Did This Hotel Scam My Family?! 

Exactly

It's more like "Give the customer the burger they paid Uber Eats for"

@@laurendoe168😂😂 exactly

​@laurendoe168 that then the business gave to someone else... lol

@@laurendoe168do you know how Uber eats works?

Agreed!

Name and shame this hotel!!! They are in the service industry, and this is crappy service. Bad publicity is a killer for them. We want to know who these scammers are, so we can refuse *our* business, too.

Local news is 💯 what she should do. I guarantee that within DAYS the hotel will apologize, say this was some kind of misunderstanding, and refund her money, possibly even offer her a future free stay.

Yes!! 🎈 Agreed

Absolutely

The hotel name and location should be named and shamed!!

Please share this info.

Unfortunately I don't think she's allowed to do so for lega;l purposes. Then again I could be wrong, and also, not like that hotel gives a crap about what you legally are and aren't allowed to do...

@@SkyTheHuskyIt’s not slander if you stick to facts and the state any opinions as opinions like she did - she walked that line so nicely the WHOLE video that I thought she was setting up to name them Kind of defeats the purpose of this video to watch out for this stuff if we can’t steer clear of the very place it happened

It's absolute fraud. Plain and simple.

Agreed. If they don’t fix it, announce it so everyone else knows what kind of scam they are pulling. I’m sure auntie isn’t the first one. I hope we get an update.

Exactly! What's the name of this hotel? I will stay as far away as I can.

I agree. Name drop them.

Agreed. If enough backlash comes from this story, not only will your aunt receive the refund she rightly deserves, but the GM will probably also receive corrective action for flat out lying. If it happened to your aunt, odds are it’s happened to multiple other people as well. I would drop the hotel name and possibly the city it’s located in as well (although if you’re not comfortable releasing locations, that’s fair)

There are small claims courts here 🇬🇧 and I wondered if something similar existed in America. Here, I understand, there's a fairly small lodging fee. I don't know if that's refunded if successful.

@duncanbryson1167 If you win, the judge can add those fees to the amount owed. There are also fee waivers in some states and counties, depends on the court.

BBB insists you try to work the company to resolve it before they will step in

@geoffroi-le-Hook BBB has no authority anyway, that's my point. They are a private company..They have zero regulatory authority.

In my state, it is $100 to file any suit, even in small claims court. Then you'd what? Get back $50? Since you lost the first $100 on the cost to file? Literally not worth going to court for $50....

I can see that being the reason the general manager in this situation said "there was nothing they could do" because they might have given the "ok" on selling the room and were now trying to save their skin. Which only puts them in deeper waters by doing that.

I probably would have done the same thing. Brilliant

And then? You arrive at a fully booked hotel, don't get a room. Then you might call the police, you might get your money back, but as all the rooms are full, you still have to sleep in your car. In such a situation no one could just make an extra room appear. And the other guest paid as well and also has a right for the room.

I cackled. That wouldn't work, but I still think it's great.

Yep me too. Then showed them what a pissed off karen looks like

​@@chrisbolhuis297nah, that wouldn't be a karen. This woman would be 100% in the right for being upset and wanting what she paid for or for that money back. Parents are rude and entitled and think they're in charge. This woman literally just wants what she paid for and was promised by the third party and the hotel

It would have an interestingly awkward situation to show up on Friday night and ask for the room that she had, in fact, already paid for. Watch the front desk/manager/et al sweat that one!

@@cedarwaxwing3509 Yeah I was thinking the same. Imagine you don't say anything about arriving on saturday morning and when you arrive your room is not ready even if you paid for the night before. And even if I knew the room will not be ready I will be there in the morning demanding my room and I will make a tentrum if necessary.

@@ludivineghelein Ooops! 😦

@@cedarwaxwing3509 Yes, after finding out they sold it Friday night, I would have gone Friday night and said I decided last minute that I might as well use the room, since I paid for it. They would have had to acknowledge the situation, then.

@@maryshellsmith6627 I wonder how that would have played with corporate? Or whoever thought this was a good idea. It would probably also be beneficial to audit the house take for that Friday night with a close look at the charges for that room. Selling it twice might give someone an opportunity to slip one of the room charges into their pocket.

And the stress and hassle of not being able to arrive when she planned to

The problem is that this was booked through a 3rd party. They have standing to sue, not her. She needs to sue the 3rd party. I know it's not their fault, but that's the way the law works. Shit rolls downhill.

@johnm.3279 she can deal with the third party and advise them she is taking both them and the hotel to court because of them allowing the hotel to sell the room she paid them for. They are more interested in their customers than in their suppliers. I worked with a lot of them and they always sided with the person that is paying them over the hotels. At least the ones I worked with.

​@@emmamurphy1519see the ones I worked with only ever cared about their bottom line. They would also just have to state how their fine terms count no shows as forfeiture of the room.

@@emmamurphy1519Yup. Name both. Let them sort it out.

I know it's probably frowned upon because I would be "part of the problem" and I would be "letting them get away with it" and it's "the principle of the matter", but if it's $150-$200, I'm not suing for that unless that $200 is the last $200 I have. It's not worth the headache of finding a lawyer and going through all the hassle of going through the process, plus possibly actually going to court if it's not just settled, etc. I just don't feel like the time and effort is worth it for $200. I would try and do what I could with the hotel, 3rd party, and credit card company, but if all of that doesn't work then I'm just leaving a bad review and just calling it a loss and a learning experience.

That is because you’re not a scammer. Unlike this hotel.

right - I'm not sure if this is allowed or possible but at least maybe something like "I am so sorry this happened I do not have the athority to give money or refunds but what I *can* do (if possible) if issue you a gift card or put in a free night stay (or two) for the trouble and issue this causes"

You also would not have likely booked the room the second time.

I hope you wrote that down on a employers rating site. This is horrible! It appears like those extra fees weren't even written in the details. An families with multiple children will of course pick a cheap hotel. Even just thinking about scamming the most vulnerable is so beyond disgusting.

@@thistime3889 yeah I remember a family with 5 kids showed up and the price they had to pay is exactly tripple the price they supposed to pay according to their booking on Agoda (the extra fees wasn’t mentioned at all on the site). They couldn’t go to another hotel since it was weekend and our city was a tourist attraction so all other hotels in the area were already full. Another time, a young single mom stay at that place with her newborn baby. She was extremely nice and didn’t travel with anyone else to help her. I worked nightshift and at like 1 in the morning she came down holding her baby asking for help cause the baby thrown up all over her bed. There isn’t any other empty room so I grab a set of bed sheet and go up to her room to help her (the cleaning staff had already went home at that hour). The next day morning, I got yelled at because he checked the camera and I wasn’t at the front desk for like 10 minutes. Seriously, all the room are full, it was past midnight, there’s no guest coming in and the hotel has a guard and security camera. Why can’t I leave the desk for 10 minutes to help a guest that actually needed me?

This. Plus this "procedure" seemed so deeply in place- all the way up the ranks - that there is ZERO chance they haven't pulled this before.

Yeah, that's thing about lawsuits in cases like this, it's not always just the original fees that you'll earn, and a good lawyer will know how to get their legal fees covered by the defendant too so that you're not losing out on anything, though it depends on the lawyer. The only problem is if you'd have to travel out to attend the court proceedings.

@@homerman76 Yup, and especially if it's far away and during the work week when you normally would be working. Might be too much of a hassle. I would go with the local news myself.

No, getting a lawyer for this is absolutely useless and a complete waste of money. You would end up losing more money than the case is worth. Also, this is a case for Small Claims Court in which you represent yourself. They don't allow attorneys to litigate your case for you. All that a lawyer could do for you in a case like this, is help you with drafting and sending a demand of payment letter to the Hotel and help file the lawsuit with the Courts, if they still refuse to pay. And unless your attorney is a good friend or family member, that's willing to give you a huge discount or help you for free, you will be paying more than the $150-$200 that the Hotel owes you just for the paperwork alone, which isn't even necessary because it's incredibly easy to file it yourself, literally anyone can do it. As for how much money you could potentially be awarded for a case like this, it's really up to the Judge's discretion (There is no Jury in Small Claims). You would definitely be reimbursed for the double booking, plus your court costs to file the case would be reimbursed to you, and any money that you are out that you can prove was a direct result of the Hotel's actions. However in this case, she was aware of the double booking ahead of time and it doesn't seem that it cost her much additional money, if any, so I don't think that would apply here. She could ask the Court for punitive damages, which is essentially just a penalty fine against the wrongdoer that sends a message to hopefully deter them, and others, from doing this again. Small Claims Judges don't typically like to award punitive damages unless it's under extreme circumstances where the behavior or actions were so egregious that they feel compelled to punish the Defendant. I would say given these circumstances, she has a decent shot at some punitive damages because what the Hotel did was illegal and a total scam but the Court is legally restricted on how much they can award by the statutory maximum of their jurisdiction, which in Small Claims is usually limited to only a few grand. And the Judge can decide on any amount within that limit, so there's no guarantee that she would be awarded the maximum. It's absolutely still worth pursuing the case because she'll definitely at least be reimbursed for the money that she's out. I just highly advise against hiring a lawyer for something as small as this because it's just not worth it financially, which is exactly what the Hotel is counting on for people to not come after them.

fancy seeing you here.

@xbubbahotep Hey there. Fancy seeing you. I love this young lady's videos... she's great.

That is an interesting thought. A letter (or email) to corporate is definitely a good idea. If they did this once, they probably would do it again.

Dude. The way people on the internet are. They be bumped all the way down to a 1 star on every review site. People take things too far these days. I mean i get it, but she would look bad if she did that.

This is most definitely theft of services via deception. And the courts eat this stuff for snacks.

As well as punitive damages for the stress caused by the whole ordeal, not to mention the time she’s already taken trying to make her way up the ladder to speak to these people.

I’m not litigious by any means, but agreed! Time is money and stress affects your whole life, including work productivity.

Something very similar happened to my family and I when on a vacation in Florida. We had booked several different hotels in different places as we were going to spend a couple of days in the keys, visit family in Tampa, and go to Universal Studios. Well after visiting the keys, our vehicle broke down on the way to Tampa, meaning we would miss check in at the hotel in Tampa. My mom called and explained the situation, letting them know we WERE STILL COMING but it would be the next day, after our car was repaired. As I said, we had already booked 2 rooms so they were paid for already. The front desk agent assured my mother that it was fine, we would still have those rooms when we arrived. Fast forward to the next day, our car was fixed quicker than expected so we arrive at the hotel in Tampa at around noon. When we try to check in, we are told that there is only 1 room available for us until the actual check in time (I can't remember exactly what time that was) because SOMEONE WAS IN THE OTHER ROOM! To say my mother lost her sh*t would be an understatement. We were not only refunded the cost of both rooms for two of the three days they had been booked but we were also given vouchers for the hotel restaurant, spa treatments, ECT. She didn't take her anger out on the front desk, she immediately requested the manager. I don't recall ever seeing my mother lose her temper like that before or since 😂

@@brandyjohnson1220As she should have!

I'm sure they marked the room as a cancellation for the first night. As it is a non-refundable third party booking, no need to explain away the double payment.

Hotels are not supposed cancel or make any changes to 3rd party reservations. If they did anything, history will show on the reservation.

I think that’s where the aunt missed the mark. When she told them she’d be checking in on Saturday, they likely presumed she meant the regular check-in time, and they could get by with it. I’m absolutely not condoning the fact the hotel double-dipped, but the aunt should have clarified she’d be checking in early the next morning.

My next move would be to file it with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This is fraud.

Often if you threaten to complain to a government agency or the BBB, they’re willing to play ball. I’m not a big complainer, but you mess with my kids or my money, it’s on. I try to be polite when I’m going full Karen, though. 🙂

She already contacted corporate

My next call would be a lawyer

​. That's what i thought, my next move would be calling a lawyer

Only issue here is as she paid 3rd party they are legally not allowed to inform her of the rate they were paid and have no clue what the guest paid. Example I had a guest book via a 3rd party once the Hotel was paid $75 for the night. The guest was bragging to her cousin how her cousin paid $185 that night by booking direct and she only paid $145. So 3rd party was taking $70 worth of profit from said booking. So the only option would be to refund 3rd party for 1rst night and then they would have to refund guest (which I've never known 3rd party to do) They should have never have sold a 3rd party room . Honestly this issue would have been 100% easier without the 3rd parties involvement.

She stated they're no longer in business

I bet it was a manager who told front desk, “Hey let’s get extra money!”

In situations like that we would have checked them in Friday. Third party bookings were always checked in even if they they were a no show. I am trying to figure out how their reservation system allowed them to sell the room. A manager would had to overwrite it.

Back when I was a reservationist at a hotel, double booking would sometimes happen. However, double booking would have to be rectified. So yeah. No two people(parties) can be booked for the same room. Nobody wants that mistake. You give the room to the person who paid for it first. That information is documented.

Yes because petitions are super effective

Afaik, the computer systems of most chains give you a fight if you try to sell a room twice. A call like "oh, plans changed, I'll arrive on Friday" would spark some activity. You can alwayss call on Friday and inform them of a sudden delay...

@@ralfmimoun2826 I would bet they had a room that was technically out-of-service for repair or renovation and they put the aunt in that room for the night she wasn't coming. Solves the system issue of preventing a double-booked room.

Or, it opens her up to possible legal action… While she would likely win, it’s not worth the hassle, and potentially having to suspend her channel…

​@@xamyx725 exactly. At this juncture, from her, it's hearsay. So her just name dropping a hotel could cause her trouble. Let alone harassment that comes from online people tends to attack the people who CAN'T do anything just because they're the only people available to harass. That's been shown time and again.

@@xamyx725 What she said is true. This isn't the case in other countries, but in the US truth is the ultimate defense against libel. If the hotel was stupid enough to try anything, they would get a front row seat to the Streisand Effect.

@@xamyx725Honestly if it were me I would sue anyway. Will the lawsuit be more expensive than the payout? Yes, but you know why? Because phuck em. Thats why. Make their lawyers earn their retainer.

@@jimland7176 I would definitely sue them, as well.

Sign up for Legal Shield. Cheap. And they’ll write the letter - no extra charge.

I've found if I'm far enough in advance & have a rewards membership, I can usually match or beat the rates. But you have to put in the effort

Actually there are clear requirements for compensation for this. You’re supposed to be on the next flight free and get handed extra cash compensation right there (amount of which is a sliding scale based on the specific circumstances). You do have to know exactly what you’re entitled to to get it out of them but if you tell them what you know you’re entitled to they don’t haggle after that.

@@islandrebelmakeup4653Not only that, but it’s written into the fine print of the airline reservation that this is a possibility.

Only issue here is as she paid 3rd party they are legally not allowed to inform her of the rate they were paid and have no clue what the guest paid. Example I had a guest book via a 3rd party once the Hotel was paid $75 for the night. The guest was bragging to her cousin how her cousin paid $185 that night by booking direct and she only paid $145. So 3rd party was taking $70 worth of profit from said booking. So the only option would be to refund 3rd party for 1rst night and then they would have to refund guest (which I've never known 3rd party to do) They should have never have sold a 3rd party room . Honestly this issue would have been 100% easier without the 3rd parties involvement.

@@annaschwirian7548 agreed, third party's service needs to increase so much, because of that just not dealing with them is definitely the go to. But she does deserve something in return for this scammy behavior. Hope it gets settled soon.

If she gave the name, the hotel lawyers would get her demonetized, maybe banned, on YT, sue her for defamation, tie her up in a lawsuit for years, and probably kill her puppy or kitten. True or false don't matter. Even if the hotel lost in court, her life would be destroyed.

@@richardfabacher3705 I mean, it is no different from giving a review. People point out brand and talk smack about product all the time. It is fairly normal for people to point out when brands are doing shady things and plenty of them are still on the platform and making money. Sometimes it does out to call out companies that are being jerks. As long as she isn't doing a call to action and demanding us, as her fans, do something bad to the hotel it isn't a real issue. RU-vid has let people get away with a lot worse after all.

@@ZombieMinion1992 About once a week, there is a YT about people being sued for bad reviews. I even remember one where it was just an "average" review. Be careful. And remember, huge corporations have salaried company lawyers on staff. All a lawsuit costs them is the filing fee.

Cash off the books

I would bet they had a room that was technically out-of-service for repair or renovation and they put the aunt in that room for the night she wasn't coming. Solves the system issue of preventing a double-booked room.

​@toxicginger9936 actually it's up to the hotel system a friend of mine worked for one brand that had a button that allowed them to check in a guest to a pocket room (a non existent room that was to be used for no-shows with a non cancel agreement. ) This allowed the hotel to sell rooms rooms and still keep the reservation to pull out if the guest showed up at a future time. She hated the feature because people would do stuff like this hotel did with it instead of using it to sell a room after 1am (there no show time) before audit hit a 3am

I guess it depends on the used computer system. But you can for example just leave the room as overbook, or put the reservation on waitlist. Of course hotel could refund the price, but as booked through third party, they still have to pay commission of the total price to the third party. For accounting purposes it might be problematic if the prices on the reports from third party and hotel doesn't match. That's why it would be propably best to do refund through said third party. Because of this, in the hotel I work, we do not do refunds on third party reservations. If there is some issue and customer requires some refund, we usually offer voucher to the restaurant etc. But never ever we double sell pre paid rooms! That is just outrageous!

Then this person would be sued.....this happened to someone other than her so, in the US, she could be sued up the wazooo claiming hearsay, defamation and so on. If she had her Bonus Aunt come on and tell HER story and naming the hotel she might get away with it. But the Aunt should name and shame this hotel anywhere and everywhere she can. Telling her story to every family member, team's family members, coworkers, you name it tell them what happened and NAME THAT HOTEL. Also, maybe she can shame them into returning the money they took from her even though they resold the already paid for room by going to some local or state media....nothing like bad publicity to correct bad corporate behaviour. Even then, I would retell the story and give a 0 fating on every hotel site you can find them associated with.

does this mean her aunt has to tell the story directly, can there be a link to that story? and again - is a link to a google review from her aunt such a direct telling of that story?@@paulanewhook4460

The truth is defense to any slander or libel.

Perhaps they didn't expect to have any early checkouts? If there were sports tournaments in town, what were the chances that almost all their Friday night bookings also had the Saturday night too?

Right? What if she decided last min to just go ahead and check in late Friday? Which would have been entirely within her rights.

I personally would love to know so I know where not to book my next stay with.

That is great 🇨🇦. A country should govern in a way that defends their people from harm. In the U.S., however, a large percentage of the people have been gaslighted into believing that all Regulation to protect the people is a Socialist Government overreach. The corporate lobbyists that benefit from exploiting people get away with absolutely 0% accountability. Better yet (for them), they get laws passed that protect THEM from the people that dare to challenge their damaging actions. Best of all( for them), their constituents demand it.

@@naturalphenomenon1402the US has agencies too - the state attorney general’s office and the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Yep, this is the entire thing. This isn’t about free pickles, this is like reselling the half of the burger the aunt wasn’t going to eat off her plate and then saying they can’t refund it because she ordered through doordash.

They should have definitely refunded the 3rd party for the night but as legal contracts between 3rd parties and hotels usually state your not allowed to inform the guest how much you received via the 3rd party as 3rd parties receive a % of the booking amount.