ComplaintsforGreat Western Lodging

• Initial Complaint

  04/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 4/6/23 I was charged $300 for smoking when we were not smoking. No one came to talk to us, not one called ** (they have a phone in the unit and my cell number)I called up to get the charge taken off and was met with nothing but hostility and rudeness. I tried to explain how no one in our group smokes and that no one was smoking.****** refused to even listen to me and just spoke over me and hung up on me multiple times. I tried to ask him if we were smoking, then who was smoking? what did they look like?******, unable to tell me. What were we smoking? if we are smoking it give off an Oder. Smoking Cigarettes, marijuana, a cigar? ****** could not tel me. He directed me to the on site maintenance person (who claimed to have witnessed the smoking ) who was equally as rude. He also could not tell me what this smoker looked like. He could also not tell me what we were smoking. He said that he yelled to someone on a balcony from the parking lot. I asked why he did not actually talk to someone or come up to our room. He had no real explanation From their he got frustrated and his story just went completely side ways. He went from him yelling at ** from the parking lot to he had a talk with someone outside. They sent ** an e-mail hoping we would not see it until check out. to try and answer The on site person then tried said someone flicked a cigarette **** at him. asked him why he did not come to our room to talk to **, he said that's not his job and he had other things to do. You job to charge us, but not your job to make sure you have the right person? He got mad at me and just hung up Also wouldn't throwing something off the balcony be ground for removal from the property. Deliberately throwing something at an employee certainly would be. but yet we were not even called or talked to. I am not sure if they got the wrong room by mistake but mistakes happen and it is okay to admit it. I also reached out to ****, GM and **** Directer of **, no response.

  

  Business response

  05/02/2023

  There are strict no-smoking policies in all ********** units. Sawmill Creek is a non-smoking property, including the decks. There are steps in place and people on-site to uphold the rules for the Association. We trust the on-site manager when he says he saw someone smoking on the balcony, verbally told them to stop, the person acknowledged it and was told there would be a fine. If that was not the person on the reservation, that is not to say the whole party is not subject to the rules of the Association. In any case, the fine was reversed and refunded to this guest. 

  Customer response

  05/04/2023

  Complaint: 19993729
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I am not saying anything to the no smoking policy. I know it is there. I am sorry that they saw someone else smoking outside and tried to blame **. We were never talked to, no one called ** or came to our room. We also never flicked a **** at him. That is completely made up and if we did we would have been kicked out.
  

  If you are not going to refund the $300 to my card i will just refute the charge with *****. You have the wrong people and you can not even tell ** what the person who was smoking outside looked like or what we were smoking. How can you accuse someone of smoking you can't even see? 0 proof that we were ever smoking, because we were not.

  
  Regards,
  
  *****************

• Initial Complaint

  11/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My cousin and I booked a reservation with Great Western Lodging. A few weeks later, my cousin had a table saw accident landing her in the hospital and further requiring surgery. Both of us have made several attempts to have the trip canceled or rescheduled, and the company is refusing to bend at all despite the extenuating circumstances beyond our control.

  

  Business response

  11/30/2022

  We have a cancellation policy that is acknowledged upon booking, although this person who submitted the complaint is not the same person who booked the reservation. Travel Insurance, through a third party, is sent to all of our guests upon booking. We recommend to all guests to purchase this insurance to cover incidences out of our control. This guest did not purchase travel insurance, additionally, they wanted to cancel within the 30 day period where no refund is allowed.

  The agreed upon cancellation policy is as follows: 

  CANCELLATION POLICY: 
  If you cancel your reservation MORE than 30 days prior to your expected arrival date, an amount equal to your payment less a $100 cancellation fee will be refunded. The total amount of your payment will be retained if you cancel WITHIN 30 days of your arrival. There is the option of adding on our optional Travel Insurance to receive a refund as long as you are cancelling under a covered reason. No refunds for no shows, late arrivals, or early departures, regardless of road and/or weather conditions. *If this is an Airbnb reservation, please refer to the cancellation policy set up through Airbnb.

  I am unsure if this guest went through AIRBNB as well, as that's how they booked. This guest stated that they needed to cancel for an injury, which Travel Insurance would've covered, but now as a pre-exsiting issue, it is too late to purchase. Additionally, upon calling our office on 11/17, and when this review was submitted, they told us that their family had COVID and was unable to travel on the dates of 12/12-17, which makes us unsure what the actual reason for wanting to cancel was. Regardless, had the guest purchased Travel Insurance these items would've been covered in full. We continue to adhere to our agreed upon cancellation policy. 

  Customer response

  12/01/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:regardless of cancellation policy, the injury sustained makes it impossible for my cousin to go on this trip and yes my entire family got Covid leaving me unable to work for an extended period of time leaving me financially incapable of paying for my entire family to fly to Colorado for this trip. All the details were explained fully in my conversations. I also requested to speak with a supervisor regarding the matter and was told they did not have one available. I attempted to confirm what the representative was saying and then they told me they did have a supervisor but that they would not be in the office until later. I requested to be contacted regarding this matter and was not. No one has contacted me or my cousin regarding the requested refund as neither one of our families are able to attend this trip. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ********

  

  Business response

  12/07/2022

  Based on our cancellation policy, and that Travel Insurance was not purchased, we cannot give this guest a refund. 

  We have, however, opened the unit back up to resell. Which means the condo this guest booked is open for rentals during the period they originally booked. If someone else re-books their dates from the 12/12-12/17, we can issue a refund to the original guest. If it does not, we will still collect payment. 

• Initial Complaint

  03/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I booked a unit with Great Western Lodging 11/26/21, down payment was paid $2971.66 and the balance was to be paid by 1/22. We arrived on February 25-March 1st , to a cold house with no drinking water in the house, except from the Faucet. The house was ice cold, the heating wasn't left on to warm the house upon our arrival. Only to find out they had to contact maintenance people to come. They didn't really understand the system was trying to heat a three level place. It wasn't explained to me on either of the fireplaces. Secondly another maintenance person came he seemed to know how to work the thermostat. The heat barely coming up from the floor vents. The second level where the three bedrooms were freezing, so what did they offer heaters, which they were prepared for use. Letting me know that they knew the heating wasn't working. Later to find out two of them stopped working. Hot water was few and between, I wanted to take a bath in my nice tube in the master bedroom, water only got warm. Same with the shower. Next we couldn't get the stove top to cook. Of course they never explained how it worked. Trying to cook on a temperamental stove. We ended up cooking in the microwave. The maintenance people didn't know how to help us. My fireplace in the master bedroom could not be adjusted because it was stripped! My guest that came with me are still upset over this trip. I got a phone call from the couple today who are 72 and 73 years old she was historically angered over this trip and everythingthey went through. I told her I would try to get some of our money back. They said this was the worst trip, they have ever been on. I have to agree ! I travel a lot and the accommodation I had to put up with were the worst! We paid $4,571.78 for this vacation I am trying to get some or all our money refunded. This was my second trip to Breckenridge. So I have no plans on returning ever. So, I want a refund sent to me by a check.Confirmation #******

  

  Business response

  03/07/2022

  Thank you for reaching out. After reviewing this complaint, the review you left and all the work orders that were put in during your stay, we believe that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the unit and these complaints are not are not a valid reason for a refund.
  
  The review you left us:
  “This was my worst trip staying at 309 Village Point Dr.  The stairs  and all of us suffered from elevation sickness.  We had issues from the time we got there.  The house was freezing,  they didn't make sure we were going to be comfortable.  The heating wasn't working,  so all the bedrooms were freezing. No food or water, until I ordered food for the next day. Which I was told it wouldn't arrive until 2 p.m. the grocery  store had no puller. I had to cancel.  Maintenance came and tried to work on thermostat and it never warmed up.  So I called the after hours and they came with heaters, of which 2 stopped working during the night. My 72 year old guest had to sleep on the sofas because the lower half never got warm.  So, two bedrooms were not used. They said it was living in a basement.  There were no TV's in two of the bedrooms.  Only xfinity cable with no movie stations. I want a refund from the Greeat Western  Lodging."
  
  We’re very sorry to hear you had altitude sickness that probably made everything more frustrating.

  Review of complaints:
  - To be clear, we do not provide food and water, tap water in Breckenridge is very safe to drink, and there was no alluding to the fact that we would provide food in a privately rented home. The TVs and rooms are all properly shown in photos, not every room is shown to have a TV.

  -Maintenance was at the house 3 times during the stay. All thermostats were working properly and mechanical items were all fully operational. We did provide space heaters as an after hours, emergency call as well. We also lower all the heaters to around 60 upon departures to conserve energy which is why it may have felt cold when you arrived. 60 is the lowest the house should’ve ever been, and while that’s cold, it is not an unreasonable temperature.
  ---After check-in, the guest called and was walked through on the thermostats, confirming the heat is always on during the winter, and the location of the switches for the fireplaces. Stating that it will take some time for it to heat up, and then after another call, immediately sent over a maintenance guy to assist.
  ---Work order on 2/25 at 4:03 pm, day of arrival,  stating guests could not figure out the thermostats, maintenance tested them and confirmed functional, they also reset the breaker panel to ensure this was functional.

  ---The space heaters are programed to turn off when the dial-heat is hit, or it is too hot to continue running, they will not run 24/7 for safety reasons.

  -There was never a call about lukewarm water, we could’ve inspected the hot water heater, but with everything firing correctly, it could’ve been run out by multiple long uses.

  -Stovetop, this allegation is not factual. Per our records, a work order was entered at 11:01am and responded to at 11:21am:
  ---Description: The stove is not getting hot
  ---Work Performed: User error. Induction cook top needs to have a pan on it to heat up. Showed the guests that each burner was working.
  
  While we understand that the stay was less than what you desired, we confirmed that the house was functional for the stay and we were prompt to reply to any and all calls made by the guest.  For these reasons, we do not feel a refund is warranted.
  
  
  

  Customer response

  03/07/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  They are saying that everything was working properly then why was there so many work orders having to be placed. I will go through another way. Can you email the backup of the transcript
  ?
  Regards,
  ***** ********

• Initial Complaint

  12/03/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 11.11.2021 we made a reservation with Great Western Lodging for 4 nights from 12.9.2021- 12.13.2021. A few days later we added one more night- 12.8.2021 as well. On 11.27.21 my wife tested positive (attached) for Covid-19 and had severe symptoms which led us to cancel all our travel plans. We sought a refund and were told it was not possible because we didn't purchase travel insurance. We asked for a manager's email (pdf transcript attached) and asked for help. After the manager seems to have realized that the travel insurance would not even apply to our situation, she offered a credit toward another date. But then when we selected a date, it was over 3x the amount of the original charge for the same room and same # of days. I, **** also currently have all the symptoms of Covid19 but so far have tested negative. We have also contacted our bank and filed a dispute. Given the fact that all other companies refunded our reservations or gave us a credit and purchasing Great Westerns "Travel Insurance" would not apply to our reservation timeline, we believe a refund is due. We would like a refund for the reservations in the amount of $2690.90 - (attached below).

  

  Business response

  12/13/2021

  Mr. ******,
  
  While we do sympathize with your situation, we have a strict cancellation policy that is acknowledged upon booking. As you booked within the 30 day cancellation time, you were made aware that the booking was non-refundable. Travel Insurance, through a third party, is sent to all of our guests upon booking. As we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, we recommend to all guests to purchase this insurance, as a positive COVID-19 test does not override our cancellation policy and is fully covered through travel insurance. This insurance can be purchased up to 48 hours prior to an arrival. However, as I stated in our communications, it would not have applied to you with a pre-existing condition.
  
  We personally went around our cancellation policy to try and help you and your family out. As you were kind and stated everyone else offered credits or refunds, we decided to do a one time move to a future stay. I apologize if this came across as a full move to peak season for the same rates. As I’m sure the airlines are the same way with their credit, you can use the total amount paid to be put forward to the future stay, but rates will probably be different. Since your original stay, from 12/8-12/13, is considered early season, the rates are significantly different than they are peak winter, in February/March, when you were asking to change to. We asked you pay the difference on the rate change, which I do believe is a fair practice.
  
  Per the original agreed upon cancellation policy:
  See the attached copy of our Terms & Conditions.
  Our cancellation policy contained within our Terms & Conditions states that “The total amount of your payment will be retained if you cancel WITHIN 45 (if regular season, 30 if summer season) days of your arrival.” This stay was booking within the cancellation period, making it non-refundable from the start.
  A confirmation of booking communication was sent to Mr. ****** on 11/11/21, which was the day of booking and was paid in full. This piece of communication has our cancellation policy clearly stated on it. Proof of delivery is attached here as “final confirmation”
  The guest received a copy of our Terms & Conditions in that email.
  Offered to all guests, travel insurance was not purchased by Mr. ******.

  
  Mr. ****** was aware that the reservation was fully non-refundable upon booking and not purchase travel insurance upon booking when it was still applicable. Mr. ****** can now either adhere to the original cancellation policy, which results in no money back and no credit. Or, since it has already been offered, you can take us up on our generosity to move it to future dates as a credit, paying the difference if necessary, which you can use up to 1 year from the original stay date arrival on 12/8.
  
  Regards,
  Erin M******

  Customer response

  12/13/2021

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  **** ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩