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  • Report:  #1385116

Complaint Review: Tahoe Mountain Lodging

Tahoe Mountain Lodging Deceptive Charging & False Advertising-Placed in room with no view as shown on website & overcharged Truckee California

  • Reported By:
    Debra — Sacremento California USA
  • Submitted:
    Thu, July 13, 2017
  • Updated:
    Thu, July 13, 2017
I reserved a condo in Old Greenwood (Lake Tahoe) for summer 2017. When I originally booked my stay by phone I was not told my rates would increase except for the week of July 4th, in which Carla ended up giving me a night free because I thought the $700+\- rate seemed too high. I was told because of my lengthy stay I was being charged a "flat rate". A flat rate to me means one flat fee for each week.  I was also charged a daily fee for use of the pool. My reservation confirmation stated use of pool and gym were free. The GM's response to this was that he would create a new bill for me by hand that showed a "flat rate" and he offered to refund my Tahoe Mountain club fees as my reservation confirmation stated this was "complimentary." He refused to reduce my nightly rate that was much higer than I was told when reserving. Clearly there is deceptive pricing here, as why would the manager need to re-create my invoice to reflect what I thought I was paying for.  Herc, the GM could not understand why. Not providing a full summary of charges and daily rates for each day up front in writing is deceptive billing.
 
The prices on my original email confirmations and initial phone call with reservations was not clear and also deceptive. My final bill was so confusing that It took two individuals two hours to sort through it to understand the charges. I did not appreciate that Herc Heinley also stated by phone that I should have understood what I was signing up for before paying. The problem with this, is that if I had known during the last weekend of my stay that my rate would escalate up to $800, I would have left on a Tuesday or Wednesday before the price became higher. I stated to Herc that in the future it would be helpful to send customers daily rates built into email confirmation so that people know what daily rate they are being charged for daily. I would have never known to ask for this as I was told I was paying a flat rate when making the reservation. 

Further, I started by taking my complaint to Elizabeth Crellin, the reservations manager whom became argumentative and frankly very rude. She stated that "we do not give out the daily rate unless asked". And also stated that "most guests do not ask what the daily rate is". We told her that not providing a full summary of charges and daily rates for each day is deceptive billing.
Elizabeth Crellin listened to the recording of my full 30 minute call when I originally reserved my rental at Old Greenwood and admitted I had only been told the rates would increase during the week of July 4th.
I asked what about the other 20+ days I reserved? I was never under the impression that I was being charged a fluctuating & increasing daily rate similar to a Ritz-Carlton that escalated from $399 to $799 for 28 days straight. When receiving my reservations via email, it only showed a flat amount. There was no other detail regarding room rates plus Tahoe mountain club charges even noted.
 
Also, when I made my initial reservation in May, I asked if the view was similar to photos on website and was told yes. When I arrived, I was placed in a condo with no view except the back of the pool fence. There was no grass, no view and not what was described to me over the phone. Elizabeth Crellin acknowledged this from listening to my call. After checking in and seeing that the condo I rented looked nothing like the website photos, I was moved to another condo across the street. Tahoe Mountain Loding moved me 3x throughout my stay which was very inconvienient with 5 children as they made me check in and check out with each move, which was a result of their false advertising to begin with.

Since requesting my folio, and discovering I am being charged $699-$799 for the current week, and not $399 per night, which is what I was charged the first few days of my stay, I mentioned to Herc I would like to go ahead and leave with a refund for the last few days before the high weekend rates begin. The daily rates were not fully transparent and I would have never booked through end of week knowing I was being charged $800 rate at the end of my lengthy stay plus Tahoe Mountain Club fees. I was informed by Elizabeth Crellin, the reservations manager to contact Herc Heinle, whom I have now discovered was the former maintenance manager to resolve this issue. Clearly he was not the correct contact and I have now wasted 4 additional days trying to resolve my issue. I asked the front desk whom I should contact and not a single employee onsite knew the answer.
 
Bottom line-This vacation management company is running a scam and not honest about what they are charging you for. If you want to rent a condo in Truckee, you are better off using vrbo.com or airbnb.com
There are several listings in Old Greenwood/Lake Tahoe on this site where you can reserve directly through the owner of the property and not be charged for use of the pool facilities like I was. Lesson learned. I was misled on pricing and now out $5000+
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