Why I won't be staying at an Extended Stay America anymore...

[WebmasterBarry]

I decided not to stay at an Extended Stay America anymore. Why? I was charged for several cancelled reservations at several Orlando properties.

The first one occured in 3/01. I wrote a nice e-mail to them about the mistake. They credited my credit card. Recently, I cancelled a reservation for a 11/01 stay. I was charged one night anyway. I had researched my credit card bills and found out they had done this for a cancelled reservation on 4/01. I don't know why I missed that one. I had cancelled well within their cancellation policy each time. I had made the reservations on their website and cancelled on their website, as per their cancellation policy.

During the recent mistaken charge, I wrote them a letter with copies of my credit card and copies of the e-mail confirmations of the cancellations. Two weeks later, I received no answer. I had sent them an e-mail with a notice that I would contact the Better Business Bureau and contact the credit card company for disallowment. I finally got a response saying they never received my letter and asked me to e-mail the information. That was two weeks ago. I still have not gotten a response. I suspect that I am being blown off, but I have no proof of this. I was so upset by their lack of response that I put a complaint into the Better Business Bureau and contacted my credit card company for disallowment of the 11/01 charge. I can't do anything about the 4/01 charge since I am beyond the time of disallowment.

I understand that this is the holidays and is a busy time, but I think waiting two weeks for a reply is ludricous. Also, I understand people make mistakes and I overlooked the first mistaken charge, but three mistaken charges are not a mistake.

It is unfortunate that I will never stay at an Extended Stay America. They have nice properties and the rates are reasonable for what you get. I did have a reservation for this weekend at an Orlando property, but I cancelled it, mainly because of these mistaken charges. I hope I'm not charged for this cancelled stay.

 

[kellymonaghan]

Barry, your first step should have been to contact the credit card company and dispute the charge.

Every time I have disputed a charge the card issuer has immediately reversed the charge pending further investigation. This places the burden of proof on the merchant, where it belongs.

As long as you are in the right (as you clearly are) this is a quick and painless process and you're never out of pocket since you simply deduct the amount of the disputed charge when you pay your bill.

 

[WebmasterBarry]

Thanks for the tip! I will remember that in the future.

 

[hercamore]

Thanks for posting about yoru experiences. I will think twice about staying at an Extended Stay HOtel.

Disney charged me l nights lodging at the Disney Institue this summer. We never stayed at the DI all. We stayed at the AKL for that trip.

Took four months to finally clear it all up. I have learned never to assume anything with these hotels, and always check my cc. statement.

Hercamore

 

[Boots]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!

 

[Mickey's sunshine]

Well if you would quite breaking their beds Barry!! (no more jumping on the bes my friend) LOL

 

[WebmasterBarry]

Sorry, I will have to jump on the toliet.

 

[Mickey's sunshine]

LOL Barry, I can picture you doing that!

 

[WebmasterBarry]

Well, I finally got a refund. I wrote directly to the President himself. He gave a lot of apologies, credited my account, and sent me a certificate for a weekend stay. I think there will always be a scar in what I dealt with, but the certificate makes it less painful. I think I'm going to find the most expensive property there and book a stay.

 

[NancyIL]

I tend to cancel a lot of hotel reservations because I like to tinker! I have a spiral notebook just for the purpose of writing down cancellation numbers. I have been wrongly charged a few times and always got things cleared up. Only once was the screw-up my fault. I booked a hotel online, and in fact may have DOUBLE booked it - and cancelled only one of the reservations.

 

[Robinrs]

Nancy, not YOU! You're my queen of togetherness, PLEASE don't let me know that YOU made a mistake!

And who likes to "tinker" more than yours truly~

Glad you finally got some resolve, Barry. My only nightmare with a hotel was with the All Stars. They had my card key attached to the wrong credit card! Before I checked out I was called to tell me that my credit card did not have the funds for check out ... and it was for about $70! They told me the number of the card and it wasn't mine! Nightmare...

I guess it makes us more aware to check and recheck our statements.

 

[webray]

Barry, if you need a place like that again...go to Candlewood Suites...they are excellent!