My experience with Holiday Inn
Hi all
Whats up?
A few days ago i was in the U.K
I have to made some bad experience with the Hotel "Holliday Inn" in Wokingham.
And today i like to share this experience.
Please think about it and if you like to help me you can share the video
The Video
Before we write you all the details we trie to give you a overview with a video about the situation.
The details
Its hard for me to write in english words all the details. Cause everything is very complicated. So my friend Glyn, who tried to helped me in wokingham to fix the problem, write you all the details and the full story about my situation.
Hi Folks,
My name's Glyn Dewis and I'm a Photographer, Retoucher and Workshop Instructor over in the UK, and I helped to co-ordinate Calvin's recent trip to the UK to deliver his 2 Day Workshop; arranging the Studio location, suitable Models and having made enquiries, recommended a couple of hotels for Calvin, his assistant Gabor Richter and also some of the Workshop attendees to stay in for the duration of their stay.
Out of the recommended hotels, Calvin opted to stay in the Holiday Inn in Winnersh, UK which is just a short drive from the studio so ideal…or at least that's how it first appeared…
Two rooms (one for Calvin and one for Gabor) were booked online back in May of 2011 but Calvin received no 'Booking Confirmation' email and so phoned the hotel direct to see what the situation was. The female receptionist told Calvin that there was indeed a reservation but for just one room and recommended that once the phone call had ended, to go back to the hotel website and again book a second room; which he promptly did.
Ok so come Friday 26th August, the day before the workshop, and both Calvin and Gabor arrive at Heathrow, I meet up with them and drive them first to the studio to check all was in order for the following day and then it was on to the hotel where on checking in, the female receptionist said that 3 rooms had been booked; however it didn't appear to be an issue as it was something they would 'sort out'.
Later that evening upon returning from a meal, Calvin was informed that he would have to pay for the 3rd room for the duration of his stay…a cost of some £200 and despite explaining that only 2 rooms were required, no confirmation email was received for the 1st booking, and being advised by staff to book another room, the Front Office Manager refused to assist other than suggesting Calvin call a number from off the Hotel Website. Having only a German Mobile and Sim, Calvin asked if he could use a hotel phone to call the number but was met with a brick wall and reply from the Front Office Manager saying that "The hotel phones don't call out".
The following day was the first part of the workshop, the photography part so when Calvin was in full flow I left the studio and headed on back to the hotel for a meeting with the Front Office Manager to see if the situation could be satisfactorily resolved. The conversation with the Manager ended with a promise that the matter would be looked into and sorted out during the day and that I would expect a phone call back with an answer a short while later.
The phone call didn't come so, as is the norm these days, a message was sent out on Social Media which did in fact get a response from IHG (Inter-Continental hotel Group) who oversee a number of hotel chains, asking that I email them the circumstances and they too would look into what had happened.
Later that same day I managed to again speak in person to the Front Office Manager who went on to explain that he too had now spoken to IHG and that 'they' had agreed the best course of action to "Help Mr Hollywood" was to give him a full reimbursement of the £200 if the hotel were to sell one of the 4 remaining available rooms to a new guest; clearly not the ideal solution but we had his 'guarantee' that this would not be a problem and the room would definitely sell as there was a music festival being held nearby and lots of attendees are looking for accommodation.
Feeling assured we would manage to resolve this matter the next morning a conversation with the front office manager went confirmed that in fact 2 rooms had since been sold to new guests so you would expect this to be the end of the matter, but no! A phone call was made by the Front Office Manager who then came back saying that I had misunderstood, as had the other members of the public around me at the time, and that the agreement had been that the hotel had to be fully booked i.e. ALL rooms had to be sold before Calvin would be entitled to his money back.
I just seemed that every time a solution presented itself the hotel had an opposing answer which meant they would not have to pat back any of the £200 for unwanted room.
To add to this a member of staff gave me a printout of the booking confirmation email which clearly showed that it had been sent on to the incorrect address; calven@calvenhollywood.com instead of calvin@calvinhollywood.com but the hotel managers answer was that this was not down to the hotel but Calvin spelling his name incorrectly.
Why would 2 guests requiring only 2 rooms go ahead and book a 3rd room? To a layperson it just didn't make sense but in a poor attempt at 'thinking on his feet' the front office manager went on to say that "only today we have a Mr Smith staying here with his wife who has booked 5 rooms for themselves so it does happen" … I mean, really? Come on…if you're going to attempt an untruth please be a little more creative with the name…Mr Smith? I ask you?
Anyway the long and short of this is that the hotel say they only sold 3 of the remaining 4 available rooms; coincidence? Interesting though is that on the day Calvin was checking out I spoke to a member of staff on reception that I had not encountered before this point and noncholently asked if they had an vacancies to which the reply they were fully booked came back. Really? So you're fully booked you say? but then no, the light bulb came on and a hesitant "Oh no sorry, we have 1 room available" was the response!
So there you have it, sure we had an incredible workshop as you would expect and time spent with Calvin and Gabor of the 4 days I'll never forget for the laughs we had but it has to be said, the matter with the hotel did put a bit of a dampener on things…it was completely unnecessary and to be honest something I just couldn't comprehend. I mean surely a gesture of good will from the hotel would have served them so much better than completely shutting down and refusing to help in any way and in fact smiling each and every time I spoke to try and help; something I did have to tell them to stop doing because it felt by them smiling they were being dismissive and showing no respect whatsoever for a clients problem.
Somehow I get the feeling when I go out to Germany to spend some time with Calvin and Gabor in the next few months, the experience will be completely different…it's just very much disappointing that the Holiday Inn treat clients as a number, a bum on seat for want of a better phrase but my gut instinct is that this is a bit of mistake on their behalf. Let's face it Social Media is very much out there and the norm nowadays for people to publish their experiences be they good or bad and with the large number of followers Calvin has this I'm sure will be heard and voiced by 10's if not hundreds of thousands.
Glyn
ps> It's also worth mentioning that on the Saturday evening whilst at the reception a female resident/guest approached the front office manager saying that the lights in her room weren't working. A call was made at reception to maintenance but there was a complete refusal to attend the ladies room despite the front office manager almost pleading with whoever was on the end of the phone to go and check it out!
It would seem that Calvin & Gabor weren't the only residents/guests to receive poor treatment by the Holiday Inn, Winnersh, UK.
What i think
Well, you have to know that i am not a guy who is looking for trouble. But that was not fair. I was thinking so long about that to find where maybe i have the fault. Cant find something. I like to have the money back. Its not much but i can buy many great toys for my kids with that money.
And if i get the money back i ll buy then great things and i will record a video. If i don't get the money back, i ll also inform you in a couple of weeks.
P.S
In my next post ill write about the good things and the workshop what i had in the U.K
Calvin
Hi Calvin (und Gabor),
Sorry to hear you weren’t able to resolve this successfully with the hotel. Not a good example of great customer service.
I’ve had a quick look on the internet and have found out that Stephen McCall is the UK Managing Director of the InterContinental Hotel Group (stephen.mccall@ihg.com). It’s never good to have to go straight to the top of any business to give such feedback, but perhaps you should email Stephen and share with him your poor experience. Someone in that position should always be interested in recieving & responding to customer feedback
I hope it hasn’t deterred you from returning to the UK soon for another workshop (and maybe I will be able to attend it this time).
Regards,
David
PS I guess the positive from this experience is that you did get to make a great video – sehr witzig!
Thats really dissapointing guys! I hope you get the money back!
Hey Calvin,
i just saw the video on Facebook. I’m still laughing on the floor in front. I hope the cleaning lady got her tip.
Tim
Hi Calvin,
all I can say is “welcome to UK!”. Customer Service is extremely poor, they are just “very lovely” during the sales process. I think your mistake was to go for this “pay the third room please” approach. You should have refused it completely. Arguing with British Customer Service is an extremely frustrating thing. Inform the management and stand your ground. They have no right wahtsoever to charge you 3 rooms. Oh and another thing – welcome to British tea culture
Hi Calvin,
I find this ridiculous, customer service really low and not interested in resolving the issue. I made a good decision to stay in St. Annes for the workshop, as it was less expensive and pleasant, with helpful stuff. I hope you will get you money back and that HI will realize that this is not the way customers should be treated.
All the best!
Maciej
p.s. great video, I liked it a lot!
How Epic is that
Ihr müsst spaß gehabt haben.
Schade das ihr da so ein pech hattet.
And who says “German’s don’t have a sense of humor”?
We are sorry for the problems you encountered at the Holiday Inn during your recent stay. We will send you a private message to contact you to address your concern and bring this issue to closure.
Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience,
Kevin R.
IHGCare
Really sad about the experience you had in HolidayInn but hope and wish you get back your money and hope they dont repeat such stuff with other folks who come/book with them.
As Jack said — who says Germans don’t have sense of humor ?? Man that bed scene was really hilarious
I am laughing and laughing, this video is so funny. After this I´m sure you get your money back.
Thanks for sharing.
“Bring the issue to closure”. WTF, are they counsellors now! Sounds like standard English hospitality in the hotel trade from my experiences. Good to see the Facebook post finally persuaded them to give you a refund.
You can usually dispute a charge on your credit card and not have to pay until it is resolved. This is a big pain for the company and a small pain for you. It might help get some leverage. Just call your card company and say “I did not order the 3rd room that they charged me for”. You will probably have to send a letter too, but it is worth it.
Oh dear! What a story! Has this been sorted out yet? We have had a very frustrating time with the Holiday Inn in Reading – and had similar experiences with the Front Office Manager!
Dear Calvin,
I am sorry that you have gone through so much trouble. I stay at Holiday Inns from time to time but will not consider it again until I hear that they have corrected your situation.
It is great that you found the time and effort to humor us.
Thank you and good luck!!!
Carlos Ignacio
You should post this on tripadvisor.com so people are aware of this. Negative publicity always gets their attention and would get to a lot more people than just Calvin’s website followers.
A
HaHaHAHA can see why you we’re cracking up after you shot this now… great you can turn a bad situation like this and make the most of it. Really hope you get the refund in the end, keep us updated.
Thank’s for the course, really enjoyed your clear and open workshops/advice, very motivational/inspiring. Anyone thinking of taking one of his workshops would recomend it!
Cheers,
-Pete
Calvin, Ausgezeichnet !!!!!
seriously, what the fuck? without a doubt, that was the most mind numbingly boring and retarded story i’ve ever heard in my life.
if you had any balls on you whatsoever you’d have man’d the fuck up and slapped the shit out of that front desk manager right there and then for what he did to you.
You killed me with that video XD is just SO funny and you did well, Holiday Inn deserved it, and you gave it to them in style too
I’m italian and i found british people a lot sneaky, especially when it comes to customer service. I had a lot of bad experiences too. I feel your pain!
Byeee!!
Silvia
Saddly, a lot of things like that are very common in England, specially in London. I really don’t understood when I was there, what they think about themselves! They don’t have not even a little of respect specially for turists… Anyway… by luck I won’t back England NEVER!
Wow, this is an amazing story. It goes to show that customer service is lacking everywhere except in the US where the workers have to preform or be sacked. The sheer fact that the email address was incorrect should have been all that was needed to get the refund and the matter solved.
InterContinental Hotel Group, well it’s a good thing I did not renew my membership with them this year and after hearing this, I know I will not be signing up again. To give customers this type of service over £200 is appalling.. Not Good and now it’s international and on Facebook, not good PR.
BUT WHO IS FILMING ON THE CAMERA? THERE ARE 3 OF YOU!!!!!! WHAT A STUPID VIDEO! STUIPD GERMANS! TRYING TO TAKE THE PISS!
this is beautiful!!!