credit to your card. Obviously none of the issues were a big enough deal at the time to complain about and thus you were able to utilize the room while you were there. I don't know how much you paid per night or where you stayed. I don't know what you asked for, but honestly, you seem to expect more then they believe those "issues" are worth.

And as a rule, companies do not apologize. It can be used against them in cases of a lawsuit as it is considered accepting the blame for something. As such, you will usually get "We understand your confusion/anger/ect." but you will never get more then that. And honestly, I don't blame them. Too many people lie and cheat to get things for free...