ComplaintsforTimberline Inn of Grand Lake

• Initial Complaint

  08/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I made a reservation on Priceline (trip # ***********) for a hotel in ***************************** - Timberline Inn of Grand Lake. When we arrived, the hotel was actually a Motel with approximately 10 rooms, with combination locks on each room door to gain entry. The grounds were in terrible disrepair and the cleaning people were working out of a mini van with the clean sheets piled on the dirt road outside their van. We arrived at 3:10 to checkin and there is no office, no lobby to speak to anyone. We approached the cleaning crew to ask how to check in and they didnt speak English and had no idea what to do. After about 10 minutes, we located a 8 1/2 x 11 sign that explains that I will receive a text message at 4 pm with the combination to my room and room number. I NEVER received a text message and was unable to reach the owners by the telephone number they left on the sign, after multiple attempts. I contacted Priceline and they were unable to reach the owners - I was in hold with Priceline for approximately 10 minutes while they tried to reach them. I was forced to make a new reservation at a different hotel 20 miles away. I filed a complaint with ********* to get a refund and two weeks later was told they did not receive approval from the hotel for a refund and I would not be getting my money back. This owner should be forced to give a refund - they took my money and I had no way to get my product - that is theft. I have asked Priceline for an escalation of this issue and to please explain to me why a refund is not possible, I have not received a reply. I have made reservations thru Priceline for years and have a VIP status, yet to refund me $120 for a hotel I could not check into seems outrageous! I gave them 1 star for this transaction only because zero was not an option.

  Business response

  09/25/2024

  With regard to the complaints set forth by Mrs. ******* please see the information as follows....

  First off, we fail to see any relevancy of Mrs. ******** personal observation of our facility being a "motel" instead of a "hotel" in terms of her complaint.  Further, her observations of the grounds being in "terrible disrepair" can only be reflective of her subjective dissatisfaction with the aesthetics of what is actually a water-conscious and eco-friendly property focused on minimal water consumption and resisted usage of potentially harmful chemicals that are frequently used by other facilities to maintain a garden/grass-filled appearance.  We are located at an elevation of *****ft near the entrance of ***************************** which is home to numerous threatened species of plants and animals.  Therefore, we choose not to put the appearance of our "grounds" as priority over these forms of life when it involves excessive water usage or weed and grass treatment chemicals.  The cleaners she observed working out of their van absolutely did not place clean sheets on the dirt, and this was confirmed through camera footage.  Our cleaners will only ever place (dirty) linens on the ground (temporarily) if they have been removed from a room that is being cleaned.  All clean linens placed in a room during the cleaning process have been thoroughly washed, folded, and stored appropriately before being taken directly to a room, without ever touching another surface.  

  As Mrs. ****** herself acknowledged, she arrived at 3:10pm, despite check-in time being 4pm.  Text messages and emails with check-in information are sent the morning of each check-in, not 4pm.  She still should have received an email with this information (in addition to the text message), though she fails to acknowledge one was sent, she did not receive a text message with check-in information because she failed to provide a phone number (as required) when making the reservation.  Whether booking directly through our website or through a third party agency, "contactless" or "self check-in" is clearly listed as an ammenity of our lodging facility, so it should not have come as a surprise that we do not have a lobby or office.  

  We do not have any records of missed calls or voicemails from Mrs. ****** on the day of her check in.  Contrary to her claims, we DID receive a call from Priceline informing us that a mutual customer did not receive their check-in information.  We asked the representative if they could provide us with Mrs. ******'s cell phone number (as was required at the time of making the booking) to provide her with the text and make a courtesy call, but were informed by them that they could not provide us with her number out of privacy concerns.  So, we instead asked the representative if we could provide them with the guest's room number and access code so they could relay that information to the guest.  They said they could and after doing so, confirmed with us that they had done so.  Further, one of our cleaners then personally observed a woman using the code to open the door to the room in question and make entry.  At no point during the day in question had we been informed by Mrs. ****** (through call, text, voicemail, or otherwise) that she had decided to book a room with another lodging facility and forgo her booking with us.  Likewise, we did not hear anything about this decision from Priceline until days later.  Due to these circumstances, we could only assume that the room was occupied by Mrs. ****** that evening and even if it weren't, there was not sufficient enough time remaining in the day to change the door code.  It would be a liability to have another potential guest book the room and provide them with a code that another, unrelated guest is familiar with.  Furthermore, she did not cancel the reservation through Priceline after supposedly booking with another facility.  Due to the lack of cancellation through Priceline, the room was not "unlocked" by Priceline to make it available to be booked by anyone else.  Mrs. ****** was "locked in" as the occupying guest throughout the duration of the scheduled reservation.

  Due to these details and circumstances, we are unable to provide a refund to Mrs. ******.  Whether Priceline feels these circumstances justify a refunding by them to Mrs. ******, is entirely up to them.  From our perspective, the room number and access code was provided to Mrs. ****** by Priceline after they called us, as they confirmed they had done so, and the room was used/occupied.  It seems that Mrs. ******** true motivations in requesting a refund is due to her dissatisfaction with the aesthetics of our eco-friendly grounds, our facility being a "motel" instead of a "hotel", and her failure to recognize at the time of booking that we are a self check-in facility that requires a phone number when making said booking, of which she did not provide.

  Customer response

  09/25/2024

  Complaint: 22157944
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  First - the aesthetics of your facility would not be an issue if weeds and unkept grounds were the issue. A building with broken glass and garbage bags filled with garbage is an entirely different issue. It is a red flag for guest to see garbage and broken glass outside the actual room and wonder what the actual room upkeep is. 
  

  First, when I book the reservation thru Priceline - I am a VIP member and my phone number is included in all reservations. My itinerary from ********* stated my checkin time was 3 pm, not 4 pm. I never received an email from the hotel the morning of and never received the text message at 4 pm from checkin. I tried calling the management several times to get the checkin information and no one would answer the phone. No way to check into the hotel. I NEVER stepped foot in the room or any room of the establishment. In fact - the cleaning crew was actually cleaning our room that we should have been checking into when we arrived. We left the property prior to the cleaning crew finishing the room - so if someone was occupying the room - maybe you should check your cameras to determine who that was since you can tell the linen was not on the ground thru your camera - which is clearly was.  As for cancelling the reservation, I did cancel it thru Priceline and they gave me a cancellation number and followed up with me several times to let me know they could not reach you.  They NEVER provided me with a code or checkin information you say you provided.  
  

  Priceline has refunded my charges due to the inability to reach you.  As far as Im concerned, this issue is closed, I never stayed in your hotel, and never will or recommend anyone stay there.  In closing, I cannot believe how blatantly you are willing to lie about what happened when it can obviously be proven easily and was - since Priceline used a full refund.

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

• Initial Complaint

  04/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Paid for a room with a price as advertised on their website. 2 weeks later I received a voicemail stating that their website was hacked and that the prices that were advertised are lower then what they are supposed to be. They said credit info may have been stolen as well. They haven’t refunded money or offered to let us stay for what we have paid.

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