Question: I’m trying to get a refund from the Days Inn in Wagoner, Okla., and I think I’m being ignored.
I’m a Roman Catholic priest, and I was recently in town for a baptism and several masses. When I checked out of the Days Inn, I was charged for the room, which included $42 in taxes. I was told that I could get a refund on the tax if I gave the hotel my tax ID number.
Two days after I returned home, I called the dear friend who had made my reservations for me, and asked her to pass along the tax ID to the hotel. She did, but nothing ever happened.
We were offered numerous excuses from Days Inn over the next few weeks, including that the person who could help us was away because she had gotten married. Further phone messages to the hotel by my friend were not returned.
I’m hoping you might shed some light on this particular situation, since I’ve never had this happen with another hotel chain. To be honest, I’m tempted to let all my parishioners know of this situation so that they might not use the services of Days Inn.
– Father William Mary Morgenstern, Mesa, Colo.
Answer: If you were promised a tax refund by Days Inn, you should have gotten one. In fact, the hotel shouldn’t have charged you the tax in the first place.
Your type of refund request is often assigned the lowest priority by the travel industry. I routinely get complaints about missing VAT refunds for visitors to Europe. It’s not as common in the United States, but it happens from time to time.
Why doesn’t anyone care? Probably because it’s the government’s money. Why should someone help you get your taxes back — even if you’re entitled to a refund? Of course, that’s the wrong attitude, especially if you’re in the hospitality business.
This was completely preventable. Rather than giving your tax information to a friend, you should have spoken with the hotel clerk yourself. And you shouldn’t have checked out of the hotel without the full refund.
Hotels, like other travel companies, are highly efficient at taking your money but generally inept at returning it. Even if the money is rightfully yours, and even if you’re doing the Lord’s work.
I think a phone call was helpful, but you should have followed up with a brief, polite letter to Days Inn. I would have copied the hotel chain’s corporate office on the note, too. That would have put the property on notice that you weren’t going to let this one go.
I contacted Days Inn on your behalf, and you received a prompt response with an apology and a promise to credit you $42. But it didn’t end there. Instead of giving you the money, Days Inn took another $42 off your credit card. Oops. Then it returned it, leaving the situation still unresolved.
After another exchange of e-mails with the hotel, Days Inn apologized again and mailed you a check for $42.
✓ Get the latest travel news, tips and commentary from Elliott’s E-Mail, the subversive newsletter from industry gadfly Christopher Elliott. You’ll travel like a pro. Sign up here. It’s free.
Sign up for my 
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Oops, fixing the problem by charging the customer instead of crediting him. Nice.
Father William Mary Morgenstern
Having worked at hotel front desks and as an income auditor (the person that deals with tax-exempt guests), it seems clear that the priest didn’t follow the rules. When guests arrive and claim to be exempt, they need to provide proof. There are far too many scammers out there and just because someone is wearing priestly garb doesn’t mean he’s automatically tax-exempt.
The hotel did the priest a favor by agreeing to take the tax off after the fact. The priest needs to own up to his role in this problem. He should have presented documentation upon arrival. If this had happened, there wouldn’t have been a problem. That said, the Days Inn should never have double changed the priest in the end.