3rd party website follies.

[geek007]

My hotel is part of a larger chain but is franchised/owned by small management company. Due to many issues with a certain 3rd party website our management company has made the decision not to allow any of their hotels to accept reservations from that website as of 12/31/10. You can book reservations in other hotels that are part of our brand but not ours or any of the 36 hotels owned by our management company. We also keep a ban list that is shared among the hotels owned by our management company and we also log issues that we have with guests in their profile.

I am processing reservations from this website when a guest who is banned from our property comes up, this is the guest who threw a large party that involved underage drinking (15 & 16 year olds were walking around with bacardi bottles), throwing beer bottles out his 6th floor window, puking down the stairwell, and kicking down several room doors at 3am. This resulted in him being arrested and banned. Guest has an uncommon name that is easy to remember.

So I call said website and tell them that this person is banned, and you need to find him another hotel as we will not take him and if he shows up he will be arrested per my GM.

Customer service says "No, you guys are the only hotel not sold out in your area for that night you have to take him".

My response? "He caused $3,500 worth of damage last time he stayed here, he will be arrested and charged with trespassing if he tries to check in."

Customer service "Oh, can't you take him for just one night? How much damage can he do in one night? It can't be that bad."

I reiterated what I said first, and then the customer service person said that they would take care of it and would move the guest to a different hotel. I hope that they do move him. I will find out tonight if they did, because if they did't the cops will be called and he will be arrested.

And people wonder why between this and several hundred other issues that we have had that we are no longer going to be doing any business with this website.

[eltf177]

Just...wow.

Seriously, asking "can you take him?" after telling these morons what he'd done is mind-boggling!

Please update when you hear anything, this has the potential to be epic!

[geek007]

Just...wow.

Seriously, asking "can you take him?" after telling these morons what he'd done is mind-boggling!

Please update when you hear anything, this has the potential to be epic!

I just checked today's arrivals. He still has a reservation with a late check in between 10 and 11 pm. So I will be the MOD who gets to call the cops on this a$$hole. . I will post with an update as soon as the cops leave.

[Mikkel]

At least he will get a place to sleep, free too.

[eltf177]

Together with an unwanted roommate or more!

[Sapphire Silk]

Can't wait to hear more . . .

[bhskittykatt]

Customer service "Oh, can't you take him for just one night? How much damage can he do in one night? It can't be that bad."

Clearly they've never worked on the hotel-end before!!! We've had rooms destroyed so bad in one night they couldn't be rented for over a month!

[geek007]

Clearly they've never worked on the hotel-end before!!! We've had rooms destroyed so bad in one night they couldn't be rented for over a month!

It's amazing the amount of damage that can be done. It took us 12 days to get the rooms back in order.

He checked in at 11PM and was in handcuffs by 3:15AM, so in less then 4 hours he did $3500 worth of damage. So for a full night's stay I would not want to have to find out.

After his last visit we had to bio-hazard his room and the room next to it. He kicked down the connecting door between his and the room next to his and used the tub as his personal toilet, left unmentionable body fluids on the sheets, and puke in the sink. We had to hire an outside cleaning service to clean the room.

His total damage amounted to the following:
5 Broken doors
1 Bent screen
Beer bottles all over
The above damage
And a few small other things

[Enjis]

Can't this a-hole be charged for the damages? (or is your chain one that does not take credit cards as security?)
I would think that a few photos would be enough proof of damages.

I keep reading on this site of guests who trash hotel rooms, but I don't understand why these 'guests' are not charged. Heck, most places will charge your CC is you steal a towel, let alone puke on the rug! (or bust down doors!)

[bhskittykatt]

I keep reading on this site of guests who trash hotel rooms, but I don't understand why these 'guests' are not charged. Heck, most places will charge your CC is you steal a towel, let alone puke on the rug! (or bust down doors!)

Hey, those towels aren't as cheap as you probably think they are! (Even if they do feel like sandpaper.)

It's possible that even if they could charge a CC, they couldn't recoup the full $3500. My motel doesn't require CCs or deposits (), so I don't know if there's a maximum you can charge them for, assuming the CC doesn't get flat-out declined.

$3500 in damages is probably enough to actually go to court over. I know a motel owner up the street who took a guest to court to recoup similar costs for a damaged room. He's a small independent motel owner, so he probably feels it more than a chain would. At my motel, we notify our AM and let him decide if he wants to pursue charges. Usually, it's just easier to flat-out ban the guest (for that much damage, probably a company-wide ban) and eat the loss than deal with the time/cost of court.

[Mr Hero]

If it's the same 3rd party I'm thinking of, both myself and my brother have had problems with them and expecting us to do stuff that's just not possible. For my brother, they expected his hotel's 5-mile radius shuttle to pick up a guest from the airport. When told no, customer service asked my brother to make an exception.

For me, it was this.

[Flyguy]

We get that in the airline industry too

American Airlines recently stopped allowing their tickets to be sold on a certain travel website for similiar reasons.

When you buy a ticket from an airline, you get a ticket that will be backed up and serviced by your airline in case of problems. When you buy from a 3rd party, you might get a mishmash of airlines on a ticket that none of us will support. The cheaper the ticket, the higher the mishmash factor.

A little background: Every airline has a unique 3 number identifier on the beginning of their ticket numbers. American is 001, Delta is 006, US Airways is 037, etc. The ticket stock also means that airline got the money for the ticket. Airlines are loathe to take over a ticket on other airline stock, because someone else got paid for it. If a problem occurs affecting my airline's flights, I will take over a portion of the ticket to make it right. Other airlines are supposed to do the same, but usually don't. "Sorry, you bought your ticket from (3rd party)."

I once received a call from 3rd party demanding I change someone's ticket because other airline (OAL) delayed due to weather. OAL is famous industry wide for not giving a crap about their customers. So here's the guy from 3rd party shouting at me, "you have to change it, it's your ticket!" I respond "No I don't, it's OAL's delay."

The real responsibility for the change lies with 3rd party, for selling someone a f***ked up ticket. The airline holding the ticket stock is going to charge them too, so usually all the help they'll give is to tell you to call the airline.

[skeptic53]

Can you folks give us an "Aid of Rite" or "Mall Wart" type euphemistic hint as to which discount travel web site to avoid?

Thanks

[PepperElf]

I will find out tonight if they did, because if they did't the cops will be called and he will be arrested.

Considering that the website was notified that the man was banned... can they get in trouble at all?

[figures]

Either he's a Junior Olympic bodybuilder, or he's a pedo.. Underage drinking and the ability to kick in steel doors (I travel a LOT.. if you don't have steel doors, the Frames usually are...) do not match up..