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!
Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.
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