Marriott Residence Inn "tons of space royal treatment" tons of space royal pain in the butt treatment the business that doesnt give a dam ripoff Deerfield Illinois

I've read several general statements here which by and large I agree with AS GENERAL STATEMENTS. Beyond that, I believe readers who aren't in this industry are best served by understanding that as informative as this thread is, it has painted with too broad a brush in places.

1. The belief that auths and holds are fully automated and out of the Desk Reps hands. While it is true that most franchises bundle their credit card processing software into their property mgmt (front desk) software, there are opt outs which allow motels which recieve better rates from outside venders to keep their credit card processing seperate from their PMS/HMS. Yes, this is a minority practice, but it is still a practice. In those instances situations where one clerk doesn't see what another clerk has done can cause multiple holds to be placed on a card. Beyond that, mgr overrides on PMS/HMS can be set faily low such that the bulk of the desk staff can alter auto-authorizations.

2. A lot of banks have their own issues with releasing holds on debit cards. For this reason a guest is far far wiser to use a credit card. IF there is a $300 pre-auth on a credit card and the final charge is $260, than the gst can expect that by the end of the day the $260 charge has processed onto her card and the $40 extra has been removed. DEPENDING ON THE BANK, a debit card used in this transaction may see the full $300 remain for 10 days before dropping back to the $260 charge. There is also increased chances of glitching the process out such that the $260 chg is treated as a new transaction on a debit card such that the guest finds herself with both a $260 charge AND a $300 pre auth hold on her account for 10 days.

3. As for overbooking and no-shows. It and the related issues are problems both for us and our guests. I agree with the other posters that I don't see any solutions in the near future, although I think we as an industry could begin moving toward one if every motel were required to have a written overbook / no-show billing policy displayed on their website. That would put a bit more information into the hands of guests.

key points might include:

Do you intentionally overbook? Will you reserve 105% of your property such that you HAVE to have no-shows in order to avoid a problem, or do you simply reserve to 100% and then only bump rooms if your resvs-not-in total is too high at 11pm?

How much thought goes into bumping? Do you leave the decision to a newbie FDM acting on whim and luck or do you have history and numbers to back your discissions?

Will you bump resvs during a special event such that you may be unable to find alternative accomadations within 20 miles for gsts you have to walk?

What no-shows do you bill? My thinking on the last is to bill all no-shows when we hold the room, even if we only run 50% that night. On the other hand, if we bump a resv there is no charge. I think it is clearly wrong to charge someone for not showing up to rent a product that I didn't have. Key to this is my agreement with the gst states that I will hold the room until xam and he will pay for the room if he doesn't show. The moment I pull the room out from under him I've pretty much terminated that agreement.

As for the no-shows we do bill, our collection rate is below 20%. The resv holder invaribly deny having the resv, or claim they canceled prior to the cxl deadline. IF I could solve that problem, such that every billed no-show took ownership of his obligation to pay I'd never bump a resv.

In that respect, the whole issue of resv bumping is brought about by market behavior.

My modest proposal - and I wonder to what extent online booking might make this possible in time, would be a system where the person making the resv on line could become party to agreement where we guarentee (in the tradional sense of the word rather than the shaved definition used in our industry) to NOT bump the room and the gst agreed to be bound by the obligation to pay unless he could present a cxl accompanied by a cxl number. Kinda deal where we have an electronic sig from the guest accepting this, and leaving no wiggle room for "I lost the number", "The girl didn't give me one", "I didn't know I needed one" . . .the whole thing seems so simple, no cxl number, no cancel, but for too long the credit card companies have chg'ed back no-show billing after no-show billing.

In a strange way that practice does no one any good. Doesn't help us, nor does it help the traveled who loses a room by virtue of our playing the game that is dictated to us.

I've read several general statements here which by and large I agree with AS GENERAL STATEMENTS. Beyond that, I believe readers who aren't in this industry are best served by understanding that as informative as this thread is, it has painted with too broad a brush in places.

1. The belief that auths and holds are fully automated and out of the Desk Reps hands. While it is true that most franchises bundle their credit card processing software into their property mgmt (front desk) software, there are opt outs which allow motels which recieve better rates from outside venders to keep their credit card processing seperate from their PMS/HMS. Yes, this is a minority practice, but it is still a practice. In those instances situations where one clerk doesn't see what another clerk has done can cause multiple holds to be placed on a card. Beyond that, mgr overrides on PMS/HMS can be set faily low such that the bulk of the desk staff can alter auto-authorizations.

2. A lot of banks have their own issues with releasing holds on debit cards. For this reason a guest is far far wiser to use a credit card. IF there is a $300 pre-auth on a credit card and the final charge is $260, than the gst can expect that by the end of the day the $260 charge has processed onto her card and the $40 extra has been removed. DEPENDING ON THE BANK, a debit card used in this transaction may see the full $300 remain for 10 days before dropping back to the $260 charge. There is also increased chances of glitching the process out such that the $260 chg is treated as a new transaction on a debit card such that the guest finds herself with both a $260 charge AND a $300 pre auth hold on her account for 10 days.

3. As for overbooking and no-shows. It and the related issues are problems both for us and our guests. I agree with the other posters that I don't see any solutions in the near future, although I think we as an industry could begin moving toward one if every motel were required to have a written overbook / no-show billing policy displayed on their website. That would put a bit more information into the hands of guests.

key points might include:

Do you intentionally overbook? Will you reserve 105% of your property such that you HAVE to have no-shows in order to avoid a problem, or do you simply reserve to 100% and then only bump rooms if your resvs-not-in total is too high at 11pm?

How much thought goes into bumping? Do you leave the decision to a newbie FDM acting on whim and luck or do you have history and numbers to back your discissions?

Will you bump resvs during a special event such that you may be unable to find alternative accomadations within 20 miles for gsts you have to walk?

What no-shows do you bill? My thinking on the last is to bill all no-shows when we hold the room, even if we only run 50% that night. On the other hand, if we bump a resv there is no charge. I think it is clearly wrong to charge someone for not showing up to rent a product that I didn't have. Key to this is my agreement with the gst states that I will hold the room until xam and he will pay for the room if he doesn't show. The moment I pull the room out from under him I've pretty much terminated that agreement.

As for the no-shows we do bill, our collection rate is below 20%. The resv holder invaribly deny having the resv, or claim they canceled prior to the cxl deadline. IF I could solve that problem, such that every billed no-show took ownership of his obligation to pay I'd never bump a resv.

In that respect, the whole issue of resv bumping is brought about by market behavior.

My modest proposal - and I wonder to what extent online booking might make this possible in time, would be a system where the person making the resv on line could become party to agreement where we guarentee (in the tradional sense of the word rather than the shaved definition used in our industry) to NOT bump the room and the gst agreed to be bound by the obligation to pay unless he could present a cxl accompanied by a cxl number. Kinda deal where we have an electronic sig from the guest accepting this, and leaving no wiggle room for "I lost the number", "The girl didn't give me one", "I didn't know I needed one" . . .the whole thing seems so simple, no cxl number, no cancel, but for too long the credit card companies have chg'ed back no-show billing after no-show billing.

In a strange way that practice does no one any good. Doesn't help us, nor does it help the traveled who loses a room by virtue of our playing the game that is dictated to us.

I've read several general statements here which by and large I agree with AS GENERAL STATEMENTS. Beyond that, I believe readers who aren't in this industry are best served by understanding that as informative as this thread is, it has painted with too broad a brush in places.

1. The belief that auths and holds are fully automated and out of the Desk Reps hands. While it is true that most franchises bundle their credit card processing software into their property mgmt (front desk) software, there are opt outs which allow motels which recieve better rates from outside venders to keep their credit card processing seperate from their PMS/HMS. Yes, this is a minority practice, but it is still a practice. In those instances situations where one clerk doesn't see what another clerk has done can cause multiple holds to be placed on a card. Beyond that, mgr overrides on PMS/HMS can be set faily low such that the bulk of the desk staff can alter auto-authorizations.

2. A lot of banks have their own issues with releasing holds on debit cards. For this reason a guest is far far wiser to use a credit card. IF there is a $300 pre-auth on a credit card and the final charge is $260, than the gst can expect that by the end of the day the $260 charge has processed onto her card and the $40 extra has been removed. DEPENDING ON THE BANK, a debit card used in this transaction may see the full $300 remain for 10 days before dropping back to the $260 charge. There is also increased chances of glitching the process out such that the $260 chg is treated as a new transaction on a debit card such that the guest finds herself with both a $260 charge AND a $300 pre auth hold on her account for 10 days.

3. As for overbooking and no-shows. It and the related issues are problems both for us and our guests. I agree with the other posters that I don't see any solutions in the near future, although I think we as an industry could begin moving toward one if every motel were required to have a written overbook / no-show billing policy displayed on their website. That would put a bit more information into the hands of guests.

key points might include:

Do you intentionally overbook? Will you reserve 105% of your property such that you HAVE to have no-shows in order to avoid a problem, or do you simply reserve to 100% and then only bump rooms if your resvs-not-in total is too high at 11pm?

How much thought goes into bumping? Do you leave the decision to a newbie FDM acting on whim and luck or do you have history and numbers to back your discissions?

Will you bump resvs during a special event such that you may be unable to find alternative accomadations within 20 miles for gsts you have to walk?

What no-shows do you bill? My thinking on the last is to bill all no-shows when we hold the room, even if we only run 50% that night. On the other hand, if we bump a resv there is no charge. I think it is clearly wrong to charge someone for not showing up to rent a product that I didn't have. Key to this is my agreement with the gst states that I will hold the room until xam and he will pay for the room if he doesn't show. The moment I pull the room out from under him I've pretty much terminated that agreement.

As for the no-shows we do bill, our collection rate is below 20%. The resv holder invaribly deny having the resv, or claim they canceled prior to the cxl deadline. IF I could solve that problem, such that every billed no-show took ownership of his obligation to pay I'd never bump a resv.

In that respect, the whole issue of resv bumping is brought about by market behavior.

My modest proposal - and I wonder to what extent online booking might make this possible in time, would be a system where the person making the resv on line could become party to agreement where we guarentee (in the tradional sense of the word rather than the shaved definition used in our industry) to NOT bump the room and the gst agreed to be bound by the obligation to pay unless he could present a cxl accompanied by a cxl number. Kinda deal where we have an electronic sig from the guest accepting this, and leaving no wiggle room for "I lost the number", "The girl didn't give me one", "I didn't know I needed one" . . .the whole thing seems so simple, no cxl number, no cancel, but for too long the credit card companies have chg'ed back no-show billing after no-show billing.

In a strange way that practice does no one any good. Doesn't help us, nor does it help the traveled who loses a room by virtue of our playing the game that is dictated to us.

I've read several general statements here which by and large I agree with AS GENERAL STATEMENTS. Beyond that, I believe readers who aren't in this industry are best served by understanding that as informative as this thread is, it has painted with too broad a brush in places.

1. The belief that auths and holds are fully automated and out of the Desk Reps hands. While it is true that most franchises bundle their credit card processing software into their property mgmt (front desk) software, there are opt outs which allow motels which recieve better rates from outside venders to keep their credit card processing seperate from their PMS/HMS. Yes, this is a minority practice, but it is still a practice. In those instances situations where one clerk doesn't see what another clerk has done can cause multiple holds to be placed on a card. Beyond that, mgr overrides on PMS/HMS can be set faily low such that the bulk of the desk staff can alter auto-authorizations.

2. A lot of banks have their own issues with releasing holds on debit cards. For this reason a guest is far far wiser to use a credit card. IF there is a $300 pre-auth on a credit card and the final charge is $260, than the gst can expect that by the end of the day the $260 charge has processed onto her card and the $40 extra has been removed. DEPENDING ON THE BANK, a debit card used in this transaction may see the full $300 remain for 10 days before dropping back to the $260 charge. There is also increased chances of glitching the process out such that the $260 chg is treated as a new transaction on a debit card such that the guest finds herself with both a $260 charge AND a $300 pre auth hold on her account for 10 days.

3. As for overbooking and no-shows. It and the related issues are problems both for us and our guests. I agree with the other posters that I don't see any solutions in the near future, although I think we as an industry could begin moving toward one if every motel were required to have a written overbook / no-show billing policy displayed on their website. That would put a bit more information into the hands of guests.

key points might include:

Do you intentionally overbook? Will you reserve 105% of your property such that you HAVE to have no-shows in order to avoid a problem, or do you simply reserve to 100% and then only bump rooms if your resvs-not-in total is too high at 11pm?

How much thought goes into bumping? Do you leave the decision to a newbie FDM acting on whim and luck or do you have history and numbers to back your discissions?

Will you bump resvs during a special event such that you may be unable to find alternative accomadations within 20 miles for gsts you have to walk?

What no-shows do you bill? My thinking on the last is to bill all no-shows when we hold the room, even if we only run 50% that night. On the other hand, if we bump a resv there is no charge. I think it is clearly wrong to charge someone for not showing up to rent a product that I didn't have. Key to this is my agreement with the gst states that I will hold the room until xam and he will pay for the room if he doesn't show. The moment I pull the room out from under him I've pretty much terminated that agreement.

As for the no-shows we do bill, our collection rate is below 20%. The resv holder invaribly deny having the resv, or claim they canceled prior to the cxl deadline. IF I could solve that problem, such that every billed no-show took ownership of his obligation to pay I'd never bump a resv.

In that respect, the whole issue of resv bumping is brought about by market behavior.

My modest proposal - and I wonder to what extent online booking might make this possible in time, would be a system where the person making the resv on line could become party to agreement where we guarentee (in the tradional sense of the word rather than the shaved definition used in our industry) to NOT bump the room and the gst agreed to be bound by the obligation to pay unless he could present a cxl accompanied by a cxl number. Kinda deal where we have an electronic sig from the guest accepting this, and leaving no wiggle room for "I lost the number", "The girl didn't give me one", "I didn't know I needed one" . . .the whole thing seems so simple, no cxl number, no cancel, but for too long the credit card companies have chg'ed back no-show billing after no-show billing.

In a strange way that practice does no one any good. Doesn't help us, nor does it help the traveled who loses a room by virtue of our playing the game that is dictated to us.

The original author stated that they asked specifically for a late check-in..so the hotel should not have given away the room. Period! As far as charging her card 3 times, the way that I have found to avoid this problem is to use credit card for authorizations and reservations, and a debit card for the actual charges at check-out time. I know that not everyone has the best credit, and wouldn't be able to do this, but I definately feel more comfortable giving them a credit card that is not linked to my checking account. Mistakes happen, and I have learned not to trust anyone with my bank accounts. I'm always worried that after I get home from a trip that some bogus charge is going to show up on my credit card. Maybe I'm just too skeptical and untrusting, but after reading the things on this website I feel better about my choices!

The original author stated that they asked specifically for a late check-in..so the hotel should not have given away the room. Period! As far as charging her card 3 times, the way that I have found to avoid this problem is to use credit card for authorizations and reservations, and a debit card for the actual charges at check-out time. I know that not everyone has the best credit, and wouldn't be able to do this, but I definately feel more comfortable giving them a credit card that is not linked to my checking account. Mistakes happen, and I have learned not to trust anyone with my bank accounts. I'm always worried that after I get home from a trip that some bogus charge is going to show up on my credit card. Maybe I'm just too skeptical and untrusting, but after reading the things on this website I feel better about my choices!

The original author stated that they asked specifically for a late check-in..so the hotel should not have given away the room. Period! As far as charging her card 3 times, the way that I have found to avoid this problem is to use credit card for authorizations and reservations, and a debit card for the actual charges at check-out time. I know that not everyone has the best credit, and wouldn't be able to do this, but I definately feel more comfortable giving them a credit card that is not linked to my checking account. Mistakes happen, and I have learned not to trust anyone with my bank accounts. I'm always worried that after I get home from a trip that some bogus charge is going to show up on my credit card. Maybe I'm just too skeptical and untrusting, but after reading the things on this website I feel better about my choices!

I worked for a Towne Place Suites in Yorktown, VA. The place is corrupt. One guest checked in and said he'd be gone a couple days from the room but he will still pay for the room till he gets back (he was going out of state on business) and still wanted his same room.

They had me clean it as a check out and put another guest in it, while still charging the original guy in the room, so they got paid twice for the same room on the same night, they made sure the second guy checked out before the original guy came back, then played it off to him as if nothing happened and still billed him for the entire period.The sales manager at the time and the front desk manager were both in on it.

Also, this hotel also sold peoples reserved rooms, then would put them up in a motel 6. Gross !!!

I worked for a Towne Place Suites in Yorktown, VA. The place is corrupt. One guest checked in and said he'd be gone a couple days from the room but he will still pay for the room till he gets back (he was going out of state on business) and still wanted his same room.

They had me clean it as a check out and put another guest in it, while still charging the original guy in the room, so they got paid twice for the same room on the same night, they made sure the second guy checked out before the original guy came back, then played it off to him as if nothing happened and still billed him for the entire period.The sales manager at the time and the front desk manager were both in on it.

Also, this hotel also sold peoples reserved rooms, then would put them up in a motel 6. Gross !!!

I worked for a Towne Place Suites in Yorktown, VA. The place is corrupt. One guest checked in and said he'd be gone a couple days from the room but he will still pay for the room till he gets back (he was going out of state on business) and still wanted his same room.

They had me clean it as a check out and put another guest in it, while still charging the original guy in the room, so they got paid twice for the same room on the same night, they made sure the second guy checked out before the original guy came back, then played it off to him as if nothing happened and still billed him for the entire period.The sales manager at the time and the front desk manager were both in on it.

Also, this hotel also sold peoples reserved rooms, then would put them up in a motel 6. Gross !!!

Oh Bob...say it isn't so!
A very wise friend once told me that "The customer is right...until they are wrong." I think almost anyone would agree with that in the world in which we are all living today. But then again the same can be said for, in our case, "The Hotelier".

I completely disagree with charging a guest if you have deemed them a "no-show" and sold the room to someone else. It is, in my opinion, completely unethical to sell it and bill them as a no-show when you have already collected payment from someone else.

When you reserve a room for a guest that is your opportunity to get the rate that you want/need to sell that room for; depending on your yield management strategies. However, for you to sell the room out from under the guest and still charge them...that is unacceptable, at least under my management.

If a guest leaves you in a "lurch" and is a no-show then I, by all means, charge them no matter what my occupancy is. Low occupancy matters not as the agreement is not, "I'll charge you only if my occupancy is low". (However, there are times when it is necessary to show some compassion and bend the rules a bit.)

For us, we will charge you if you no-show or don't cancel within the cancellation guidelines; no matter what the occupancy percentage is. To answer the other gentleman's question...No. If hotels were guaranteed payment on guaranteed reservations then, No...I really doubt that hotels/motels would still give away the room.

However, there are always some that let greed get the best of them but then those are the ones that usually have the greedy ownership breathing down their necks to, "MAKE THE SALE, MAKE THE SALE, MAKE THE SALE"...at any cost.

It would be great if there could be a resolution to this widespread problem but I don't see one in the distant future.

Reading this post disturbs me because I am an a front desk associate with Residence Inn and we are constantly "accused" of giving someone's room away. Let me clarify a few things.

You must understand when you book with the Residence Inn in particular, that we are an extended stay hotel. This means that many of our consumers stay here because they are either on a business trip and/or they are here because they are re-locating to the area. Because of this clientelle, it is difficult to predict when someone may check out even if they commit to staying only a limited amount of time.

There have been many instances where we do our best day in and day out to provide the utmost in customer satisfaction. Sometimes, people who are scheduled to leave do not leave and we are not allowed to just throw them out. It's illegal. We have to extend them, which may cause an overbooking in that particular room type.

However, in this type of incident, if the reservation is guaranteed to a credit card, we will either provide a different kind of suite at the same or a less cost, possibly even comped for the inconvenience or refer you to a comprable hotel such as the Hilton and pick up the charge.

Sometimes, however, it is not always the hotel's fault. There have been many instances where the guest has booked the room for another date and will exaggerate the truth to get something for free. Trust me, we have ways of finding out how and when the reservation was made. We know who took it, the time, and date, etc.

Some people do not want to claim responsibility and so they blame us. It's a fact of life in general and unfortuantely we cannot do anything about that. Rest assured, If it is indeed our fault, we will rectify the situation. We definately don't just give away rooms.

Also, I wanted to touch on the whole situation with the bank. Please take this in the form of advice when going to ANY hotel chain in the future. If you checked in and used a debit card to pay for the room; the computer puts an authorization on the account according to how many nights you are staying.

The front desk does not have any control over the amount authorized nor do we have the authorization to remove the auth. Management must authorize a release over the phone with the bank. This can only be done during the week at normal business hours. Sometimes, when you use a debit card it can take up to as many as four days to release a hold on your account.

It's nothing that the bank or the hotel can control it's just the way computers are set up to deal with electronic transactions for secuirty. As to why there were three holds on your card, I could not speak for that particular property regarding that situation. The best way to avoid that from happening in the future at ANY hotel is just to use a credit card.

That situation can happen anywhere so I didn't see that as a valid complaint about the Residence Inn in general. You must understand that we are normal people just like you with everyday lives, and it would not make any sense to make our job harder by making the consumer upset. It's a matter of what we have to work with.

I can't speak for other properties and franchises, but I know at the Residence Inn that I am employed at, we do our best to satisfy each guest the best we can.

Hi Tim. It has been a while. I appreciate your point of view and I agree with you that there are cases where the guest/customer have encountered a bad situation and they were ripped off or taken advantage of without any recourse. F&B business is usually more hostile than hotels. Having been on that side of it for more years than I would like to admit, you know the ins and outs. I appluad you for your comments owning up to a no show charge if you dont follow the policies. I would do the same but the large majority of people dont and thats why hotels have such heartache with this. More people than not do not take the ownership that both you and I would. Credit card companies support their cardholders and generally the hotel fails to corectly document properly and loses. It is no doubt an issue in our industry and there is no consistency in policies from brand to brand.

To answer your question, it depends. If I have a guarantee and I know I am going to fill, I will take into consideration my no-show factor and more importantly, what the demand is in the area. If I know I will have late check ins, I probably wont sell the room knowing I will bill you if you do not show up. If it is late and I have a good number of reservations to come in and I am turning people away who walk in without reservations, I will most likely sell the room and take my chances that you won't show up. I will still bill you even if I fill the hotel. While it is true that I still filled the hotel, it is also true that you guaranteed me that you were going to show and did not. Because of that I took the risk of selling your room. As I mentioned last post, it does not always work out for the hotel. It is also possible that you show up and I have to send you to another hotel at my expense. It's a calculated gamble either way. I'll say this much, I have to be very very confident that I have done my homework before I make the decision to sell your room. On the other hand if you don't show up and I dont run at least 90%, I wouldn't bill you. I will either call you or write you to inform you that we held your reservation and as a gesture of good faith we will not bill you. Good to see you again Tim !

Bob... I appreciate your efforts to try to straighten this out for us. Let me say that while you are correct that I am quick to side with the consumer, I do not always do so. If you were to read each post I have made on here you would probably find that I side with the consumer about 80% of the time. Having worked in restaurants for many years (thankfully, I don't anymore) I came to recognize that the phrase "the customer is always right" is usually wrong. I know full well that not every consumer complaint is valid, but if the consumer has a well reasoned complaint that is not resolved sufficiently, as in the original post, of course I'm going to side with them.

If it is in fact difficult for hotels to enforce their no-show charge-anyways policy, then I can see some merit to your side of this issue. Personally, if I were to reserve a room, not show up, and fail to meet the cancellation guidelines, I would expect to be charged and I wouldn't contest it. Let me pose this question to you... If the hotel was guarunteed to collect on no-show deposits, would they still give reserved rooms away regardless?

Bob... I appreciate your efforts to try to straighten this out for us. Let me say that while you are correct that I am quick to side with the consumer, I do not always do so. If you were to read each post I have made on here you would probably find that I side with the consumer about 80% of the time. Having worked in restaurants for many years (thankfully, I don't anymore) I came to recognize that the phrase "the customer is always right" is usually wrong. I know full well that not every consumer complaint is valid, but if the consumer has a well reasoned complaint that is not resolved sufficiently, as in the original post, of course I'm going to side with them.

If it is in fact difficult for hotels to enforce their no-show charge-anyways policy, then I can see some merit to your side of this issue. Personally, if I were to reserve a room, not show up, and fail to meet the cancellation guidelines, I would expect to be charged and I wouldn't contest it. Let me pose this question to you... If the hotel was guarunteed to collect on no-show deposits, would they still give reserved rooms away regardless?

Bob... I appreciate your efforts to try to straighten this out for us. Let me say that while you are correct that I am quick to side with the consumer, I do not always do so. If you were to read each post I have made on here you would probably find that I side with the consumer about 80% of the time. Having worked in restaurants for many years (thankfully, I don't anymore) I came to recognize that the phrase "the customer is always right" is usually wrong. I know full well that not every consumer complaint is valid, but if the consumer has a well reasoned complaint that is not resolved sufficiently, as in the original post, of course I'm going to side with them.

If it is in fact difficult for hotels to enforce their no-show charge-anyways policy, then I can see some merit to your side of this issue. Personally, if I were to reserve a room, not show up, and fail to meet the cancellation guidelines, I would expect to be charged and I wouldn't contest it. Let me pose this question to you... If the hotel was guarunteed to collect on no-show deposits, would they still give reserved rooms away regardless?

Bob... I appreciate your efforts to try to straighten this out for us. Let me say that while you are correct that I am quick to side with the consumer, I do not always do so. If you were to read each post I have made on here you would probably find that I side with the consumer about 80% of the time. Having worked in restaurants for many years (thankfully, I don't anymore) I came to recognize that the phrase "the customer is always right" is usually wrong. I know full well that not every consumer complaint is valid, but if the consumer has a well reasoned complaint that is not resolved sufficiently, as in the original post, of course I'm going to side with them.

If it is in fact difficult for hotels to enforce their no-show charge-anyways policy, then I can see some merit to your side of this issue. Personally, if I were to reserve a room, not show up, and fail to meet the cancellation guidelines, I would expect to be charged and I wouldn't contest it. Let me pose this question to you... If the hotel was guarunteed to collect on no-show deposits, would they still give reserved rooms away regardless?

Some of what most of you say is correct. Tim, you are always quick to side with the consumer which is fine but not always right. Regardless of how much you travel and how many situations you have been in, the fact of the matter is this: If you as a consumer guarantee me that you are visiting my hotel and give me your credit card validating your guarantee, then we have an agreement. From the hotel side we also agree that sometimes it is necessary to cancel a reservation and have cancellation policies. Usually 24 hours or 6PM the day of arrival. If you do not come in as you had "guaranteed" and did not cancel within the policy, you have not lived up to your end of the agreement and you will be charged.(I had several opportunities to sell the room I held for you but did not since you guaranteed me you would be here) There are exceptions. If you were delayed by no fault of your own (late or cxl flight) I would not charge you. If you called and had unusual circumstances, then I would have a conversation with you and work it out directly with you. If the hotel did not come close to filling, most likely I would waive any no show charge as a gesture of good faith. The reality of giving away a room is mentioned in earlier posts. Hotels only have 1 chance to sell the room each day. If you dont sell it, it's lost revenue and you'll never get it back. So as a hotelier if history shows that I will have a certain number of no shows, then I will gamble that on a night where I am certain to fill, that history will repeat and I will again have no shows. If I have 5 rooms to come in at 11 PM and I think I will have 2 no shows, I'll sell 2 rooms to walk ins hoping that I have 2 no shows. Sometimes you guess right and sometimes you dont. In the case where you guess wrong and everybody shows up then as a hotelier I need to do the right thing. If I sold your room and you show up and I have no rooms left, I will find you a room at a hotel equal or better to mine and I will pay for it as well as two phone calls and transportation to that hotel. If the hotel makes the mistake then the hotels pay. If you make the mistake by not showing up or not cancelling,then you need to pay. It's a 2 way street. There are a few inconsistencies in the original post especially with Marriott being involved. Having worked for Marriott for a number of years, I can assure you they are a very strong and proactive consumer advocate group working in the guest relations department. If what the person in the original post says is true then they need to follow the appropriate course of action through Marriott and they will be taken care of.

There are bits and pieces of each of the above posts that are correct but much of it is incorrect as well.

The reason that hotels & motels give away your room is very simple. Unfortunately, sometimes it is a must in order for the hotel to get paid for the room. So many consumers will make reservations and guarantee the room to their credit cards...the reason is to guarantee the hotel payment regardless if the consumer claims the room or not. Sounds like a good idea! However, a large portion of the public that gets charged for a "No Show" reservation will dispute it with their respective credit card company and in many cases they win the judgement because the credit card company wants to side with their customer. The only person losing out is the hotel/motel and it is very unfair.

On a sell out night, having a few no shows is a terrible situation to be faced with. Management must decide on the odds that the remaining reservation/reservations will show or not.

Selling the room will obviously solve the problem of lost revenue for the hotel but what is the customer comes in after all? Then you are faced with a whole new problem. However, if a hotel/motel sells a guaranteed room it is never acceptable to double charge by also charging the reservation that you felt was going to no show in the first place. That is indeed, unfair.

Regarding Mike's comment from Seattle how the hotel can't run a card three times and block large amounts on it and it was a bank error is wrong! I used to work for a large casino resort on the Strip here in Las Vegas. When a guest checks in, they give the front desk clerk their picture i.d. and a credit card. The credit card is then swiped to authorize charges, which include the room rate and the amount for any incidental charges.

Incidental charges are where the guests can make charges to their room at any of the shops, bars or restaurants on the property. Depending on the hotel they can be as much as $100.00 PER DAY. This amount is "blocked" on the credit card. The amount is not actually charged, but held in, I guess it would be like a limbo, for the entire stay. Guests who have a certain credit limit on their credit cards may not be able to make any other charges on that card during their stay.

The hold on the card is held until the guest departs, if they used cash at check out to settle their bill or another credit card to pick up the total bill.

If the guest decides to keep all charges on the original credit card, then the card is "authorized" and the amount is charged to the card.

I have seen front desk clerks swipe a credit or debit card more than once and blocked multipled charges on the card. It can happen! The front desk clerk from the original author's story was a complete idiot and should have owned up to the fact that she made a mistake.

I do know what I'm talking about because I am a consumer and a frequent traveller, and I have been affected several times by this problem. I don't need to know how the system works to recognize that it doesn't work well. Besides, all you did was reiterate what I originally said: hotels overbook rooms on a regular basis. Does the fact that they do it frequently, or that other industries do it too, make it any better?

I guess I don't understand what you're saying. You seem to be trying to defend the travel reservation industry by saying what the problem is, but not really saying why it exists or why it isn't wrong to leave someone stranded without a hotel room (or a car, or a flight) when they thought they had been guarunteed one. And what difference does it make how late the poster arrived at her hotel?

Doesn't the fact that she most likely arrived within two hours of check-in time, and yet the hotel had already given away her room, make it even worse?

Many other industries with limited product available that is sold through different venues (Ticketmaster for example) have figured out how to not oversell their product and leave people screwed.

Why can't the hotel industry do it? Are they still using Commodore 64s? Also, I can think of at least two times when I wanted to extend my stay at a hotel and was not able to because it was booked.

I think you're confused regarding the laws surrounding a person's right to extend their stay at a hotel, and I certainly don't think that 999 out of 1000 times the reason your reservation is not available is because someone decided to stick around. At any rate, there is no excuse for poor business practices which leave consumers literally out in the cold.

Tim, regardless of how you feel about some of the treatment you received at a hotel, you should know what you're talking about before spouting off.

Overbooking is common in the travel industry, for car rentals, airline tickets, or hotel rooms. It might seem a ripoff, but look at the happy people in airline boarding areas who get on a crowded flight by flying standby.

Most states have laws against double-charging for hotel rooms. And it is not the "policy of most hotels" to give your room away. If you ever have a room "given away", 999 times out of 1000 its because a "guest" was supposed to depart but decided to stay anyway. You could kick them out, but you need the police, a court order, etc.

As for the original post, you said you arrived late. I'm curious how late this was, because there was a bank open at the time. And I can tell you that with the Marriott reservation system it is IMPOSSIBLE for a card to have three blocks placed on it. If your card was overdrawn I suspect it was due to other reasons, maybe bank or consumer error.

Unfortunately it seems to be the policy of most hotels to give reserved rooms away regardless of if you notify them that you'll be arriving late. This happened to my wife and I on our last trip to Vegas.

I too called the hotel (Venetian) and notified them that due to flight delays we would be arriving late. When we arrived, we were informed that they had given away our room. To their credit, they handled the situation quite well and upgraded us to a beautiful suite that was bigger than our house.

Most times, however the situation doesn't end up that well. You should raise a big stink with corporate about this, Kris, and maybe you'll at least get a free night's stay.

When you resrve a room the hotel has your card number and will charge you for the room whether you show up or not, why do they find it necessary to give away a room that is practically already paid for? Because they end up getting paid twice for one room! Big time rip off! Also, why is it that even when you have a "do not disturb" sign hanging on your door those maids come knocking at the earliest of hours?