Complaint Review: Quality Inn & Suites Coos Bay

So little did I know there was a pet policy that limits the animal to 25 pounds, which I made on my phone on the drive there without checking the travel review sites (Shame on me).  Had I known about this policy, I would NOT have made the reservation!  I have stayed at many Choice Hotels with my dog and have NEVER seen any of them with a 25 pound limit. Upon check-in I was told about the policy and Teresa rudely told my choices were to leave the dog in the car overnight, take him in the room and risk a $350 charge for violating their 25 pound policy or lie and say he was a service-dog.  I asked if they had a scale, I would be happy to weigh him, but they did not have a scale.  So the violation option would have been subjective to their judgment anyhow.  None of these options amounted to an acceptable amount of risk to me. 

Teresa refused to cancel the room but rather would only mark me as a "No Show" when in fact I was standing there talking with her face-to-face.  We left and went to the Red Lion who had a sign out front "Pets Welcome".  7 phone calls and 3 days later, still no refund of the points I used to make the reservation.  I learned only the hotel management can refund the points, not the Choice Privileges customer service folks.  And Chris, the newest manager, who was hired 2 months ago to clean up the situation there, refused to refund the points based on the fact their policy is on their webpage, but interestingly their webpage reads "pet friendly" with a picture of a BIG, white dog that is WAY more than 25 pounds.

Which surprisingly the hotel manager, Chris, said she was not even aware of the picture...(although I'm sure they'll be changing it promptly).  I'm not sure how a manager can be so certain of the policy stated in the fine-print on their website but not aware of the big dog in the top right corner of their webpage?  Finally, I also learned the owner of the hotel, (Chris spelled his name as HARISH PATEL) owns 7 hotels and was not happy about our negative reviews, but still stands behinds the NO REFUND decision.  Deceptive?  Entrapment?  Greed?  ABSOLUTELY!

Shame on us for not reading the hotel reviews!  Shame on them for having a policies like this pet policy and a bike policy (read older review Traveladvisor from bicyclist who asked for a 1st floor room for her bike but then after her credit card was charged was told about the "No Bike" policy.  AND the review from the outside smokers who put cigarette butts in their trash can who were charged a fine for what management perceived as a violation of their policy)

Seems this hotel will find any reason to TRAP you and get your money...even in the form of a $350 violation fee, which is up to them to decide if you deserve or not!  I suggest using a credit card with them, because then atleast there is some protection against fraud like this.  In our case we paid with ChoiceReward points....so we are out of luck. BAD BAD Business!

I'm in the process of contacting the Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Protection Division with the Oregon Department of Justice Attorney Generals Office, Coos Bay Chamber of Commerce and every website we can do a review on.  I'm sure that they will find that deceptive business practices don't pay off in the end AND most of all I hope our review will protect other unsuspecting travelling pet owners.