Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, InterContinental Hotels Group Charged us $150.00 smoking fine. We did not smoke in the room and 2 of the hotel employees witnessed us in the smoking area JACKSONVILLE Florida

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites
11262 OLD ST. AUGUSTINE RD.
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32257
1-904-8999000

Hotel Manager: Jim
Night Clerk: James Engal
Leaf blower: Pat
Guest Relations: Benjamin Scott
Room Attendant Niki
Room Inspector: Rhonda

Subject: $150 Smoking Fine

Time Line

02-29-2008 approximately 9:00 pm my Harley Davidson broke down so Mr. N and I checked into the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites. The night clerk, James informed us that it was a non smoking room. I told him we were fine with that. We work at a nonsmoking facility with designated outdoor smoking areas, so we are used to that. I asked if smoking was permitted on the grounds, if not I would happily walk off the grounds to smoke. James directed us to the outdoor smoking area.
Ray and I went to our room, unhooked our saddlebags from our bikes then made some phone calls.

It took approximately an hour. The smoking area was conveniently located. We walked out our door, took the elevator and there it was. We walked right past the front desk.

While in the smoking area we met another couple from SC.
Afterwards we went upstairs and went immediately to sleep.

03-01-2008
Mr. N got up, went to the smoking area and then to breakfast. I then got up and went straight to the breakfast bar. Afterwards we went to the smoking area and mapped out our day.

Next we went to find out what was wrong with my bike. We discovered the battery cable was broken. So we went back to the smoking area and made some phone calls and tried to figure out how to rig it until we got to Titusville.
While out there we talked to another hotel employee, Pat, the leaf blower.

03-03-2008 at 11:00 pm I arrived home and my wife told me she noticed that our account was charged an additional $150. She called the Holiday express and was told it was a smoking fee. She told him that if we knew it was a non smoking room then we would have smoked outside, it is not illegal to smoke. The man on the phone said, "Yes it is, it is illegal to smoke in any public place including hotel room in the state of Florida."

Well I immediately called the hotel and spoke with James, the night clerk. He remembered us, he remembered us talking and laughing about the smoking and remembered us smoking outside. He said he couldn't reverse the charges but his manager Jim could. I told him I would call him and also I asked James if he would talk to Jim about what we talked about and that he knew that we were outside smoking. He said he had no problem with that.

03-04-2008
I called back and spoke to Jim. He said that the room Attendant, Niki said "Strong smoking smell, ashes on the dresser, night stand, bed and carpet, empty cigarette packs in trash." I told him we did not smoke in that room and there are 2 employees that can testify to that. Why would we bother walking to the smoking area several times if I'm going to smoke in the room? We didn't eat or shower in that room. All we did was sleep for a few hours.

The room probably did smell of smoke, gas, grease and road grim etc, because we are bikers. That's what we smell like. It is not illegal to smell like a biker. Nowhere was it posted that bikers must shower upon entering room. To address the cigarette pack in the trash I carry a metal cigarette case. I did load my case with a fresh pack and threw the package in to the trashcan. There were no signs stating that empty cigarette packs could not be disposed of in the trashcan.

As far as ashes on the dresser, nightstand, bed and carpet. That is a flat out lie. There might have been rode grim from our saddlebags and clothes, but that falls under the normal use of a room.

Jim said I needed to call Guest relations. So I did and spoke with Benjamin Scott. I told him, we did not at anytime smoke in that room and we have two of their employee that can verify that. I explained to him everything I explained to Jim. He said he would investigate and it could take up to 7 days to accredit our account.

03-07-2008
We received and e-mail from Benjamin Scott.
"Dear Mr. R,
Thank you for contacting Guest Relations regarding the billing you received from the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Jacksonville, FL. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to bring this matter to our attention and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.

I have contacted the management of the hotel regarding the charges you received and have verified them to be correct. We were informed the charges were due to the evidence found for smoking in a non-smoking room.
Once again, we appreciate you taking the time to contact our office. We know you have many choices when it comes to lodging and we hope you will continue to choose IHG for your future travel needs. Please let us know if we may be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,
Benjamin Scott
Guest Relations
IHG
Phone: 800.621.0555
Fax: 801.975.1846
www.ihg.com
Reference No. 2166042
Summary:
We were aware that the room was a non smoking room. We did not smoke in the room and their employees can back that up. It makes no sense to spend so much time in the smoking area only to smoke in the room. The whole Smoking fee appears to be a scam. They knew a lot of bikers were coming through due to bike week in Daytona. They know most of them smoke. They figure they can charge the $150.00 to their cards without them noticing it until they get back home, several states away. Therefore they would not come back and protest the charges. If I had to bet, the cleaning crew probably gets a bonus for every deep cleaning they do.

In addition, I would like to add. I have received a copy of the room evaluation by mail. It was not even filled out. It just has a comment on the bottom, but the rest of it is blank. Therefore a complete room evaluation was not done.

We do plan on taking the above named defendants to small claims court. We do not have any problems riding our bikes a couple states over to attend court because we will not be falsely accused.

Michelle
camden, South Carolina
U.S.A.

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