On 8/30/10 around 6pm, I came home to find my apartment infested with ants. While my landlord dealt with the ants, I quickly made a hotel reservation at the Glendale Vagabond Inn through www.petvacations.com, a site advertising pet-friendly hotels. I packed up my dog and cat, and showed up at the hotel around 7:30pm. When I got to the hotel, the clerk told me they didn't have any pet-friendly rooms left. She called her manager and was supposedly given permission to open up another non-pet-friendly room for me. I was told they were going to charge me an extra $60 per night for my pets. Meanwhile, there's a sign on the counter that says pets cost $10/night. I had already paid $181 for the "pet-friendly" room. My credit card had already been charged, so I assumed this included any pet fees. I told the clerk that I didn't think the extra fees were fair as it was the hotel's fault they'd accepted the reservation without having the room, and asked to cancel the reservation. I was told I needed to call Priceline. I didn't even know Priceline owned petvacations.com. So, I went to the car and called Priceline. I was told that I couldn't cancel the reservation because it was after noon on the day of check in. How could I cancel a reservation before it has even been made? I had to be quite demanding in order to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor called the hotel and asked if they would waive the $60, but they supposedly refused. The most they agreed to was cancelling the reservation and refunding me $87. So I basically paid $94 to sleep in my ant-infested bed at home.

The next day I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I got the following response:

"Priceline contacted the hotel and spoke with Lortis who confirmed to priceline that the property allocate a number of rooms for pets, and when all these pet allocated rooms are all occupied, the hotel has the option to open another non pet allocated room. However, the hotel must charge an additional fee for providing a non pet allocated room for the special cleaning process required once the guest check's out of the non pet allocated room. As a goodwill gesture, the consumer has already received a courtesy one night refund, and we can offer no additional refund for the hotel room that was used by the consumer."

I didn't think this response was fair, and responded to this effect. I also pointed out that I had not used the room, as the last line of their response seems to assert. Today I got the following response:


"We have received the consumer's additional comments. As you requested, we have again reviewed this matter to see if we overlooked anything that might support a more favorable conclusion. Priceline contacted the Vagabond Inn Glendale General Manager, Joanna on behalf of the consumer, at 818-240-1700. Joanna informed priceline that the guest check-in at 7:40 PM and the guest upgraded to a room with a king bed, and therefore the hotel required an additional charge of $60 for the upgrade. The hotel advised that they are unable to issue any further refunds, and the consumer may contact the Vagabond Inn Glendale General Manager, Joanna for any further assistance.


Vagabond Inn Glendale

120 W. Colorado Street

Glendale, CA 91204

Phone Number: (818) 240-1700

Fax Number: (818) 548-8428

We are sorry that we are unable to assist the consumer any further in this situation.

Sincerely,

N. D'Angelo

priceline.com"