Question: I’m having some difficulty getting Choice Hotels to honor its “100 Percent Satisfaction Guarantee” and am hoping you can help.
My wife and I recently stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites in North Vancouver, British Columbia, which belongs to the Choice Hotels chain. When we checked in, we were told that we had been given a “free upgrade,” which turned out to be a dowdy, dimly lit, two-room suite with one double bed and a shabby-looking sofa bed with no linens. It was also dirty.
I returned to the office and told the agent we wanted the room we had reserved. We were moved to another room, but our problems were not over. There was only lukewarm water that night and the next morning, making for uncomfortable showers. The coffee machine was broken, so no one could have hot coffee at breakfast, and the motel’s ice machine was not working either. Each of these deficiencies was called to the attention of front desk personnel, but nothing more than an apology was offered.
I have stayed at many Choice Hotels over the years. This location fell far short of the usual standards and what I have come to expect. I contacted Choice Hotels and invoked its satisfaction guarantee, but the hotel refuses to honor it because it says I never brought these issues to its attention. Is there anything you can do?
—Richard Simms, Denton, Texas
Answer: Choice Hotels should have either fixed the shower, the ice machine and the coffee maker or refunded your room rate. At least that’s what a cursory review of your correspondence between you and the hotel suggests.
But a closer reading of the terms of the Choice guarantee shows the hotel may owe you nothing more than what you got — an apology.
Check out the fine print of the “100 Percent Satisfaction Guarantee” and you’ll see that there are some important exceptions. “If you are not satisfied with your accommodations or our service, please advise the front desk of a problem right away and give them an opportunity to correct the situation,” it says. “If the hotel staff is unable to satisfy you, they may give you up to one night’s free stay.”
Got that? You have to report a problem, and if the hotel can’t fix it you may be entitled to up to one night’s free stay. That’s such a vaguely worded guarantee that you have to wonder why Choice Hotels even bothers.
But it gets worse. “Not all international hotels participate in this program,” it adds. So the guarantee isn’t much of a guarantee to begin with, and your hotel, being an international property, didn’t have to honor it anyway.
You would have been better off asking to speak with a manager after getting your first “Sorry.” A supervisor would have recognized that you weren’t having a pleasant stay and might have tried to make things right. It’s possible that the employees at the front desk just didn’t understand how inconvenienced you were.
I have to admit, if I were working the front desk and someone said his shower was running lukewarm, I’d probably apologize and notify the maintenance guys. But a series of complaints — the unclean “upgraded” room, the busted coffee maker, the tepid shower — might have risen to the level of a more significant issue.
I contacted Choice Hotels on your behalf and it refunded $93, the entire amount of your room rate.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Ah, another “100% guarantee” that’s nothing more than a “100% ‘you gave us your money-good luck trying to get anything back from us-wahahahaha’-policy”.
The only reason why they give this guarantee is because is gives a good feeling to customers without a complaint.
I have had similar quality problems with Comfort Inns, along with a lack of honoring offers such as free nights after so many stays, etc. They are now very low on my list and generally I’ll stay most anywhere before using one.
Maybe. I had a similar complaint at a Quality Inn in North Carolina last summer – we never had hot water after the first day of our stay, among other problems. They sent me a certificate for a free night in the same hotel afterward. I called and told them it wasn’t likely I’d be back in the area anytime in the next several years. They instead sent me certificates in the amount of a night’s stay in that hotel that could be used at any choice hotel. I don’t know if I was exactly “100%” satisfied with the response, but I wouldn’t say they never try to work with you.
Of course, those certificated confused the hotel where I eventually redeemed them, so now I’m trying to get my money back from there…
My gosh, its a COMFORT Inn. $40 a night in the states on the side of the most remote stretch of interstate.
Finish Last Comment:
What part of you get what you pay for is unclear? I hate to be harsh but its a comfort inn for gosh sakes – Motel 6 quality here. When you reserve the cheapest possible accomodations you get, the cheapest possible accomodations.
You might have stayed at ‘Choice Hotels’ brand before, but Comfort Inn the lowest rung on that ladder.
Here is a tip – before you confirm a reservation ANYWHERE, check TripAdvisor or Expedia customer comments – they are pretty accurate and its pretty simple to edit out the chronic complainers and those who wany Savoy treatment at Days Inn prices.
I guess bad news travels fast.
When we return home from vacations we should really be thankful that we return in good health. I once ran across a Web site where people shared their hotel horror stories. It is not only the bedspread that we have to fear. Not that I am unsympathetic, but this Comfort Inn experience pales into insignificance when compared to some of the reports. For example, one former chambermaid wrote that they were given just one cloth to clean the entire bathroom so that toilet, sink, tub, mirrors and even the drinking glass were cleaned with the same cloth. Some disgruntled maids even used the guests’ toothbrush to do the cleaning.
One of the worlds’ large hotel chains (Accor) has adopted an environmental policy. A sign in the bathroom of the hotel where we stayed in Europe last month explained that they are committed to saving resources and lowering pollution levels. Guests are invited to reuse the towel for a second day by placing it on a designated rack. Note that I said “the towel.” Only one towel is placed in the bathroom for each guest. As we were staying for one night only, we did not complain. However, on checking out, we were asked if the room had been satisfactory. I said it had been, except for the single towel. We were then told that this was their new policy and if we had wanted more towels, we should have called down to the front desk. This hotel charged 70 euros for the night. That works out to approx. C$105. We like this hotel and have stayed there three times before but we are not excited about this new policy.
Taken from the website: 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
We guarantee total guest satisfaction at Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion and MainStay Suites hotels.
If you are not satisfied with your accommodations or our service, please advise the front desk of a problem right away and give them an opportunity to correct the situation. If the hotel staff is unable to satisfy you, they may give you up to one night’s free stay. Not all international hotels participate in this program.
Read the bottom line – this hotel doesn’t owe anything, technically. I don’t think it’s cool that the hotel said you didn’t bring issues to their attention when you did. However from a legal standpoint, the wording is pretty concrete.
I once stayed at a Comfort Inn in San Diego and awoke to find our room crawling with ants. They were everywhere, even in the baby’s crib. Even on the baby! And the satisfaction guarantee? Worthless. We didn’t get a refund, we didn’t get a voucher, we didn’t get an apology — all we got is attitude. And I’ll tell you what Comfort Inn hasn’t got since that stay — my money, not a dime since that horrible experience.