tripa961
Business · October 20252/10
On arriving at the Delta City Centre in Ottawa, I was greeted with a much larger bill up front than my reservation (made direct on the Delta website) stated. Two clerks were present at the front desk...On arriving at the Delta City Centre in Ottawa, I was greeted with a much larger bill up front than my reservation (made direct on the Delta website) stated. Two clerks were present at the front desk and they said no, that extra amount was not refundable. I was just going to be charged more than my reservation claimed.
I resolved to fix this asap, but restaurants were closing and I had to get dinner. I dropped my stuff in the room and went out to dinner for an hour or two.
When I came back I called the Marriott hotline. They started talking "3-5 business days" after somebody filled out a form and it was clear they weren't in a hurry to handle this issue or felt like taking it seriously.
Took my stuff and went downstairs, saying that if I couldn't get the room for the rate promised I would be forced to leave.
The clerk brought the manager out who instead of clarifying things or fixing a simple error on their part proceeded, ultimately, to pick a fight with me. He raised his voice, interrupted, used verbal "shell game" language to obfuscate what he was claiming about charges etc.. He contradicted himself on several occasions. I never got a clear story from him in the end and I never got a single clear explanation from anybody–each person’s story was contradicted by some other person’s. It really felt like the manager was trying to have a deliberately unproductive discussion. I just wanted the charges I was promised on reservation or a full refund and I’d be on my way.
As a guest, if you stay in the room after expressing displeasure, hotels refuse to take your complaints seriously, pretending that your staying constitutes satisfaction, which it isn't. So I was forced to leave. Of course, if you try to leave, the hotel wants to keep your money and will try everything they can to do so. The manager said if I left he'd charge me for the room anyway. Marriott created a problem that took time to work on, and claimed that constituted a night’s stay they should be paid for. Marriott deliberately gives you no reasonable option because that pads their bottom line–they don’t care what it does to guests.
As a result of the above, I ended up homeless in the rain and single-digit temps because of Marriott/Delta's management. No other hotel rooms were available downtown in that city that weekend on such short notice and I was forced to pay big fees for a last second train ticket back home. Events on the following days were missed and people who were relying on me to volunteer for their community events were let down.
Maybe Delta made a clerical error, or maybe they just refused to communicate properly, but In retrospect, it feels like Delta jacked up rates simply because they could–because everything in town was full, and they could just do that. Given the state of the hotel industry these days, it wouldn’t be surprising.
At present, the full inflated weekend stay charge is still sitting on my card as a hold. Subsequent follow-ups with Marriott have been fruitless.
Marriott escalated a problem and made things worse when they should have simply made a simple adjustment of the charge to what was initially agreed-upon in the reservation. I never asked for a discount or perks. I DID ask for my high-floor room request (made months earlier) to be honoured and was told to pound sand.Show More
