Doubletree O'Hare in Chicago
Should you ever be in the Chicago area, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you avoid the Doubletree O'Hare. While a lovely property, my recent experience has soured my liking for both the location and the chain.
Upon check-in this afternoon, I provided a credit card number (required) but informed the agent (Katie) that I would be paying by cheque at the end of my stay. The agent confirmed that this was okay, and that she would not run the credit card - it would merely be on file in case I did something stupid like set fire to the room. I even called ahead a few days ago to make sure that this would be okay; I'm a bit weird in that I prefer a paper trail for larger transactions, and this one was going to be almost $400.
Imagine my shock, then, when I found a $386.01 charge on my card about half an hour ago, from the Doubletree. I immediately protested the charge to the agent on duty at the front desk, Elizabeth, and found her attitude quite rude and unsympathetic. I now have to come in at 07.00 this morning to speak with the manager and have them call my bank to (hopefully) reverse the charges - and with luck, remove any overdraft fees that may go along with this whole mess.
While having my money returned to me is of course the prime objective, I feel it necessary to make a point to the hotel that I am NOT satisfied with this sort of treatment. I don't necessarily feel entitled to anything (though some gesture of apology would make me more inclined to stay at a Doubletree or family hotel in the future), but this sort of egregious oversight/mistake is not acceptable. Does anyone have any advice for how I can deal with this bad_service without turning it into a customers_suck?
(Oh, and in case I hadn't said it before... Avoid the Doubletree O'Hare in Chicago. The staff are slow and poorly trained, and when they make mistakes of epic proportions, they are surly and quite unhelpful.)
Upon check-in this afternoon, I provided a credit card number (required) but informed the agent (Katie) that I would be paying by cheque at the end of my stay. The agent confirmed that this was okay, and that she would not run the credit card - it would merely be on file in case I did something stupid like set fire to the room. I even called ahead a few days ago to make sure that this would be okay; I'm a bit weird in that I prefer a paper trail for larger transactions, and this one was going to be almost $400.
Imagine my shock, then, when I found a $386.01 charge on my card about half an hour ago, from the Doubletree. I immediately protested the charge to the agent on duty at the front desk, Elizabeth, and found her attitude quite rude and unsympathetic. I now have to come in at 07.00 this morning to speak with the manager and have them call my bank to (hopefully) reverse the charges - and with luck, remove any overdraft fees that may go along with this whole mess.
While having my money returned to me is of course the prime objective, I feel it necessary to make a point to the hotel that I am NOT satisfied with this sort of treatment. I don't necessarily feel entitled to anything (though some gesture of apology would make me more inclined to stay at a Doubletree or family hotel in the future), but this sort of egregious oversight/mistake is not acceptable. Does anyone have any advice for how I can deal with this bad_service without turning it into a customers_suck?
(Oh, and in case I hadn't said it before... Avoid the Doubletree O'Hare in Chicago. The staff are slow and poorly trained, and when they make mistakes of epic proportions, they are surly and quite unhelpful.)