Q: I recently made reservations at the Residence Inn Houston Intercontinental Airport at Greenspoint, which is run by Marriott. When I arrived at the hotel, the hotel manager informed me that my reservations couldn’t be honored because other guests had decided to extend their stay.
They offered to send us to another hotel, one that didn’t belong to the Marriott chain. Not knowing what other course to take, I accepted the offer. The substitute hotel turned out to be right next to a freeway overpass, and the rooms were of a much lower quality.
During the past month, I’ve exchanged several e-mails with Marriott over this customer service failure. In all our correspondence, the hotel has reiterated that the circumstances were “beyond our control.” I find this hard to believe.
Over the past 20 years, I’ve had to lengthen my stay at various cities because of extra business meetings and visits. Every one of those times, I was denied extra days at my hotel if it was booked full with incoming guests. So, what’s going on?
– Lewis Gutman, San Diego
A: If a hotel confirms your reservation, it should have a room waiting for you when you check in. And if it doesn’t, then the common practice is to send you to a hotel of equal or greater quality — not to some second-rate roadside motel.
I’ve reviewed Texas state laws that concern hotel occupancy. Chapter 2155, which applies to hotels and boardinghouses, does not specifically address the reservations process. So as far as I can tell, no laws were broken.
The terms and conditions on Marriot’s Web site may guarantee you’ll find the lowest room rate on Marriott.com but, paradoxically, they don’t actually guarantee you’ll have a room.
I think this misunderstanding was avoidable. If you had treated your hotel reservation as if it were an airline booking — remembering to call the front desk before your arrival to make sure your room was still there — then you might have prevented your visit to the substandard property. Knowing that the room wasn’t available, you might have been able to phone Marriott’s reservations number and make alternate arrangements.
Then again, the Residence Inn could have, and should have, contacted you before you arrived to let you know your reservation couldn’t be honored.
I asked Marriott to look into your case. A hotel representative contacted you and explained that the visitors who extended their stays were considered long-term guests, and the state classified them renters. The only way of forcing them to leave would have been to evict them, which would have taken some time.
Marriott apologized to you for the way in which it handled your substituted accommodations. It paid for your first night’s stay at the alternate hotel and credited your rewards account with 20,000 Marriott points.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
“Then again, the Residence Inn could have, and should have, contacted you before you arrived to let you know your reservation couldn’t be honored.”
After having worked in the rental car industry for three years, I have to disagree with you on this. The sheer percentage of people who no-show–i.e., just simply do not show up without any warning–makes this too burdensome. Having to call dozens of people each night to tell them their rooms may not be available when 95% of the people you call plan on leaving you hanging high and dry anyway is not a realistic solution.
Hotels, rental car companies, and airlines HAVE to overbook slightly in order to maintain an optimal product utility (as many rooms, cars, and airline seats in use as possible). The trick on the company’s parts is to plan it correctly so that you don’t have to turn anyone away, but sometimes things are out of control. (And if these companies did not overbook, rates/fares would be higher due to lower utility percentages.) I blame these problems as much on the bums who skip out on their reservations as I do on the companies that end up having to turn people away.
I do agree that the Residence should have put the customer up in equal or better accommodations, though. Whenever we ended up running out of cars during our peak season, I would do everything I could to secure an equal or better car at one of our competitors’ places (although of course you always get the guy who doesn’t want the “better” car because it burns more gas or is too big to park on city streets–I guess some people just can’t be pleased). If absolutely nothing was available, I would offer one of our smaller cars plus a moderate discount for the hassle. If even that wasn’t available, well, we would tear our hair out and hope for the best. I don’t recall ever having to absolutely turn anyone away without a backup plan, though we did come close a couple of times.
I think that what the Residence did was slightly overkill–20,000 Marriott Rewards points. That’s nice, and it may be worth it for Marriott if it secures Mr. Gutman as a Marriott customer for life, but in my opinion, it would have been completely fair to, say, give a refund equal to the difference between the Residence’s average rate and the alternate hotel’s average rate, plus a small extra discount for the hassle of switching hotels and not getting what he had planned–certainly, refunding the entire first night is excessive. And Mr. Gutman had just as much responsibility to inspect the alternate hotel and ask for alternate accommodations before accepting the offer that the Residence proposed. By neglecting to do this, he indicated that the alternate accommodations were acceptable.
Sometimes junk happens, and as a frequent traveler, when stuff happens, I’m disappointed, but I understand and accept it in stride. I get tired of whiny people who always expect the red carpet to come out for them and them only. Sorry if I’m ranting too much here, but after serving my time in customer service, I really don’t have much patience any more for the acts that many customers put on…
My first thought is what a loser Chris in Alska is. Here is a person who obviously doesn’t know anything about customer service.
Mr. Gutman had a reservation, one that if he had not shown up for he would have still paid for. Unlike the car rental industry where one does not have to guarantee the reservation inthe hotel industry you do. Chris in Alska claims to be a frequent traveler but he doesn’t know this.
Mr. Gutman has absoultely no responsiblility to inspect anything He has already been inconvenieneced. He had a reservation and that reservation should have beeb honored period. The one problem I have with the scenerio is that Marriott did not put him up in an equal or better facility.
Marriott is a class act when it comes to customer service which is why I am a loyal Marriott customer. Their rooms are more expensive than Holiday Inn Express and other low budget hotels but they give better service. That is what I expect and why I pay more. I applaude Marriott for taking care of their customer.
Sorry for my ranting but as a frequent traveler I am tired of the poor service I receive from the likes of “customer service” agents like Chris in Alaska. What part of customer service does he not get. Does this have anything to do with why he is no longer on the industry.
As a traveler I don’t exepect anything more than what I ask for. Mr. Gutman clearly did not get what he asked for and was promised by the Residence Inn. Good customer service was clearly excercised here on the part of Marriott.
I hate traveling because of just this sort of thing. If I pay for something, I expect to receive it. Airlines and hotels don’t seem to agree. I cannot account for irresponsible people who don’t honour their reservations and I certainly don’t expect to foot the bill or swallow any other mud slung at me for their behaviour. Let the hotels and airlines penalize the offender, not the innocent.
Why do I have to pay a plane fare if I’m late for a flight while an airline refuse to honour my reservation and completely screw up my plans just because they overbooked? Travel customers get treated rudely and are expected to cheerfully pay for it. Since traveling is inconvenient, overpriced, usually boring and overrated, I stopped traveling.
I just laugh about these companies saying they must overbook to make a profit. If they can’t make a profit the honest way, let them go into another business.