Baymont Inn Doubles Their Prices, Tries To Charge You $2,000 After You Refuse
The Baymont Inn in Salt Lake City quoted Ryan a price of $739 for his stay, but when he arrived, the hotel manager claimed the rate was $1,400. The manager refused to lower the price, even after a desk clerk verified that Ryan had been offered the $739 rate. The manager finally relented after telling Ryan that the hotel would recoup the loss by taking the difference out of the clerk's salary. Two days after Ryan checked out, he discovered that the manager had tried to charge over $2,000 to his credit card.
Ryan writes:
I just wanted to warn people against staying at the Baymont Inn on 2080 West North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT.They quoted me $739 plus tax on four occasions by three employees before I arrived. When I went to check out they tried to charge me $1400 almost double what the told me the price would be. When I said that is unfair and if I did that in my engineering firm the manager than began to demean me as not being smart enough to be worth his time because I was a lowly mechanical engineer not a computer science major. The employee (Sloan) that originally quoted $739 was right there and told the manager that I was telling the truth, The manager (Mohammed) then told me I was a lying and that he would not honor what his employees told me. During this time he was very hostile to me and tried to guilt me into paying the $1400 by telling me he was going to take it out of the employees (Sloan's) pay. I told him that is not my concern he could do as he pleased.
I than told him if he tried to charge me anything more than I was quoted I would issue a charge back on my credit card and he could fight with them. After some more ranting about how I evidently don't understand math since I only have a masters in Mechanical Engineering he agreed to a charge of $760 plus tax, which came out to $860. Once I left I called Baymont Corporate to complain since I wanted it in there before he tried to charge me damage's in order to make his money back. Once I got home checked my credit card holds and he had tried to charge me over $2000 over four different holds including one that was initiated 2 days after I checked out. I called Baymont Corporate again to complain and the next business day all the charges were removed, and a day later the agreed upon amount was charged. While I did end up paying more than was agreed upon before at least I got it close. If I had been someone who was afraid of conflict or somone who could be bullied he would have succeded in charging me 200% of what was quoted. This whole argument took place in the middle of the lobby and took nearly an hour of him trying to bully me into paying.
I just want to warn people not to stay at this hotel. I also will not be staying at any Baymont Inn / Windham Hotel owned property again. This is not how I wanted to spend the last morning of my ski trip. Also I just wanted to remind people to always get the quotes in writing, since that would have made proving the price quoted easier. Think you guys are doing a great job keep it up.
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Comments:
$760 for a hotel room? Good god, man!
To Mr. Chip (since the reply button isn't working): I think the $760 was for the length og this stay. So that could cover multiple days/
The Baymont Inn in Salt Lake City quoted Ryan a price of $739 for his stay
Reading comprehension FTW.
Holy crap! That's crazy!
I can't think of any reason I'd go to Salt Lake City to begin with, but if I do I'll avoid this hotel.
I had a bad experience with baymont at the houston hobby airport location before. This was my ONLY stop on my big roadtrip moving from California to Florida. I desperately needed the sleep after 27+ hours of driving. I arrived at 2am and didn't get a room until 4am. Here's what happened: they fiddled around trying to find a room key for 30 minutes, then found me one. I went up to the room and put the key in... surprise! There were PEOPLE IN THE ROOM ALREADY, SLEEPING! Went back down to the desk and told them, the lady brushed it off "oh, oops oh well we'll let's try to find you another one" and that's what the next 1.5 hours was. Then they found the only room and the bathtub water was stuck on. At that point I didn't care and went to bed. When I went to check out, the price was $375. I had paid $50 for this room online and was damned if I was paying a cent more. I talked with the receptionist lady, she asked whom the lady was from the night before who checked me in, I gave the name and that was it. My stay was free. Apparently the overnight receptionist is notorious for not doing her job.
"The manager finally relented after telling Ryan that the hotel would recoup the loss by taking the difference out of the clerk's salary."
That's so ridiculous! You need to follow up on this... Report it to the local media as well, if you can.
Ouch... bait and switch *and* a crappy manager, all in one convenient package. Seems like a recipe for failure to me. You're lucky you got resolution.
Kudos to Sloan for sticking with the truth. Here's hoping he still has his job.
I wonder if the charges in question were actual posted transactions or pre-authorization holds?
Is Baymont one of those chains that franchises and someone local actually owns the hotel, just using the Baymont name? I have found that hotels in this situation more than not suck rocks. Comfort Inn and Country Inn do this and so many of the locations are horrible, broken amenities and nasty apathetic ownership that just wants your money.
I would rather stay at a more expensive corporate owned hotel since you have a bit more ability to be treated like an actual customer.
Just wondering how Ryan's master's in mechanical engineering became known to the hotel manager.
The extra would be taken out of the clerk's salary? I'd love to know if that's even legal.
Well, if the employee made a mistake that cost the hotel $700 (should have offered $1400, quoted $739), the owner could just fire the employee, so the compromise might be "make good on your mistake, and I don't can you."
What I'm suprised about is why there wasn't anything in writing at checkin about the rate - I've never had a hotel not show me a form with the rate to initial when I check in.
the hotel i used to work at, it was standard practice to write the room rate on the key packet at check in, instead of saying it out loud. this way the guest had a written record of the rate and the person standing next to them didn't argue about why they were paying the 'best available' rate and the other guy was paying a much lower corporate negotiated rate.
but if you book online or book over the phone and get a confirmation number for your reservation [which you should ALWAYS do] then things always went much more smoothly at the desk with a printout of the confirmation from the hotel's website. i worked for a starwood property and the rate is always included on the reservation confirmation page
@sendbillmoney: "When I said that is unfair and if I did that in my engineering firm the manager than began to demean me as not being smart enough to be worth his time because I was a lowly mechanical engineer not a computer science major."
@bohemian -- It's a franchise. In addition to Baymont (and Wyndham) their branding includes Howard Johnson, Super 8, Travelodge and Days Inn.
Did you have a confirmation number? a printout? an email confirmation? I always make sure a hotel emails or faxes me the confirmation when I make reservations over the phone (which is what I assume was done here). Without that piece of paper, it's simply a he said he said situation. That said, the comment by the manager that he would take the difference out of the clerk's salary is wrong on many levels (not to mention illegal).
It is NEVER okay when a hotel does something like that, especially when the guest has quoted results. This is a pathetic story (on the host's part) that should be publicized and the manager should be reprimanded. He puts shame to all motel/hotel owners across America. If Ryan was a guest at the Baymont Inn, then he should be treated like one. Obviously, the manager has no clue how to handle ANY situation.
Seriously, though... Take out money from the clerk's salary? Anyone can easily assume that the Manager did not do his job correctly. A four year old knows from right and wrong in this situation.
Lastly, however, I recommend that anyone who is faced with a situation like this follow in Ryan's footsteps. Amazingly done, at least he stood up to the bully (who was obviously wrong) because that is the best thing to do in such a situation.
Fight for your right and right is your fight.
Corporate should fire that manager and promote that desk clerk. In that way, honest employee gets good, dishonest employee gets the door.
@JustThatGuy3: I was thinking the very same thing. Even cheap hotels (and I've been in cheap ones) had me review their (I think they call it ) ledger card that shows how much I'm to be charged and how long I'm to stay.
What I don't get is where the manager feels justified comparing the OP to a computer science major, or any other major for that matter. Last time I checked Mechanical Engineer was still more impressive than Hotel Manager...
Well he sure as hell isn't an English major...
@ngc6027: English is not the native language of over half the engineers I work with. I know at least one of the non-native speakers is named Ryan (he happens to be Korean IIRC). He wouldn't be the engineer in the story.
What the heck is up with this Ryan weirdo?
"When I said that is unfair and if I did that in my engineering firm the manager than began to demean me as not being smart enough to be worth his time because I was a lowly mechanical engineer not a computer science major."
"After some more ranting about how I evidently don't understand math since I only have a masters in Mechanical Engineering he agreed to a charge of $760 plus tax, which came out to $860."
I bet he sits at home on Friday nights staring at the diploma on his wall, sipping brandy and chuckling to himself.
It's obvious, the manager Mohammad is a member of the Taliban, sent to this country to annoy us. Good job so far Mo!
@JustThatGuy3: I could understand considering approaching an employee with that kind of deal, but to just flat-out do it without their consent or prior knowledge of that being the 'deal' sounds awfully shady to me.
As a hotel employee (though not at this chain), I can tell you that holds aren't charges. They do exactly what their name implies, they pre-authorize charges to your card so that they will get their money no matter what. It usually happens when the guest checks in and is for the price of the total stay (including taxes, fees, etc). Holds go away in 48-72 hours usually.
What probably happened is they put a hold on your card when you checked in for the price you were quoted, then when the manager tried changing the price on you they authorized it again for the $1400 which doesn't increase the original hold, it just adds a new one which would end up with $2200+ in holds. When you paid the lower amount, it came out of the holds and then the rest was released back.
So the manager was still a scumbag for trying to change the rate on you, but they didn't charge you the $1400 anyway.
@nuton2wheels: Actually, it sounds like he spends his free time clutching the CS course catalog of his academic institution, muttering with jealousy while his eyes well with tears.
/CS Degree. It's sooooo nice, Ryan.
@JustThatGuy3: It didn't cost the hotel $700. If you haven't noticed, people aren't traveling much anymore for business or pleasure. I'd imagine that the hotel was full of empty rooms like all hotels are these days.
@nuton2wheels: My thoughts exactly.
Also, it seems Baymont Corporate handled things pretty well, messy as they were.
@DePaulBlueDemon: If it were me, I'd be insisting to corporate management that the manager at their SLC hotel be fired because he clearly posed legal risks to the corporation. I'd tell them that while I know they would not be allowed to disclose to me any resolution of a personnel case, that I could still find out by periodically having "an undercover colleague" wander into the hotel to see if he was still working there.
I have added this hotel chain to a helpful profile page at my travel agent's site. They have a section where you can list airlines and Hotels that you won't stay at. Air Canada heads my airline list but this hotel chain is now second place on the hotel list. They also show you other people's least favorite places so I will have to check to see if this one made other people's lists.
Unless there is a convention in town, $700+ is better than $0 if he decided to leave. A good business reputation is priceless.
Wyndham---a sorry organization
This rewards program is the worst. I travel infrequently but when I do it is for long periods..months..THIS company had the temerity to delete my account with tens of thousands of points because I hadn't used it in 18 months. NO courtesy email or telephone just terminate. JUST SO they would not have to pay out anything. NEVER EVER WILL I STAY AT ONE OF THEIR HOTELS AGAIN. The joke is on them though I am going to Chicago in 2 hours for two weeks and am staying with MARRIOT. So WYNDHAM hows it feel to lose a customer for life
As someone who has traveled extensively in the mid east I wonder if the manager was Muslim and the engineer non muslim. If that was true this was perfectly legit as the engineer is not a person in the managers eyes
@DePaulBlueDemon: That guy sure is a dick. The clerk didn't play along with his scam job so he takes the difference out of the clerk's pay? And we wonder why we can't get good service at many of these places...managerial abuse and incompetence is not a good morale booster.
@Skaperen:
You can insist all you want, and they can handle it however they want. You can be pissed that they didn't handle it the way you wanted them to, but beyond being pissed and staying at another hotel, what are you going to do?
Don't make demands unless you can force compliance. You'll just make yourself look silly and combative. Customers like that are more trouble than they're worth.
It's because of fly-by-night operations like this that I am willing to drive 45 minutes to an hour to stay at a Marriott when I am on travel. Of course that is the rare exception since there are so many Marriotts all over the place.
Sorry you had such a bad experience. Next time, find a Marriott.
@I_am_Awesome: Tell Consumerist and write a detailed review on Trip Advisor.
Hotel owners really get their panties in a twist if you detail the failings of their hotel on a website.
Wow, that is a lot of pillow mints.
@Corporate-Shill: You obviously haven't paid for a hotel room in the last 15 years...or have some nasty bedbugs...even the "cheap" hotels in some cities run close to 80 bucks a night at the cheapest...
Baymont sucks old dirty underwear. We have one here and town that was previously a Holiday Inn then another name after that. Worn out worthless rooms and trying to pass them off as new, Baymont what a freaking joke, I wouldn't even let my ex-wife stay in one and I dislike her with a vengeance.