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Hotwire, Inc Complaint - Bait & Switch Scam - 3-Star Hotel Room At Holiday Inn
3-Star Hotel Room At Holiday Inn - Complaint
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- I am going to make this very clear and simple. The contract with Hotire was for a 3 star hotel. This is not what you get at the Holiday Inn. We arrived and entered the Holiday Inn parking lot. Signs says welcome to Holiday Inn. So far, so good. We register at the lobby. This is in the 3-star Holiday Inn. Very beautiful and modern and we were excited to go up to our room in this 3-star hotel. We asked for a copy of our bill. They won't give you a copy of your bill. This is not a problem because hotel manager said you will get this when you leave. We asked for our room keys then were were told he gave them to us already. He did not. He insisted he did. This was ignorant to argue with us. He made the mistake and made our start there a little uncomfortable. He finally found the keys. All was forgiven. He must have been tired and so were we and we wanted to get to our beautiful 3-star room. From this point on is when the scam begins...
They hand you your room keys then direct you out of the 3-star Holiday Inn down the street outside of the 3-star hotel to this 60's/70's less than a 1-star hotel building.. We were angered immediately and in shock and when we asked about this we got grief. Other hotel guests we met were disappointed as well. This is only the beginning of the scams at this hotel. We had no choice but to stay after the long trip. We voiced our anger. The next thing is during the middle of the night they slip you an additional bill of $21 for parking at Holiday Inn paring lot. There is no mention of a fee for parking from hotel or website. Other hotels state parking fees. We arrive home to find we were charged $25 for parking. On top of all this they kept knocking on our door. 8am, 10am 10:35am even with a do not disturb. We told them to stop repeatedly.
So, there are 6 issues...
#1 - Our contract with Hotwire was for a 3-star hotel - WE RECEIVED A LESS THAN 1-STAR HOTEL (made us leave the 3-star hotel for a cheap building)
#2 - Registration Manager argued with us and insisted he gave us the room keys when he did not.
#3 - No mention of parking fee on website or from manager. They sneak this bill under your door. WE WERE CHARGED MORE THAN THE FEE.
#4 - We were charged $25 instead of $21 for parking at hotel parking lot that does not even mention a parking fee.
#5 - They refused to give us a copy of our bill.
#6 - Our stay was filled with the feeling that Hotwire had betrayed us and was not honest with this 3-star offer that we had a contract for.
They hand you your room keys then direct you out of the 3-star Holiday Inn down the street outside of the 3-star hotel to this 60's/70's less than a 1-star hotel building.. We were angered immediately and in shock and when we asked about this we got grief. Other hotel guests we met were disappointed as well. This is only the beginning of the scams at this hotel. We had no choice but to stay after the long trip. We voiced our anger. The next thing is during the middle of the night they slip you an additional bill of $21 for parking at Holiday Inn paring lot. There is no mention of a fee for parking from hotel or website. Other hotels state parking fees. We arrive home to find we were charged $25 for parking. On top of all this they kept knocking on our door. 8am, 10am 10:35am even with a do not disturb. We told them to stop repeatedly.
So, there are 6 issues...
#1 - Our contract with Hotwire was for a 3-star hotel - WE RECEIVED A LESS THAN 1-STAR HOTEL (made us leave the 3-star hotel for a cheap building)
#2 - Registration Manager argued with us and insisted he gave us the room keys when he did not.
#3 - No mention of parking fee on website or from manager. They sneak this bill under your door. WE WERE CHARGED MORE THAN THE FEE.
#4 - We were charged $25 instead of $21 for parking at hotel parking lot that does not even mention a parking fee.
#5 - They refused to give us a copy of our bill.
#6 - Our stay was filled with the feeling that Hotwire had betrayed us and was not honest with this 3-star offer that we had a contract for.
Comments:
Posted by Soaring Consumer on 2009-05-05:
This is a definite bait-and-switch, but who is the real perpetrator?
Was Hotwire the one who intentionally set you up with a poor property, or was the Holiday Inn the one who made the decision to move you to that place? Whatever the case, Holiday Inn was the one who treated you as if you weren't their guest and it wasn't their problem (even having the audacity to charge you a parking fee as if you weren't their guest), and none of this should have happened.
I suggest that you contact Christopher Elliott, the ombudsman for National Geographic's Traveller Magazine and the Travel Troubleshooter. He would be able to investigate where this went wrong and hopefully help you to negotiate a full refund.
Here is how you can contact him:
http://www.elliott.org/contact/
Was Hotwire the one who intentionally set you up with a poor property, or was the Holiday Inn the one who made the decision to move you to that place? Whatever the case, Holiday Inn was the one who treated you as if you weren't their guest and it wasn't their problem (even having the audacity to charge you a parking fee as if you weren't their guest), and none of this should have happened.
I suggest that you contact Christopher Elliott, the ombudsman for National Geographic's Traveller Magazine and the Travel Troubleshooter. He would be able to investigate where this went wrong and hopefully help you to negotiate a full refund.
Here is how you can contact him:
http://www.elliott.org/contact/
Posted by Ben There on 2009-05-05:
Did they not give you a bill for the parking? Your hotel bill would be the one you got from Hotwire.
What hotel were you in anyway? Holiday Inn Baltimore? It gets good reviews on Trip Advisor.
What hotel were you in anyway? Holiday Inn Baltimore? It gets good reviews on Trip Advisor.
Posted by financiallyfit on 2009-05-05:
Was this one-star hotel part of Holiday Inn? It doesn't make any sense that you would check in with HI and then get sent to a different hotel...not doubting your story, just confused.
Posted by Soaring Consumer on 2009-05-12:
Christopher Elliott has posted an article on his website about this practice. It is called the "walk down" where a customer is sent to a lesser property, by the hotel.
http://www.elliott.org/the-travel-critic/walking-down-5-tips-for-avoiding-the-latest-hotel-scam/
http://www.elliott.org/the-travel-critic/walking-down-5-tips-for-avoiding-the-latest-hotel-scam/
Posted by BokiBean on 2009-05-12:
Soaring, extremely useful info!
Posted by madconsumer on 2009-05-12:
sue em .....
Posted by JohnInSoCal on 2009-05-12:
Good info Soaring. You get a helpful!
Posted by Slimjim on 2009-05-12:
I'm believing this complaint is really all on that HI location. I don't believe Hotwire is aware of the practices of this location, which frankly, are poor. I would retitle this complaint directed at Holiday Inn, and most important, specify this location.
Posted by BokiBean on 2009-05-12:
Since Hotwire won't let you know who you are booking with, until you pay....I think they bear responsibility to make sure that their customers are getting what they pay for. Of course, their disclaimers say otherwise.
A travel agent would have to ensure that the hotels they were sending guests to wouldn't "walk down" those guests to an unacceptable setting. So should Hotwire. Like the article stated, this practice is becoming more common.
A travel agent would have to ensure that the hotels they were sending guests to wouldn't "walk down" those guests to an unacceptable setting. So should Hotwire. Like the article stated, this practice is becoming more common.
Posted by Ben There on 2009-05-12:
When a hotel sends you to another hotel because it is out of rooms, the term is called "walking", not "walk down". However, I don't see where this customer was sent to another hotel, just a different section of the same hotel and that is NOT considered walking.
Posted by BokiBean on 2009-05-12:
Ben, I don't know where you got that from the OP's post. He clearly states, "down the street outside of the 3-star hotel to this 60's/70's less than a 1-star hotel building". Not the same hotel.
Posted by Ben There on 2009-05-12:
I know the area Boki, and Google helped me too. The only cheap hotel near this HI is the Days Inn, and the OP never mentioned that he or she was transfered to the Days Inn. Also I highly doubt the Days Inn would slip a Holiday Inn bill under the door on behalf of the competition. Besides, one would just park over at the Days Inn if you got "walked" there.
This hotel is made up of several buildings. Check out Google Maps for this hotel and look at satellite image - you will see it takes up a whole block and has a couple different towers. Many hotels with several buildings have nicer rooms in one tower, and cheaper rooms in another. While they don't look the same, they are the same hotel so it is not walking.
Here is a map of all the hotels in the area: http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocalMaps-g60811-d89337-Holiday_Inn_Baltimore_Inner_Harbor-Area.html
This hotel is made up of several buildings. Check out Google Maps for this hotel and look at satellite image - you will see it takes up a whole block and has a couple different towers. Many hotels with several buildings have nicer rooms in one tower, and cheaper rooms in another. While they don't look the same, they are the same hotel so it is not walking.
Here is a map of all the hotels in the area: http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocalMaps-g60811-d89337-Holiday_Inn_Baltimore_Inner_Harbor-Area.html
Posted by BokiBean on 2009-05-12:
I'm sure you're correct and I can't google right now (!!!!!), something is BAD wrong! I've tried several times and the home page is not coming up...I'm mildly freaked out. Thanks for the info though, Ben.
Posted by Ben There on 2009-05-12:
If I didn't have Google I would die.
Posted by BokiBean on 2009-05-12:
I feel a little woozy, I still can't get it to come up!!!
Posted by BokiBean on 2009-05-12:
Oh, and I voted you helpful for resolving my confusion so very diplomatically and also for listening to me whine.
Posted by Soaring Consumer on 2009-05-12:
I don't live near the area so I am not sure about what is on the actual street, but this part: "They hand you your room keys then direct you out of the 3-star Holiday Inn down the street" implied to me that it was a completely separate property. Less than 1 star and knocking at all hours seems to be descriptive of a Day's Inn but the OP hasn't come back to respond with specifics yet.
Posted by Ben There on 2009-05-12:
Regardless, this should not be a "Hotwire bait and switch scam" post but a "Holiday Inn in Balitmore has inconsistent rooms" or "Holiday Inn oversold the hotel in Baltimore and put me in Days Inn instead of a nicer hotel".
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