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Sheraton's Lost & Found

Sheraton • Billing disputes • Personal injury • Lost & lost again • Shabby treatment of military personnel • Smelly, noisy room

Pamela of Whittier CA (12/11/03):
While on vacation in New Mexico, my husband and I spent the night at the Sheraton Old Town Albuquerque Hotel where we were greeted with great customer service and excellent amenities. Unfortunately when we left the hote, I left my purse behind and it was not until a couple of hours later and a few hundred miles away that I realized my terrible mistake.

After repeated phone calls I finally reached somebody in housekeeping who claimed that housekeeping had found the purse in the room and would mail it back to me asap. She took my address down but seemed to have a problem spelling...so she gave the phone to another associate who had less problems with spelling and I wasn't too confident that he got my address correct either. The following day housekeeping manager called me to confirm my address & request a credit card number to deliver my purse. I told him take the money from my purse and use that for delivery fees...and I immediately felt his discomfort.

I asked him to check my purse for the money, and of course...it was gone. He took my address, promised to mail out what was left of my purse and hurriedly hung up. After sitting for a few moments in shock, I called the hotel manager and was given to a Tina Sanchez. Wow was she a cold one. She had not not word of apology or empathy for my situation. She said she was not responsible for the missing cash. True...but she is responsible for her staff and the fact that the cash disappeared while in their hands.

I wasn't looking to replace my cash, I wasn't looking for a free stay, I can certainly afford the Sheraton whenever I choose. I was looking for an apology and an investigation into the matter. But I received neither...at least until I mentioned that I was going to contact corporate offices and give a complete report as to the bad customer service I had received. She started to stammer out a "I'll make sure an investigation..." when I told her thank you and hung up.

One week later, a lady in housekeeping called me at my home requesting my credit card number. I asked her that they had promised to deliver my purse last week. She said "I know." I told her that they have now had my purse for over a week and my money has been stolen and are they waiting for the rest of my belongings to be stolen too? She said "I know." I told her that this was ridiculous and I was tired of everyone passing the buck and nobody knowing what the procedures were in a situation like this. She said "I know."

Anyways...I received a letter from Elizabeth Saenz - Director of Guest Services promising me a complete investigation and some answers for me by yesterday...and do you know what I heard from Ms. Saenz? Absolutely nothing. No big surprise. I can deal with the fact that the staff of the Sheraton Hotel took my measley $180 ...good luck to them I hope they have a good drunk off it. What I cannot tolerate though, is the complete ignorance and incompetence on the part of the Sheraton Staff...from hotel manager to director of guest services...to room maids.

What angers me is that when I walked in thru the door I was treated royally...when I had a negative experience at the hands of their employees...I had a feeling they were immensely happy that I was several hundred miles away. But I am taking matters further and will continue to complain and post my experience. There is a policy that is supposedly practiced by all Sheraton Hotels...called the "Sheraton Service Promise." Which states that "NO MATTER WHAT THE PROBLEM, GUESTS WHO ARE UNSATISFIED NEED ONLY TELL A HOTEL ASSOCIATE AND THEY WILL AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE COMPENSATION." I was kinda wondering...so what happens when the hotel doesn't follow the Sheraton Service Promise? Because I am unsatisfied with the help and service I received from Sheraton Old Town Albuquerque...and another week has passed by...and I still am waiting for my purse to be returned to me. Yeah...the staff of the Sheraton is certainly on the ball!

Tom of Dallas, TX, writes:
I was in Dover, DE on business and had booked one night at the Sheraton Hotel. I stayed the night and went to work the next morning. I left my things in the room since I planned to return and pack in time for checkout. That morning I found out that I was going to have to stay another night. I called the hotel asking if I could keep the room a second night, and they said that the room had already been reserved for another guest. They offered me another room and said that they would take care of moving my things to the other room.

When I returned to the hotel, I went to the front desk to get my new key. I went to my new room and everything was there except for my laptop computer. I called the front desk stating that my laptop was missing or had either been left in my previous room or stolen. They then contacted housekeeping (who was responsible for moving my belongings). The manager of housekeeping called me and said that they did have my laptop and would bring it to me shortly.

Five minutes later, a maid knocked on my door and gave me a plastic bag with my laptop in it. When I opened the bag I noticed that my laptop was now in four different pieces. It had obviously been dropped and broken beyond repair. The screen was broken off into a separate piece. The keyboard was broken off into a separate piece. Several pieces of the main body of the laptop were broken off and were not in the plastic bag. The battery would not stay in since the door holding it in was gone. And as suspected, it would not power up.

I called the housekeeping manager again and she said that a maid had dropped it and that I must contact the hotel manager. I called the front desk and they said that the manager would call me the next morning. I never heard from the manager the following day despite the fact that I called them repeatedly throughout the day. Finally on the following day (it had now been approx 36 hours from finding my laptop busted), an assistant manager called and said that I would be given my room for free.

I was being offered a break on a $90/night room in exchange for them rendering my $2500 laptop useless garbage. I went to the front desk fully expecting to make a scene until the manager finally spoke to me. The manager did come out and apparently did not appreciate the fact that I would stand at the front desk and yell at them in front of other customers. I explained to her that if they had not broken my laptop, admitted to breaking it, given me the runaround for 36 hours, and then offered me $300 for my $2500 laptop, then I wouldn't have a reason to yell at them in front of their other customers. She then denied that they had broken the laptop (even though the housekeeping manager offered the information that they a maid had dropped it), accused me of bringing the laptop into their hotel already broken, and then said that I would in fact be responsible for paying for full room rate for every night of my stay. "

Throughout the following months, I tried to contact the hotel to no avail. The charge for the room did appear on my credit card. I fought the charge through my credit card company and it was removed. However, I was still out $2200 and had a laptop that was unfixable.

We agree that Tom has a right to be unhappy though yelling and causing a scene is never the best way to resolve a problem - and these days can get you arrested with alarming speed. Also, everyone who travels with a laptop should be sure it's covered on a homeowner's or other insurance policy. Accidents will happen, after all. Having said that, Tom would be perfectly within his rights to sue the hotel, though the outcome's far from assured. After all, every hotel room is plastered with notices warning guests not to leave valuables in their room and disclaiming responsibility for theft or damage.

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