Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My girlfriend was charged $ 200 extra on her credit card, because the inn claims that our hotel room smelled like marijuana( not that we smoked marijuana in the room, which we didnt, but that it had it on me in the hotel room). I have my medical marijuana license and I did have marijuana on me, but smoked it outside. I spoke with the general manager, who was very rude and seemed to be discriminatory towards marijuana use in any capacity. She told me I was disrespectful for bringing it into the hotel and that I was lucky that she did not fine me more $$$. I am already anxious about needing to smoke, to help me cope with my medical issues, and this just made it worst. Please help

  Business response

  09/12/2024

  ***** *******
  Briar Barn Inn
  ************************************************************************
  
  Date: September 12th 2024
  
  Better Business Bureau,
  
  We received notification of a customer complaint #******** from ******* ********. As the first order of business, ******* *. was a guest in a room reserved and paid for by ******** *., we have not received negative feedback or complaints from our customer, ******** *. but we are happy to address Brandons complaint. Please also note that the amount of $450 is incorrect, as the cleaning fee was lowered to just $200. (See Attached Confirmation & Signed Sign In Documentation)
  
  Briar Barn Inn is a smoke-free property, as clearly indicated by signs and at check-in. Briar Barn Inn acknowledges that the use of marijuana is legal for medical and recreational use, but we do reserve the right to maintain a smoke-free environment for our guests, especially in indoor spaces. We have the highest standards for cleaning protocols and we suffer finical losses when a room needs to be taken off-line, especially when it was booked for the next day.
  
  On the morning of 9/12/24 the housekeeping staff requested a manager due to a strong and lingering smell of marijuana in room #***. After following our first steps of mitigating this issue, the room was taken offline for this evening and we placed a call to ******** *. to notify her of the issue, explaining that we would leverage a $200 cleaning fee in keeping with the sign-in policy she signed when she arrived. Our general manager described the conversation with ******** *. as polite, and ******** agreed that her boyfriend (******* *.) likely smoked marijuana although it was unclear at the time if it was in the room, or outside.
  
  ******* *. called back and we explained our Smoking Policy and, though it was clear that he was frustrated that the charge would not be removed for his girlfriend after he explained that he smoked outside. We described that the policy that ******** *. signed specifically addresses odor in the room. (See Documentation Attached)
  
  We understand that this experience was frustrating, and we dont apply this fee without careful consideration and several steps to see if the odor can be removed in a timely fashion. This policy is in place to ensure each room is in top condition for the next guest. When leveraged, the fee helps cover the cost of taking a room out of service for cleaning due to lingering odors.
  
  In this case, our housekeeping team, supervisor, and manager confirmed the issue and stand by our decision to leverage the fee of $200 to cover our additional cleaning costs, and the cost of taking the room out of service for this evening and displacing another guest.
  
  We value our guests and strive to provide a comfortable and enjoyable stay. We hope that this documentation helps to clarify that ******* *. was not charged, and that the guest who was charged was offered clear communication about this issue, and a lowered fee of just $200.
  
  Sincerely,
  ***** *******, VP of Marketing and Communications 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩