Days Inn West Palm Beach ripoff refused refund on room that was unacceptable West Palm Beach Florida

My husband and I were delayed due to a major snowstorm in the Northeast. We called Days Inn West Palm and they said they had internet available. As we checked in at 12:30, we asked again- do you have internet, and they assured us it was free, available in every room, and it worked. We paid $122 cash because we had too much cash with us and wanted to get rid of some of it.

When we walked in the room, it reeked of disinfectant. Then we noticed hotel maids upstairs (double decker motel type days inn) pouring out buckets of dirty cleaning water-which was rolling right down our front plate glass window, into the air vent, and stinking up the room. In addition, the internet would not work. After less than 20 minutes, we couldn't get the internet to work on my husband's laptop, which was critical for his business, and we knew this would not work. We returned to the front desk and requested a refund and said we could not stay there because the internet would not work and the room stunk.

The front desk clerk and an assistant refused to give us our money, first lying to my husband and saying it was in the drop box and they would have to wait for the next shift to get more money. I did not believe that story and approached the desk and then the clerk gave me another story and said clearly he would not give us our money back.. While in the lobby, we called the Days Inn Corporate Complaint department and filed a complaint and received a number. Because this transaction was in cash , we also called the West Palm Police and they came out- the officers listened to us, said they said the knew the manager and they believed he would refund our money. The manager- Andrew Hill, was allegedly not available by phone that day, apparently, though it did appear to me that the employee in the back room called him, asked advice, and then continued to lie to us. We heard two employees talking in the room behind the front counter, saying they were not planning on giving out money back.

I called the manager Andrew Hill and left a message the next day, and the day after. He called back 4 days later, and claimed not to have spoken to his employees about the incident. He took a detailed report from me. He insisted he could not find a record of our transaction in the computer- not by name, time, or any way- so I faxed him a copy of our hotel bill, showing we paid $122.

Then there was silence. I called once a week for two weeks. Then we got a letter from corporate saying they hoped our complaint had been resolved. We contacted corporate, they said they would refund our money. Two weeks later they sent us a check for $65-which we have not cashed, since it is in the wrong amount.
We are fed up!!! This is a national hotel chain and I have never been treated so poorly.

L
Auburn, New Hampshire
U.S.A.