I'm not a complainer by nature - in fact I'm rather a shrinking violet who dreads confrontation. But I recently stayed at a Four Seasons Hotel and felt the service was really poor. I'm not wealthy, and have never stayed at such a place. But I was getting married far from home and wanted to have photos taken in an elegant place, spend my wedding night in a bit of luxury, and have high level service so I wouldn't have to fret on my wedding day. Maybe they knew I wasn't a high roller, but the service was awful. They delivered my wedding flowers to another wedding party at the hotel, and so the photos were 40 minutes late. The water in the bathroom taps was a strange brownish colour and I was afraid to bathe in it. They balked when we asked housekeeping to clean the room before my husband and I returned from the reception, they kept trying to refill the minibar while we were taking pictures, and when my husband and I arrived at the hotel after the reception, they ignored in order to help a wealthy couple who were arriving. Am I being oversensitive? Were our requests unreasonable for a supposedly good hotel? Should I write a letter to the hotel manager? Thanks for your input.

No, you are not being oversensitive; and, yes, you should complain -- the sooner the better. The very fact that you may have have been stretching a budget to stay in a special place for a special occasion should make it more incumbent on the hotel to provide the expected services. Your complaints sound legitimate and specific. I would recommend that you write to the hotel manager with a copy to the hotel home office. Be specific in your complaints and be specific in terms of what adjustments you should receive. I.E., if you think you should receive a billing adjustment, suggets a reasonable amount; if you think you should receive discount coupons for a future stay, suggest it. Particularly, if you have a list of itemized charges and you feel you did not receive the item/service -- send a copy, circle the item, explain the problem, and suggest a full refund of that item.

I agree with the posting above. You should write and complain. If nothing else, at least you get peace of mind that you took action and did something about how you feel you were treated.

Good luck!

Make that three votes to complain! Companies and businesses only do as good as the customers that return to them. And, sometimes customers are the only reality check they have to knowing how good/bad they are doing.

Beth,

Please tell us where this Four Seasons is located. Everyone with a future reservation at one is now worried! Please do complain, nicely, but persistently until you are somewhat satisfied. Unfortunately, they can't make up for ruining your wedding memories, can they? Here's hoping they'll try to make up for it! At their rates, they should!

I cannot believe that a place that charges as much as the Four Seasons does would treat any guest like this - let alone a guest who was use the hotel as a base for a wedding. Which Four Seasons was it? Every time I've stayed at a Four Season's I've been treated well, and I'm genuinely angry to hear your experience was anything less than superlative. You must complain, absolutely. A chain like that, who have based their reputation on service must be made to answer for such below par service. Good luck.

Beth: as the board chair of a service industry organization, I urge you to complain. There is nothing worse than hearing something like this "on the street" and then learn that the complainer never informed the company/hotel, whatever. You can't fix a problem if you don't know about it. We're human, mistakes happen. Let them know so that they can make amends.

Being in the hospitality business, I can tell that the hotel wants to know when things go wrong. They don't want the bad things to happen, but if they do, they want want to know about it.
Heed the advice of a previous poster who said you should be polite, but firm. And certainly let them know that it was your wedding day!

Beth:
Stop whining.
I think maybe you are being too sensitive. I know that it was your wedding and everything, but they didn't do anything wrong. You're room etc must have been okay. You expected too much and made a couple of unreasonable requests (who cleans a room twice in one day? No hotel chain I know of). You can complain if you want but as you say, you don't have a lot of money and my guess is they knew this and as you can't afford to stay there regularly they really don't give a hoot. Your complaint will probably fall on deaf ears.

I hope Craig doesn't work for Four Seasons customer service.

Get the keyboard humming.. And complain! how dare people suggest because you were not one of the richest guests -you should receive substandard service. Shame on Four Seasons!
I stayed with them on Maui in early May-our experiemce was great. And, yes, the room was made-up twice daily. You do future guests a favor by pointing out how you were treated.
On your wedding day, you expect and should receive excellent service with out question. Isn't that their reputation? This was not the first wedding they have ever done. Rudeness on the part of staff members is never accetable.
I returned from a cruise with problems of service. Funny on this very forum-no one wanted to believe I was treated poorly. Folks it does happen. Even the best need a gentle reminder now and then.

I think Craig is onto something about hotels knowing who's really loaded, and then catering to them. A relative of mine is LOADED AND BEYOND, and gets the red carpet everywhere. Everyone who travels with them says the same thing - I do think in our computer-oriented society, hotels seem to know EVERYTHING about you and respond accordingly.

I don't care if Beth is rich of poor. She deserves an explanation for the treatment she received. Craig, don't be nasty, it wasn't your wedding day.

Craig you sound like a pompous rich boy with more money than travel savvy. If the Four Seasons really rates their guests and determines this one has the money to come back and that one doesn't so we'll treat them differently, well that's disgusting. Regardless of how much money Beth has, she should not have been treated that way because she did pay to stay there. And being a man I'm guessing you don't understand just how important the wedding was, and how upsetting such mix ups would be. Beth write the letter and get some answers. I'm rooting for you!

Beth, Please complain to the Four Seasons. Craig is totally inappropriate to tell you to stop whining. Wedding days are very important and your money is as green as anyone else's. My son stays at the Four Seasons all over the country and has nothing but wonderful things to say about them, but they are only as good as the smallest account they service. I'm sure the Four Seasons wants to hear your complaint. Let us know here how things work out. We're all behind you.

Don't fall for that "your complaint will probably fall on deaf ears" line. One thing is certain - if you don't complain, you won't get any satisfaction.

We stayed at the 4 Seasons in NYC Thanksgiving 1997 and had a terrible dining experience. We showed up in the dining room at the time of our reservation and were told that the table was not quite ready. The host suggested we have a drink in the lounge and he would get us in about 5 mins. Well, the lounge is quite a ways from the dining room, but since there was no place to sit and wait near the dining room we decided to go to the lounge. After waiting over 30mins. for what was supposed to be a 5 min. wait we finally asked what was going on with our table. Come to find out the host had forgotten about us. We then walked back to the dining room (at the host's request) and stood waiting another 15mins. (which we could have done initially). We were not even offered A glass of wine, a dessert, or a little off our bill. We also wrote to "whoever" at the corporate office, and got no response. If there's ever a choice of another nice hotel wherever we go, I choose it over the 4 Seasons. They usually are not the only show in town - as the expression goes.
Also, the rooms were nothing to write home about!

It is amazing how in this day & age, with the emphasis on service...that so many can continue to miss "THE MESSAGE!!!"
BT. it's nothing new.....Decades ago, the spouse and I blew the budget to dine at Chicago's then=reigning "dining experience" Chez Paul, only to be treated much as our poster, Beth. I wrote...enumerating what I though were examples of poor service for the prices charged....and got not one word of response. So is the best way to "get 'em" to announce it here....?

You bet!

Do we think that maybe they "take advantage" of "us rubes" who are not many-times-visitors?

Oh.....You betcha!!!!

I've found it's best to write a very nice letter stating why you chose the establishment, what you enjoyed, and specifically what was disappointing. You will receive a response from reliable establishments. Top of the line places such as this will often send you a voucher for a complimentary night or dinner. Do write, and let us know the results!

I stayed at The Four Seasons Chicago in May and received the best service I've ever had in my life. The staff couldn't do enough for me and I'm not "loaded" either. Please, let them know! I'm sure this is not the type of reputation they want and I'll bet that someone in management there really does care about your dissatisfaction.