Where I won't be staying on future Sea World visits

[WebmasterBarry]

In Orlando, there are two Extended Stay properties on Westwood Blvd. near Sea World. However, I probably won't be staying there in the future.

A while back, two Extended Stay Americas in Orlando charged me for a one night stay when I had cancelled them well within the cancellation policy. After many correspondences and finally a letter to the company president, I finally got a refund and a certificate for a free weekend stay.

I had reviewed my credit card statements this weekend and a property in Orlando and New Jersey had charged me for a one night's stay. I have the e-mail confirmation that I cancelled these well within the cancellation policy. In fact, I had cancelled these reservations about 2-3 weeks in advance. Yet, I got charged!

I gave them a chance previously to correct the problem and all they did was to ignore me. This time, it's no more Mr. Nice Guy. I am going straight to my credit card company to disallow the charges. I'm also going to report this to the Better Business Bureau for further action. I shouldn't give the company the courtesy of a complaint letter, but I will write one regardless.

I will be using the free weekend stay certificate during a future stay. I even chose one of the most expensive properties in the area. However, I am tempted to just rip it up because I am disgusted by how Extended Stay America has treated me.

 

[Granny]

Sounds like a really bad experience. It always amazes me how the hotel industry can be claiming (justifiably) that they are hurting with tourism and flying down, yet still treat customers like that.

But don't tear that certificate up....if you did that would mean that they win!

Hope future stays elsewhere are much better for you.

 

[WebmasterBarry]

I received this e-mail today from the company:

Dear Mr. Hom:

Thank you again for contacting us regarding the difficulties you continue
to experience with your Website reservation cancellations. Regrettably, we
once again find ourselves in the position of apologizing to you for the
inconvenience and aggravation caused to you by our errors. I do so now,
with embarrassment as I agree that the service you have received from us in
this matter is unacceptable.

I will try to explain the process briefly. Because our Call Center and
Website Reservations System are not directly linked with our individual
hotels' on-site property management system, reservations and cancellations
received thru these sources are sent by computer file download to each
respective hotel's fax machine each day. The reservations and
cancellations are then re-entered into each hotel's local system. As a
back-up, all reservations are re-sent to each hotel on the morning of your
expected arrival day. Unfortunately, it appears there has been a
communication breakdown in this process in regards to your cancellations.
I will be forwarding a copy of this email and reviewing the matter with
both our internal departments involved with the process here at our
Corporate Headquarters and with our Regional Offices. Again, every effort
will be made to correct the problem.

Credit for both charges have been requested and issued to your Visa and
MasterCard's respectively. These credits should appear on your accounts
within 3-10 business days. I have also attached file copies of these
credits below for your reference.

Mr. Hom, please be assured of our continued commitment to deliver the
quality service you expect and deserve. You are a valued guest and we
appreciate your patronage. Again, I extend my apologies and hope that you
will once again allow us an opportunity to regain your confidence by
sending you another complimentary weekend coupon valid at any of our 450
locations nationwide. I will send this by mail to the address we have on
file for you.

 

[jgates]

Good Job!

I'm just sitting here browsing while I debate what to write to Hampton Inns about the empty water bottle laying by the bed and the pill laying out in the nightstand drawer. (Green with an S on it I believe). It was probably a harmless pill but can you imagine if it isn't and some little kid found it? Luckily my youngest was already in bed! (Urbana, IL on the way home from Disney).

We didn't try to change rooms that nite because we had one of the last one or two rooms in the hotel and it was 1:30 in the morning when we got in and my daughter was asleep on her feet.

The irritant in our situation was that I put them in the ice bag and showed them to the desk clerk the next morning and she says ok and throws them away. Doesn't save them to show to housekeeping - doesn't do anything else. I supposed I could have demanded their 100% satisfaction guarantee but I was still too tired from our late arrival the night before. It just made me really uncomfortable as to how clean the room really was.

Regardless, sorry-you didn't ask for my problems! But if you decide to ban ESA altogether I'll PM you my address. I could use it to take my dd to Mall of America.