How Credit Card Fraud Got Us Kicked Out of a Popular Hotel Chain

Years ago when former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz was turned away from the O'Hare Hilton hotel after they botched his room reservation, he vowed that he would never miss an opportunity to bad-mouth the hotel every opportunity he got. For years rarely did he give a speech without gleefully spreading some bad PR about the O'Hare Hilton for their callous treatment of him.

I, too, was turned away from a hotel recently, and, although I shan't name the popular chain whose commercials claim that you will be smarter the next day after staying there, I will say that my husband and I were on Holiday and had reservations at an Inn in St. Ignace, Michigan, and I cannot Express how deeply I now despise the heartless, money-grubbing hotel chain and its shoddy policies.

The debacle actually began about a month ago when my husband opened his credit card statement and asked, "Honey, did you buy $900.00 worth of gasoline in New York last month?"

We live in Wisconsin and I didn't make a habit of driving to New York to buy gas.

It was apparent that we were experiencing our first brush with credit card fraud.

My husband called the credit card company, reported the fraudulent charges, and the company closed the account and sent him a new card.

Flash forward to August 18^th when my husband and I arrive at 7:30 p.m. at our hotel located across from Mackinac Island, Michigan, eager to spend the first of two leisurely evenings enjoying our lake-view room with an in-room whirlpool.

"Um, there was a problem with your credit card," the young hotel clerk announced when we gave her our name.

My husband and I looked at each other with one eyebrow raised each.

Finally my husband broke the awkward silence. "Which one?"

"I don't know," the girl said. "It ended with these four numbers..."

But before she finished saying the numbers a light went on in my husband's head. Months before the fraud had taken place, he had used the same card to secure the hotel room. Unfortunately we hadn't remembered everything we had used that particular card for.

My husband explained that the credit card he had given them had been closed due to fraud and took out a different credit card and handed it to the clerk.

"We had to cancel your room because there were no funds available on your card," she said, without an apology. "If you don't show up by 6:00 we cancel the room."

Of course there were no funds - because by that time there no longer a card!

"But, why didn't you call us to tell us there was a problem with the card?" I asked.

"Because you made your reservation over the Internet and the only reservation form we have access to has only a bunch of number "1's" where your phone number should have been," she explained impatiently.

"But I filled in our phone number..." my husband insisted

"Must have been some computer glitch," she quipped.

Apparently it was too much trouble for her or any other staff member to take 30 seconds to dial 411 to ascertain our correct phone number after the obvious computer error. It somehow makes more sense to the people at this particular hotel chain to take the chance that the people with "no funds" will show up and then simply toss them out on the street.

After several futile exchanges with the clerk I made the unfortunate mistake of asking to speak to the hotel manager. After several minutes an even younger woman named Nicole stepped behind the counter and after I explained about the credit card fraud and the closed account, etc., she basically reiterated what the other clerk had said but added, loudly, "Well it's not our responsibility to find a credit card that works!"

That's true, honey, but I feel it's mine to inform people when I find a hotel that doesn't!

Don't you feel smarter already?