ComplaintsforHilo Beach House, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  07/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I stayed at the Hilo Beach House Inn from 6/17/22 to 6/19/22. I booked the reservation through their website (https://hilobeachhouse.net). This website does not mention anywhere that unregistered visitors are not allowed in the rooms, nor was there mention in an email of the house rules that was sent to me prior to check-in. Pages from the business website and precheck-in email are attached.In the room, upon check-in, there is a printed sheet of house rules, most of which were included in the email sent prior. On that printed sheet in the list of rules it does state that unregistered visitors are not allowed. However, I did not see this rule upon my arrival, and did not think to look for it as I had reviewed the website and precheck-in email carefully. Therefore, I had 2 family members visit our room for coffee the evening of check-in. I did not have my phone with me at 9:36 pm when the first call from the building manager was made to inform me that visitors were not allowed. I returned the call at 10:09 pm as soon as I received the missed calls and informed the manager that I would ask the visitors to leave. By 10:26 the visitors were outside of the building and about to leave, and I was calling the manager back to inform her of this. However, by the time of my first call to them at 10:09 they had already sent over an employee to ensure that the visitors left.Due to this incident the Hilo Beach House Inn has charged me an after hours security enforcement charge of $121.46. I would like to reconsider this charge as I was not informed of the no visitor policy upon booking the reservation or prior to check-in. The primary purpose of my visit to **** was to visit family, and I would not have booked this reservation had I known of the no visitor policy. Therefore, I also would recommend that the website be revised to be more transparent of these restrictions.Thank you for your consideration.

  Business response

  07/12/2022

  ******************** placed an online reservation on April 11, 2022, for 2 nights for 2 adults in the Oceanfront Orchid Room and 3 adults in the Garden view Plumeria Room (please see the attached registration).  What ******************** failed to mention in her complaint that she was not honest when she registered her party.  As she brought 2 children and 1 adult to stay in the Plumeria Room on June 17, 2022.  For safety reasons as per the Inn's House Rules, children under the age of 13 are not permitted at the Inn and permitted children must be supervised at all times.  
  
  On June 17, 2022, we permitted ******************** to do a self check-in.  We emailed her the self check-in arrival instructions, and provided 2 copies of the Inn Registration in her room for her signature, and a copy of the Inn's House Rules.  Also, a copy of the House Rules is located under a glass top of the desk in each room.
  
  I was alerted by the Inn's security cameras at approximately 9:30pm on June 17, 2022,  that ******************** had broken the House Rules.  As I saw a video of 2 unsupervised children under the age of 13 wandering alone from one room to another.  The next video alert showed a car driving into the Inn's gated driveway and 2 people walking through the security door carrying boxes of items.  I tried phoning ******************** as it appeared that she intended on having a party at the Inn, as she had not registered any additional visitors.
  
  I tried phoning ******************** several times and leaving her several voicemails informing her that she was breaking our house rules by bringing children and unregistered people to the Inn.  She did not return my phone calls so we were forced to call our security service to enforce the Inn's House Rules.  Also stated in the Inn's House Rules is that "Quiet Hours" begin at 10pm, another House Rule that ******************** chose to ignore.
  
  Our Security Guard arrived at the Inn after 10pm and found two people that were unregistered in ************************ Room.  I instructed the security guard to remove the unregistered people from the Inn's premises.  I then had the Security Guard give his cell phone to ******************** where I gave her 2 choices for breaking the Inn's House Rules:  1)  An immediate eviction; 2)  ******************** had to submit to pay for the additional charges for the security guard enforcement  and any additional cleaning charges, by signing the Inn's Registration and giving her identification and credit card to Security Guard to copy as proof of her agreement.  ******************* chose to continue her stay at the Inn and submitted the requested documents to the Security Guard (please see the attached).
  
  ******************* had the Inn's House Rules in her possession however she had no intention of following the Inn's rules and lied about the children in her party when she originally placed her reservation.  At no time did ******************** inquire about the Inn's policy concerning visitors.  Her intention was clear to have a late night party at the Inn.
  
  No refund will be issued to ******************** for the additional security enforcement charges as she agreed to pay them on June 17, 2022.  The Inn's website states the Inn's House Rules.
  
  Mahalo,
  
  Hilo Beach House Inn
  

  
  

  Customer response

  07/12/2022

   
  Complaint: 17513218
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Thank you for the response and the opportunity to respond to the comments.

   

  1. Children at Hilo Beach House Inn.  

  I did not bring this up in the original complaint because it was not related to the charge.  However, since it was brought up, I will add it to my complaint.  This was another area that was not transparent on the website where I booked the reservation.  Please see the attachments from the original complaint.  If I had known of the policy I would not have booked this reservation, I did not lie nor intend to break any rules.  The file of the reservation the Inn attached states 3 adults, no children.  I have attached the reservation confirmation that was sent to me that does not state that.  In addition, even if it did say 3 adults, no children, I do not think this is sufficient to make clear to guests that children are not allowed.  

   

  2. Quiet hours

  My 2 guests were my uncle and aunty, both in their 70s, who brought coffee to the room.  We were very quiet.  No alcohol, no music.  There is no evidence of breaking quiet hour rules

   

  3. Inn House Rules

  In the original complaint I have already acknowledged that the Inn House rules in the room at time of check in did state no guests.  However, as stated before, this information was not provided before check-in.  I had received a copy of house rules via email prior to arrival, which I did read.  These emailed rules did not state no guests and no visitors, and I had no reason to think this differed from the sheet in the room.  In addition, the copy of the house rules in the room on check in did not state no children

   

  4. Misrepresentation of the conversation

  During the conversation on the evening that security arrived, at no time did she say that we should vacate immediately or pay a fine.  Either way, given the lack of transparency and information at the time of booking and before check-in, I do not think this would have been an acceptable proposal either.

   

  Thank you for your consideration of these statements.  Also, please take my drivers license picture off the website, I do not think it should have been posted and it is not necessary for the purposes of this discussion.

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

• Initial Complaint

  04/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I made a reservation in good faith with The HIlo Beach House ***. I paid in full, and was charged $61.00 for using a credit card, without being informed there was a charge for using a credit card, without being given an alternative.A member of my party contracted Covid and I immediately called and requested to rebook after a quarantine period. My request was granted as the schedule was wide open.Another member of my family contracted long term and possibly terminal covid ( 92 year old )and as I am their primary care giver I called to rebook the future reservation so as to give the owners opportunity to rebook to May 8 ( even though schedule still wide open ) and my family time to recover.Now booking for May 22 I was firstly told by their booking manager that this was doable then afterwards told that she had to contact cleaning crew to make sure they could clean. She would call me back in 4 days she said. She never called back, I called her and was now told that due to " cancellation policy " they refused to rebook me nor offer any kind of refund and she " misspoke" when she told me the second rebooking was doable. From my initial call I was 5 days into their cancellation policy , now we are into day 10. Schedule still wide open. I requested to be taken off of schedule so that they could rebook. She stated " I am not touching that reservation". She then informed me that if the *** was able to rebook the time slot that the owners would allow me to rebook. I asked her to state that in an email and she stated " I am not putting that in writing". I then asked on five separate emails to be taken off of the website schedule as I was in no way able to make the reservation, so that the *** could rebook the time slot, and was refused each and every time. As of today the booking is still listed so they are setting up a false scenario where the room cannot be freed up.

  Business response

  04/19/2022

  This customer originally placed her reservation on April 6, 2022 for a 5 night stay April 24 - 29, 2022.  She then called to change her reservation dates to *** 8 - *** 13, 2022.  We  granted her a one time reservation change per gratis which was an exception to our cancellation policy.  Which states the following:  Cancellations or changes to a reservation made 30 DAYS or MORE PRIOR to your arrival date will be charged a Cancellation fee of $25;  Cancellations and changes made WITHIN 30 DAYS of the date of arrival are assessed a Cancellation Fee: 100% of your reservation;  No refunds or credits will be made for early departure.  Then on April 15, 2022 this customer requested again for reservation date change to *** 22nd.  Our Reservation Manager advised the customer that she needed to check with the cleaning crew to see if it were possible to accommodate this change and advise the client on Monday, April 19, 2022.  Before the ************ open at 8am, this customer began calling in and demanded an answer.  Upon checking with the owner's for approval of the reservation change request, our Reservation Manager was informed that the customer reservation change request was denied as this customer had already been given a per gratis change previously.  The customer was then informed that she could either cancel or keep her reservation.  The customer refused to cancel her reservation so the reservation is still confirmed in our system.  In addition, we advise all of our customer to purchase trip insurance as follows on our website:  TRIP INSURANCE We highly recommend you consider purchasing travel insurance to cover COVID related cancellations, unforeseen personal and medical emergencies, unfavorable weather conditions, or other events that could create a need to change your travel plans. You can purchase trip insurance when you place your airline reservations. Also,there are many clearing house websites where you can search for travel insurance (for example, SquareMouth.com and InsureMyTrip.com). Your personal insurance agent or credit card company may also have options available. Carefully consider all plan details to choose a plan that is comprehensive enough for you. Some policies may offer "cancel for any reason" coverage, while others may be more restrictive.

  Customer response

  04/19/2022

   
  Complaint: 17066441
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The level of deceit and deception in this reply is sad. I have phone records showing that my first call to  ****** on Monday was at 8:26 AM Hawaii time. I was not calling before 8:00 AM.  I can provide a screen shot. The credit card usage fee charge has been conveniently ignored, I can provide their website credit card usage provision showing this is a fraudulent charge. The website portion showing that a ONE TIME free change of booking is granted has been either altered or hidden.It will take me some time, but I can find it as needed.  The 5 requests by me via email to take my reservation off of their books immediately can be provided. The reservation manager stating that my second request to rebook due to covid was ok and simply pending a cleaning crew can be corroborated by my business staff as the call was made on speaker phone. The reservation at this time is still up on their website, and they are intentionally not taking it off as per my 5 requests to insure that the days are not rebooked. The reservation manager telling me that if the dates in question were rebooked ( again, on speaker phone in my office ) then I could be either given a refund or be able to rebook using those monies, has also been ignored by the Innkeeper.They are, in fact, insuring that the dates not be rebooked through this ***** and strange refusal to take my reservation off.  If one is going to respond to a complaint then all issues need to be addressed. The innkeeper should also keep in mind that all complaints can be backed up through phone records, emails, and witnesses. Again, my reservation is still up on their boards in direct defiance to my request as a customer. Please note previous complaints leveled at  this Innkeeper both through Trip Advisor and BBB. Please note that due to the ongoing Pandemic and Covid issues that all businesses have been able to make provisions due to an illness that no one ever foresaw, and their refusal to do so is as inhumane as it is inexplicable. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************** *******

  Customer response

  04/25/2022

  I have five emails asking the business to remove my reservation from their books. Due to my family member suffering from long term covid I am unable at this time to honor my reservation. I previously attached one email and I will now attach all five emails. In each email I state that my desire would be to rebook the reservation so that the business would not lose any money during this hard time. The business refused repeatedly to do so and is playing a strange game where they do not acknowledge my telling them repeatedly that I am unable to honor the reservation and wish to be removed from their website so as to benefit only themselves by being able to rebook the time slot. The business seems more intent on being vindictive that doing business. Again, I already attached one email, please go back and re read that. I will attach the emails once again. Perhaps the BBB will be able to translate to the business that I am UNABLE to honor the reservation.Are the words " unable to honor " and " not able to make the reservation" and " please remove me from your books/schedule/website" not clear ? How so? English is not my first language and perhaps this is a why there is a lack of clarity?   Not sure how I can be much more clear to them. Why they want to play a game with prospective clients, again, I am unable to understand. 

  Please note that at the time I found out my family had contracted the SECOND bout of Covid, I was within 25 days of my reservation.

  I am a senior citizen and not very good with this type of  forwarding of documents so I am forwarding the emails with the compaint # ******** in the subject line. Please keep your eye out for that email and let me know if you receive it or I should get someone to help me with this forwading of documents. I also cannot believe this business would treat a senior citizen in this manner. But thats another subject. Also please note the addition of the attaching a credit card usage fee which has still not been addressed.

  Customer response

  04/27/2022

  Im sorry. There is more. Their reservation manager told me that if my reservation was removed from its time slot, that they would then be able to rebook that time slot, and then I would be able to use that booking for a future date. I responded " Great. So follow through and remove me from that time slot" She replied (verbatim)"Im not touching that reservation".  
  Please note also that their reservation manager APPROVED the rebooking ( which would have been the second time ) pending getting a cleaning crew. She then stated that her superiors would not allow her to do this, that the cleaning crew was no longer an issue on the table,  and she "misspoke". This is when the obsession with the word " cancel" started. 
  I dont believe "misspoke" allows an innkeeper or representative of the innkeeper  to rescind an offer and approval. 
  Confusing? 
  Also part 2 has not been addressed : How are they charging a credit card usage fee without stating that this will be a part of the reservation fee, along with state tax and innkeeper tax? This is a fraudulent charge, one cannot simply add charges to a clients credit card,  and I have also asked 3x for this to be addressed.

  Business response

  04/28/2022

  This customer has incorrectly stated that her second request to change her reservation dates had been approved.  Please see our previous statement regarding the facts of this customers requests and our cancellation policy as stated on our website.

  Customer response

  04/29/2022

   
  Complaint: 17066441
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  What I said both verbally and in my written email was :
  The SECOND rebooking request due to Covid was approved PENDING a cleaning crew. This was a verbal confirmation by their reservation manager *****. She admitted this, and then four days later on April 18 she said she "misspoke" . This was when the business accused me of calling them before they opened at 8 AM which I disproved with my screen shot of the time I actually called which was at 8:26. ***** seems an honorable woman and I do not wish for her job to be affected due to her kindness and hospitality and willing to make concessions due to Covid. This business still has not opened up the reservation so that they can rebook and make themselves money. 

  This game of semantics and back and forth childish behavior  is doing them no good and causing me, a senior citizen, undue amounts of distress. I think the BBB by definition can see that this is indeed, not Better Business. 

  Its a simple matter of making concessions due to Covid which has affected us all so negatively that prolonging the negative behavior serves no one, and indeed, is not Better Business.
  
  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. ↩