Is this issue below going to be taken care of anytime soon. ?? I have
emailed Mr Johnson and you. Your refund did not reflect the Friday charge of
157.05$ the extra day I was charged. I booked one day Thursday as my e mail
confirmation reflects and this matter had yet to be resolved. Please at least
let me know where we are with this issue. I think it is ap paling in the first
place to make a reservation on line for one night then be charged for two and
the issue is still not corrected. I contacted the Manager then Mr Johnson and
now you . Better business bureau next.

Thank You

Lori Adame

James,
I have not received a response to this E Mail. Please let me know what is
to occur regarding this matter. It is not 14 days since my stay and still you
owe me funds you erroneously deducted from my account.
Thank you
Lori Adame.

James

RE #8529596
I was refunded the extra night charge however the 133.38$ refunded does not
reflect the 157.95$ charge for the extra day.
Thursday rate (the night I stayed) was 133.38$ the Friday rate of 157.05 $
is what should have been credited.

Also I never received a call back or apology from the Manager. You have had
157.95$ of my much needed funds for 13 days then I am refunded the wrong amount.
Is this what I am to expect from being over charged?. I understand simple
mistakes however when I make two calls to the manager he tells me he will call
me back then does not. Then I call corporate and another mistake was made is
unacceptable. My husband was an executive for Footlocker and has stayed at your
establishments many times a month for over 22yrs. I have the VP of Footlocker
Operations and Human Resources in New York on my speed dial. I have all of the
executives on my e mail. I was courteous and understanding before. I explained
my situation with losing my husband recently and this stay at your establishment
was to help in my grief. This is not helping. There are 2 VP s of operations 12
Regional executives 52 District Managers and over 30,000 associates world wide
for Footlocker. Many of them I have met over the 22yrs my husband worked for
them contact me daily. I do not feel that everything was done to rectify your
mistake. Something my husband took pride in daily. Make the customer happy so
they will return. You have failed to do so given double opportunity.

Please take care of you mistake .

I’ve only booked Hilton properties recently. Did they offer any advance purchase reservations before the Blackstone buyout? I don’t dispute that their customer service may have declined, but I do understand “advance purchase”. If they’re not going to generally enforce these simple advanced purchase policies, then they shouldn’t be offering them.

As to the particular customer service issue Chris wrote about, I agree with Kevin M (and Allison), who correctly points out that this is the hospitality industry. Standing on ceremony in order to alienate your customers is just plain stupid.

The original article does seem to imply that the same rate was charged for both original nights. “No loss to the hotel” seems to imply that.

As far as changing dates, the majority of prepayment rules make it clear that it’s a special rate in exchange for an assurance that they won’t ever need to change the dates or issue a credit. If those terms don’t agree with you, then don’t accept them. Take a higher rate with a more flexible cancellation/modification policy.

Here’s what Hilton says about the advance purchase terms:

Complete Rules & Restrictions

FULL PAYMENT IN ADVANCE/NO REFUNDS: FULL PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR THIS RESERVATION AT THE TIME OF BOOKING; YOUR CREDIT CARD WILL BE CHARGED IMMEDIATELY IN U.S. DOLLARS FOR THE TOTAL AMOUNT QUOTED FOR THE ENTIRE STAY AS RESERVED AND NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS WILL BE ISSUED. CHARGES CANNOT BE APPLIED TO OTHER STAYS, SERVICES OR MERCHANDISE. NO PRICES OR HOTEL AVAILABILITY ARE GUARANTEED UNTIL FULL PAYMENT IS RECEIVED. EVEN AFTER FULL PAYMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL A RESERVATION WITHOUT NOTICE IF WE BECOME AWARE OF OR ARE NOTIFIED OF ANY FRAUD OR ILLEGAL ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PAYMENT FOR THIS RESERVATION.

RESERVATION CANNOT BE MODIFIED: PRICE QUOTED APPLIES TO EXACT DATE(S)/NIGHTS/STAY BOOKED. MODIFICATIONS TO YOUR RESERVATION (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NAME CHANGES, DATE CHANGES, ETC.) ARE NOT PERMITTED.

EARLY DEPARTURE/CANCELLATION: IF YOU DEPART EARLY OR YOU CANCEL OR FAIL TO HONOR THIS RESERVATION FOR ANY REASON, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY CREDIT OR REFUND.

EXTENDING YOUR STAY: EXTENSIONS WILL REQUIRE A NEW RESERVATION FOR THE ADDITIONAL DATE(S), SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY AND PREVAILING RATES AND THIS RATE SHALL NOT APPLY.

Otherwise the story is as I told it. They kept saying my rate was non-cancellable and non-refundable. I kept saying (and think so to this day) that I don’t see that asking to change the dates is the same as canceling or asking for a refund. They had my money already for two nights, and I’d just like to have been able to use them. I asked why they kept discussing cancellation and refunds when that had nothing to do with my request. They said the rate does not permit changing dates on my reservation. But that’s not the meaning of nonrefundable, and that’s not what the confirmation said.

Some months later I did get one night’s charge credited back. But I still won’t try Indigo, and I’m done with Holiday Inn, too, since it’s the same company. The May reservations are with Courtyard by Marriott as Christopher has recommended Marriott, I believe, and that particular site is well recommended on Trip Advisor. (Though I don’t trust Trip Advisor as much as I used to, but that’s another thread.)

Sorry for mixing up the hotels. I apologize to Kimpton and Hotel Palomar folks.

I’m surprised that they wouldn’t let you change the dates. In my mind, if you are sick they should offer you a credit to be used at another time.

Thursday morning I woke up sick to my stomach, among other things (I’ll spare you the details). I hoped I would be better by the next morning, but in case not I called the hotel and asked if I could please change to the following weekend, explaining that I was sick and might not be able to make it. I didn’t want my money back, the hotel wouldn’t have been out anything, and though I don’t know if the following weekend something huge was going on, I can’t imagine in a city the size of Atlanta anything less than the Olympics would have made a difference. Nonetheless I was refused. As it turned out I was too sick on Friday to make the 6 hour drive, so I checked again with the manager at the hotel but was again refused. I appealed to Kimpton InTouch Guest Loyalty’s customer service, but was denied there as well. Finally, I asked Chris Elliott here about it, and he said it wasn’t worth pursuing.

When I was finally able to go, my dear son let me sleep in his bed while he took the floor. I couldn’t afford to pay for a hotel again.

So when I was making four nights of reservations for dear-son’s graduation next May, and letting all the relations and family friends know where I was staying so they can make arrangements too, do you suppose it was the Hotel Palomar? How much business do you think will be generated by three sets of grandparents, four sets of aunts & uncles, four adult cousins, and three or four sets of family friends who would care enough to make this trip? More than enough to offset my $270 that Kimpton kept, I’m sure!

“hotels almost alwas charge the same rate each night…”

That’s just not true. Forgotting the weekend/weekday issue which you correctly identify, hotel rates are based upon occupancy. If two weekday nights have the same occupany then the prices will probably be the same. But if one night has higher occupancy that another, the rates will almost certainly be different. I just made a two night weekend reservation at the Burbank Marriott for this weekend; the first night is 111, the second night is 103.

Also, some hotels (Starwood) will just present the average rate, whereas Marriott and Hyatt show the rate for each individual night.

Kudos to Hilton for their initial well presented initial response and shame on Shariar for giving in.

And the hotel is ABLE to give all rooms away for free if they chose, but that really would not help the BUSINESS aspect of being in business.

Businesses have policies for reasons, whether consumers agree with them or not. If they make every exception that they are ABLE to, then customers soon have no respect or value for the policies in the first place.

Thus, to ensure that people who pay for flexibility in their booking retain that value and to prevent the business from alienating other customers, the business is UNABLE to make constant exceptions to those policies.

And frankly, getting petty about that word — and failing to understand the concept — is more of the entitlement problem with consumers.

I’d also note that two rooms at the same price don’t really cost the hotel any more in terms of service and material than one room for two nights. Unless it’s a special “X nights and the next night free” deal, hotels almost always charge for each night at its own rate. The only places where that would be different would be extended stay hotels with weekly maid service, and even those often charge the same nightly rate if it’s one or more nights, until the weekly rate kicks in. About the only thing that might be different is checking in and checking out. Other than that, maid service is almost always daily, toiletries can be replaced daily if used/legally taken, and other items are replaced daily. If I use the complimentary coffee the first morning, it gets replaced with maid service. In any case, a hotel will almost always charge the same nightly rate (as long as it’s weekend/weekday rates) for two separate rooms as they will for two nights in the same room.

If it’s not peak season and rooms are available, I would think a hotel manager might be able to bend the rules a little bit. I wonder why Ms. Moore didn’t just call up the hotel and ask directly.