When I first read the promotion for Choice Rewards program I thought it looked like a fantastic deal and signed up. I got my Barclays credit card in the mail spent a few thousand dollars and got my ******* reward points. Then the nightmare began.

I booked a room in Denver not too far from the airport. The prices for rooms were quite High and my ******* points we're going to quickly disappear on my four night booking. Choice Rewards program offered ******* points forup to 10 free nights by joining their program. Well as you can see, I have gone through my points for four nights instead of getting 10 nights as promised with the points I got only four nights with the points. That being said, if the room turns out to be a good experience that's still a pretty good deal. But that's not what happened.

I checked in to Quality Inn and Suites at 3300 North Ouray Street, in Aurora Colorado late on a Thursday night. October 14 2021. The first thing I noticed in the parking lot near to the lobby entrance, was a group of young men exchanging money and drugs and drinking alcohol and being rather loud. So I knew I was in for an experience from the moment I arrived. When I went into the lobby, there was nobody at the front desk. I yelled for help no response. I sat on the couch near the front desk and waited until somebody arrived. A woman walked in dressed in sweats and a t-shirt and asked me if I needed any help. She went behind the desk, found my reservation and gave me a key to a room on the fourth floor. As I was working my way to my room, I entered an elevator, it was filthy dirty, fresh spit all over the walls, and very very smelly. When I got to my room, the room was not in bad condition but it was musty old and not comfortable feeling. But, will do in a pinch. The bed looked clean and the linen in the bathrooms are clean so I just sucked it up and decided this is what I'm getting. C'est la ve

The next morning, I went down to the room to get my key updated because it was no longer working. There was a new crew there a couple of women looking very disheveled and not happy to be there. They accommodated my request and re-keyed my key card so it work again. I roamed around the kitchen area and found it too dirty and unkept to partake in the free breakfast. I noticed the front office attendant talking to a few guys, who looked as the disheveled as the front office Clerks, old sweatpants, tank top t-shirts funky rap hats and a huge pile of luggage, they were negotiating a cash deal for a room with the clerk. She noticed I was eavesdropping and move them off to a place where I could not hear or see them to the right of the front desk. I realized something really fishy was going on here. So I decided to start watching carefully what was happening from that point on.

I went back to my room and started to examine the condition a bit more carefully. I found several cockroaches lots of stains in the carpet and cleaning had not been done property. I took some notes.

The next day my keys were not working again. So I went to the front desk to get them re-keyed once again. And once again a new crew was there who looked like they were having a party instead of working a hotel desk. If I had to guess, with my experience in life, I would venture to say they were on crystal meth. I started to tell the attendant my key was not working and she made a motion for me to zip it with her finger to her mouth. She handed me a piece of paper and whispered write your room number down so nobody will know what room you're in. I did as she instructed, and she rekeyed my keys. She winked at me, and said "yeah we do it that way so nobody knows what room you're in get it?" I found this Behavior, very odd, and frankly scary. But went upon my business. I still have one more night to stay here. It should be interesting.

Since I've been here for 3 nights now, I have seen several drug deals transpire I've seen people coming and going from rooms and using them for things other than resting or normal Hotel activity. I have seen a woman sprawled out on the lounge couch in lobby completely drugged out of her mind ranting incoherently, This woman was clearly friends, with the staff at the front desk. I'd seen them interacting over the last couple of days with each other laughing carrying on etc. This hotel is quite large, has long hallways, several floors, I have witnessed, many doors left open propped with the lock mechanism or chairs in the middle of the night with no lights on in the room. I found that very disturbing. Reported to the front desk they didn't seem to care. Also, the hallways are littered with lots of garbage cans and loose trash. Some really nasty stuff as well. I must say, the experience has been highly unusual and I've never seen anything quite like this from a major Hotel chain. So in some ways, it's been an unforgettable experience that I will chalk up to a life story. I never have seen anything like this. Nevertheless, a nightmare for someone trying to get some rest, who is visiting a loved one in a hospital in Denver. I will gladly talk to any representative from choice hotel rewards program or Barclays Bank about the situation anytime. Unfortunately when I try to talk to them they hung up on me and left me hanging. Not cool and not professional.

And yes oh, now the good part. I did call hotels choice Rewards program and requested they move me to another hotel the first day I was here. The person on the phone told me to check out but there was no guarantee I would ever get my points back or they were going to cover my new hotel that I was going to move to. Another words too bad so sad for you mister. I am going to call Barclays bank and see if they have gotten similar stories to mine and see if they want to do something about this situation. I hope they have another points program in their credit card program and they just switch me over to a another credit card. I really want nothing to do with this Choice Rewards program. It is unacceptable. Please heed my warning, this program will not take any responsibility for anything when you talk to them about what's happening to you or what you're experiencing with their hotel recommendation and bookings. Buyer beware! Watch Vid Please... https://youtu.be/E6Hz-bg60Oo

Stephen P. Joyce
President and Chief Executive Officer
Choice Hotels International
1 Choice Hotels Circle
Suite 400
Rockville, Maryland, *******

Dear Mr. Joyce,

I need to bring a matter to your attention which reflects poorly on your business, its policy, and the people that represent both you and your professional appearance to the public.

On Sunday April 3,2016 at approximately 5:15 p.m., I made a reservation on the choicehotels.com website at the Sleep Inn & Suites Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia, so my daughter and I could attend the April 8 UVA Days on the Lawn Event. On your website it lists Sleep Inn as a member of your company and on the Suites Monticello website it has this logo

This leads me to believe that your company is affiliated and represents Sleep Inn. If this is not the case, then there is a serious problem which you need to be aware of because no one at Sleep Inn or your Customer Service Department or your Customer Relations Department could in any way help me resolve the issue I was faced with yesterday evening.

After I made my reservation for April 8, the website indicated the date as April 3. My credit card had already been charged, and I did not understand how this could have happened since I indicated April 8 as the day I needed to stay overnight in Charlottesville. While website glitches do occur, I was simply under the assumption that I could cancel or change the reservation to the correct date that I originally had entered.

Your website would not allow me to change or correct the error created by your website. Apparently, the reservation had to be cancelled by 4:00 p.m. that very same day. Now, I want to point out to you how illogical that statement is which was communicated to me by your staff at the Sleep Inn and at your Customer Service and Customer Relations Departments.

At exactly 5:29 p.m. according to my cellphone, I contacted Sleep Inn to rectify the situation which again I assumed was a simple matter of changing a date. This is where I was first told information that reflects poorly on your corporation. I could not cancel or change my reservation because the time to cancel had expired. This, of course, makes absolutely no sense. I hope you can understand my confusion as well as my frustration. How in the world could I cancel a reservation by 4 when I made it after 5 p.m.?

Unfortunately, I did not get the name of the person I spoke to at Sleep Inn nor did I get the names of the individuals at your Customer Service and Customer Relations Departments (although I did speak to a supervisor at the Customer Relations Department who hung up on me before I could ask her name).

I was told repeatedly that this is the policy of Sleep Inn and Choice Hotels. Sleep Inn told me they couldnt help me because it was their policy not to refund a reservation after the cancellation expiration period. I tried to explain the situation, but no one at Sleep Inn was willing to work with me. All they wanted to do was charge me over $200.00 for my April 8 stay instead of the $104.92 that was indicated on your website when I initially created my arrival and departure dates.

At exactly 5:30 I called your corporate Customer Service Department. I spent an hour of my time on the phone with your company, and nothing was done to help me. Nothing. I emphasize this point because in this day and age of uncertain economic outlook one would hope that a business as well-known as yours and built upon its customers patronage someone could simply refund the money to my credit card. But not a single person was willing or capable of that simple gesture. For $105 dollars, your company was willing to lose a customer.

As I explained the situation to the first woman I spoke to on the phone representing your company, I was made to understand that this Sleep Inn was a franchise and privately owned. I was told numerous times that that hotel could make its own policies about their cancellation and what they did. Now, at no time did I curse or use any foul language. I did try to make everyone I talked to see the logic in their thought processes, and I did try to make each individual understand that I, as the customer, am not being given any service. Your website states that At Choice Hotels, we know how important your trips are to you. Because theyre important to us, too. That is certainly not true for me.

As I continued to speak to the first woman, I explained that the website incorrectly created a reservation for April 3. I created my reservation for April 8 three times while talking to her, and each time the reservation defaulted to April 3. I repeatedly said that this is your websites fault. I asked for a refund to my credit card. I asked for a new reservation for the correct date. I was put on hold while she called the Sleep Inn. When she returned, I was informed that the Sleep Inn could not do anything. Their policy, their individuality as a franchise, their unwillingness to compromise stymied me. They did want to charge me, as I said, double the price for a single room that was listed as $94.00 on your website.

I reasoned several times with this first woman as to why Sleep Inn is a member or franchise of Choice Hotels if they can simply make any rules they like. Doesnt your company somehow represent all those hotels 9, I believe on your website? Are you not responsible for anything? I was told over and over again that I could not be helped. The only thing that could be done was to send my problem to a department where it would be researched.

So, at this point, after over 40 minutes of being on the phone, I asked to speak to a supervisor. I kept wondering, Cant anyone just think of the customer? Can anyone think beyond policy? The computer was blamed several times. The rules were blamed several times. No one had the authority to refund a customers money or change a reservation whose price was listed on your website.

When I was finally transferred to Customer Relations, I spoke to a woman who could not understand that crediting me the $104.00 was all I wanted. She reiterated the same line as before: Sleep Inn is separate from Choice Hotels, I can reserve a room for double the price, this is the policy. I again said: the Sleep Inn is listed on your website and is a franchise of Choice Hotels. That they can make up their own policies regarding reservation cancellations and not adhere to anything which Choice Hotels represents does not make sense. If it is a franchise, then it is under the auspices of Choice Hotels a parent company. Listed on the web under the banner of a major corporate entity. Again, I could not be helped.

I can assure you Mr. Joyce that I will not be inclined to stay at any Choice Hotels in the future. When being told that nothing can be done because of the policy or the system wont let me, it rings not only of disingenuousness but a lack of what customers need: satisfactory resolution of their problem. I did not ask for much. I wasnt rude. But someone at your company hung up on me. Someone at your company couldnt refund my credit card. Someone at your company was unwilling to see my perspective. In fact, the last woman I spoke to kept insisting that she could make a reservation through her system and could find nothing wrong.
I have worked with customers my entire life; at Sears, as a bank teller, and currently as a teacher for the past 25 years. Shuffling the problem off to a department to look into the situation is not very customer service oriented. Admitting that the policy of your business does not allow for corrections is not very customer service oriented. And, not having the ability to override what a computer tells you is certainly poor customer service.

Thank you very much for your time and patience. At this point, I have made a reservation with another hotel for April 8. It is no longer about the money. It is more important that you and your company understand that treating people as customers is not simply what is done for just one individual; that single interaction can affect many potential future customers. If individuals who represent your company cannot act fairly and think for themselves, then a lot of work lies ahead.