Super 8 Motel Horrible, Horrible, Nasties Place EVER California, Maryland

Guard your credit card with your life.  Take rat traps with you.  Don't forget the gas masks.  Then be prepaired to meet the rudest people from the front desk clerk all the way to the corporate office.

I made a reservation; got a quote; gave a debit card with explicit instructions not to use that card because I would be bringing my new credit card with me to pay for the room.  I arrived.  I walked into the lobby between 3:30 and 4:30; handed the clerk my card; told her my name and I was there to check in.  That's where it began.

The clerk had charged my debit card before I arrived.  I am the mgr at a motel.  I know that is a big no, no.  A guest has until 6 pm before their card on file is charged.  Otherwise, the guest may pay however they choose.  To make matters worse, she charged me $310 instead of the $273 I was quoted.  She told me she would take the pet charge off.  I thought she meant as a good faith gesture for charging the wrong amount.  No.  She meant she would take the pet fee off and my dogs would have to stay elsewhere.  What???  Now she's charged my debit card $310.  My credit card $310.  Then chrgd my cc $262(the amount without the dogs).  Then I told her that wouldn't happen so she charged my card with the pet fee back on it.

By now she says she can't use my card anymore or it will be locked up by all the charges.  My cc company called me and asked what was going on.  I asked them to please take all the charges off.  They said they would look into it. 

My daughter shows up and says she has government IDand would they please give me the gov rate.  The front desk clerk chrgs my card again without my permission.  My cc calls me again.  I asked them to make her stop.  The put a block on my card and cancelled all the charges. 

In the meantime, I go to the room and it stinks.  It (as bad as I hate to say this kind of stuff) smells like sex and cigarettes.  It's suppose to be a non-smoking room.  My daughter and I decide I would get another motel.  We called around and found one just to find out my credit cards have been maxed out.  I couldn't get a room anywhere.  What was I going to do?  I couldn't stay at my daughter's because I was there for her wedding.  A lot of the wedding party was staying at her house.  I couldn't stay in my car because I had the dogs.  Our solution was stay at her house as much as possible and only go to the room to sleep then go back to her house to shower and hang out.  Stranded in Maryland on my daughters wedding.  Great!

I catnapped on her couch that night.  I go to get my things from the motel and I've been locked out.  They locked me out.  They wanted more money.  I had no more to give.  I told them they had single-handedly shut down both my cards.  They would have to wait till Monday before they could get anymore money off my card.  Then my phone rings.  Someone let my dog out and she runs off and gets hit.  I fly off to take care of her.  I make it back 2 hrs before the wedding.  I demand they open the door so I could get my stuff.  They let me in but I took a shower there and dressed for the wedding.  Of course the room was locked again after I left.

To make a long story shorter, I got back in the next morning to get my stuff.  I found a remote on the floor at the head of the bed.  When I reached down to get it, I almost gagged.  The smell was awful.  I pulled the sheet back and found 3 rat droppings on the bed.  I let out a scream and threw my things in the hall.  I went back in to take pictures then out as fast as I could.

I had to borrow money from my daughter for gas to get home because they charged my cards over $1400.  Some of it was authorized and some was pre-authorized but either way I couldn't get home without help. I was livid.

Got home.  My cc company cancelled everything on the card from Super 8.  I was happy but imagine my surprise when Super 8 chgd my card another $58 the day after I got home.  I had both my cards cut off and re-issued. 

Now here's the kicker.  After all that, they say I should have reported the rat poop to the front desk, not call them after the fact.  I told them I have pictures.  They said they didn't care.  They also said it was my fault my card was charged so many times.  They said I kept changing my mind.  Right.  Like I want my card charged over and over!???  They said the front desk clerk had been there a whopping 10 months and they had not had any complaints before.  Maybe because she's not been there long enough for the bad reviews to make it to the main headquarters.  Apparently, they have not read their reviews on Trip Advisor.  Please take a moment and read Trip Advisor before checking into this motel.  It will save you a fortune and a headache.

In a nutshell.... Bad motel; stinks; sticky fingered clerk; rat poop; poor guest relations; poor heaquarters relations; constant denial of any wrong doing on their part; and critism if you dare try to tell them your bad experience.

Go to Trip Advisor.  Look up Super 8, California, MD.  Then look up American Classic Suites, Johnson City, TN.  I have been a Mgr for over 4 yrs.  All motels have one or two complaints.  It's the nature of the business.  Someone gets angry and posts a bad review.  It happens.  When a motel has one after another, after another, after another, there's something wrong.  Should have listened to my own advice.  They say hind sight is 20/20.  At least I can save you from going through the same experience.