I recently stayed at the Hard Rock in Sand Diego for a business trip and was there for 5 nights. Upon check in, I noticed they have a guitar rental program which appealed to me. I've played guitar for years and produce music as a hobby so I thought this would be a great way to have some fun while stuck in the room.
They delivered me a Gibson Les Paul with a Line 6 pod and Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. I thought this was just great and all for just a $500 deposit to my credit card (no actual charge if gear returned in good shape) - even better.
As a music producer and avid fan, I had my own, higher quality head phones with me so never used the poor quality, sceenester head phones they brought me. Their headphones sat unused in the room my entire stay.
Upon check out, I left the gear in the room as I was not instructed to do otherwise (would have been smarter of me to bring it downstairs, but my hands were full and I didn't expect dirty tricks). I started my trip home and received a call from the desk staff asking if I could tell them where the headphones were. They were left at the foot of the bed. They called again saying they were still not found and I immediately found it suspect. I was told that the director of security would contact me.
When I heard from Jeremy, the director of security, he advised me the headphones were still not found. I advised him that I don't have time to play games so they should charge me or give up and I recommended they look more closely at other potential causes for loss. Jeremy responded that the only other person in the room after me was the maid who'd been with the company for 15 years without an issue (since the Hard Rock opened in 2007 this is an odd statement - unclear if not just a lie).
Then I got the most insane news. Jeremy said the charge would be the retail price for the headphones - $350. Seeing as how I know music and equipment, I found this amazingly absurd. I argued and advised that if I see a charge on my credit card from them in that amount it will be disputed with the card provider.
Immediately I looked up the headphones online and found the official site. They list the model of headphones brought to the room as valued at $199 while the $349 model is a higher end model that I never saw. I called Jeremy back today and left a message asking him to contact me again with the make and model of the headphones to confirm. He has not returned my call.
I have now started a dispute with American Express and they were amazingly helpful and on my side the whole time - no questions asked. Wish me luck on the dispute.
This was just an incredible issue that I cannot help but report here. For them to accuse me of stealing is one thing. To boot, I was on a company trip traveling with a company credit card - why would I risk my job or reputation for headphones? Next, to find out that they are over-valuing the allegedly lost item by $150 tipped me over the edge.
It's a nice hotel with clean and appealing rooms. If you can stand the nightly, obnoxious clubs and disingenuous attitude of the staff, please stay there. But if you prefer, deal with a hotel that has scruples. I'm just glad that I have AmEx Corporate disputing the matter for me. I've been on the other side of disputes with them in past jobs and I know they don't take any crap.
Hard Rock Hotel is just despicable. I've researched and found other, numerous claims of Hard Rock over charging and ripping off others. Buyer be ware.
0 comments