Dont ever stay at The Clarion:
My mini vacation turned horrible last weekend. I booked 3 hotel rooms at The Clarion on Richmond Road in Williamsburg Va. 1 room was for friday night, and 2 rooms for friends of mine were only booked for sat night. We were going to have a Busch Gardens/Water country weekend. So we get to hotel friday night. We are put into a detached building when we got to the room, no fridge no microwave and the tv was unable to be seen really so I tried to adjust the cord in the back and it was just frazzled and looked like someone tried to splice it in. I was just so mad told my husband we were not staying here on Sat night went down to get sodas and all the machines were sold out and the ice machine was broken. When I woke up I felt alot better after some sleep and I figured hey were are not here for the hotel (which my husband kept saying lol) and I said we will just suffer thru. Then I went to take a shower, no hot water and the drain plug wouldnt work. So off we went to the park about 5pm my friends and I all decided to go back to hotel swim and get showers and go to get dinner. We get back to hotel to find out that pools are closed till further notice and no reason to tell us why. I had had enough we all decided to book different rooms. Called Price line and found 3 rooms available at the Holiday Inn Express so I went in we cancelled the reservations for all 3 rooms for the sat night and asked for discount for my room that we stayed in on Friday night. I was assured I wouldnt be charged and that the authorization hold on my account would be dropped after he faxed over the correct paperwork. So off the the Holiday Inn we go.
Checking into the holiday inn was very nice, people were nice hotel was nice. Booked rooms 1, and 2 on my debit card, room 3 my card is declined. We end up paying cash just to get the room I go online to check whats up with my bank account and The Clarion has 4 charges on my account. First one is for $205.14 which would have been my two night stay, then 2 rooms at $104.57 each then a totally different charge for $109.00 so now, im broke in Va with my kids and The Clarion is holding my money for rooms we didnt stay in, here I sit on Tuesday and my bank wont drop the hold the hotel says he has faxed over the correct paper work ,and now, my auto debit auto insurance will be turned down and also the fact that all my friggin money is tied up into this sh*tty hotel! Im at a lost as to what to do they keep telling me "Oh the hold will drop in a few days, well its been since Friday and now its Tuesday. Anyone been in this situation and know how to correct this?
Thank you.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Stop dealing with the local hotel and find there corporate office number and start making phone calls.
ReplyDeleteSounds like another foreigner owned hotel. Most of those are the pits--dirty and unkept, staff uncaring. And unfortunatly, they own a lot of them.
ReplyDeleteI only stay at American owned, when possible.
Rule #1: Never used your debit card for things like hotel rooms, airline tickets, or online purchases since it ties up your personal funds in your checking account, as you're now finding out. Besides the experience you're now going through, if someone used your account number from your debit card, they could wipe out your personal checking or savings, leaving you with nothing to pay the rest of your monthly bills until the matter is settled with your bank. Always use a regular credit card for such purchases.
ReplyDeleteIf he did in fact fax paperwork, he should be able to give you a fax confirmation sheet showing it was faxed, where it was faxed to, when it was faxed, etc.
ReplyDeleteEven if his machine is not set to print the report automatically, he should be able to print a "report" which will show the same information in a different format.
If you used a bank with an overdraft protection on the account, you wouldn't have to worry about your insurance bill getting paid due to all of this. It may cost you a little more, but the bank would pay it.
Better than the policy getting cancelled for non-payment.
Speaking of American owned motels, does anyone know where I can get a list. We also travel sometimes and try to stay out of the ones that are owned by foreigners. Sorry, but they just aren't up to par!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what he is talking about when he says he faxed the paperwork. All he had to do was refund your card or not process the actual charge. The bank will automatically drop the hold when the actual charge doesn't go through. However, this does take several days to happen. If they processed a refund that can take up to 7 to 10 days to post back to your account. I have to deal with this all the time with our guests. Because charges show up almost immediately people expect the refunds or hold drops to be as quick. Unfortunately, they are not.
ReplyDeleteI always go through expedia..... then I always read customer comments .... the pics will always look nice.... once i make a reservation.... i then call the hotel myself to ensure the reservation is made along with any ammenties that i would be expectings .. I also do not use debt cards, these types of reservation are made with a credit card so my funds are not tied up and if i have a dispute , its easier with a credit card....
ReplyDeleteAgreed with 9:13, there are lots of foreigner owned hotels/motels around popular resorts these days, and what used to be fine properties have been run down into GARBAGE RAT HOLES by these people. 'nuff said.
ReplyDeleteBe very choosy about where you make reservations. Stick with places that you know have good standards and are kept up.
You can usually tell by simply walking into the lobby and taking one look at the front desk area and staff. How they maintain the front desk area and speak to you will tell you just about everything you need to know.
I found that if you go onto www.traveladvisory.com you can get such good information on where to stay & how they are rated.
ReplyDeleteGo to priceline to get the cheapest possible room you can find and you are gonna get a crap product
ReplyDelete63 of 89 on Trip Advisor and reviews heavily towards avoid it. What do you expect?
ReplyDeleteMaybe using a reputable travel agent instead of trying to be cheap.com to save a few dollars would help.
ReplyDeleteNEVER use a debit card for such things -- your horror story confirms the reasons why.
ReplyDelete