RogerD408

As mentioned above, it appears the Tournament of Roses Association has bought out the entire hotel and is offering rooms at http://www.tournamentofroses.com/Pas...urPackage.aspx.

This may have been negotiated before or after the property loaded the rooms into SPG.com. Either way, the property should buy back enough rooms to handle those that have been able to book rooms. And since the tour package is for four nights, that gives them some more inventory to resell.

The only "glitch" was the person that loaded the data. The property needs to pony-up and make good on those reservations. I believe between Starwood and SPG corporate (get them both involved), this can be resolved.

djk7

Even if Starwood didn't cancel in advance, I certainly wouldn't want to rely on being walked on arrival. You'd probably end up 50 miles away.

Keyser

not that i am expecting the gm to help but what did he have to say????

andymo99

The Four Points by Sheraton New Orleans Airport tried pulling this move on me 6 months in advance of the 2012 Final Four.

Ultimately, everything was rectified, and the Director of Sales wrote to me as follows:

Sarfa33

One can only hope that this situation will be resolved in the same manner. ^

-S

BenSenise

The three posters here that have had their reservations cancelled should really get together and act as one. as they say, there's power in numbers.

i stay at the sheraton pasadena twice a year but i must say that i would never, ever tolerate this. i would fight tooth and nail to screw them over. i must also say that i will seriously reconsider staying there again and i will let them know. same for the maui sheraton where i was planning on going. this stuff really, really pisses me off and does not leave a very favourable impression of starwood.

mlm

I spoke several times with representatives at Starwood Corporate. They put me on hold and contacted the hotel. Twice they had to leave voice mail, then followed it up with an email to hotel confirming my reservation as accurate and in place.

On my 3rd call they successfully reached a manager (Mike Brenn) at the hotel and connected me with him. He was direct, showed little compassion when confirming with attitude that it is 100% impossible to keep our hotel reservation. He said the same Tournament of Roses people stay there every year, check in on 12/29 and out 1/2. I asked how it took 3 months since making my reservation to realize they are double booked if this group books the hotel every year? He acts like he is doing a favor giving me 8 months advance notice to make another reservation. HELLO...don't you get it ? there are NO available Pasadena hotels available for 12/31/13.
It was a complete waste of time trying to resolve this with him.

I contacted Starwood Corporate for a 4th time. She put me on hold and was able to reach Mike Brenn (sp) whom I had just talked to. He gave her the exact same story I was told. She was unable to resolve this but at least she was very professional, understanding and working to come up with a plan B.

I finally had to accept receiving a refund of my 7,000 *wood points plus I will receive an additional 14,000 *wood points. She booked the Los Angeles Westin Bonaventure Hotel using 12,000 points and I get free parking (normally $40 per day).

I am VERY UPSET and will not likely stay at Starwood properties in the future. I need peace of mind knowing my reservation is secure.

BigBopper

If you are VERY UPSET then you shouldn't have accepted that settlement offer. Why would you simply take the answer from a stranger over the phone? You can always escalate to the Executive offices, etc.

Simply put, if a settlement offer doesn't make you happy, don't take it.

mk808

You can refuse a settlement offer and escalate, which is what I would have done. Write emails to the executives at Starwood. Post on the Sheraton Pasadena Facebook and TripAdvisor sites. As another poster recommended, reach out to the other posters here in a similar situation. etc.

I don't know how much business you do with SPG. I stay between 100 and 200 nights per year and if you included employees who work for me whose travel I direct, there's probably another few hundred per year at least. And in most of these cities, there are Hilton and Marriot properties also. Hilton and Marriot very frequently reach out to us to try to win more business. Competition for loyal, frequent travelers is intense. As the SPG CEO said recently, the top 1% of their travelers (50+ night Platinums) make up a huge % of their profits.

Just because SPG Corporate doesn't own or run a particular property doesn't mean that property doesn't have to abide by SPG policies, because at the end of the day, a lot of their business comes in from loyal SPG members and their actions reflect directly on the SPG brand.

As frequent travelers who are somewhat "vested" in the SPG brand, we all have some responsibility to fight back against problems like this that threaten the integrity of the program that we are all a part of.

RogerD408

Sounds like the manager is not being honest with you. The Tournament of Roses appears to have bought out the entire property and they are selling rooms (see link in previous post). They are offering only 4-night packages with many add-ons (tickets, tours, etc.). There is no reason why the property could not buy back rooms for those that got caught in this mess. That is of course if they were interested in making this right! They just might learn there lesson and double check their data before allowing it to be posted.

Continue to push with corporate (not the CSRs) and request they step in on your behalf.

bocastephen

Once you accept the counter offer, you lose the right to sue for damages - you should have refused the offer and taken this property (not SW) to small claims court to recover your trip costs or the difference between what you paid and any reasonably appropriate rate at a comparable hotel within a reasonable distance to the event plus transportation.

I'm sure once the summons hit "Mike Brenn's" desk, the 'tune and 'tude might have changed.

On the basis of this fiasco, I will avoid the Sheraton and favor the Westin when in Pasadena - please blog as much as you can about this incident outside FT so it gets picked up in the social media universe, including posts on the hotel and SW facebook pages.

dcstudent

I feel really bad for the people that the hotel is pulling this stunt on. There is no system "glitch." An employee either forgot to take the inventory off of spg sites, or an employee erroneously put the inventory on spg sites. Either way, human error.

More importantly, is the horrible service and service recovery identified so far. First, the hotel just cancelling the reservations, with no real offer of compensation or alternatives. Second, the one report of compensation offered so far is terrible. 14,000 points, but you have to pay 12000 for a room elsewhere?

If it was me, I would accept points equal to the length of my original stay, and a free night at another comparable hotel.

The biggest thing I see here (and in the Sheraton Maui thread), is that it seems that Starwood doesn't recognize how badly a hotel's actions can reflect on the brand. How many people who've been effected by the actions of the Sheraton Pasadena are going to not only never stay at a Sheraton again, but tell all of their friends/family/colleagues about how badly they've been treated by Sheraton. (Many of whom may not even bother calling Sheraton corporate.)

IceTrojan

Maybe someone should forward them this thread, point out the various statuses in FTers' bios showing what serious travelers/consumers they are, and make note of how many are now (thinking of) pledging to boycott this and other properties.

(Even mine... I stupidly spend that much on coffee, imagine how much I'd spend on a hotel room )

OU812

Sorry for not posting sooner. I was playing phone tag with the GM yesterday and traveling today!

I spoke with the GM, who said there was nothing they could do and referred me to Mr. Brennan, who gave me the same song and dance as MLM. Mr. Brennan acted like he was doing me such a favor by even talking to me! He made it sound like it was my fault for booking their hotel! He offered the same thing, a refund of my 14,000 points used to book the two nights and 14,000 additional points, "for the inconvenience," but that is it. I called Starwood Corporate Customer Care, who also called the Sheraton Pasadena a couple of times and got the same answer from Mr. Brennan. Starwood Corporate said there is no way that they can force the Sheraton Pasadena to keep my reservation and there is nothing else they can do or in terms of getting Sheraton Pasadena to honor the reservation or offer any additional compensation.

I am not happy at all with the compensation and have not accepted it. I am also not happy with attitude of the Sheraton Pasadena and the fact that Starwood Corporate has sided with the hotel! I made plans and incurred thousands of dollars based on the fact that I had a confirmed reservation at the Sheraton Pasadena! According to Mr. Brennan, no reservation is 100% guaranteed until you check in and are given your room key! Total BS!

Regards,

RIP...

meecal

Wow. I don't post here often but reading this thread has me pretty fired up and prompted me to post. I'll never stay at the Sheraton Pasadena after reading this. I'm going to write Sheraton Pasadena out five more times so that it's seared in my brain which hotel pulled this stunt. Sheraton Pasadena. Sheraton Pasadena. Sheraton Pasadena. Sheraton Pasadena.

Hope the hotel and/or SW corporate come to their senses and rectify this!

EDIT: I just called the Sheraton Pasadena and let them know that I've heard how they've been handling this matter and that I believe it is inappropriate and unprofessional. I explained that I and others will be monitoring the situation to see how it is resolved and if the original reservations are not honored I will literally stay elsewhere whenever I'm in the Pasadena area in the future. The desk agent I spoke with was courteous and professional. She said she would pass along my comments to the management team and apologized about the situation.