Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/02/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I reserved this hotel online when flying to Spartanburg from New York. I did not stay at the hotel even though I had reserved it online, because when I arrived, I found a very dirty, rundown, and unsafe-looking temporary hotel for homeless folks instead of a family vacation hotel. Conditions were unclean and unsanitary, and the halls, stairwell and room smelled quite bad. There were many folks standing around in the hallways and verandas, on landings and sitting in folding chairs in doorways smoking and sometimes acting in unfriendly ways as I walked by with my luggage. The room with kitchen that I rented smelled very heavily of smoke and was not clean. Their advertisement on the Internet looks quite different (enclosed). I think this is an example of false advertising. I encourage any of your officers to visit this establishment to see what I mean. On November 8th when I arrived from Greenville/Spartanburg Airport and inspected my assigned room and witnessed the dirty floors, stains on the stairs and general appearance of unclean conditions in the hotel, I returned immediately to the front desk to return my keys and depart. Juanita at the front desk would not refund my payment, would not give me her last name, and would not give me the last name of the manager, who she said was named Carsen. This was a trick played on the consumer, me. I would not want others to experience this.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/02/2024

  this guest never said anything to office about anything if you would like to give me a call at ************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/03/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint, nor does it reflect well on the business owner.  As was the case with me in person, they are unwilling to provide their name - The statement is not signed and no first or last name is provided as taking responsibility for the actions of the business.
  
  This appears to be an untrue statement from the owner - please see below;
  
  As you can see from correspondence I had with employees at *********, the online company with whom I booked the original stay, the business owner refused them at least two times, so it appears that Hometown Studios in Spartanburg did in fact know that I requested a refund. In addition, I can attest that when I walked back to the reception desk from my first inspection of the dirty and very smokey hotel room and I requested a refund, Juanita told me that she would not refund me and that the “bossman” was not in the office that day but he would be returning to the office the following day. She told me at that time that she doubted that he would agree to refunding my money regardless of what I told him.

  Please read below statements in emails from Priceline to me:
  ______________________________
  
  November 14, 2023, from John J., Customer Relations Specialist at Priceline,
  “We tried to reach out to the hotel to request an exception or a refund but we were not able to obtain approval. Therefore, the reservation will remain non-refundable.”
  
  November 18, 2023, from Johann T., a Customer Relations Specialist at Priceline,
  “We contacted the hotel for cancellation without penalty; however, they were unable to make an exception .. .”
  
  November 19, 2023, from Anthony V., at Priceline,
  “We reviewed the issue again to confirm that we did not overlook anything that might support a more favorable resolution. There is nothing we can add to what has already been stated in our previous correspondence.”

  _____________________________

  I can provide full details and attach PDFs of these complete emails if requested. I can also provide names, dates, times of Priceline employees with whom I spoke on the telephone immediately after the Hotel refused to refund my payment and subsequent days when I spoke with them again. They told me that the owner had refused a refund in conversation on the telephone with the Priceline employees.
  
  If the owner contends that they did not know about this request previously, one has to wonder if that is a true statement.
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** **********

  Business Response

  Date: 01/03/2024

  “We reviewed the issue again to confirm that we did not overlook anything that might support a more favorable resolution. There is nothing we can add to what has already been stated in our previous correspondence.”

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/03/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I ask that you review the responses from the hotel and advise them that they have a responsibility to be truthful. My previous response provided evidence of their untruthfulness and disrespect, and their latest response was to appropriate Priceline's response, to copy and paste it. Obviously they do not take the folks at BBB, your authority, or your processes seriously.

  Does BBB have any questions to pose to the business owner?
  

  I have also written to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Executive Division, he state's consumer protection agency which I'm told investigates false advertising and possible scams.

   

  Thank you for your help.
  

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