Overcharging and lack of integrity on part of hotel management
Let me start by saying I am a seasoned traveler and have left predominantly positive reviews for hotels on this site. I realize that hotels can make mistakes, but so long as they act with integrity and fix their mistakes I just overlook them. In the case of the Sheraton Tribecca they made a mistake, but it went downhill from there.
I booked my hotel room over 2 weeks in advance and paid the full amount for a room that was non-refundable. When I got my Visa statement I saw that the hotel had reversed the charges, and recharged my Visa after checkout resulting in an additional charge of $80.
I contacted Sheraton which resulted in a response from a manager at the hotel. His first response was that this was normal practice and had to do with incidentals. This did not make sense, and I told him so. He then wanted to see copies of my Visa statement which I sent to him. Despite assurance that this would be dealt with in a matter of days, a week went by with no word. I then called several times, e-mailed, but got no answer. After a couple of weeks I contacted Sheraton customer service again, and found that my file had been closed by the hotel manager. No refund, no response, nothing from the hotel!
Sheraton customer service explained they could not help me as their protocol required simply re-opening the file and waiting for the hotel to respond. I called the hotel again, and again the manager was not available, so I left a message that if I did not have a response from him within 24 hours I would escalate this matter with Sheraton corporate.
I have to say that closing the file without a refund, without notifying me, and without even responding to my calls/e-mails after 2 weeks is deplorable. I have spent far too much time on long distance phone calls, e-mails, and just generally being frustrated with this hotel's management.
If you stay at the Sheraton Tribecca you are taking a chance. You might get lucky, or you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. My advice: there are lots of nice hotels in New York City, don't take the chance at the Sheraton Tribecca.