The Super Bowl is the biggest game of the year. Football fans from all over are set to watch the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams go head to head for the trophy. Fans have booked their hotels months in advance to see it live. So what do you do when you learn that your reservation has been cancelled?
”I was just in shock,” Michael Marshall said. “I made my hotel reservations last February so February 2018, and everything was booked and confirmed.” Marshall is a corporate travel agent who makes extra money as a stagehand. He will be working backstage during the Super Bowl so he needs somewhere to stay.
Marshall said he booked a room at the JW Marriott in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, but the manager called him with news telling him otherwise. “The hotel called me and said the corporation bought out the entire hotel a week after I made my reservation, so they waited an entire year to tell me,” Marshall said, frustrated.
It’s been said that the hotel is serving as the spot for the Rams. Of course, the manager apologized in the cancellation letter sent earlier this month. They offered to honor the rate he paid but at a less luxurious hotel. The manager offered him 10,000 points, but Marshall insisted on 50,000 which was enough to pay for his new arrangements in full. His offer was refused.
Marshall’s story caught the attention of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection, who said this isn’t the first cancellation complaint they have received. “We have received two complaints regarding hotels. Consumers involved in a dispute over lodging should first attempt to work with the business directly to resolve the matter,” a spokesperson said. “We will be reviewing closely any complaints we receive regarding this issue.”
As for Marshall, Marriott never charged him, but he wishes they had the courtesy of telling him earlier. Thanks for their poor customer service, Marshall is forced to stay at four different hotels over the weekend when he could be staying at one, enjoying the game festivities.