Complaint Review: Super 8 Motel

On May 12, my partner and I checked into this motel. It was near where my birthday party was going to be the next day. Anyway, we had made reservations for two nights. We paid in cash, but didn't realize at the time that we gave the female at the desk $20.00 too much. When we gave her the cash, she looked flustered. We thought it was because she couldn't count money. We reached for our money to count it to her, but she wouldn't give it to us. We discovered about 30 minutes later that she wouldn't give it back because she knew there was too much money there. We indicated such to the manager, who said that he would refund the money at check out.

We asked for the corporate number, and the manager indicated there was no corporate number. We then asked who owned the place, and he said he did. That was a lie.

They refused to give us a breakdown of the bill amount (where it shows the nightly rate plus tax, etc.) until after we checked out. In addition, the nightly rate advertised for our room ws $59.99, with $10.00 extra per person per night. They charged us $69.99 plus $10.00 extra per person per night.

Also, when we checked in, I was going to reserve a room for my mother for Saturday night, so that she could stay at the party as late as she wanted. The manager told me that the only way I could reserve a room was with cash, and that he would have no vacancies tomorrow, and I should pay up front so I could be sure to have the room for her.

I did as the manager suggested. This was at about 1:30 pm. At 3:30 pm, I notified the manager that my mother couldn't make it, and I wanted my money back for the room. He refused to give me the money back, although the cancellation policy stated that one could cancel up until 4:00 pm of the date of arrival, which was the next day.

Our bed had someone's toenail in it, the lampshade was broken and had the wrong frame on it (it had been taped in place), and there was a lean cuisine box (used, of course) in the microwave. We found pennies in the floor, and dust and hair on the floor between the bed and nightstand. In the nightstand, we found hairs. One of the lamps was unplugged, and another had a burned out bulb. We called the front desk, who called maintenance. The maintenance guy eventually came out to replace the bulb, but not before telling the front desk girl to ask us to twist the bulb. I told her that was not my responsibility, and I wasn't going to touch that bulb.

At check out, the manager refused to give us the $20.00 they stole, because we refused to sign the form that indicated we would be charged if any damage was found. We knew the room was in bad shape already, and were afraid that they'd blame us. In fact, we felt they were so untrustworthy that we put a "do not disturb" sign on the door while we were away so our things wouldn't be gone through/stolen.

I called Super8 corporate number, and all they did was take my complaint. They said someone would contact me, yet I got a letter from Super8 three weeks later indicating that they were going to do nothing about what happened.

Super8 stole $102.00 from us, and I want it back.

There was another couple checking out when we were, and they were disgusted with their experience, as well.

Andie
Newport News, Virginia
U.S.A.