My complaint:
I booked a hotel unfortunately through the Express option on Priceline because I thought I was getting a great deal, however, I have learned that when booking with Express I always get the lesser of the hotels offered me. The hotel that we checked into was the Baymont by Wyndham Provo River in Provo, Utah. My wife and I checked in at the hotel and went to our room. When we entered the room we could tell there was a musty smell immediately. My wife described it as a combination of kitty litter and cat pee. We debated on whether or not to say anything but the smell got worse and my nose started to run and I started to get a sore throat. At that point, I was very frustrated with the situation that I was in, I wasn’t feeling very good and I no longer wanted to stay at the property . That experience ruined my perception of the hotel and it didn’t matter if they offered my a different room, I was done. I went to the front desk and shared my situation. I said I’d like a refund as I really can’t stay here any longer based on the experience. The manager was on vacation, therefore the woman in charge said there was nothing she could do and gave me the email address to the manager who has yet to respond to me. I was extremely disappointed that Baymont Provo River wasn’t willing to do anything to even meet me half way or go to the room and verify what I was saying. I booked my reservation through Priceline and called them and they said that when attempting to work with the partner, they denied any type of refund and needed proof of the accusations I was making. How do you provide proof, a picture, of an odor/smell that literally caused me a physical reaction?! To add insult to injury Priceline customer support said it was a non-refundable booking and offered me a 10% coupon. After two more calls up the chain of command and 45 minutes later on my vacation, they offered me 20% which is an Express discount, where you can’t pick the hotel!! Just get me into another hotel, take ownership for Baymont’s poor service and keep your customer, right???? When I had a bad experience with hotels.com they immediately stepped in and got me into another hotel without question. I really couldn’t believe what I was going through. I’m on my way to Platinum in their program and no one batted an eye to that, because their policy is more important than the customer. I lost $200 and spent another $275 on a Hampton Inn on this trip. I will never use Priceline again. The program is a joke and they made it really clear to me that they like me booking on their site, but they are not interested in helping me when I really needed it. Next stop is social media with the intent that others will avoid Priceline and their gimics.
Suggested solution:
They should cover my two night hotel visit that was horrible with Baymont by Wyndham Provo River. They should apologize for keeping me on the phone for almost an hour to then come back and offer me a 20% coupon.
