My wife and I chose to stay at the Inkeeper in Fayetteville, NC for a few weeks because our government quarters weren't ready yet. Boy, that was a mistake. The room was dank and cramped, and the property wasn't kept up at all, but the biggest rip-off was with the billing. We had paid in advance a week at a time with our Visa (what we always do), but then we noticed little things pop up like a nine dollar long distance bill (for 14 minutes? C'mon! Then the front desk kept calling every hour on the hour, saying we had to pay for another night after we already confirmed that the transactions had cleared. My wife and I each went down to the front desk and had a three-way conversation with the bank and management. Every phone call was the same: my bank told them they were paid, and the assistant manager got loud and rude, saying all she wanted was more money. After trying politely to explain to her the facts as we were told (do you really expect us to believe THEM over my bank?), I attempted to speak with her boss, the manager.
As I was talking, she kept butting in, ad-libbing her side of the story. And I'm like, look, I'm not talking to you anymore; I'm speaking with him now. But she insists on yelling so anyone in earshot can hear, "Look, mister, I'm trying to help you!" So I shot back, "You're not helping me, or I wouldn't be wasting three hours over a bill already paid!" Mr. Manager feels that it's okay for his employees to undermine a customer's complaint, but the customer can't speak up for himself, and wants to chastise me. I immediately demand the number to the home office, and all he does is point to a stand on the desk and snnapped, "Take a flyer! Take a flyer! They won't listen to you, they'll just call us and get our story anyway!"
I later discovered that Inkeeper attempted to draft $641, $557, and $491 within one hour, even though we had been paid up to that very hour. Disgusted, we were content just to leave and never darken the doorstep of another Inkeeper, but because our housing still wasn't ready, it didn't make sense to uproot into another inn for a week. So we told the desk that we would pay for our last five days in cash, and we will not authorize any more payments made through my card. We left that thursday, and what do you know... I call my bank three days later, and a $400-plus charge was posted to my account, putting me over my limit!
After verifying that it was from Inkeeper, I (naturally) marched back to Inkeeper and demanded an explanation. The assistant manager oh-just-so-curtly said that we left with a balance of that amount, so they charged it to my card. Wait a minute... You run my card through, without my knowledge, when I already told them not to, without telling me there was still a balance upon check-out (and since we paid for that last week in advance, how could there be one?!), and then not give me a receipt? UNACCEPTABLE!!! We are making provisions now to dispute that charge with my bank, and I an considering making a formal complaint to FT Bragg's consumer affiars office. We are also considering posting editorials and print ads about our experience with Inkeeper in the newspapers serving the cities Inkeeper does business, including the Fayetteville Observer-Times, the Carolina Flyer, and the Paraglide. Stuff like this won't get these bastards on FT Bragg's off-limits list (though it should), but just maybe it will get their attention.
That they should be accountable for their employees. That the consumer has the right to fair and accurate billing. And, my god, do I really have to beg for a statement, an invoice, a receipt? This hotel is owned by DALY SEVEN of Danville, VA, and I call on them to immediately address this matter and have the employees in question reprimanded or fired. A prompt return of all monies taken from my card is demanded, as well. This hotel management company owns and operates Inkeeper (in Danville and Hopewell, VA, and Durham, Raleigh, Eden, Fayetteville, High Point, Jacksonville, Roxboro, So. Pines, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem, NC), the Staybridge Suites at RDU Airport, NC; Hampton Inns (in Eden, Fayetteville, High Point, Lake Norman, RDU Airport, Roxboro, and Sanford, NC, and Lynchburg, VA), and Holiday Inns (in Danville, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Richmond, Roanoke, VA; and in Durham, Greensboro, RDU Airport, and High Point, NC).
DO YOURSELF A FAVOR: learn from my experience—and my mistakes. Pay for your stay in cash, and DEMAND A RECEIPT BEFORE AND AFTER YOUR STAY. And while all of these hotels, with the curious exception of Inkeeper, are franchised, and are not reflective of every hotel in their respective chains, you are hereby WARNED to AVOID THE ABOVE-LISTED PROPERTIES WITH ALL DELIBERATE SPEED!!!
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