Rate code changed at Towneplace Suites
 

So, I am livid right now. I'm staying at the Towneplace Suites Energy Corridor in Houston. I stay there a lot. I book a AAA rate for a one bedroom suite. That rate includes a $10 merchandise credit. Getting that credit is often hard with them demanding me to prove that I am entitled to that by emailing them a screenshot of my reservation. When I checked in yesterday, the clerk told me, "That's not the rate you booked." He's generally not terribly friendly so I'm not really surprised. I pull out my phone and hold it up to show him. It shows the suite and the credit. He refuses to look and he repeats, "That's not the rate you booked."

I get to my room, and it is a studio, not a suite. I pull out my phone, and the reservation has changed to a corporate rate studio. I call Bonvoy, and they confirmed that someone (not me) had changed my rate code. They transfer me to the "loyalty department" where I'm told that I need to speak to a supervisor. 30 minutes of total hold time to get to this point. The supervisor confirms that someone at the hotel had changed it. She says that she has opened an investigation, and that she will call the hotel and get everything right. She promises me that she will only speak with the manager, not the clerk. It takes her multiple calls and over 10 minutes to get the clerk who tells her that they don't have any suites available and the rate code can't be changed. He won't even honor the lousy $10 merchandise credit.

So, the end of it is all they can do is an investigation with no promises of anything. My rate had a three day cancellation policy. I learned that the hard way when I paid for a night when I canceled too late a few weeks ago. So, I pay if I change two days before, but they just change my reservation while I'm checking in, and there are no repercussions.

Small claims court

Unsurprising given the lack of control & oversight Marriott now seems to have over its properties...no repercussions

There will be no repercussions in the middle of the pandemic. Period.

If you want to pursue this, do it through a chargeback for the difference. Make certain that you provide the documentation showing what you were confirmed at and what you got.

Suing in SCC is fine if you have the time, but a net loss if you work.

Only real way to send a message is to vote with your feet. Why on earth stick with a property which is unfriendly even when it does do what it's supposed to?

This has nothing to do with a pandemic. This was a case where they oversold suites, and they were attempting to fix that situation.

I'm not sure how to document a cost other than the $10. Suites are unavailable right now, but if they were, no advanced booking is much more expensive. In fact, I was told that it was okay that they changed the rate code because they were still honoring my original price.

I stay there because it is convenient. I commute by plane to work, and it is near my office and it has a kitchen. I also like that it is a Marriott hotel to complement the 30+ nights that I would spend in a normal year (not this one) in a Le Meridien in the Middle East. The staff, particularly this one individual, are not great. Once I close my room door, everything is usually at least okay.

I did not say that the decision has anything to do with the pandemic. I said that Marriott will do nothing about this during a pandemic.

As to the rest, you are stuck with the age old problem. If the price & convenience exceed the hassle and poor service, you are stuck. The property is making the same calculation on the other side and figured out that it is not losing business so no need to change,

Sometimes if you check room rates on many days where there is availability, you find that a hotel tends to show a fixed difference between various room types. That would be a benchmark for the refund you should receive (plus tax) in addition to the $10 per night credit.

If you're still there, ask to speak to the General Manager in the morning. Be calm and explain the situation. The way the GM responds will help you determine if this is a poor employee or a poorly-run hotel. If it's the latter, you need to take some time to think about whether the convenience is worth what seems to be repeated aggravation.

Aside from the chargeback or never returning, the only other way to force change is to use social media. It's usually pretty easy to tell legitimate complaints (like this one) versus people having improper expectations. Reading a review on Trip Advisor that said the rate code and/or room type weren't honored would make me select a different hotel.

Of course, with social media, it can be difficult to know if your bad review will sway anyone. But, it's one of the few options you have.

Depending on what time you checked in, the clerk may be the only person available. I would ask to speak with the general manager the next morning. Might be too late to find you a suite but you can definitive ask for compensation which could be in the form of points.

I had a situation one time-Marriott Dulles I think-booked a weekend rate for a Thurs-Sat stay which included restaurant breakfast not lounge. They argued with me at check in that Thursday was not a weekend day and breakfast was not included. I had to pull up the reservation and show them. Hotels do tack on Thursday to weekend pricing. I've had that several times. I was really irritated about them giving me grief on a rate in their system.

Is that the Starbucks card package?

No. It is a AAA Hot Deal. I use the credit to get some 20oz sodas. They changed it to a "local corporate rate".

It won't do much, but if you're a AAA member, you could also file a complaint with AAA about the hotel violating their contractual obligations under the rate advertised to AAA members.

I'd also consider reporting the hotel to the state AG's office.

Tgis all seems like a lot of work for only $10. Just eat it and next time don’t book that rate of you have such headaches with it.

says the helpful hotel manger....how about the property honors the rate!

If management won't fix it, and Corporate won't help, then use social media, or find another property, or both.

I vote for both. You could also wish upon a falling star that the hotel goes bankrupt and the manager is fired, not necessarily in that order.

I must say going to the GM is such a poor way to handle this. Yes a GM is in charge of a hotel,, but more so as a link between the owner and Marriott. They are more to handle Sales and Events, Corporate Accounts, Working to ensure the assets in the building are kept in check. The AGM is the one really running operations and typically a GM will forward this issue to their AGM.

what compensation did you get for the room downgrade? Looks like you are dealing with fraud and the best would probably be the AG's office or small claims court. The hotel defrauded you; best to not let fraudsters get away with things.

Yeah after all the local Attorney General is going to find this a MAJOR crime that he/she needs to waste a lot of your tax dollars on!!! (Only in your dreams LOL!)

Honestly the OP admits this hotel has bad service and always has problems with t his rate but continues to patronize them... why should they change? The definition of insanity, doing the same thing you always do and expecting a different result. Time to just move on.

The GM emailed me with some platitudes. Marriott said that they would get back to me, but they never did. However, today, I had 37,500 points deposited into my account with a label of "SERVICE RECOVERY - PROPERTY BI" so I'm guessing that I got 37,500 points compensation.

Strongly disagree. As you correctly state, the GM is in charge of the hotel.

The end. The rest is just noise.

That's why I wrote the following: "The way the GM responds will help you determine if this is a poor employee or a poorly-run hotel." How the fix is accomplished (whether it's done by the GM, the Assistant GM (not all hotels have those, by the way), or an hourly Front Desk clerk is immaterial.

Thank you for your significant contribution here. I have found AG offices to be interested in consumer fraud, in particular as it is stated here that this business recurring refuses to provide services which they advertised to consumers and then engages in falsifying records to alter record post purchase. Yeah, I would think AG offices would look into this ...

As a former local (4 years) and federal (6½ years) prosecutor, I must concur that such white-collar crime is often of interest to authorities.

It is important to have evidence to prove fraudulent intent beyond a reasonable doubt, rather than mere "mistake" or inadvertent error.

A patern and practice of such conduct can create an inference of "absence of mistake", which is why it is very helpful to report such incidents even if, in isolation, it may not appear particularly egregious.

I commute by plane to work because I don't want to raise my daughter in Houston, and my wife is tenured faculty. I find it easier and cheaper to stay at a hotel when I'm at my work. This hotel is a) a Marriott/Bonvoy hotel, b) close to my office since I depend upon Lyft, c) has a kitchen, and d) is reasonably priced. I do not want to poison the well. I just want a reasonable approximate of not too bad of service. I guess they have my in that sense---it would take a disaster to get me to stop staying there.