I planned a trip to St. Petersburg arriving on January 4th. I stayed 6 nights. I was not sure whether I would be staying the full 6 nights at the motel, or possibly as few as 2 nights. I explained this to the man behind the counter when I checked in, and asked if I could reserve the two nights, while keeping open the option to stay 6 nights to receive the lower weekly rate.
His answer was that I could do that as long as I used a credit card. I used my credit card, assuming that everything would go as agreed. After the two nights, I came to the desk each morning to extend my stay, which eventually reached the full 6 nights of my stay. When It was time to check out, I expected to receive the weekly rate.
Both the man behind the desk (not the same man who was there when I checked in), and the woman who was the manager stated that I was not eligible for the weekly rate. They gave me several reasons for this. One of the reasons that they gave was that I did not specify in advance that I was staying a week. I told them of my conversation with the man behind the counter when I checked in.
They first denied that I had been told this, and then when I repeated that I had, they stated that the weekly rate only applied to stays of seven days, and since I had only stayed 6 days, I was not eligible for the weekly rate. (The Howard Johnson's 800 number had assured me that for a stay of 5 days or more, the weekly rate would be applied, and that this would be lower than five times the daily rate. They then informed me that I was getting a reduced rate anyway. (The rate that I was charged was the rate that was posted on the sign outside the motel. This was lower than the summer rate, but certainly no great bargain) I then became angry and simply paid the bill, informing them that I would never return to that motel.
But I find that I am still angry over this kind of treatment. I have sent a complaint to Howard Johnson's central office, and I am sending this report to you to hopefully alert others to the unethical practices of the prople at this establishment. I had to catch a flight as soon as I left the motel, so there was nothing else that I could do there at the time.
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