Country Inn and Suites by Carlson Tinley Park, IL Country Inn & Suites by Carlson Neither corporate nor the local location respond to complaints Tinley Park, Illinois

We held a party at the Country Inn & Suites of Tinley Park on Saturday, March 13, 2010.  My client had an absolute blast.  The Sales Manager of the hotel, Dana, was extremely helpful and attentive in the planning, face to face meeting, and email correspondence.  And, the front desk manager, Christina, was great to work with as well.  Both housemen were also helpful. 

The General Manager, Leticia Quintero, is contrary to her subordinates.  When we arrived on site, the room had neither been cleaned, vacuumed, nor made ready for our party.  Things happen, right?

Well, the toaster, microwave, waffle irons, coffee pots, etc., which were to have been removed based on multiple conversations had not been removed.   So, what do you do? Kindly bring it to the attention of the people who can help, in this case, it was Ms. Quintero.

The first thing out of Ms. Quinteros mouth? Oh, these cannot be moved.  After having planned this extensively in advance, you can imagine how shocked I felt. 

Only after 3 times of reiterating the agreement did Ms. Quintero begrudgingly have the items removed.  Ms. Quintero indicated that these instructions had been discussed in a management meeting.   However, Ms. Quintero did not feel like abiding by her clients multiple instructions. 

These details were one of several conditions that needed to be satisfied or we could not have held the event thereperiod.  Again, all of these conditions were discussed, multiple times, weeks in advance, as well as the week of the party.

We had also arranged for extra chairs to be removed from the space on an as needed basis.  All of these considerations had been agreed to prior to booking the space.  Well, not for Ms. Quintero.

These chairs cant be put in spare rooms.  Well, Ms. Quintero, that was what was agreed to prior to the signing of the contract.  So sorry you have to abide by the wishes of the people that are paying money to Mid Continent Hospitality so you can make a living. 

After 3-4 reiterations of the established agreement, Ms. Quintero begrudgingly had the houseman remove the extra chairs. 

Thankfully, we had no more dealings with Ms. Quintero for the rest of the event.  Although, it was not easy getting her to have the items removed.  And, abiding by our requests that were made weeks prior seemed like a labor and a genuine nuisance to her. 

Ms. Quintero, you ARE in the hospitality industry, right?

However, the Sales Manager was great to work with.  And, we had already advertised this space to other clients, both orally and on our website.   We explained this prior to the event.  And, because the event itself was such a huge success, for our client - we advertised even more heavily after the event. 

Well just make sure these other items are clearly listed in the contract and problem solved, right?  I.E., well take Ms. Quinteros bad attitude out of the equation.

When we called on the 21^st to rebook, we were told that Ms. Quintero would no longer allow music at the parties.  Yes, you read that right.  No MUSIC at a childrens/family PARTY. 

Translation, sounds like you dont want us there anymore, huh Ms. Quintero.  I cant help but wonder, could it be because my client and almost all their guests are black?  And, nearly every person walking through your hotel doors was white. 

As shocking as it sounds, there is a ripoffreport alleging terrible treatment at a Schaumburg Country Inn & Suites.  The complainant alleges that the poor treatment they received was because of the color of their skin. 

Weird, huh? We get Thank yous from the Sales Manager for our business.  The Front Desk Manager asks us for our business card for her own personal party, because everybody looked like they were having so much fun at the 1^st birthday party.  But, Ms. Quintero doesnt want us back.

Mid Continent Hospitality has several properties, including the Hilton Garden Inn Orland Park.  The latter property did NOT seem family friendly, at all. 

Because of the severity of this experience, the potential implications of Ms. Quinteros behavior, and the complete lack of professionalism, hospitality, courtesy, and cooperation of Ms. Quintero, I contacted Country Inn and Suites by Carlson.  Their corporate center is in Minnesota.  While I talked at length to a woman named Suzanne at corporate, and she stated the EVP, Regional or District Manager would be contacting me directly...well, you can see clearly that they did not. 

If nothing else, Country Inn and Suites must be doing extraordinarily well.  They can turn away business from their target market families - and treat people rudely and discourteously at a head management level.  Boy, wouldnt it be great to take home a paycheck doing whatever the heck you want, knowing that your bosses are going to back you up by taking no action?