Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  04/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I unfortunately was put into a situation where I had to scramble to book a hotel. Found out my reservation was cancelled without my knowledge of a policy. So at 10 pm at night after traveling all day with my 3 children, I booked the Chocolate Express. When I arrived and checked in, I went and looked at the room and was disgusted. It smelled awful, moldy and mushy, stains on sheets, bugs in corners of the floors, dusty and dirty, hair in tub and sink, yellow stains of unknown substance in sink and tub, dirty towels, hair on shelves, large crumbles of food left in the top of the fridge, wallpaper peeling off in the bathroom, mold/ water stains in the bathroom. This hotel should not be allowed to offer accommodations to people. It was unsafe staying/sleeping situation. My son has major environmental allergies and he reacts very negatively to mold. He could have become very very sick. Thankfully I left immediately and had to book another hotel an hour apart. Now I am fighting for refund from this hotel who will not respond to myself or ********.com. This place should be shut down due to unsanitary conditions

• Initial Complaint

  01/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Booked Chocolate Express ****************************** for one night stay for 1/26/2023. Credit card was billed $83.25.On the way there, looked up directions to hotel and it said permanently closed. Upon arrival, the parking lot was empty and the building looked out of business. Exterior was all closed up and dark. Signs removed. In clear disrepair. Got another hotel. Later called ******.*** for refund. They said they called the hotel and *** answered saying they were open. Explain online report of permanently closed and personal visit to hotel confirming it looked closed down. ******.*** requested refund from the hotel and they refused. Drove to hotel again at 5:30 pm. A van was just leaving and turned around when we entered the lot. One man standing outside with one light on in office. No other cars in the parking lot. No other lights on in hotel. Looked scary and suspicious if hotel was safe. Drove back the next day. No cars in lot except for that one van. Hotel otherwise looked uninhabitable and out of business. Read online reviews of similar experiences and refund refusals. Disallowing preview of rooms. Reports of uncleanliness, bedbugs, broken showers, broken refrigerators, torn, stained, unclean bedding, offensive odors, broken pool, and allegations of this business runnning a scam operation of the public and health violations. ******* ****************************** is taking money for reservations under false pretenses and then refusing refunds or expecting people to stay in a hazardous and unsafe hotel.

• Initial Complaint

  08/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I reserved a room at the hotel for a family vacation on October 22, 2022 but am now not able to attend due to a work conflict. I called to cancel the reservation, as the hotel has a cancellation policy listed on the website that offers a full refund if cancelled up to 2 days prior to the stay. When I first called to cancel, the manager refused to cancel the reservation and hung up on me. I submitted my cancellation request via email 3 times and have received no reply. I also called a second time and requested to cancel, and the person on the phone refused to help and hung up on me again. This hotel has my credit card information and I feel very unsafe with the fact that they refuse to cancel the reservation and remove my information from their booking system.

• Initial Complaint

  08/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Chocolate Express denied the booking we paid for a refused to let us stay at the hotel. They are refusing to refund us the 400.00 we paid for our stay. Additionally they illegally recorded us and verbally harassed us.

  Business response

  08/29/2022

  Guest book a room from on line booking Agent and payed to them. Hotel did not take any information from guest. We did not charge any money to the guest at all. Guest came to Hotel before the checking in time and demanding for a room they book. But, we told the guest to come back 4 pm to check in because we were cleaning the rooms. We were so much behind our work because short staff. Hotel staff never refused the room to the guest. Hotel Saff ask to the guest please come back at 4PM to check in but, guest never come back to check in. Guest call the travel agent to cancel the room he book. Hotel never recorded any conversations at all. Hotel stuff never verbally harassed to any guest.
  The guest never show up. Hotel hold the room for the guest. Hotel always help the guest. 
  We are very sorry.

  Customer response

  08/31/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

  I have the read the Chocolate Express' response with the claim that their employee did not tell us we couldn't stay at the hotel, and that we were told to check in at 4 pm. This is a complete and blatant lie. We booked our stay using the online agency ******, and on our booking confirmation of stated the check in time was 2 pm. We arrived at the hotel at 2 pm, only to find there was nobody at the main desk. After using our mobile phone to call the hotel, we were rudely yelled at for asking if we could check in. When a hotel employee finally arrived at the front desk and we requested to check in, we were again yelled at, and told, "This America, we have right to deny stay. You can't stay here, leave, go!" This was in plain view of our ten year old daughter who suffers from an anxiety disorder. The interaction enraged the symptoms of her disorder. 
  
  We were also told we would be recorded if we called again, and that we wouldn't be given a refund. The employee yelled, "No refund, we give no refund!"
  
  I have ample documentation via email records, calls with ***** and other means that clearly show the hotel turned us away. It was witnessed by my wife, daughter, and other people attempting to check in, who were also rudely treated. Additionally, reviews of this hotel plainly show many people have had similar experiences. 
  
  ***** refused us a refund because they claimed they couldn't provide a refund because the hotel, which they said had been paid via them, was refusing to offer one. It wasn't until we filed fraud charges with our bank that we received a refund. 
  
  While we did receive a refund via our banks fraud department, with cooperation from ***** (after filing fraud charges) we feel Chocolate Express is liable for the costs associated with our trip, as their employees actions ruined it. 
  
  We had 250.00 of costs associated with concert tickets at ************, another 200.00 in park tickets and ended up having to pay an additional  300.00 for a last minute hotel room we were barely able to find. We have filed complaints with the PA lodging association and the attorney general of PA, and are prepared to take legal action if the hotel will not reimburse us then cost of our trip, which was ruined due to harassment from their employee, misrepresentation of their hotel online, and refusal of service that left us without a place to stay for a weekend trip. 

  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  Business response

  09/08/2022

  COMPLAINT SUBMTTED FROM GUEST NAME *************************** ID ********
  GUEST BOOK FROM TRAVEL AGENT. SO, TRAVEL AGENT NEED TO REFOUND THE MONEY. WE LOOK ON ***** SITE AND CHOCOLATE EXPRESS CHECKING IN TIME 4PM. GUEST ALSO WRITE COMMENT ON LINE THAT HOTEL EMPLOYEE TOLD THEM TO COME BACK AT 4PM. WE DO NOT TALK TO ANY GUEST RUDELY AT ALL.WHY WE YELLED AT ANY GUEST FOR WHAT RESON. AND GUEST WROTE ABOUT HIS DOUGHTER AND WIFE. WE DID NOT SEE ANY OTHER MEMBER THEN ONLY GUEST AT THE DESK. WE DO HAVE VDO AT FRONT AND AROUND THE HOTEL. GUEST WROTE LAST TIME THAT WE ARE RECORDING INFO AND NOT ASKING TO GUEST THAT WE ARE RECORDING ? AND THIS TIME GUEST WROTE HOTEL TOLD WE WOULD BE RECORDS CALLS IF THE GUEST CALL AGAIN. AGAIN WE DO NOT YELLED TO ANY ONE AND THIS GUEST PAID ON LINE SO, WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT REFUND. GUEST WROTE OTHER PEOPLE ATTEMTING TO CHECK IN, WHO WERE ALSO RUDELY TREATED. THERE ARE NO GUEST CAMPLAN OTHER THEN THEM. GUEST ALSO WRIGT ABOUT OTHER GUEST HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES BUT, NO ONR WRIGHT TO BBB BEFORE. WE DO NOT HAVE ANYTHINK ABOUT ***** NOT REFUNDING. THIS IS NOT A FRAUD BECAUSE WE ASK TO COME BACK AT 4PM DURING CHECKING TIME. CHOCOLATE EXPRESS IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY COST, BECAUSE AGAIN GUEST NOT SHOW UP AT HOTEL AFTER 4PM TO TAKE THERE ROOM AND WE DID HOTEL THE ROOM FOR GUEST. WE WILL WRITE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICE TOO. 

  
  

*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. ↩