I have stayed in my LAST Choice hotel--EVER.

[davsand]

I am SO pissed off! I had enough points accumulated with Choice Hotels that I had a free night coming. I have tried now, for the last YEAR to use the damn points and every time I called they kept telling me that whatever hotel I wanted required more points than I had (in spite of what the brochure promised when I signed up!)

I actually had found a Choice Hotel that would accept the points I had accumulated and then they lost my reservation and told me they had no rooms left... I chewed my way up the food chain on that one and got no resolution to that. We ended up staying across the street at a different place that night.

So, cut to the here and now:

I called up last night to get a reservation for the hotel for Kef's funeral. Choice hotels reservations tells me I have NO points now. I call the Choice Privileges line and get this woman on the phone who tells me that the points expire after two years. I explain to her that every time I've tried to use the points they refused me. She says, "Well, that's just too bad."

I ask who's next higher on the food chain--can I please speak to a Supervisor. I even am nice to this lady and tell her that I realize she's just doing her job--it isn't her policy.

I go into the eternal purgatory of HOLD.

Finally, this woman named Courtney comes on. She proceeds to tell me my points expired Dec 31--15 days ago. I tell her I've tried to use those points and have been refused any number of times. She tells me that isn't her problem--the points are only good for two years.

I explain to her that I'd had a reservation with a Choice Hotel at one point, and they lost it, and THAT was not making me happy either. Again, she tells me the points expire in two years.

I tell her--look--this is 15 DAYS past when you say they expired, I'm trying to get to a funeral in Indy, and can't you just cut me a break here," and she proceeds to tell me to quit yelling at her.

She THEN tells me that my "regular" statements would have SHOWN that the points were due to expire, and it is a shame I don't read my statements. "Statements? WHAT statements?" I have never SEEN a statement from these people! I tell her that and she gets even more snotty with me...

I ask who is above her that I can talk to, and she tells me that they won't help me anyway because I have "...not stayed with them for over a year anyway" and if I want to try and argue it I can just call back on Monday.

At that point, I slammed down the freaking phone.

I had a reservation MADE already for March for one of their hotels, and I am now just about ready to call and cancel it because I am pissed off.

I like to book into their hotels when I travel for business because they usually give pretty good government rates for an adequate room. I hate to make the taxpayers pay more but, I hate to give these asshats any money at all.

Suggestions anyone? How would YOU handle it?


Laura

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. You did business with them, and got no service/satisfaction. So

the logical thing would be to move on. Did you have a history of satisfactory dealings with them in the past that would lead you to consider continuing with them?

Is Choice hotels an actual hotel or a group of affiliated hotel chains?

[davsand]

7. They are not up-scale, but usually adequate rooms.

It is a group of hotels. Choice Hotels International is the parent company over Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Clarion Hotel, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge, MainStay Suites or Rodeway Inn.

Seems that each local hotel is either pretty good--they care about getting it right--or else a bunch of idjits who are sleepwalking thru it all.

I guess the corporation is pretty much the same way.


Laura

[amazona]

13. econo lodge has dropped out ot the loyalty program

Just an FYI...some Choice Hotels are good, some are bad...but Econo Lodge is no longer involved with the program. Bosses like 'em cuz they're cheap but there are other cheap hotels with loyalty programs like Holiday Inn if you can't get satisfaction.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[diddlysquat]

2. It's pretty obvious that they should be dumped.

As for making the taxpayers pay more, look at it this way: the money you saved the taxpayers just went into the pockets of the friends of bush.

[davsand]

8. These guys are big GOP supporters???

No lie? Where did you find that out, and what hotel chains are NOT big GOP whores?

Laura

[DancingBear]

17. Are you sure about this?

You may have them confused with Marriott, who ARE huge Bush supporters and are pouring big $$ into the "inauguration."

Marriott, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn are definitely to be boycotted.

[Cadence]

3. That really sucks!

I hate when things like that happen. You could try writing a letter as high up as you can find an address and a name for demanding at least one stay to compensate for the lost reservation. I'm glad you told me at least, now I'll tell people I know that this is a scam.

Sorry Laura!

:hi:

[BR_Parkway]

4. I used to stay in hotels just about every night of the week when

I was consulting. I now own a Bed & Breakfast after discovering them while traveling so much for business. You'll find that most of them will offer a very competitive business rate, and you can't beat a smiling face in the morning, fresh ground coffee and homemade cookies around the clock.

You might have to look some to find one in the area you are traveling to, but once you go B&B, you'll never go back to a chain hotel if you have any choice. Plus, they are locally owned, small businesses - not shipping off the profits to some corporate HQ's somewhere.

[davsand]

16. When I travel for pleasure I LOVE B & B's!

It never occured to me that a B & B would offer a Government rate or a Business rate! Oh man--if I can find a B & B that does that, you are right--I would never stay in a chain again given an option...

Maybe we need to start a DUer's B & B registry of Progressive B & B's across the nation. THAT would be a group of places I'd love to stay in! It'd help out the Duers on both ends of the transaction...


Laura

[BR_Parkway]

20. Most B&B's are profitable from the leisure traveler, so a deep

discount during the week when the room would likely be empty anyhow is very common. There are some B&B's that do a huge business traveler business, others that rarely ever see one - location is what it's all about. Most of them don't publish a business rate, you'll need to call and ask them. It's great because they could always tell me what local restaurants were good, ways to go the less traveled roads to get to my meetings but avoid the traffic. Business guest are very welcomed, business travelers are so much more "low maintainence" guests than the honeymooners and they are filling in rooms in most inns that would normally go empty.

I'm a part of two innkeeper groups that have members all over the US - one of which is very blue, the other is about 50/50 - which makes for some very interesting non-innkeeper related discussions on our side, repeats of whatever Oxyrush and inSanity were spinning that day on the other side.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. Write a letter

You write awfully well, so you'll have no problem.

You get the name of the Vice President in Charge of Public Relations, and you write a very friendly, conversational, keep-it-light letter about your mishaps, the rudeness with which you've been treated, the refusal of the staff to deal with your problems (except to chide you), and your overall unhappiness with the organization.

Then you tell him that you're considering never using their services again, but, perhaps he can tell you why you should.

You see, if you give him an out, it becomes a conspiratorial activity - you and the VP against "them" - and it has a better chance of working out in your favor.

Keep it light, though. Don't get pissed while you're writing it. They get pissed-off letters all the time; keep yours funny and lighthearted, but sincere. Then, at the end, toss him a bone and give him an opening through which he can run, while offering you something.

And, make sure you send a copy to the CEO of the organization.

Good luck.

[shraby]

6. Notify the better business bureau.

It sounds like a scam to me.

[amazona]

14. better business bureau is a scam

BBB is a legal extortion scheme. If your small business joins, they won't say nasty things about you. If you don't, they will.

Don't waste your time with BBB. It is not an official or respectable entity of any kind.

I would get the contact/CEO information for Choice Hotels (or COmfort Inn) out of THomas Register or planetfeedback.com and go from there.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[RoeBear]

18. I agree with you

plus the way they market memeberships is a scam too. They will call a business and say " We would like to talk to the owner about some positve feedback we have received about your company". They will deny, right to your face (or ear as the case maybe), that it's a membership that they are trying to sell you.

VERY deceptive in my opinion.

[davsand]

19. Thanks for the complement and the suggestions!

You sound like the kind of lawyer who probably gets a lot of problems solved--diplomatic and able to read people. One lawyer I knew from my time working at the Pro Bono Center had been in practice for many many years. She made the comment one day that good lawyers are problem solvers, not just sharks...

I have always felt that in any business setting it is important to give voice when you are unhappy, simply because they can't FIX it if they are unaware of the problem. A lot of times customers just walk away, tell everybody they know how awful your business is, and you never find out why your business died. If I'm gonna "trash" the chain, I figure I at least want to give them the opportunity to fix it.


Laura

[EstimatedProphet]

9. Best Western gives good government rates

Like you, I wouldn't stay with them again.

[demosincebirth]

10. Sounds like some people...

at the Ca State Contractors Board.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Make a bunch of reservations to CHOICE hotels all over the country

for the next year, maybe 40-50 of them. More, if you can spare the time.

Then call them up and bitch, and say, "I have 50 reservations with you right now because I travel all over the country. If you want, I'll cancel every one of them. Or, you can help me out here."

Then once they give you your satisfaction, and everything is set, cancel all the reservations and call 'em back again and tell 'em to go to hell.

And write a letter to the CEO explaining everything that happened.

Or, you know, it might even work to just call or write the CEO first before spending all the time with the reservations crap.

Fuck customer service and the regular chain of authority. Go to the top.

[amazona]

12. planetfeedback.com

I would write NOT TELEPHONE but write a letter. Also put a copy of your letter on planetfeedback.com

I never get satisfaction from a hotel or credit card company when I phone. They do not take phone callers seriously.

When you make your complaint, don't say, "I will never stay at Choice Hotels again," or they have no reason to make you happy.

Say this: "Based on my past stays, I would love to resolve this problem so that I could feel comfortable staying at Choice Hotels again, and I would love to be able to recommend that my friends and colleagues be able to stay at Choice Hotels in the future. However, at this time, I feel highly uncomfortable recommending Choice Hotels because I'm not confident that the loyalty program is working to the level my colleagues expect."

You'll get results.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[sandnsea]

15. Try corporate HQ

301-592-5000

I've gotten the best response from companies when I contact their sales department. Sales people hate PR problems, makes their job so much harder. Tell them if the points turns out to be a scam, it's going to be made public sooner or later. Something along those lines.