A Fun Trip Tarnished by Fraud and Poor Management!
My family and I recently stayed at the SBCC. We decided to take a quick weekend getaway after the Thanksgiving Holiday. We found a great rate on Hotwire and having stayed at this Hotel in the past, we were happy to be returning to the SBCC. Upon check in, we were given a high floor room with a city view, and the front desk agent provided both of our Children with a "Kids Care Pack", which the kids loved. Room was typical, 2 queen beds, and a bathroom, nothing fancy, but typical hotel room. This hotel is short walk to Inner Harbor, which was ideal with small children. We did not use the Hotel Parking, since there is a public parking garage directly across the street from this hotel, and it was cheaper than the valet parking the hotel offers. Overall, we were satisfied with our 1 night stay. It was several days later, that I realized we scammed by someone at the Hotel!
We used the convienience of the video check out. SInce we had booked through Hotwire, our room was paid in full, so of course the "Folio" showed $0.00. We checked out, dropped our keys in the drop box and were on our way, another problem free trip.....or so we thought. Several days after our stay, I was reviewing my credit card statement and noticed a charge of $60.00 to my credit card by Sheraton Hotels. I found this odd as we had paid for our room through Hotwire, which collects all fees upfront, and we did not use any hotel services or parking. So how can I have a charge to my account? I contacted my credit card company to confirm the charges. They confirmed that the charges were accurate and that the charge was manually keyed by the local hotel. Assuming it was an error by the hotel, I contacted the hotel directly. After being transferred to 3 different voicemail boxes, all for accounting, I became frustrated. I submitted an online inquiry to Starwood Hotels. The response I recevied was that customer care had contacted the local hotel manager and he advised that the charges were NOT from Sheraton Hotels, and that I had to deal with Hotwire or my Credit Card company about the charges...Really! Someone at your hotel fraudulently added unauthorized charges to my credit card and you pass the blame on to another company. I contacted Hotwire and my credit card company to again confirm all charges, and again they advised that the charges were from Sheraton Hotels. After 7 emails, 3 phone calls, and an email to their corporate customer relations, I was advised by a customer service agent that they would be sending me a check for the amount that was incorreclty charged to my credit card. 3 weeks later, I still have not been credited the amount or recevied payment for the funds that were fraudulently charged to my credit card, I have received no response from the local Hotel Management (Phone or Email) in regard to my complaint to acknowledge it, and I have received no explaination or apology for the situation. I guess the hotel manager has chosen to hide behind the customer service representative and not take accountability for the fraud that has occured by one of his staff members. Hopefully whoever recevied the funds that were fraudulently charged, enjoys the extra money for the Holidays! Needless to say, we will never stay at a Starwood Property again and my faith as a frequent customer of Starwood Hotels has been completely destroyed due to the lack of ownership and accountability by Management.