A grandmother and her granddaughter were kicked out of the Baymont Inn & Suites in Helen, Georgia after leaving a negative hotel review on a third-party website.
When Hotels.com asked Susan Leger, to leave a hotel she had no idea that it would lead to the police being called followed by getting kicked out.
Leger gave the hotel three out of five stars, writing to Hotel.com that the accommodation was rundown, pools were not open, and that the toilet didn’t flush well.
She then got a call at 8:40 p.m. from the hotel manager that she would be kicked out of her hotel room, 11 Alive reports.
“This guy is on my cell phone ranting at me, and he said that he’s kicking me out,” Leger said. “He’s called the police, and I have to leave the room.”
Leger, 63, and her six-year-old-granddaughter were reportedly already in their pajamas on the first night of the three-night stay she prepaid for.
Moments after the call from the hotel manager, an officer from Helen Police Department showed up at Leger’s hotel door to escort her out.
“They can truly kick me out in the middle of the night, from a hotel for giving a review of three and five?” Leger asked the police officer. “And he says, ‘yes, ma’am. It’s within the law.’
Leger, who described the incident as “scary and horrifying,” says the officer helped them find another hotel room at the nearby Fairfield Hotel.
According to the hotel manager, Danny Vyas, he claims the problem was because Leger never reported the problems to him or his staff.
“We can fix that, right? If you let us know. But she never let us know anything,” he reportedly told 11 Alive during a phone interview back in September.
He later changed his story during an on-camera interview in November, stating that the grandmother called too many times to complain.
“They called me at least ten-to-eleven times in maybe one hour [stating the] sink is not working. Everything is not right,” he said.
What makes matters worse is that she didn’t initially receive a refund for being kicked out.
Vyas reportedly told the 911 dispatcher he was refunding her the money but in an email response from Hotels.com, the third-party booking site she booked from, the company told her, “unfortunately, we were unable to contact the property and will need to abide by the terms and conditions of the booking which states refunds are not allowed.”
Hotels.com only issued a refund after multiple media inquiry requests, according to 11 Alive.
Leger’s piece of advice for people leaving is to wait until you check out to rate your experience.
“If you don’t want to be walking in your pajamas with your six-year-old granddaughter, don’t leave a hotel review if you’re currently still at the place.”