Complaint Review: Marriott - Nashua New Hampshire

See as a front desk clerk this situation seems a little funny to me. First of all most every hotel I've ever worked for has a noon check time, if you didn't know or weren't sure all you would have had to do was call down to the front desk and ask. Secondly, if you had simply had enough courtesy to call down to the front desk and ask for a late check out, hotels are usually happy to oblige, if it's within reason and the occupancy rate is low enough that they can do so. For example, I had a gentleman tonight that needed 4pm check outs for three rooms, I know I only have 15 people checking in tomorrow night, so I said sure and left a note for first and second shift to let them know. No half-day charge no nothing. My hotel has also been known to give late check outs on nights when we were actually over sold by two or three rooms. Just as long as the person let us know. You also have to think of the front desk people and the housekeepers in this situation too. I work as a night auditor which means I assign the rooms for the day. Most days our housekeepers have between 16 and 18 rooms to clean, and if they're finished with all but your room it's unfair to keep them on the clock just so they can wait to clean your room. Finally you said something about Today's Rates being posted and that's a little funny to me as well since Marriott Intl. doesn't let us post our rates due to privacy issues. When a guest comes in inquiring about a rate we write it down on a slip of paper and show it to them that way. This way if another guest comes in behind someone with a special company rate we don't look like we're trying to rip them off.

I am a front desk supervisor of a hotel and I have to say that you most certainly deserved to be charge that extra half a day. You said that your conference call started at 12. Well, weren't you supposed to have checked out by then? Couldn't it have been scheduled for an earlier time? Most hotels have check out times between 11 and 12, and I am sure the Marriott is no different. You did not state whether or not you informed the front desk that you would be checking out late, but since you did not mention it I'm going to guess and say you did not. If that is the case you have no business asking for a refund. You checked out 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours later than the check out time. To take a conference call at noon and not expect to pay more money for staying later is absolutely ludicrous. Also, the response the front desk gave you would have also been my response to you. Saying that a hotel is sold out does not necessarily mean that every room is sold yet. At the very least, it does mean that 90% of the rooms are sold and that they will be sold out later on. If housekeeping were not able to clean your room that day you most certainly would have been charged a full day because then the hotel would not have been able to sell your room for that night. Like anything else, hotels have policies that do need to be followed. Just because you did not see people standing in the lobby waiting for rooms does not mean it is ok for you to stay in the room past the scheduled check out time. The hotel is not being inflexible at all. I'm sure you knew about the conference call ahead of time, so therefore it was your responsibility to inform the front desk ahead of time and ask if it would be ok for you to have a late check out. At the hotel I work for, depending on the situation, if someone asks ahead of time for a late check out, we tell them that we can give them an extra hour-hour and a half with no additional charge. You cannot just assume that it is ok. Besides, the registration card you sign at check in, at least for the hotel I work for, specifically states that by signing it you are agreeing by contract to check out by the scheduled check out time, unless previous arrangements are made with management. If arrangements are not made you are breaking that contract. Plain and simple. To say that you want a refund for the half day and points in your Marriott Rewards account for your TROUBLE as incentive to stay at Marriotts again totally boggles my mind. I'd say see you later and not bat an eyelash. It's guests like you that make our jobs miserable, especially when you complain about something you were wrong about. Last week some lady at my hotel parked in a fire lane and it wasn't noticed till around 10:30 at night. The front desk clerk called her room and told her she had to move her car immediately because it was parked illegally and therefore subject to be towed. She had already fallen asleep, but instead of being embarrassed by parking illegally she had the nerve to get upset at the desk clerk and even had the gall to ask for a refund, even though she was in the wrong. I understand that guests are what make the hotels successful, and of course this is quite obvious because without guests a hotel has no business. I always do my best to accommodate the guests as best as I can. But a line has to be drawn somewhere and guests can not have their way all the time, especially when their complaints have no validity to them whatsoever. I sincerely hope you did not receive a refund because you definitely did not deserve one.

I agree with you 100%. In previous stay with Marriott I have checked out as late as 3:00 with no charge at all. The hotel if they wanted to could have been accomodating to your needs. I hope that you attempted to contact corporate. Good luck on that refund they are so full of s**t that I would be surprised if you ever hear from anyone at the company.

This email is a rebuttal to RipOff #5071.
It was sent by Michael Angelo at [email protected].

Marriott Rude customer service (#5071)
They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:

Their email: [email protected]
Their name: Michael Angelo
Their relationship to the company: Supporter

Rebuttal:
The complainant's eyes zeroed in on that rate sign at the front desk, yet oddly enough failed to notice the sign on the back of her room's door stating the check-out time.

Most hotels are more than willing to extend a guest's check-out time, provided you inform the front desk in enough time. Most Marriott's are large affairs, and coordinating housekeeping's activities is a difficult and thankless job. You might think it's no problem to stick around an hour longer in your room, but it may be that weeks earlier a reservation was made by a guest requesting an early check-in time (another thing any decent hotel will do given enough notice). In the wee hours of the morning, the front desk and housekeeping block rooms and assign room attendants BASED ON THE (POSTED) CHECK-OUT TIME.

"I said I would possibly understand if people we (sic) waiting for rooms but that was not the case." Did the hotel deliver an arrival report along with your coffee in the morning? How did you know if the room was blocked?

Marriott has one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings of any company, in the hospitality industry or otherwise. They practically invented customer service. To call the whole company "rude" because one is expected to pay for something taken or used is absurd. You knew about the conference call, you were cutting it close, you need to pay, so get over it.