A runaround at Holiday Inn

Q: I recently made reservations at a Holiday Inn property in Philadelphia near a hospital to which my daughter had been admitted. I also booked a room at a Holiday Inn in New York City, so I could take her back to school at New York University, where she is a freshman.

I deliberately chose Holiday Inn because I am a member of its frequent-guest program, Priority Club.

The date of my daughter’s discharge was initially up in the air, and I had to call back and change my reservations at both the Philadelphia and New York hotels when our departure was delayed a day. When I made these changes, I asked if there was a confirmation number for the changed reservations (I like to record reservations numbers in case I have questions or problems later on), but I was told that all I needed was my initial confirmation number.

I was left with the impression that by keeping my business within the Holiday Inn chain, I would avoid any cancellation penalty in New York. But when hen I arrived in New York, I found that my reservation had actually been canceled and that I had to pay an extra $500 for a missed first night stay.

I tried to go over the details of what had happened with the front desk employee. I was treated in a perfunctory manner, and his tone implied that he felt I was trying to deceive him.

I’ve tried to appeal to a manager and have written a letter to Holiday Inn, but I’ve heard nothing. I am sure the strategy being used on me now is: “If we ignore him long enough, maybe he will just go away, and we can pretend we provided good customer satisfaction.”

Can you help me?

– Robert Donovan, Riverbank, Calif.

A: I can’t imagine that overcharging you, treating you rudely and then ignoring you is anyone’s idea of good customer service.

It is reasonable for you to assume that if you change a reservation but stay within a hotel chain, you will not be charged a “no show” penalty. It is also reasonable to assume that a reservations agent will tell you if you will be billed for an extra night.

Hotel cancellation policies vary. Sometimes you’ll pay nothing (for example, if you cancel a day before arrival or if a natural disaster strikes) and sometimes you’ll have to pay part or all of the cost of the room.

When I tried to determine Holiday Inn’s chain-wide cancellation policy, I ran into some difficulty. Even if you know to look at the Web site for the Holiday Inn’s parent company InterContinental Hotels Group, you would still be hard-pressed to unearth its policies for the Holiday Inn property you stayed in. I couldn’t.

Cancellation rules should be clearly stated on a hotel’s Web site, and not just articulated by employees over the phone. That way, guests have some idea of what to expect when their plans change.

You were right to ask for a confirmation number, but you should have insisted on it. The best way to ensure that you don’t get stuck with a surprise $500 bill is to get everything in writing — even when it seems redundant and, yes, even when you’re told it isn’t necessary.

I contacted Holiday Inn and it checked its records. Sure enough, it had no documented record of your call. But that doesn’t mean the hotel didn’t try to resolve your case. It did — to a point.

According to a hotel spokeswoman, Virginia Bush Osborne, the hotel eventually did find the call record. “Once that was done, the guest relations agent handling the case attempted to contact Mr. Donovan via e-mail to resolve the case and issue his refund, but when he got a failed e-mail response, he then erroneously didn’t pursue it further via phone or regular mail,” she said. “The then-new agent mistakenly closed the case unresolved, which is why Mr. Donovan didn’t hear from us again.”

In the end, Holiday Inn issued you a full refund for your missed night in New York.

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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