Don't stay at the Best Western South Coast Inn!

We are posting this here to warn you and we are filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as no one should be subjected to what we endured. This is a hotel where the owner and the manager have demonstrated they don't care about their customers. During our second stay at this hotel we were in a room where the toilet wouldn't flush. It wouldn't flush even if the toilet was empty. We had to call the front desk twice to get it fixed, and each time they sent a new maintenance person, and each time we were told the problem was fixed. When it wasn't fixed for the third time, I called the front desk in frustration. After being put on hold for a long time, the front desk person offered us the use of the bathroom in a room about 10 doors down from ours. We couldn't just move into that room because it had only one double bed. We were four people in a suite with a king and a sofabed and no working toilet. No other rooms were available for that night. I couldn't imagine getting up in the middle of the night and walking outside in my pajamas to use the bathroom. We weren't camping here. We were paying lots of money for a hotel room for four nights. So, I explained how I didn't see how the two rooms could work being so far apart and I said in frustration, "How about just comping us a couple of nights and bringing us a plunger." I added that I had to think about what we were going to do here since we had been told that most hotels in the area were sold out. After a few minutes, I called the front desk back and accepted the offer of the second room for the toilet. We were also offered a new suite room to move to the next day, which we gratefully accepted. We thought everything was all resolved. We would have a new room with a working toilet and everything would be fine. .....but it was not to be.

We were meeting friends for dinner so we had to leave. When we returned, the same front desk person knocked on our door and told us maintenance had snaked the toilet so it was working now. I wish maintenance had done that after our first call. We thanked him and gave him back the keys to the second room. I was told to talk the front desk the next morning about the situation. The next morning I talked to a new desk clerk about the nonworking toilet and he said he knew about it and the owner had heard and we were told we were required to vacate the premises immediately that morning and we were never going to be allowed to stay there again. I was in shock. We have been staying at hotels on a regular basis, including many Best Western's, with no problems. And during our prior stay at this hotel the front desk person said our file said "really nice people" and how we must have made a great impression. Now, because we were frustrated that we were in a room without a working toilet, we were told we were required to leave. It didn't make sense. We still had two nights on our reservation.

This new clerk told us that last night's front desk person relayed to the owner that I had demanded to be compensated for two nights when all I did was ask as a suggestion in frustration. The desk clerk was apologetic and made excuses for the owner telling us he was under stress because of the renovations and also how the main computer system had gone down that night. We asked to talk to both the hotel manager and the hotel owner but we were told neither could be reached and the situation wouldn't change even if they could be reached. There was apparently no way to get this miscommunication undone. He was sympathetic and he did comp us $30 which we appreciated, but there was no way we could connect to the two decision makers, the hotel manager and the hotel owner to get the situation fixed.

This is not the way you treat a customer. No one talked to us except the front desk person who was accusing us of demanding something we only asked for in frustration and as a suggestion. Plus, shouldn't a hotel do something more when your toilet doesn't work? The broken toilet wasn't the only problem. The cold water at the faucet only turned off at a precise point that took a while to find. The shower had very low water pressure. And, the next morning, the toilet wouldn't flush again. Plus, we heard another customer complain about how a hotel staff person walked in on them in their room really early in the morning.

In the end, the owner did us a favor. We found Pacifica Suites. It is closer to our Goleta destination. The toilets work and work and work!! The rooms are much cleaner. The breakfast is better. The people are nicer. And we are very happy to give them our business - we have many trips we will be making each year to Goleta.

Do yourself a favor and don't stay at the Best Western South Coast Inn.

Now how did I know this was a 1st time poster's only post? ;-)

Hey, one has to start sometime.

Hit and run rants don't really influence many people IME.

It could have been just as bad as the OP says -- or not. But we'll probably never find out which.

We only have one side . . . One person's "only asking for in frustration and as a suggestion", could very easily be another's "demanding something".

truthbetold,

I didn't read you complaint. It's too long and I have other things to do. However, if you ever have a problem with a motel that is part of a chain such as Best Western, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, etc. and you can't get satisfaction from the general manager of the property, call the corporate headquarters and ask to speak with a customer service representative. If you have a legitimate complaint, you will receive satisfaction.

HTTY

Best Western is NOT a chain. It's a group of independently owned hotels (almost franchises) with a central marketing and reservation service. But there is no one to complain to except the owner/manager of the specific property.

<Best Western is NOT a chain.> Then why, on its web site does it refer to itself as a chain?
http://www.bestwestern.com/newsroom/history.asp

<But there is no one to complain to except the owner/manager of the specific property.> Then why I have I twice, over a twenty-year period, been given a refund for unpleasant stays when I called and reported my dissatisfaction to the BW corporate office?

HTTY

They are independent hotels, but very likely, in order to be part of the "group", they are party to a contract requiring them to meet certain standards, follow certain guidelines, etc. I know that's definitely true of Travelodge.

Some Best Westerns are more than associated hotels/motels - but many are not - and just use the marketing/reservations systems. Those are privately owned and then there is no recourse - unless what they are doing is actually illegal and you want to try to prosecute them.

You could try the central office and find out which your hotel is.

Separately, I've never heard of anyone being asked to leave a hotel because they have requested anything. Agree that some hotels (even chains like Holiday Inn) can be absolutely awful - but the above post does sound odd.

>>

Can't disagree with that! And told they would never be allowed to return either. Odd indeed.

nytraveler....just because we've never heard of this before doesn't mean that it didn't happen.

This is a public forum....the Best Western South Coast can respond if they choose to....if the manager can ever be found.

Why should they? We have no idea who the OP is, s/he is just hopping around to different websites posting this tale and taking off.

It is on Virtual Tourist -- w/ the screen name truthbetoldnow, and probably others.

My hunch is (just a hunch) w/ all the jerking around from one room to another, someone in the group overreacted and got aggressively angry and the motel just wanted them out.

I didn't even read the post. I got no further than seeing it was a LONG complaint from a person brand new to this forum. Typically that means, as janisj describes, someone's real unhappy and they plaster the internet travel forums with the same "complaint".

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...alifornia.html

truthbetold/whatmatters is out for BW blood.

I had a very similar complaint a few years ago regarding a NYC hotel that had no shower water pressure and when it did work it was mostly cool water. They came and claimed they fixed it, but they'd done nothing of the sort. They sent a second person who said the first person hadn't done anything, and he tried. It was never fixed to our satisfaction. We also had some problems with the front desk on that trip. Long story short, when we got home, we wrote a letter to the hotel, and they offered us very satisfactory "compensation" -- honestly, if they'd given us a third of what they did give us (we didn't "demand" anything), we'd have been very happy. The point is, ranting on here is useless, writing a civil letter of complaint stating facts and leaving out the emotion usually gets better results.

And the problem with that is, what?

Travel talk forums....the place to post your travel experiences..... That's what it says, folks!

Are complaints only valid when posted by "regulars"?

I wouldn't say more "valid" necessarily, but yes I trust a negative review from someone who regularly participates on Fodor's. I have more faith that the complaint(s) are true, not just a grudge against a business they are then trying to damage making bad comments all over the net.

Some customers don't know how to correctly state a complaint or to whom to voice it. That seems to be the case here.

We may not have all the facts, but we do know that the OP feels he/she has been mistreated at a Best Western hotel.

That is why in the rare instance I have a problem a hotel is unable or unwilling to rectify, I contact corporate offices where there are representatives experienced in listening to and resolving complaints. I have never been disappointed.

I know from experience that Best Western, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, and Homewood Suites are among the chains that want to hear from customers who have an experience such as the one truthbetold had.

HTTY

Assuming that the OP is not out-and-out lying, what I find strange is that neither the MANANGER nor OWNER stood up to face the complaintant. Instead, they let the poor desk clerk deal with it.

It is an example of inept management. I am appalled, but I am not surprised.

HTTY