Our family had been planning to attend a reunion at Atlantic City on April 28th. We needed to bring our disabled golden retriever dog along so that he can be properly cared for by us. I was checking around for a place that can accommodate him. On 3/26/12, in the late evening, I called to inquire at the Showboat Atlantic City at 800-621-0200 if they accept dogs. The first question that I asked the reservation clerk who answered my call was, "Do you take dogs here?" The clerk replied, "Yes, we do!" No further information was given to me about any Showboat pet policy or restriction at that time by that clerk. I asked to reserve a pet room for two nights (April 27 and 28). That clerk then inquired about my credit card information and was going to charge me one night to book the room in advance, which I supplied and agreed to at that time. I was given confirmation number ** for our reservation.
We arrived at the Showboat on April 27 just after 12:00 noon after traveling 200 miles with our disabled pet. I proceeded to the check-in and supplied our name and confirmation number. That check-in clerk was a little surprised after I informed her our reservation was for a "pet room" and then inquired about the size and breed of our dog. After telling her it was a 70-pound disabled golden retriever, she informed me their pet policy only allows them to accept up to 50-pound dogs. I questioned why I wasn't told this policy when I made this reservation a month ago, and they charged my credit card back then. That desk clerk then said she would check with her male supervisor, who came out himself.
He explained that their insurance policy would not allow dogs over 50 pounds. He neither could explain to me why the original clerk who booked my reservation never told me that at that time of my telephone reservation. He did say that they would credit my credit card account back because we couldn't stay there with our dog. That was real nice of him because I was going to dispute that charge anyway. I don't know what other action that manager was going to take regarding that reservation employee who booked our room, but I do know that either that employee mishandled my reservation, was not properly trained or supervised, or that hotel policy was confusing to everyone.
I called **, the Showboat reservation manager, on April 29 and lodged my complaint with him, despite it being in vain. There is nothing that the Showboat Atlantic City casino can do to compensate us for ruining our family's event that weekend because of their sloppy reservation service. They are fast at charging our credit card, however.
