If you think having the e-mail address of a hotel manager is going to help you get a quick resolution to your problem — or even a response — then here’s a reality check. You might still be out of luck, especially if you’re staying at a Four Points by Sheraton hotel.
Mike Black thought he would get a prompt refund when he contacted a manager at the Four Points in Pleasanton, Calif., recently. Here’s what he wrote to a manager:
In the recent past, over a six week period, I have left four messages on your recorder requesting you call me regarding a charge.
About three months back, I was scheduled to stay three nights at the Four Points; my flight to California was canceled — to make a long story short, a colleague who was staying at the hotel canceled my room.
He specifically asked if the room was canceled and was assured that there would be no charge to me. I subsequently was billed $150.
I have tried four time to speak with you regarding this matter. Please call me.
Here’s the thing: If Sheraton has policy about refunds, and the representative misspoke, the very least it could do is contact Black and let him know that he’ll have to pay up. I suggested that instead of e-mailing the manager directly, Black should send a note to Sheraton’s customer service department.
He did. No answer.
So I contacted Sheraton.
A week later, I received a reply from Sheraton’s parent company, Starwood.
Your email was caught in my spam filter, I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I will talk to the team and get back to you.
That was a month ago.
So here’s my sad conclusion: Sheraton apparently doesn’t care. It won’t answer a customer’s question, either at the customer-service or managerial level, and it apparently doesn’t give a hoot about what the press thinks of it.
I hope I’m wrong. Sheraton could set me straight by having the courtesy to contact Black.
Update: Apparently Starwood does care. I was just contacted by an “Online Guest Feedback Coordinator” for Starwood who seems to have picked this up from an amusing and somewhat ignorant post on FlyerTalk. Stay tuned.
Update II: Just received a note from a Starwood representative promising to look into the matter. Curiously, it scolds the customer for not going through proper channels. “We always encourage guests who have issues of this sort to contact our Corporate Customer Service Department as well. This way the problem does not fall between the cracks as it appears this one has,” he writes. Did Starwood bother to read the post? If it did, it would know that he had gone through channels.
Also, to the FlyerTalkers out there clicking on this blog … I love you, too!
✓ Get the latest travel news, tips and commentary from Elliott’s E-Mail, the subversive newsletter from industry gadfly Christopher Elliott. You’ll travel like a pro. Sign up here. It’s free.
Sign up for my 
{ 1 trackback }
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Chris-
Way to be bold and expose this lack of customer care. Starwood Hotels garners a lot of print coverage and when it comes to the real core bottom line issues… well… The new landscape is hearing from consumers direct!
Thanks for sharing this man’s disenchantment.
He should call his credit card and ask for a charge back. When the manager calls him looking for the $150.00, give him the run-around.
This reminds me of a trip to Denver many years ago when I showed up at the Brown Palace Hotel after midnight. The hotel said that I was too late to claim my room (they had given it to another guest) but refused to refund my money saying that I hadn’t canceled within 48 hours of travel!
Needless to say, they eventually caved in. I might have been young, but I wasn’t stupid about how to stand up for my rights.
Why Not dispute the charges on my Credit Card and let them fight it out.
Thanks for the heads up. I’m scheduled to stay at a Four Points Sheraton and will be on he alert.
At this point, it may be too late to file a dispute on his credit card since over 3 months have passed but that would be what I would try.
While I agree that Four Points and Sheraton have behaved very badly, I think it is a disservice to draw too many conclusions from a singular event.
I think that the manager at the Four Points in Pleasonton behaved abominably, but given my generally positive experiences with Starwood, I want to believe that Customer service just dropped the ball by not getting back to Mr. Black.
I might agree that customer service just flubbed it up by not getting back with this guy, had Starwood called Chris back. But they didn’t. My cynical side says Starwood/Sheraton is ignoring the situation, hoping Mr. Black isn’t going to dispute $150 indefinitely. They’re hoping he will give up and they won’t have to deal with it.
If his credit card terms allow it, he should absolutely dispute the charge.
I fail to see how this is the hotels fault when you don’t show for a reservation. If the hotel policy clearly states that a room must be canceled by a certain time/date, I fail to see how this can be the hotels fault. Did your friend ask for a cancellation confirmation number? I also fail to see how this is a Starwood specific issue. To spread blame across an entire chain of hotels for the actions of one is ludicrous. I’ve been in this situation with multiple hotel chains, but I don’t blame the entire chain for one issue.
“I fail to see how this is the hotels fault when you don’t show for a reservation. If the hotel policy clearly states that a room must be canceled by a certain time/date, I fail to see how this can be the hotels fault.”
It sure as hell is the hotel’s fault for trying to have it both ways! The rationale for a policy of ‘if you don’t cancel your reservation, you pay for the room’ is that the room is held for you all night, sitting there empty whether or not you show up. Starwood has no right to re-rent the room AND demand payment on the original reservation. Arriving late and having to spend the night in the hotel lobby because the room wasn’t held is bad enough, but charging this customer for a reservation policy that was not honored is fraud.
“It sure as hell is the hotel’s fault for trying to have it both ways! The rationale for a policy of ‘if you don’t cancel your reservation, you pay for the room’ is that the room is held for you all night, sitting there empty whether or not you show up. Starwood has no right to re-rent the room AND demand payment on the original reservation. Arriving late and having to spend the night in the hotel lobby because the room wasn’t held is bad enough, but charging this customer for a reservation policy that was not honored is fraud.”
You are making the assumption the hotel was able to fill the room with another guest. If they are not able to fill the room due to a cancellation, should the hotel lose revenue due to an inability to show for the reservation?
I agree with your second point though about arriving late. I’ve been in many situations where the hotel room was guaranteed to my credit card for a late arrival and they did not have a room for me. I’ve never been charged for those rooms through.
An “industry expert” like yourself should be the last person to conclude an experience at one hotel represents all the hotels in the chain. This person had a bad experience and the hotel needs to respond, but why take the blame out on all of the company?
It is Starwood’s fault for not getting back to the guest right away; it does give the impression that they do not care. However, one should ALWAYS get a cancellation number and ask what the cancellation policy is when reserving a room, if one is not specified in the reservation process. And what about this person’s friend? Did his friend get a cancellation number?
Also, It was rather unethical for the for the hotel to respond in such a negative and finger pointing matter. How do they know that the front desk clerk gave the information about contacting the Customer Service Department? Is there actual physical evidence?
I guess it is just the improper training at the hotel and about us giving out advice to people reserving rooms? The only conclusion I came up with anyway!
Never again will i attempt a hotel reservation by computer. For DEC
28-29 LEAVING FROM SFO FOR TWO BBEDS, ONE ROOM.I FILLED OUT VARIOUS FORMS FOR SHERATON, FOUR POINTS A SERVING SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT,INCLUDING MY VISA. HOWEVER, I RECEIVED NO CONFIRMATION OF A RESERVATION, EITHER BY CODE LETTRS OR RETURN FEEDBACK ANSWER.
THRTRFORE, I TURNED TO HOWARD JOHNSON AND RECIVED RESERVATION WITH CONFIRMAION AND ADDED OUR JANUARY ONENIGHTER. PAYING FOR BOTH,
HOWEVER. MY JANUARY VISA SHOWES12;30FOUR POINTS,SHERATONSANFRANCISCO $111.66 NOT ONCE BUT TWICE $223.32…..OTHER HOTELS I HAVE DEALT WITH HAD SOME NOTIFICATION AND CONFIRMATION.I AM A CROWN CLUB MEBBER AND HAVE NEVER HAD TROUBLE WITH A BEST WESTERN HOTEL.ONE NOGHT I CAN UNDERSTAND–BUT TWO!!!!!!
AGREED ON SPLITTING CHARGE–ELIMINATE SECOND NIGHT CHARGED . NO CONFIRMATION YET
WILL NEVER MAKE RESERVATION BY COMPUTER AGAIN.
RESPONSE?????
NO ANSWER???? SAME QUESTION EXISTS; WHY CHARGE FO TWO NIGHTS WHEN I DIDN’T EVEN STAY ONE??????????
where are you0–sheraton????