I bid for hotel accomodations on PRICELINE.com and my bid was accepted by Extended Stay America. From Priceline, I received a confirmation email with the name and location of the hotel along with a summary of charges and the amount of the transaction was immediately charged to my Debit Card.
When I arrived at the hotel at 3:30p to check in, the hotel refused to honor the confirmed reservation and I was told "We are all sold out, you will have to go elsewhere." No apologies, no attempts to find a clean room - or any room for that matter.
Calls to Priceline only delayed the inevitable - they, on this one occasion would cancel the reservation, due to "unusual circumstances" and the credit would be issued within the next 10-15 business days.
While it takes them only nano-seconds to take the money from my account for a hotel reservation that their partner will not honor, it is going to take the better part of three weeks for me to get the money back.
In the meantime, I spent the night in the car.
So, having a pre-paid, confirmed reservation meant nothing.
My request to speak with the manager was repeatedly denied.
My phone call to the Extended Stay Hotels Customer Care Line almost got results in that when a property has over-sold rooms, they have a walk-policy - That means that the hotel must find other suitable accomodations within walking distance of the hotel. The front desk clerk told me (and later, Priceline) that there are no rooms in the area - they are all sold out. When I called the hotels in the area, I found rooms without any problem.
Too, I called the Extended Stay Hotels Reservation line and they confirmed that the location that I was attempting to check in to had plenty of rooms.
Three hours into this ordeal, Priceline is telling me to be patient - they are looking for a hotel that will accept my bid (when in fact they were not) and all the while, I am left sitting in my car, without air conditioning in the Texas heat on a day with unusually high humidity.
Three hours into this ordeal, the front desk clerk tells me that the reason I cannot get a room: I have been Banned. Blacklisted.
Is this legal? They accept my bid only to not honor it when I arrive.
Priceline takes my funds for the rooms initially, then keeps them for up to three weeks?
All the while, I am left - - in the car. Literally.
My requests for an explaination from Extended Stay Hotels has gone unanswered. Ignored really.
My calls to PriceLine Customer Service: futile. They are not responsible for anything. Further, your call to Priceline will either get you to the Phillipines or Mexico City, but if you prefer english-speaking customer service representatives, you are out of luck.
Thirty Hours later, and literally spending 7 (continous) hours on the phone with Priceline (Phillipines) and my bank (in Austin) ON my cell phone, IN THE CAR - the bank released the funds in my account and I was able to make another hotel reservation.
This time, I ended up at Homestead Suites in Richardson, TX.
Guess who owns Homestead Suites? Its just my luck I guess.
Tell me. Is this right?
(and just to be clear. I have stayed at the property from which I am banned. However, I have never given them any reason to blacklist me nor treat me this way. And funny, they cant give me a reason either). Hmmm
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