ComplaintsforBest Western Plus Carousel Inn & Suites

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was supposed to stay at this hotel on January 2nd, 2022. I was driving home to ******** from ***** and the route I was going to take was through ****** instead of ******* but the pass over the rockies going on I70 showed closed for weather the morning of the 2nd, causing me to have to divert to a different route. This made it impossible to make it to the hotel that day for check in. I called up the hotel to explain the situation, hoping to cancel my reservation, and they gave me the run around, saying I needed to work with Hotels.com to resolve the issue, however, Hotels.com stated that the hotel needed to offer the cancellation with no fee since I had chosen pay on site. The hotel has refused to offer a refund for the cancellation fee despite my efforts to explain that the reason for cancellation was out of my control, caused by weather. In my opinion, this is very poor business to take someone's hard earned money when all efforts were made to explain the situation and with the fact that there was no way the reservation would be fulfilled.

  Business response

  01/25/2022

  To whom it may concern,

   

  I have attached business's response in the attachment titled "Case ID ********."

   

  I have also attached scans of the two letters from the BBB and copies of the post marked envelopes they came in. We received both letters today, Monday, January 24, 2022, however, one of the letters stated that we did not respond to the initial letter within 3 business days. As you can see from the post marked envelopes, they were sent within a day of each other on January 20 and January 21. With that said, please note that the hotel did not neglect to respond to your letter, but rather the letter was not sent promptly by the BBB causing a delay in the business's response.

  Customer response

  01/26/2022

   
  Complaint: 16459021
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I couldn't find attachments in the response.  The only attachment shown is the original email I attached to the complaint.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  02/03/2022

   

  Business response to *************************:

   

  The guest booked his reservation with a third-party website being fully aware of the hotels 24hour cancellation policy. ************************* called the hotel on the day of his arrival to cancel the reservation and the hotels response was as follows: this reservation was outside of the cancellation window and therefore he will incur the full cost of the room+taxes as stated in the policy. The cancellation policy was provided to him on the Hotel.com's booking page AND reiterated through the email confirmation he shortly received after completing his booking. A sample of the cancellation policy has been attached for your records. Furthermore, there were no highway closures to the hotel and Burlington, ** never experienced any inclement weather, at which point would be up to the hotels discretion to decide whether a waiver is warranted. The guest was told multiple times by both Hotels.com, the hotel, and Best Western corporate that he would incur the full cost of the room due to the facts mentioned above. ************************* was provided the cancellation policy on multiple occasions during the booking process on Hotels.com to which he agreed to enter into the booking contract once he created his reservation. With the facts as they are, ******** is not entitled to any refund.

  Customer response

  02/04/2022

   
  Complaint: 16459021
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  The road closure happened in western ********, over the Rocky ********** near the *****************, several hundred miles away from Burlington.  This closure prevented me from being able to drive the 9 hours from Price ** to Burlington ** to stay at this hotel.  I was aware at the time of the cancellation policy but I had hoped the hotel would offer an exception since inclement weather was responsible for me being unable to use my reservation.  I am disappointed and disheartened that a business would hold such a strong stance provided the circumstances.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  02/15/2022

  Dear AjaDae Trent,

   

  Please find in the attached scans of the letter date of Monday, February 7 and the postmarked date of 2/09/2022. These letters are being sent out two

  (2) days after they are being generated and therefore making it impossible for the business to respond within the requested 3 calendar day. I have brought this to your attention in prior a correspondence and feel it is necessary to bring it up again since you have not acknowledged these facts.

   

  Furthermore, we have addressed the primary concerns of this case involving *************************. He booked his reservation through an ONLINE-TRAVEL AGENT, i.e. Hotels.com, to which being of full cognizant mind, agreed to the terms and conditions at the time of completing the booking. Hotels.com therefore collected a fee from our small business for facilitating Malquists reservation. Since January 2, 2022, ******** has gone on multiple online tirades defaming our small business (see attachments) and is now attempting to use you to break his contractual obligations. All of the information you have gathered from both parties comes down to one conclusion, ******** was not coerced into this transaction and willingly agreed to the terms and conditions up until the point it no longer served him.

  Customer response

  02/16/2022

   
  Complaint: 16459021
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Primary concerns have not been addressed for the customer complaint and the online reviews were based off customer experience to help others avoid the situation I ran into.  My concern is that immediately upon finding out roads were closed through the Rocky ********** I contacted the hotel to try and work out the situation.  In my career, our construction contracts always have a section that discusses inclement weather, or acts of God, that could prevent someone from fulfilling the contract.  The weather was out of my control, and I tried to get help from the Hotel in resolving that issue, as well as through Hotels.com.  I never received any calls from the hotel manager to discuss the situation, all I have heard is too bad, it is what it is.  This is poor customer service and does not reflect a professional who wants to retain customers.  I was not trying to break the contract when it was no longer "convenient" to me, because being diverted south through **********, adding several hours to my trip with my family in the car, is by far less convenient than it would have been to be able to make it to Burlington with no issues.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

*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. ↩