scam or glitch?
 

I had 4 rooms reserved at a NYC-area property for 3 nights. About 2 weeks ago, it became clear we wouldn't need the rooms. I went online and cancelled them.
A week ago, I noticed them still there, so cancelled them again online.
I noticed it was still there 3 nights ago and called in to spg to cancel.
I was just checking my online account and saw them there again, so called the hotel directly. They were quite rude, confirmed that they still saw the reservation as active and suggested I deal with spg.
SPG just confirmed that I indeed cancelled the reservation 3 times and the hotel went in and restored the reservation all 3 times!
Of course this could be a computer glitch, but couldn't it also be a scam? I would be on the hook for 4 nights deposit if SPG didn't have the documentation that I had indeed canceled it.

Was it the (Parker) Le Meridien? If it was, it's probably a scam. They are known scammers (according to Starwood's own allegations).

:D Please let's open that door again.

I don't want to make this against anyone - just posing a suspicion.

...what property?

Did you not receive the normal cancellation email and reference number when you cancelled online ?

I did get cancellation emails. SPG confirmed that it was properly cancelled 3 times and manually reinstated by Mr. xxx at the hotel at some point after the cancellation. It was the same night manager each time, even though cancellations were done at different times of day.
The 3rd cancellation was done with a call into SPG, so can't be a pure website glitch, could it?

Any thoughts on the possible explanation for why a night manager would continue to go in and manually reinstate a cancelled reservation 3 times? What could the motivation/upside be?

The hotel wants to charge you a night's room charges, for all of the rooms, as a no show. It's an easy way to make some money.

However, they should know that you'll have the email confirming the cancellation even if you failed to write down and keep the cancellation number. Also, this is the sort of thing that people would notice on their credit card bills, complain, and escalate.

Once is likely a mistake, IMO. However, if a hotel employee, particularly someone in management, is repeatedly reinstating a cancelled reservation, that sounds like consumer fraud to me. In Massachusetts it would be classified as an "unfair or deceptive trade practice" which would entitle you to up to triple damages plus attorney fees. I'm not suggesting that litigation is the way to solve this. However, if they eventually charge your credit card for the night(s), I might use this as a negotiating tactic to extract compensation points from the hotel. While FT regulars know that I often side with management on some of the complaints we see on FT, there is absolutely no excuse for this type of behavior.

I think this situation just makes me extremely suspicious and uncomfortable, but can't imagine compensation or a lawsuit! I don't have the full data or know how to say - this was an an attempt to scam me - so I'm trying to figure out if there's a benign reason for this to have happened.

As a funny aside, I just realized that, if I hadn't caught this today and they had charged the card and a night credit had posted to my account, it would put me over to requal for plat for the year, which also happens to be my lifetime plat night.
Could you imagine the irony of having to call spg to have them remove the fraudulent charge and stay credit and dial me back down to lifetime gold after 10+ years and 500+ nights of accumulating!?!

Do you get night/stay credit for a no-show?

NO, you must physically stay at the hotel So OP would be in the worst possible case: charged but probably no points/night/stay credit and if by change OP does get points/hight/stay credit by mistake, when OP complains, it will be taken away.

If you would like for us to look into this, send us the details to the email address below.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

If what OP said is true, I want to see how the hotel can get away with this sort of thing.

OP, pls kindly report the end results after the Starwood Corporate investigations.

Really shocking to hear such a thing occurring at a Starwood NYC hotel.

Hopefully it is just a mix-up and not the hotel gaming for a no-show fee. But 3 times in a row, manually, is extremely fishy.

I, too, would love to know which property this was. I stay in the city regularly and move reservations around all the time as needs arise--this isn't something I should need to worry about. Name and shame!

By all means, please tell us the name of the property.

I know it woudln't be the case but OP seemed to believe it.

What does naming the property accomplish while they're looking into this?
For the moment, I'm giving them a couple days to get back to me with a reasonable explanation.
I promise I will share the name once this is closer to a resolution - good or bad - or if someone from SPG says no big deal.
I just don't want to make this a rant against any one property - would the behavior not be concerning if it was in a different city, a st regis or an aloft?

It helps warn others with upcoming reservations at this hotel, or those who have cancelled a reservation there like yourself. What if someone wasn't careful or responsible enough to notice a charge on his/her credit card?

If you come here looking for advice, you should also be willing to share in return.

That is a fair point, as the GM specifically said that there is no history of this at their hotel.
It's the Four Points LIC
Please let SPG know if you have cancelled a reservation and it was reinstated or see a charge on your credit card for a cancelled reservation at this hotel or any other. If it's a glitch, it may help them locate it... and if it's a scam, it may help expose it.

What/where is LIC?

Four Points Long Island

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpo...language=en_US

LIC is Long Island City - just across from midtown Manhattan in queens about a 15 minute subway ride from times square.

Thanks :)

Reinstating the reservation once could be an innocent mistake, twice perhaps just maybe a misunderstanding, but three times under the circumstances listed ?

If this were me, having got proof that I'd cancelled, I'd leave it be, and if they charged my CC report it as fraud to the police. Clearly, it's not a mistake - it's been done deliberately, and there's no apparent plausible innocent explanation.

Total scam. They are banking on you are one of those weaklings that don't fight for your own rights and will just end up paying them. This, if bought to court, can easily be won (but again they are banking that you won't because most people are afraid of litigation process.) Horrible.

Didn't we have something like this once before where there was also a reservation with another SPG member with a similar or same name, or SPG number off by one digit and the hotel kept reinstating it in error?

Thank you very much as I do have an upcoming stay there as well as a canceled one. I am still not clear how they are explaining why this happened. If this was a scam, I would expect this as an offense worthy not only of termination but also criminal prosecution.
OTOH if it's a one-off and there is a reasonable explanation that is something else.

Was your cancelled stay reinstated? Or is your upcoming reservation a different stay? Just curious if you experienced the same thing as the OP.

Well, it's already at least a three-off.

My canceled stay has not been re-instated, but you can bet (thanks to this thread!) I will keep an eye out for it between now and the date that was booked.

^ Glad to hear that!

To confirm, I didn't get a stay credit. No news yet.

Funny, I had a [slightly] similar thing happen to me a few months ago. A 2 night reservation for a certain SPG property in Rome suddenly appeared in my upcoming stays, and after cancelling it twice, I left it to see what would happen. Still not sure, only that I got the stay credit and points and still have no idea how or what it may have been.
I have stayed in the hotel once or twice in the past but there was no unauthorized charge on my cc so I simply enjoyed the free points.

Do you have a common name? That sounds like someone stayed in the hotel with your status, paid, but you got the points. I once checked into an Intercontinental in Syndney (first time in the country) and they welcomed me back, thanked me for my loyalty and upgraded me to a suite. It wasn't until later when I noticed that the address was incorrect on my receipt that I figured out why they may have upgraded me.

I don't wish to share , but I assure you, my name is unusual! I usually can get just my first name as an email address, to give you an idea.

i was looking at this property for a possible stay in december....please keep us posted on what explanation the property gives....this is definitely not normal behavior....

I had almost this same scenario with the (now closed) W Silicon Valley. SPG said it was the hotel who kept reinstating my reservation, despite me having cancelled it online and then with SPG Platinum desk twice. I also got a "How was your stay?" email after the date I HADN'T stayed there. No points or stay credit, though. ;-(

My name is somewhat common I suppose, though I have no way of knowing what actually happened here other than that I'm not complaining about the free points. It struck me as very strange that I had cancelled it twice (well in advance) and that it was reinstated both times....

Did you try calling the manager directly?