# Starwood online Hotel booking glitch-FYI read the fine print



## pcgirl54 (Apr 6, 2008)

Just an FYI while booking online. Please before you hit the reserve icon read the GTD charges as they are not always accurate. I do not own a Starwood TS but am a Starwood preferred member who has recently decided to use their services more starting with a SBP stay. 


Last month while  booking a 1 night $189 stay in Maui for a partial oceanview room the fine print which I always read stated a GTD of $567 to be charged to my credit card within a few days for a $189 room. What !!! Needless to say I hesitated to proceed. Never encountered this before. The garden view fee was accurate but not the partial OV.

 I decided to call Starwood and was transferred four times eventually I asked for the Sheraton Maui manager. Not one person including the manager knew why this happened. No one and I mean no one offered to investigate this and get back to me. The Sheraton Maui manager said no one would charge us more than one nights fee. Well I trusted what it said online first. Through the resort itself the same room was $250 before fees and through Amex travel it was $400. 

  I emailed the Starwood IT team and through repeated emails for two weeks but they could not retrive that days info.   DH told me to paste the screen into a word doc which I did and sent it to the IT team as soon as it happened.  The IT team tried to research the issue and finally offered me 1k points for my efforts which was credited within 3 days. I did not ask for anything. 

 Days later I went back online and the fee was as it should be $189 so I booked the room. I just got my Starwood bill with the charge for a May stay 2 months away. Not happy with that at all. I guess you can book the room w/o a credit card hold but they will not guarantee a room when you get there.

I normally book Marriott and am a rewards member. With Marriott all you have until 6 pm day of to cancel with no ahead charges on your cc. I never ever had a issue with Marriott. Nor have I had this happen when booking other hotels.

I just got a Starwood Amex for the sole purpose of putting all travel and TS charges on one credit card. So far I have had nothing but hassles with hotel points being credited and have had to chase down just about everything with Starwood.  Not a great customer first impression.

Our first experience was this past New Years SBP stay. We found three dirty socks in my bed between the sheets and blankets when we stripped the bed. They were not ours. So when was the bed really changed last? The mini blinds control stick was so filthy I had to scrub it from all the crud just to open the kitchen blinds. Makes me sick still. The acting manager's mouth dropped when we showed her the 3 socks I put in a baggie at checkout.

I was offered 5k points to make up for it but I had to call 4 times and send an email finally to HQ in order to get them credited from 3 months prior. The resort manager did not return my call , the front desk person was rude. The manager called after I sent an email to consumer relations. 4 days later the points showed up. Apparently there are many issues with points being credited as they come from Orlando not the hotel itself per a clerk. She said this happens all the time. 


There are a lot of Starwood rewards members and owners on TUG. Can anyone enlighten me because this is not a great first impression of efficiency and customers first.


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## Transit (Apr 6, 2008)

I 've booked several stays with SPG and have not yet had an issue .Sorry you seem to getting such bad luck with their services .I'm not sure what you mean by GTD charges?All of my stays I was givin the option to cancell 2 days before check in.


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## pcgirl54 (Apr 6, 2008)

Yes there is a 2 day cancellation fee. Was your credit card charged ahead of your stay? This is not just a credit card to hold the room but a prepaid fee. This is my main issue with Starwood.

The fine print last paragraph tells you about them billing you ahead. And it mentions the GTD fee and the date they will charge your card. It means guarantee something or other. I do not understand why you need to be charged if you are allowed to cancel anyway.


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## Icarus (Apr 7, 2008)

I stay at Starwood hotel properties all the time and the only time they charge my CC ahead of time is if the rate is a pre-paid rate.

I guess SBP is a timeshare, so maybe they have different rules for timeshare rentals.

-David


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## pcgirl54 (Apr 7, 2008)

*Example of booking fee*

David

This is for the Sheraton Maui which is not the TS. SBP was the dirty soxs (ugh) experience New Years week. Sorry for any confusion.

Here is an example of the GTD fee paragraph. This paragraph is there before you hit the reserve icon. In my case though there were charging $567 for a $189 room which is why I believe there was a glitch. 

The example below is a $532 ahead fee for a $532 room from the website for a May 17th booking. See how they charge your cc on 4/12 for a 5/17 stay. 

GTD/Deposit policy    USD 532.00 deposit is due on 04/12/2008 and will be charged to the credit card provided. 
For reservations guaranteed with a form of payment at time of booking, rooms are held until hotel check-out time the day following arrival. For reservations not guaranteed with a form of payment at time of booking, rooms are held until set cancellation time per the rules of the reservation. In the event more guests arrive than can be accommodated due to hotel overbooking or an unforeseen circumstance, and hotel is unable to hold rooms consistent with this room hold policy, hotel will attempt to accommodate guests, at its expense, at a comparable hotel in the area for the oversold night(s), and will pay for transportation to that hotel.  


Cancellation Policy    If you cancel between 04/07/2008 and 04:00PM hotel time on 05/14/2008, there will be no forfeiture amount. If you cancel after 04:00PM hotel time on 05/14/2008, the forfeiture amount will be a 2 night stay. There may be additional applicable charges and taxes.


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## clsmit (Apr 10, 2008)

As someone who has worked with websites a bit, I think the original issue was just a text problem on the page. When they built the page they put the wrong number in the field. Sending the screen shot was a good idea to show them where the problem was and how to fix it.

When my DH or I travel for business, and it's for a conference or other time when the hotel will be full, we are often charged for the hotel way ahead of time. The DH has an annual conference in Las Vegas. To get the hotel he wants he has to make the reservation 9 months in advance. We're charged right then for the first night. Also, often "Internet Only" rates are charged to the credit card at the time of reservation.

The hotel/chain can make whatever rules they want for different rates and dates. Yeah, it's not fair, but that's the way it is.


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## pcgirl54 (Apr 10, 2008)

*SPG issues*

clsmit

That's because DH is an IT Director so I always think of IT issues. He suggested I copy it to a word doc so I could send it to the SPG IT team. Glad I did also because I want to help other people avoid a costly error.

 99% of the time I book trips online and not once have I have prepaid charges for internet rates. There is always a first and now I know what to expect with Starwood. I do not like it however. Everything I have encountered to date has had an issue so I hope the Maui trip is seemless. 

 I also always read the fine print before I commit but not everyone does.

Thanks for posting.


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