gre

OK, so I had a crappy stay at the West Lafayette 4 Points over Christmas.

Who can I complain to that will take it seriously?

I tried the desk at the time. The reply was, "no one on duty".

I tried at checkout. The reply was, "...it happens".

I tried when they sent me a "how was your stay?" email (I told them, "not good"). The reply was, "we sent your complaint to the hotel". The hotel manager's reply was, "it's your fault" (it most certainly was not).

I tried when SPG sent me a "how was the hotel's response"? I replied, "unacceptable"; nothing but crickets since then.

KENNECTED

Corporate Customer Service. You should initiate.

Starwood Lurker

Personally, from what was written, it seems that this has already been done.

If the hotel has already closed the file created with an apology to the OP, there isn't a lot more that can be done if they cannot come to a mutually-beneficial agreement.

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

mahasamatman

does not sound like an apology.

KENNECTED

Is "SPG" the equivalent to "Corporate Customer Service"?

Dr. HFH

What were the problems with your stay?

PayItForward

What happened?

Keyser

good question....would be important to know before any advice can be given....

Antonio8069

I have had occasion to contact the property after my stay with a service concern. Each time, the duty mgr. has been responsive. I have never had anyone say "its your fault".

Based on my positive experience, I am calling BS on this one, Kennected.

Alternatively, if you believe you had a valid concern (3 weeks ago), I suggest you contact the GM.

gre

Fair enough, though I generally try to solve my probs privately, I'll give you the rundown.

Speaking of "rundown" my suite was trashed. The front door was warped (but still closed), the lock on the balcony door was broken, the shower curtain was falling down, the TP holder was falling out of the wall and their was actually some sort of goo on the kleenex dispenser. Worse, the wallpaper was falling down in numerous places and their were large, visible gouges in the wall next to the table. The room really should not have been online as the hotel was essentially empty over the Christmas weekend. But these were not my real probs.

I rented a suite because my mother in law lives in a retirement home just down the road and the family needed a place to meet for 2 days. Other members of the family simply rented rooms so we spent the holiday in mine. It worked out pretty well because the women in the family got into adult coloring (and thus used the table) while the guys watched the games.

The real problem was that we received no housekeeping on Christmas day. Someone was in the room all day and housekeeping never came by. Trash piled up (from the day before plus present wrapping paper, which my wife would not let me throw in the hall) and towels were placed on the floor (in the assumption that they would be replaced).

Fortunately, the desk clerk (mentioned in my post) found a couple of clean towels in the back room behind the desk.

What has really hacked me off is the cavalier attitude of everyone I've raised my issues with.

Re the manager saying it was my fault, he emailed that his records show that I had the do not not disturb sign out. I most certainly did not. We needed housekeeping and Mrs. GRE even left a $10 Christmas tip (with note) on the desk for the housekeeper. Regarding an apology, I don't find an excuse, "...we hope that you understand that our housekeepers are trained to not knock on any door that has the Do Not Disturb sign hanging from the door handle. Again we are truly sorry that we were not able to make your Christmas with us a special" all that satisfying. Also, he refused to even provide the 250 points one should get for declining housekeeping.

I haven't even mentioned that I was offered no SPG gold gift (I would have liked the option of one of the slightly larger suites that I know were empty). Instead I found 125 starpoints for a 3 night stay added to my account (not enough for a cup of coffee).

KENNECTED

I have a question, why did you accept that room? I'm in no way say it wasn't the real problem, but you note this, so it is an "issue".

I not trying to say this is totally your fault, but trying to understand why you would accept being assigned/placed in a room you note is not up to acceptable and/or up to standards?

Personally, I would have snapped photos and turned around and returned to the Front Desk.

gre

Fair enough question with an easy answer. Not all of the problems were readily apparent upon entering the room.

For example, I didn't know the latch on the balcony door was broken until I opened it. I didn't know the shower curtain was falling down until the 1st morning there.

More importantly, Mrs. GRE doesn't like it much when I complain, and gets angry when I insist on things like moving to another room just because this one is not up to snuff. Also we had stocked up the fridge and cupboards with food and drinks (FYI - there are no restaurants open in the area on Christmas that my midwest family in law will eat at (they won't eat Chinese), so I filled the place with cheese, cold cuts, crackers, chips and various other junk items).

KENNECTED

This is a little reminder for everyone.

FlyerTalk 101: First thing to do when you arrive in your room. Always inspect your room before settling in. Check everything. Doing so will save you issues later. [IIRC fly co to see the yanks and/or BlissWorld hooked me up with this when I was a brand new lil bitty baby FT member]

Doing a sweep of the room is now one of my rituals, when arriving to my assigned room.

Midwesterner's don't eat Chinese....crazy talk! Where in the Midwest do these people reside?

Oxon Flyer

Do you have a checklist of everything you inspect, turn on, turn off, open, close, flush, look inside, turn back, operate etc every time you occupy a hotel room ?

Often1

Even if the latch on one door was not self-evident, the general poor state of the room was at the time you walked in. That is when you either walk back to the front desk or you accept what you have.

While I am sorry that your wife does not like it when you complain, that is a marital issue and nothing to do with the property or SPG. Same thing with Chinese food vs. snacks and feeding others in your room and other stuff.

When you say that you complained at the front desk and were told that there was nobody there, the answer is that somebody was there. It was the front desk clerk. All that there was to do was to move you.

Bottom line here is that there is little or nothing to complain about here and the property is done with you.

Fire the property as a hotel and the property has fired you as a customer. Sounds like a good resolution.