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Howard Johnson - Service Complaints

Howard Johnson's •Poor service, filthy rooms •Rate disputes •Cancellation policy •False advertising •

Michelle of Fort Lawn SC (5/30/02):
My husband and I booked a room at the Howard johnson Riverfront Hotel in Charleston, SC for the weekend of May 4th and May 5th for our Anniversary. We booked this particular hotel thru Lodging.com who stated that the amenities were as follows: Riverfront rooms overlooking the Ashley river, resturant and lounge called the "Recovery Room," pool w/ tiki bar, hairdryer in room and balconies.

When we paid for the room on lodging.com there was a request for special services section, as it was our Anniversary I requested 2 champagne glasses from the lounge to celebrate with a bottle of champagne. When we arrived, there were no glasses there, the balcony was 2 feet wide overlooking the parking lot of the McDonald's and the room was VERY small.

We settled in and then went to the lobby to look at brochures for our first day there. Upon returning for the night we went to bed and discovered the bed sloped to the left, waking the next morning to backaches and headaches we went to the front desk to ask for them to flip the mattress. We proceeded to the "Brittlebank Resturant" which was only open for breakfast (not stated on their website) to eat. We were the second couple in there w/two waitresses. Our waitress was rude and looked like she had not showered in quite some time, we then got the buffet bar which was cold food with rock hard muffins and bagels that would break a tooth.

My husband went to pay the $15+ bill as I went to the hall to get more pamphlets to plan our first full day out in Charleston. Our waitress coming from the resturant approached me telling me I had not left her a tip! I looked in the resturant and noticed that my husband was still standing in line to pay the bill, I told her this and she said ok. I walked inside to tell my husband not to leave her a tip as a GOOD waitress should not have to ASK for a tip. Come to find out our waitress had my husband's $20 in her hand to get change from the front desk, never realizing that we needed $1's to even leave a tip and she had our money to begin with.

After entering the lobby to book a tour I overheard a gentleman complaining to the front desk about plaster falling from the ceiling in his room, he was with a group of kids from Elon College in NC. One of the kids asked us how much we had paid for the room, we told her $80+ she said they paid $115 for a group rate and that it was a filthy room. We left and returned at 11pm that night. Upon re-entering our room we discovered that the towels we had left on the floor by the bed were still there and the trash we left on the table was still there, only the bathroom was left cleaned (sort of). We went to bed wanting to leave early to get out of there.

We went to check out via the TV and discovered there was a charge on our room bill of $147+. We were horrified as we paid in advance on May 1st and we had the bill in our hands, we went right to the front desk to conplain and was told that this was the rate that lodging.com was being charged for the room not us and we were ok, had we not asked we would have double paid and not even known it until our bill came in the mail.

Upon returning home on May 7th I emailed Howard Johnson customer service and told them this same story, I got a form email letter back stating that this particular hotel was franchise owned and that the owner would be contacted. On May 13th I still had not heard anything and I again emailed Howard Johnson cust. service who propmtly told me to give the owner 14 days not including weekends to reply to my complaint. On May 29th still no reply from the hotel owner I again emailed Howard Johnson who sent me the same form letter only this time stating I would be compensated for my complaint.

Doug of Coeur d'Alene ID (4/22/03):
I had a terrible experience during a business trip to Birmingham, Alabama in January of 2003. The general manager was a very rude lady that yelled at me when I approached her about the situation, so I waited until arriving back home to deal with it. I called HOJO's customer service and explained the situation for resolution. After calling back every two weeks until April 12, 2003, Mary Job verbally agreed on a resolution dollar amount of $95.50 to be sent to me.

I waited two more weeks for the check. A check arrived for one-half of the verbally-agreed upon amount ($47.75). When I called to find out what happend to our agreement, I was stonewalled by the customer service rep, and told that "there will not be any further amount sent." I would like justice. If the Manager of Customer Service of a large chain like HOJO can make a verbal declaration that a check will be cut and sent for a specific amount and then change it (by half), and then just ignore the customer there after, can't something be done? What would you do?

Dorothy of Brookings, SD (8/2/03):
We were given a non-smoking room at the Flagstaff, AZ, Howard Johnson, but it reeked of smoke. The tv was not working, The bar on the bathtub was very loose from the wall, there was garbage under the bed. The blankets were not changed because my night gown still smelled like smoke the next night. The toilet had an elongated seat on a toilet that was not. Overall the room was not clean, On our vacation it was the highest priced ($120) motel on the trip and the worst. We had suites in Mesa for a lot less. I always thought Howard Johnsons were nice motels but will never stay at another one. We had a lousy nights sleep in a dirty room. We should have got it for half price.

Veronica of Jacksonville FL (7/5/01):
I hosted my family's bi-annual family reunion at the Howard Johnson in St. Augustine FL from 6/22-6/25. During our stay the following situations occurred:

• No room service for several rooms. This meant dirty linen, no vacuuming bathrooms not cleaned etc.
• Fecees found in the toliet upon check in.
• no working air conditions
• exposed electrical wires for lights and appliances as well as plumbing. This was in my children's room.
• cracked closet mirror.
• different posted prices for buffet.
• different room rates.
• The hotel changed management and was under construction.

I was not notified about the name change of the hotel nor the construction, until my arrival. Therefore I could not let my family know that we were not staying at a reputable hotel, but at a privately owned hotel, with very nasty owners.

The sprinkler system turned on while an approved function was being hosted by the poolside. Management had approved the outdoor function in August of 2000. The sprinkler system should have been adjusted to accommodate for the function. When management was notified about the sprinklers and that a handicapped person had fallen out of their wheelchair, due to the force of the sprinklers, they refused to come out and turn the sprinklers off.

I personally called the owners at home to inform them of the danger of the handicapped person as well as elderly persons present who were trapped on the dias, because the sprinklers were blocking their paths, their response was "too bad". The handicapped person had to be carried off, through the sprinklers to a dry area. He was humiliated! we had to wait and devise a plan to move the elderly, so they would not slip on the wet grass and sidewalk.

The ironic part is that I sat outside the following two nights at the same time and the sprinklers did not come on.

Charles of Mebane NC (8/6/02):
Was asked by housekeeping if we wanted to make our own bed, did not pick up dirty towels, no bags in trash cans. Never entered room to clean during my stay there. No damage done. I do feel that this employee should be trained to do his job in the right manner or be let go. I found him to be rude and uncaring in his job and of the fact that I was a quest there.

Julie of San Francisco (4/3/03):
My boyfriend's wallet containing his drivers license, credit card, and about $400.00 cash was stolen out of our hotel room. The mgment. checked our door lock and it revealed only us and the maid as having entered the room. I had come up to use the bathroom while the maid was in our room cleaning, she left the room unfinished while I was in the bathroom. We discovered the wallet missing about an hour later. It had been hidden in a specific place and was gone.

The manager was not on duty at the time of the incident and the front desk agent was not very helpful at all. We spoke with the manager the first thing the next morning and he wasn't much help either. We were not offered any type of compensation or anything. We filed a police report with the Ft. Lauderdale police and filed an incident report with the hotel. We were told that the insurance claims adjustor for Howard Johnson would be contacting us within 10 days to discuss the claim.

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