Can this trip be saved? “Come to the room, I have an emergency”

October 10, 2010

Erica Lara and her boyfriend, Patrick, checked into the Hilton Key Largo Grande Resort & Beach Club last Saturday for a wedding, but they didn’t stay long.

Patrick suffered an unfortunate, and extremely painful mishap, and was sent to the hospital. Details on his condition in a moment (warning: if you are in any way squeamish, click away now). The couple want their money back because they didn’t get to use the room.

Here’s what happened, according to Lara. (Last warning, folks.)

They arrived in their room just before 5 p.m. Patrick was the best man for a friend’s wedding. He took a shower while Lara and her three-year-old daughter walked around the property.

I got a call from Patrick at about 6:45 p.m. saying, in a weird voice, “Come to the room, I have an emergency, come to the room!”

So Izabella and I ran to the hotel room and found Patrick distraught and holding his face moaning in pain. His jaw was dislocated and hanging open!

Dislocated mandibles can be very, very painful.

I said, “What happened?” He had yawned and his mouth popped and stayed locked open.

I called 911 and the paramedics came and advised us to immediately go to the E.R. We got in my car and rushed to Mariner’s Hospital, where they immediately partially sedated Patrick and began working on him.

They were not able to put his jaw back in place so they told me he must be transported to Baptist Hospital in Miami in order for them to fully sedate him and try his jaw again.

Lara returned to the hotel and explained that they wouldn’t be staying for the night.

He charged me $167, which was the original rate, and didn’t even say, “I hope he gets better.”

They transported Patrick in an ambulance back to Miami and I followed in my car. Patrick ended up having to have surgery on his jaw on Sunday by a specialist.

I called the hotel on Monday and spoke with the manager and explained the story to him. He said, “Oh yeah, I know, I had to deal with the paramedics in the lobby.”

In the end he told me he is sorry but there is nothing he can do except for give us a 25 percent discount on our next visit. I explained to him that we didn’t even get to use the room. We didn’t eat or sleep there. We checked out, due to an obvious emergency, which the manager apparently knew about, just four hours after we checked in.

I feel taken advantage. I hope you can help.

I suggested she send a brief, polite email to the hotel, asking it to reconsider. Negative. Here’s the reply from the guest service manager:

As we spoke about on Monday, I will not be able to refund the night in question. You were here on a sold out night, and did, in fact, use the room for several hours. Since the housekeeping department had left for the day by the time of your departure, I will be charging for the room night.

I will still honor my offer to give you a discounted rate on a future stay.

So what now?

I’m conflicted. Under Hilton’s cancellation policy, she almost certainly wouldn’t have been able to get a refund. Then again, it’s the hospitality industry, and I believe an argument could be made that Hilton ought to be more accommodating in a situation like this.

What do you think? Should I mediate this one?

There were 1,115 responses. The “nays” have it.

PS: Some of the commenters seem genuinely angry that I would even write about this case. It isn’t my intention to upset anyone. If you’d rather I end this feature, and only write about cases that deserve mediation, I would be happy to do that.

(Photo: B. Ellis/Flickr Creative Commons)

Mary Graham

Whether you mediate or not, just look at all the negative publicity Hilton is getting here! How nice it would have been to bend the rules in this awful circumstance and keep this customer coming back. Instead of her sharing a positive, Hilton experience with us, it’s now become “Hilton=Bad” and bad customer service always finds it’s way back around, in lower sales. I bet they’ll end up losing more than $167 after this.
Arizona Road Warrior

@ Chris in NC – I agree with that insurance is for the financial risk that you do not want to assume. I agree with you that it doesn’t make financial sense to purchase travel insurance for a single night in a hotel or other situations when you are able to eat your out-of-pocket costs\non-refundable costs\etc.

I did a quick quote search and the costs for a policy ranges $ 52 to $ 200 for a trip with a value of $ 200.

@ Chris in NC – “What bothers me (again, I probably will get criticized for this), is that many of these cases here are for 1 night in the $50-150 range. No, travel insurance isn’t worth it for such trivial amounts. Personally, I have sucked it up and eaten at a few of these bills over the years. Yes, a polite letter to the general manager often yields some compensation (out of goodwill), but there are at least 2 times I can remember being stonewalled. But to spend the amount of time and energy trying to recoup a $71 night, or a $179 night in this instance, when its 100% not the fault of the provider, yes, it drives me crazy!”
- – - – - – - -
I agree with you.
Grant Ritchie

Chris, I’ve already commented once on this thread, but I have to comment again. Why would you even put a case like this to us for a vote? The answer is clearly “No”, but what if we’d voted “Yes”? Would you really have gone after this hotel? Your good name and reputation for fairness are why you’re able to get so much done within the travel industry. Taking on a case like this would (I feel) cheapen that name and lessen your efficacy in future.
LeeAnne

@Mary Graham: The only person here who’s getting negative publicity is Christopher himself, for even putting this case out for vote. The people who are voting yes, and suggesting the hotel should have given away $167 for no reason other than pity for someone’s unfortunate, but completely unrelated, medical condition, are simply allowing silly emotions to overrule logical thinking.

As much as I respect Christopher as both a writer and a travel advocate, I think he made a mistake in posting this article. No clear-thinking business person would consider this a valid case that a travel advocate should take on. Hilton did nothing wrong here at all, and there is, in fact, no “case”. There is just a couple who want Hilton to feel sorry for them and give them money for nothing, AFTER they used Hilton’s products and services.

Christopher should reserve his valuable advocacy services, and column space, for cases in which there is some actual indication of wrongdoing or unfair actions by the travel company. In this case, there is none. Just a couple who wants something for nothing, out of pity.
KathyJ

I once asked (very nicely) for a refund on a room that I left after only a couple hours. I had set my luggage inside, used the restroom, and left to meet friends for dinner (it was a surprise that I was to be there). They ended up asking me to spend the night with them. I drove back to the hotel, put my luggage (which I had never unpacked) back in the car, and went to check out. The desk attendant asked if the room was still clean and I told her what I wrote above. She refunded the money. They were not full.

But when I asked, it was a hope-against-hope thing. I would have understood if she’d said No. I had already spent the money and was not “out” anything (I didn’t pay for another room elsewhere, for instance). It was simply a nice windfall.
sprky79

With all of these type of “Maybe they should, maybe they shouldn’t” issues, the hotel simply has to ask itself, “do I wan this customer back?” Bleeding the couple out of the day’s rate and then “benevolently” offering them a discount on a future stay is laughable, because they have to know that the Lara’s will not give repeat business back to someone who basically told them to cram it. If the hotel is ok with losing this potential business, go ahead and say no. But then don’t bother with the “discount”, which just sort of adds insult to injury.
Annette

Okay the answer to your poll I’m ure is going to be an overwhelming NO, but let me get this straight…

According to the information from the manager the housekeeping staff had gone home for the night. Yes hotels generally have maintenance staff that can deliver towels and sheets should a customer ask for some, but that’s far different from going in and cleaning the room. So no, they can’t sell the room again without giving someone an unclean room, and we know how people hate that.

What I don’t understand is why people feel that the hotel owes the couple anything, or should give them a refund or something else for free (freefund?) out of sympathy or compassion. It’s not that I don’t have sympathy for them, but I’m sorry bad and unfortunate things happen to people ALL THE TIME. Why do people feel that this entitles them to something? Hi there, something bad happened to me, give me something free.

Sometimes life just sucks, and it’s not anyone’s fault.
Jeanne in NE

@LeeAnne, @Grant Ritchie –

When Chris started putting these matters up for a vote, I asked if by putting one case up for a vote, did that mean none of the other cases for the week should be questioned? Perhaps this one is so obvious that he has, metaphorically, thrown steak to the guard dogs to distract them while he does something of which the guard dogs would not approve.

Or – nicer interpretation – maybe he put this out as an example of the kinds of requests that he receives and Chris is looking for a broader base on which to base his decision.

Keep in mind that Christopher Elliott also runs a business. This story sure has generated a lot of traffic to his site.
Erika

While I sympathize with Lara and Patrick’s plight (and here’s hoping he feels much better!) the fact is they DID use the room. They were in there for 4 hours and Patrick took a shower. The fact that they didn’t sleep there doesn’t mean they are deserving of a refund of the room price. That said, I agree with those that have indicated it would have been nice if Hilton had offered the refund as a goodwill gesture.
DonTheGeek

I voted No

But I also agree with others who suggested a complimentary night on their next stay. Hotel wins by getting customer back (hopefully), customer wins by not taking a total loss on the stay.

Sometimes managers may seem a bit gruff and unsympathetic to a customer where the customer is suffering anxiety and stress, this sounds like that.
Arizona Road Warrior

@ Annette – “According to the information from the manager the housekeeping staff had gone home for the night. Yes hotels generally have maintenance staff that can deliver towels and sheets should a customer ask for some, but that’s far different from going in and cleaning the room.”
- – - – - -
I have asked for extra towels or for a bottle of shampoo that was missing at late night (i.e. after 9:00 PM) or early in the monring (before 7:00 AM) and these items were delivered by front desk personnel and maintenance personnel not housekeeping personnel.

If the housekeepers are unionized, it might be against their contract to have other hotel personnel to clean the rooms.

@ Erika – “They were in there for 4 hours and Patrick took a shower. The fact that they didn’t sleep there doesn’t mean they are deserving of a refund of the room price.”
- – - – - – -
I have arrived late (i.e. 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM) due flight delays to check in for a hotel and left in the moring at 5:00 AM, 6:00 AM and 7:00 AM. I don’t ask the hotel for a refund or a discount since I only spent 4 to 6 hours in the room. Also, I have worked through the night at the desk instead of sleeping in the bed…I don’t ask the hotel for a refund or a discount since their housekeeping doesn’t have to change the sheets on the bed.
MeanMeosh

I agree with Arizona Road Warrior – given that they actually did use the room, albeit not for a full night, and this was something totally out of the hotel’s control, I don’t think they should get a full refund. Personally, I think a better option, if the hotel owner wanted to show some compassion towards an unfortunate situation, would have been to offer a voucher equal to the cost of their original room booking ($167) to use on a future stay. However, and this is something I feel VERY strongly about, the whole issue of “compassion” is something that should be decided by each business owner on a case by case basis. It’s not my place, and certainly not the place of the media, to dictate what is and isn’t worthy of compassion. Therefore, Chris, I don’t think you should get involved here.

@ LeeAnne – “All you people who are saying the hotel should have given them their money back, or a voucher or a free room, and even DINNER (!) are clearly not business owners.”

I have to mildly disagree with you on one point, and that has to do with giving out a voucher for a future stay. Handing out hotel shinplasters really isn’t costing them much of anything – after all, there’s a chance that voucher will end up going unused, or be used on a cheaper room in the end.
andi330

I voted no on this one. The manager made it clear in his response that the housekeeping staff had already gone for the day and the hotel was full. He didn’t specify, but he may have had to turn customers away or even walk some customers to another hotel. While the customer didn’t get to sleep in the room, it was used, she states in her letter that her fiance used the shower. The room could not be re-let until housekeeping cleaned it. Should the desk clerk have expressed some sympathy? Probably. Is she owed her money back? No.
J

Unfortunately, Christopher Elliott is becoming known as the patron saint of whiny travelers.

The fact that he is even considering mediating this issue should come as no surprise to anyone.
Mike Z

I’m late on this one, but there is no reason for a refund. The hotel was not the cause of the injury and the room was indeed used, even if for a few hours. if the hotel was indeed booked up for that night, they likely had to turn away people at some point and would have lost revenue. And, as stated by the manager, the cleaning staff had already left. I am glad that the hotel didn’t just turn around and rent that room out for the night.
barbie45

How heartless some of you are. Of course the Hilton was not at fault. However,what ever happened to plain old compassion? This was a horrific accident. I voted yes on compassion.Iam sure these accidents are not common place.
Brian C

Chris Elliott
“PS: Some of the commenters seem genuinely angry that I would even write about this case. It isn’t my intention to upset anyone. If you’d rather I end this feature, and only write about cases that deserve mediation, I would be happy to do that.”

@Chris – I enjoy this feature and I can see that in the past it has generated interesting dialogue about a difficult travel question but your statement leads me to believe that you knew this was something you shouldn’t mediate but just threw it out there to guage our reaction.
Christopher Elliott

@Brian C – no, I didn’t know this would be so controversial. I thought it was an interesting case. It’s not every day that you get to write about a dislocated jaw. Plus, I used to live in Key Largo.
Arizona Road Warrior

@ Chris Elliott – “PS: Some of the commenters seem genuinely angry that I would even write about this case. It isn’t my intention to upset anyone. If you’d rather I end this feature, and only write about cases that deserve mediation, I would be happy to do that.”
- – - – - – - – - – -
Keep the feature…I like this feature because it gives me an insight to the type of cases that you received as well as how other people view them.
Carrie Charney

I vote for you to keep this feature, Chris, as is. Oh, that wasn’t the vote? Well, these topics certainly bring out the worst in some posters, but, hey, it makes for some interesting reading. As for the topic, I would go out of my way not to stay at that Hilton, for lack of showing any sympathy. However, I don’t feel this case should be mediated.
Chris in NC

@ MeanMeosh
Well said

@ Arizona
Your post reminds me of the time when due to flight delays, I checked in at 2:45AM, and was out the door at 5:45AM.

@ Mary
Exactly how is Hilton getting negative publicity? Even after reading this, I won’t hesitate booking a room at a Hilton hotel. I chuckle when I hear people post on travel sites “I’ll never use (fill in the blank) again” No one is perfect, and if you travel with any frequency, you’ll have a bad experience every now and then. If you blacklist every company, you’ll be staying at home. Keep in mind the Hilton family includes Hampton Inn, Doubletree, Homewood Suites and Hiltons. Blacklisting the entire chain means your options get severely limited!
Jeanne in NE

Chris, my point is that it is YOUR forum, and you should do what you feel is best. Have a mediation vote, don’t have a mediation vote. I just think that it isn’t my place to tell you who to help and who not to help.

Arizona Road Warrior brings up an interesting aspect – this is a look at the kinds of things you’re asked to help with. I enjoy reading not only your write-ups, but suggestions, tips and constructive comments put forward by your readers.
Chris in NC

@ Elliott

Please keep the feature. Despite wanting to bash my head against the screen, the comments are insightful and offers a glimpse into other minds.

I can’t help but think that some people are trolling and posting comments just to deliberately invoke controversy.
LeeAnne

@Christopher – I don’t think anyone is “upset” that you wrote this article or posted this survey. I think many of us (myself included) simply see it as a waste of ink. We know you must have WAY more compelling stories to write. (Although I admit I’d never heard of this particular physical ailment, so it was interesting from that perspective!)

My understanding of the purpose of this feature is to give your readers a chance to weigh in on cases in which it’s not clear whether you should mediate or not. Obviously the vast majority of your readers feel this one doesn’t fit the bill for this feature: CLEARLY they didn’t deserve their money back. There was nothing for you to mediate – there was not even a hint of wrongdoing by the hotel.

I think we’d rather see this feature used for cases in which there really is a valid question as to whether or not you should mediate. We like to hear about badly-behaving companies getting their comeuppance for having mistreated customers – and being made to do the right thing. We DON’T like hearing about greedy travelers using you to pressure companies into giving away their products/services for free, for no valid reason. That kind of stuff only makes them ultimately raise their prices for us all.

Now, I know you’re going to come back and say, “Well a pretty large percentage voted YES!” Yeah…so I see. And I’m truly surprised. Are there REALLY that many people who don’t comprehend the basic concepts of running a business…or the purpose of mediation? That’s rather dismaying.

(As for the “lack of compassion” comments” – again, just silliness. I remind everyone that Hilton is a business, not a charity. You want free money handed to you for your personal problems, go to a charity.)
LeeAnne

By the way, I just gotta ask:

@Barbie – would you be so quick to hand this couple $167 if it was YOUR money you were handing out? Do YOU pass out large handfuls of money to everyone you hear of who has a painful medical condition that you had nothing to do with?

Somehow I think not.

I’m also curious how the fact that it was a “horrific accident” that is “not commonplace” even factors into the equation. So does the rarity of the condition play a role in whether or not they should get their money back? If it was something equally “horrific” but more “commonplace” – say, a really awful case of allergies or, perhaps, horrifically explosive digestive problems – would that qualify for less money?

So, based on your logic, the next time I feel like leaving a room four hours after I’ve checked in (and after having used the shower and left the room in a condition that can’t be resold, AFTER housekeeping has gone home), I should go to the front desk and claim some bizarre horrific painful medical condition, and I can expect my money back, right? Hmmm…methinks I’ll claim the sudden onset of leprosy. Or perhaps my condition needs a bit more WOW factor…howzabout a raging case of flesh-eating bacteria? That oughta ratchet the pity factor up enough to cover my room fee!

Sorry…the silliness and utter lack of logic of that comment just struck me as hilarious, and I couldn’t stop myself from bringing these absurdities to light.
Jennifer

Christopher, please keep the feature. It is always interesting and sometimes surprising to hear how the entitlement mentality works. This case is even clearer than asking for a refund on a non-refundable unused room: the couple used the room, albeit not for sleeping, the room cannot be resold, ergo no refund. The hotel didn’t have anything to do with the medical emergency. I wonder how many requests for refunds on “compassionate grounds” this particular Hilton alone has heard. I bet a lot. It would have never occurred to me to even request a refund if I were in this situation; however, given the number of requests posted just on this site, I might be in the minority. That is quite scary.
Secondly, a voucher for another night would still cost the hotel money because Hilton would lose the revenue from that second night.
Linda

I think that Hilton could have offered a certificate for a free night on a future date – that’s what Marriott did for me when I had to check out after only two hours in the room. Over the years I have generally found Marriotts to be much more accommodating to me than Hiltons in terms of upgrades, special requests, and resolving problems.

I also think these types of articles do serve a purpose on this blog, even if the readers overwhelmingly vote against the writer. There are always gray areas and I appreciate hearing about similar experiences from other readers.
Alex L

HiChris, I have read the updated part of this entry and the comments from some of the blog readers. Yet I dont think you should shy away from these kind of issues in the future and you can see the votes did not go to NO overwhemingly and it deserves to be raised at least, though not necessarily get involved. Our life and the society should not be calculated and evaluated only by the numbers and the contracts. We are all human. Talk about economics, utility that people seek to maximize does not come only monetary and this is how the goodwill is factored in. That is why I voted YES, although both parties should be binded by the contracts, the industry should never focus on the current cash inflow only and take the many similar cases here as lessons.
Carver

A lot of people are clearly clueless about when mediation is appropriate. A mediation is proper if the OP ought to get something. There are several reason why a property might give the OP something. The first is of course a legal obligation to do so. However, a property might also decide that they should give the OP something because it is morally, ethically, or compassionately obligated to do so.

In this case, the property has no legal obligation to the OP. However, they may very well have a moral obligation. Definitely a compassionate one. Chris’ role would be to ferret out what is an appropriate good will gesture under these circumstances. That’s why I voted yes.

@Leanne

And I am a businessowner for the past nine years.
Alex L

@ Jennifer

You are right refunding and giving them a voucher would cost Hilton. Yet in my opinion, which is absolutely nothing new to the business world, is the non-monetary losses incremental to the Hotel chain by ruining the relationship with the OP and other potential clients. Look at the credit card industry, the face value of each account is far greater than the commision and fee income generated in the short term, which holds true to other industry as well. We are no management of the Hotel, and there is no clear right or wrong in this issue. But I really think the traveling industry should change and Chris as an advocate is the right person in the right place for this. This is the rationale I voted YES, and hope all of you can vote for YES in similar issues, for our society.
David Z

for cases in which there is some actual indication of wrongdoing or unfair actions by the travel company.

That’s essentially one dilemma. One may “feel” the company didn’t do anything wrong or unfair, while another may feel differently about that.

That’s probably (and precisely?) why he put this out to us readers, knowing and realizing how some folks will likely feel about this particular case. Some just happen to be more…passionate about it.

Just keep building up your thick skin, Chris E. Obviously only you can decide for yourself who “deserves” your help, and continue to assist those you feel need it.

Oh, and keep this section. At least you’ll get a “pulse” how lots of people feel about something.
http://www.thetravelinggiraffe.com Crissy

I really like this feature of the blog, so keep it.

And while this case is an easy no in regards to the hotel giving a refund, they did use the room and another person can’t. I do think it’s an interesting case for how a hotel can help out a client and make them happy, which they didn’t do. I think the 25% future discount was weak, but not unfair. But if they had offered a future free night they might have given a better feeling to the couple who are now probably putting Hilton at the bottom of thier list of hotels to stay at.
Steve

As I already said, I don’t think the hotel owes them anything. I do want to comment, though, on the sentiment voiced by several people that it’s bad business to offer refunds or credits in situations like these that are no fault of the hotel.

I think that’s shortsighted. While I don’t think this was an appropriate situation to contact Chris for mediation, if the hotel had decided on their own to make an exception and give them a refund or a future free night, I’d say good for them. Good customer service can be more than just following the letter of the law.

Several years ago, my wife and I booked a weekend stay at a non-chain hotel. When we arrived to check in, the desk clerk couldn’t find our reservation. In their system, it said we had booked our stay for the previous month and never checked in. I’m not 100% sure it was our mistake, but it seems likely that it was…or at least that we didn’t check our confirmation email as we should have. In any case, I didn’t bother investigating further because their response was to find us a room that weekend…and we were never charged for the missed stay, despite the fact that I’m sure they could have charged us as no-shows. That kind of customer service is what makes people want to keep coming back to an establishment. Should be it legally required? No. But it sure sets a place apart.

And as for this case, I wonder if it would have even reached Chris if the hotel manager had simply shown a little sympathy for the guest’s very painful condition, rather than acting as if it had been an imposition on the hotel that an ambulance had been required. A sincere “I’m sorry that happened to you and I hope everything turns out okay” doesn’t cost a thing…and IMHO, that kind of compassion is also part of great customer service.
Melissa

This is just another example of another traveler who doesn’t think the rules should apply to them. When they booked the room they accepted the hotels policies in full, please suck it up and move on.
Elisa

@LeeAnn: well, that’s what marketing is about, imho. I have worked for several years in an extremely high-profile customer service (not in hospitality, in another business area) and I think this would have become a very positive advert for Hilton if they had answered positevely. First of all, the Hilton rooms aren’t sold by the hour, right? They were supposed to spend far more time in the room, which was also readily available for housekeeping first thing in the morning and wouldn’t even require a FULL housekeeping service as far as I can see. Secondly, what about the stress the customers incurred? A sensible company should always be listening to their customers. Third, should they have refunded the (not so costly) night, they would have probably gained three life-long customers.
I really can’t see how short-sighted sometimes companies can be, especially in customer-related business areas. Percentages and numbers are often a matter of just seeing the future, not just the current day…………….

PS: my company was renowed for its service, receiving glowing reviews every time we surveyed our clients, and still made a respectable 12% net profit, which in Italy for a service company is a lot above the 5-6% average of the sector.
Melissa

@Elisa, I think the key phrase in your diatribe is that you worked “(not in hospitality, in another business area)”. Unless you have spent years working in the travel/hospitality industry, I do not think you can even begin to try to compare any other industry’s customer service issues to that of the travel industry. The travel industry has taken a beating like no other. Hoteliers, suppliers and providers margins that were thin before and are now at a crisis level. Customers flock to the Expedia’s and Orbitz of the internet and pat themselves on the back for getting the most rock bottom price they can, and then cry foul when the hotels and vendors are not in a position to bend over backwards, to be all warm and fuzzy, handing money back right and left. It is these very same “educated” (and I use the term loosely) consumers who drove the hotels to be so hard nosed (and no, the hotels do not enjoy having to take that position) in the first place, that then want their cake too when every little tiny thing does not go their way.

So, you can speak about “sensible” companies until the cows come home, but honestly I think Hilton was sensible to say no…because there are a thousand other travelers with similar stories right behind this guest, where do you draw the line? For them to show the sensibility you speak of would drive them out of business sooner rather than later.
ValB

Wow… Chris I appreciate this column and this article. You would not be a very effective advocate if you could not “feel” or sympathize with the people that write to you.

Regarding this case, on the one hand I sympathize greatly with the couple (and immediately had to yawn but didn’t want to after reading that)… on the other- the room was used, even if briefly and they had no time to resell the room. It was an unfortunate event and Hilton was not responsible and is not required to be sympathetic. It was a freak accident and no one was at fault. I think Hilton could have offered 50% off a future room at any Hilton group hotel… but they were fair and contrary to the belief of other posters, I don’t think Hilton is shown in a negative light, but the manager could have done more if he wanted to.

I once stayed at the Houston Hilton and after my trip I received a survey asking about my stay- I think it went to the corporate site. I complained about the paper thin walls and the lack of sleep from door slammers and revelers on my floor. I had only been there one night, so I didn’t bother to complain to the front desk. The Houston manager offered me a free night’s stay (which I have never used) to make up for it. And I used the room all night. It was a very nice gesture- I just have not been back to Houston since.
Jennifer

@Alex, Sorry, I don’t think Hilton will lose any revenue due to losing this couple. I believe that the vast majority of people understand that the couple was owed nothing. Ms. Lara’s complaint came off as someone who acted like she was owed a refund. She and her husband used the room for 4 hours and it could not be resold. She received a 25% discount on a room in the future and even that was enough. She wanted a full refund at the hotel’s expense. When is enough enough?

I’m not sure exactly what you mean when you say “the travel industry to change.” In what way? You want to pay much higher fares, sometimes double, for an airline ticket that’s always refundable ? You want a business to always offer compassionate refunds? I don’t want to pay for those things. I’m stuck paying because I follow the rules. That is unfair.
Kevin M

Like most people, I agree the hotel doesn’t “owe” these people a refund. But I also agree it was probably short-sighted and unwise to not be more proactive in coming up with a solution. We aren’t talking about someone who got a cold and decided that he wasn’t feeling well enough to stay; we’re talking someone taken to the hospital in an ambulance, which the hotel obviously knew about.

Most hotels have an unpublished staff “friends and family” type rate that employees get. For example, a friend who was assistant manager at a Hampton Inn could book a room for himself or a friend at $29/night, although the “normal”rate for the room was $99. My guess is that the rate is designed to cover housekeeping costs and little else.

The manager could have offered her (instead of a 25% discount on her next visit) a stay of up to X days – say, 3 – at the special rate, which would cost the hotel little or nothing and generate lots of good will. Or it could have just refunded the money even if it didn’t “have” to – if the hotel was indeed “sold out” for the night, there wouldn’t have been that much profit loss from having, in effect, a single vacancy.

Required? Of course not. But it still would have been a decent, classy, and in the long run, financially advantageous thing to do.
DN

Absolutely not; why should Hilton have to provide compensation for something they had no responsibility for? Sometimes, I have to shake my head at Chris’s patience in reviewing some of these cases and realize why I would never want to have his job.

For those of you who say this should be refunded for compassionate reasons / positive image of Hilton / etc, I ask you WHY? Except for higher-leveled Elite members (who like the additional benefits from a particular hotel chain and would have to have a significant event happen to change their preference), most people shop by lowest price. Are you seriously telling me that, if the Hilton refunded the couple’s money (for whatever reason), they had to go back to the same area and the Hilton was $25 higher than a comparable Marriott next door, they would choose the Hilton property? I have been a Hilton Diamond VIP for years and intentionally choose their properties when trying to re-qualify each year, but I would switch to a lower-priced Holiday Inn Express next door if it were significantly cheaper *and* I had hit my VIP qualification for the year. PERIOD. HIE has free internet, free breakfast, and may provide more free amenities than a Hilton property (sans Elite status) but I like the Hilton benefits I get. That’s my choice and has been for well over 12 years.

If you say I don’t have compassion for the couple, I really don’t. There are too many industries (as one poster noted) that are hard hit by the recession and are trying to stay alive. BusinessWeek ran an article about RyanAir last month, where the CEO basically said that the customer wasn’t always right, that customers were just looking for the lowest cost and weren’t particularly loyal (paraphrased) – do you think they are losing money every quarter like a legacy airline? NO; they are MAKING MONEY. With crappy press!
Walhon

I have to agree with you, but Hilton’s 100% satisfaction guarantee could be invoked in this case. They guarantee that EVERYTHING about your stay will be right, or it is free. This is not everything right.

Share: