Asking for compensation

[Moxie]

I'm pretty laid back. Things happen, I get it. My bff is not like this. She always asks for compensation.

 

If you were in a hotel with no hot water for 24 hours, would you ask for compensation and what would that look like?

[gardenmom5]

no hot water for 24 hours?  I would ask for a reduction/credit to my bill.  that means no hot shower, or anything else that takes hot water.  or having to endure doing so with cold water.

 

 

[lmrich]

I would think the hotel would offer it. I think not charging for that night is appropriate. 

 

[TechWife]

No charge for that night. The hotel should offer it, but if they don't, it's not a problem to ask. Stuff like this happens regularly. I once got a free night because the elevator wasn't working and I carried my luggage to the third floor. Another time, one of the pipes fell out of the toilet, flooding the room and I was comped that night and upgraded to a suite. There have been few others over the years, too. 

[JustEm]

This happened to us once. They tried to accommodate us by moving us to the hotel next door at the cost for the rooms at the other hotel which was cheaper. Problem was the rooms were a downgrade so they weren't compensating is for the hassle of no hot water. So I asked to stay in our current room at the rate of the other room they offered(roughly 50â„… cheaper.) I also asked for completenary breakfasts for the additional days we were there (they already provided vouchers for one free breakfast each.)

 

The way I see it was if they were willing to lose all our money because the other hotel would be getting it instead, they'd be willing to keep our business at an extremely reduced rate. I was right. I'd say half the hotel chose to stay at the other hotel that night so they lost a lot of money because of an unsuspected water issue.

[JustEm]

Oh wait sorry our issue was no water at all for 8 hrs in the middle of the night. I'd have asked for all the same stuff if it was no hot water.

[Valley Girl]

I would think in that circumstance the hotel should offer some type of compensation. Stuff happens. How the management responds to minimize inconvenience to guests when it does can determine whether or not a customer ever returns and what the word-of-mouth reputation becomes. No hot water for 24 hours is a pretty deal, especially when you consider what it can cost to stay in a hotel. If management didn't offer, I'd say something.

[Catwoman]

I'm pretty laid back. Things happen, I get it. My bff is not like this. She always asks for compensation.

 

If you were in a hotel with no hot water for 24 hours, would you ask for compensation and what would that look like?

I'm pretty laid back, too, and I generally let things go, but 24 hours without hot water is a big deal. I'm not going to take a shower in cold water. I would definitely complain about that.

[J-rap]

Unless you were in a country where that is common, you bet I'd ask for compensation!  I'd ask to not be charged for that night.

[LuvToRead]

I would mention it and see if they offered first.  If they didn't offer, I would ask for a rate reduction because I didn't get what I paid for.  To me, hot water is expected and factored into the room rate.  This actually happened to my parents at the Hampton.  They realized they had no hot water, and called the front desk.  The front desk moved them to a new room and did not charge them for the night.

[mommyoffive]

Um I for sure would ask for compensation.  

[Annie G]

I'd ask for compensation but wouldn't expect a full refund.  I was still able to sleep, watch tv, probably have breakfast before I left, and use the restroom. A shower isn't a huge deal to me if it's a one night stay. 

 

But here's the thing- if I had traveled all day and really wanted a hot shower to relax, then yes, I would be upset at no hot water and would expect decent compensation. But if we're talking about the kind of person who complains about everything every time just to get things free, then that's different.  Those kinds of people annoy me...and we all know the difference between complaining when we're truly inconvenienced and complaining just to get attention and get something for nothing. 

[HomeAgain]

I would ask for compensation, and I don't usually do.

 

There are some things beyond a hotel's control.  Our last visit had us up at 2am due to a blaring fire alarm/lights.  A guest on the other side of the hotel had hung an outfit from one of the sprinklers in their room, which resulted in the alarm and flooding out half of a floor. The guests ahead of us in line to check out were outraged by the inconvenience (they were on the dry side/different floor) and the poor staff had to deal with them.  It was an inconvenience, yes, but not the hotel's fault or something that they could help.

 

Now, put me in a non-working room - non-working meaning I lack basic amenities like water, bed, or lights - and I will ask for compensation or to be moved.  That's just not right.

[Donna]

We stayed in a hotel recently where the shower would not turn on. The hotel staff immediately moved us to a different room. It was a bit of a hassle as we'd gotten in late and dd was trying to get a shower before bed but stuff happens. I didn't ask for anything else because it was taken care of.

 

No hot water when I needed a shower and I would have asked for compensation. Hotels charge a fortune for one night of sleep and a shower. If I couldn't have the shower part (which is almost as important to me as the night of sleep), I would want to be reimbursed.

[Lanny]

Assuming that she reported that there was no Hot Water in her room, and that the property could not / did not, move her to another room, where there was Hot Water (assuming that it was not out in the entire property) I think she would be justified in requesting a partial refund. Possibly 50% of what she paid.

 

ETA: If this property is in the USA or Europe, or anywhere where the weather is cold, I think part of what one pays for in a property is hot water. Here in Colombia, even a lot of the tiny low cost properties have Hot water.  

Edited March 11, 2017 by Lanny

[wintermom]

Yes, I'd ask for compensation, providing that I didn't know about the water problems up front. I'm surprised that the hotel didn't offer anything, too.

[Guest]

To clarify, there is no hot water to the entire hotel. The gas was shut off last night by the gas company due to a suspected leak. They did offer us a shower in the hotel across the lot but that isn't really an acceptable option.

[wintermom]

To clarify, there is no hot water to the entire hotel. The gas was shut off last night by the gas company due to a suspected leak. They did offer us a shower in the hotel across the lot but that isn't really an acceptable option.

 

A suspected gas leak would have sent me asking to move to a different hotel far enough away that a potential explosion wouldn't effect me.  :huh:   Did you know about the gas leak?

[Catwoman]

To clarify, there is no hot water to the entire hotel. The gas was shut off last night by the gas company due to a suspected leak. They did offer us a shower in the hotel across the lot but that isn't really an acceptable option.

It wouldn't have been acceptable to me, either.

 

And a potential gas leak would have had us moving to a different hotel. (Of course, with our luck, all of the other hotels would be full!)

 

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. :grouphug:

[Storygirl]

You could ask, and it would be fine.

 

I had the no hot water thing happen, and I did not ask for money back. However, son and I had taken our showers the night before (still hot water then), and we had to leave the hotel by 7 am to get him to his gymnastics meet. We didn't have time to stop and discuss with the desk. I did feel sorry for those who had not taken showers the night before.

 

I also had the power go out one night, while I was doing a week of job training. I remember sitting in the hall, trying to read my manual by the emergency lighting. I did not ask for a discount (didn't think of it), but my employer was paying for the hotel, so it wouldn't have affected my money anyway.

[Seasider]

I would absolutely expect compensation. Think about the reasons people travel - often it's for special occasions. Imagine being a bridesmaid or mother of the bride, you've driven hours to this destination, then there's no hot water to dress for a formal occasion? Awful.

[Jyhwkmama]

Once, my mom and I checked into a hotel late (about 11 PM) and the next morning we were surprised to get a letter under our door that our room would be free. Turns out, there was an accidental fire alarm before we checked in and the hotel comped all the rooms sold that night for the disturbance. That is good customer service.

 

FTR--this was a nice hotel on KC's Country Club Plaza. Don't know if that makes a difference.

[Laura Corin]

To clarify, there is no hot water to the entire hotel. The gas was shut off last night by the gas company due to a suspected leak. They did offer us a shower in the hotel across the lot but that isn't really an acceptable option.

 

It sounds as if they did their best though - it wasn't poor service, just an unavoidable event.  I wouldn't have pushed for compensation, but if I had been offered a discount, I would have thought that they had handled it well.

[Lanny]

No Hot Water will not kill someone. A Gas Leak can kill people. That happens, frequently.  If there was an active Gas Leak, the hotel should have been evacuated. BAD MANAGEMENT

[Laura Corin]

No Hot Water will not kill someone. A Gas Leak can kill people. That happens, frequently.  If there was an active Gas Leak, the hotel should have been evacuated. BAD MANAGEMENT

 

The gas company made it safe by switching off the gas, so what's the point of evacuation?  When a gas leak was discovered in my mum's house, the gas engineer just came and switched off the supply - no supply, no leak, no danger.

[Ottakee]

How.about in this case? We arrived at 3:30 at a Sheraton hotel that has a 3pm check in time on the website. Room was not ready. We checked at 4:30....Still not ready. It is now 5:20 and still no room. Reservations were made weeks ago.

 

The only kicker is that Special Olympics is paying for the room, not me directly. Still, even a free pop from the bar as we sit and wait in the lobby would be nice.

[Lanny]

How.about in this case? We arrived at 3:30 at a Sheraton hotel that has a 3pm check in time on the website. Room was not ready. We checked at 4:30....Still not ready. It is now 5:20 and still no room. Reservations were made weeks ago.

 

The only kicker is that Special Olympics is paying for the room, not me directly. Still, even a free pop from the bar as we sit and wait in the lobby would be nice.

 

THAT IS VERY VERY VERY VERY COMMON.    I hope your room is ready soon and that it is very clean and perfect.

[Lanny]

The gas company made it safe by switching off the gas, so what's the point of evacuation?  When a gas leak was discovered in my mum's house, the gas engineer just came and switched off the supply - no supply, no leak, no danger.

 

That obviously depends upon where the leak is.  If they are positive that they can prevent a disaster, by turning a valve, that's fine.  If not, the danger continues...

[Ottakee]

THAT IS VERY VERY VERY VERY COMMON. I hope your room is ready soon and that it is very clean and perfect.

Another family waiting for vochure for food but they told my daughter no. We will see as I might check with the manager.

 

Update.......Now that we are close to a 3 hour wait we were given vohures for a small plate meal for each.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Ottakee

[Lanny]

Another family waiting for vochure for food but they told my daughter no. We will see as I might check with the manager.

 

Update.......Now that we are close to a 3 hour wait we were given vohures for a small plate meal for each.

 

Ask them to Upgrade you, to a more expensive room, that is ready, at this time, for immediate occupancy. 

 

We were Upgraded, in April 2001, in the  RIO in Las Vegas, from the least expensive Room, to the most expensive Suite,  because they did not have what we requested available: Non-Smoking Room and possibly some other request. We got there about 11 P.M. to check in, with DD, who turned 6 months old on that trip after being in-transit for many hours, from Colombia. .

 

I *always* tell the person I am hoping will help me something like this: "I know you did not cause the problem, but this is what happened... Please help us!"  I always try to be courteous and friendly with the person I am asking to help us.

 

Try to be patient and friendly and courteous, and ask them to Upgrade you to a more expensive room, that is available for occupancy, now...

[Janie Grace]

Happened to me at a fancy B&B once. They don't only refund our night, but gave us another night to use in the future for free. They gained a lifelong customer.

[Lanny]

@Ottakee  it is  838 P.M. E.S.T. now.   I hope that at this time you are in your room and that it is clean and perfect. If you are still waiting in the lobby, for a room, I would speak with the people on the Front Desk (it is Saturday night so probably no Manager there, but someone in the property is in charge) and tell them you are there for the Special Olympics and that your DC has an issue and it would really help if they can Upgrade you and get you into a room, *immediately* or sooner.

[Ottakee]

We did get a room. A nice room with a balcony. We also got coupons for a free breakfast in the morning. Part of the issue was that there were hundreds of thousands of people without power in the area (metro Detroit) and hotels are running shifts of DTE workers, etc.

[SKL]

I think the first thing to do would be to ask to be moved to another, hopefully nicer room with hot water.  I would rather they made things right vs. gave me money + crappy service / goods.

 

I don't think it's wrong to ask for compensation in a case like that, but personally I find it very uncomfortable to complain.  Once I had an absolutely horrible stay, but I was too tired to do anything about it (arrived after midnight) and then the next day, I just wanted to get on with my life.  I was able to shower though.  If I didn't have water for a shower, I don't know what I'd have done.  To me, that is not a small thing.

[SKL]

Once I had to stay in Miami shortly after a bad hurricane that had done a lot of damage to hotels.  My room was guaranteed for late arrival, and I'd called telling them I'd be arriving late (flight delay or whatever).  Get there after midnight and they say they gave my room to someone else.  What?!  There is no other room anywhere due to some big event in town.  I told them I was going to sleep right there in the lobby.  They magically found me a room - happened to be a huge fancy suite, which I got to stay in all by myself for the whole 3 days I was there.  :P  That'll teach them to cancel my reservation!

[SKL]

Just read the part about the whole hotel being without gas.

 

If this information was known at the time of check-in, the desk should have told people when they arrived that there would be no heat or hot water, and offer a discount.  Then the guests could decide if the hot water was worth more than the discount.  If it was not known until later, they should have comped the entire 24 hours, in my opinion.  Maybe they have a policy to only do this if you ask, but they know they are liable for not providing what was paid for.

[Laura Corin]

That obviously depends upon where the leak is.  If they are positive that they can prevent a disaster, by turning a valve, that's fine.  If not, the danger continues...

 

But Lanny, gas engineers carry sophisticated sensors.  They don't go, 'Let's switch off here, it will probably be alright'.  Only last month, our rental property had its mandatory annual gas check and a tiny amount of leakage was found.  The gas to the property was switched off until we could get repairs done, but you can be sure that the engineer also checked upstream to make sure that other properties/the street were not affected.

[Lanny]

The gas company made it safe by switching off the gas, so what's the point of evacuation?  When a gas leak was discovered in my mum's house, the gas engineer just came and switched off the supply - no supply, no leak, no danger.

 

Let us assume that a house, or in this case a hotel, has a gas leak. Let us assume that the structure is fully enclosed. That the windows are not open or are sealed shut.  If there has been a Gas leak, there is (probably) residual gas in the air.  If not more than that quantity...

 

We had a huge gas leak in our house, 2 or 3 months ago, because someone left a burner on the stove on, but there was no flame to burn the gas. Or, somehow, a cat jumped onto the stove and turned that burner on. We are not sure how it happened.

 

I walked into the kitchen that morning and there was a huge smell. We cook with Propane gas, from a 40 pound tank that is outside the house, near the kitchen..  Fortunately, I did not use the Toaster or turn on a light switch.   We live in the tropics and our house is wide open and there are oceans of fresh air inside our house. In a closed house, the same incident could easily have been tragic.

 

Natural Gas lines are now installed in our huge rural subdivision, and if we connected to that, it would be more convenient (every 2 1/2 or 3 months we need to change the Propane tank) and a little less expensive, but I was born and raised in California and I know what sometimes happens, after major earthquakes there, and in Mexico and in other places.  If we should have a problem here, all we need to do it go outside and turn the valve on the Propane tank to the "off" position.

 

I respect your viewpoint and your opinion!  Different experiences...

[wintermom]

My dad was a gas inspector. I'm in the "better safe than sorry" camp. If the gas leak was inside the building, I'd be most worried. If it was a connection outside, that is better, but still dangerous. We were evacuated from our home at 3am with an outdoor connection leak. 

[Lanny]

This was a year or 2 ago, so I don't remember the name of the property or the exact details. I think the property was in the Marriott family.  It was in Las Vegas.  My childhood friend and his wife got there about 11 P.M.  There was no Heat in their room. The room was very cold. The property did not have another room they could move to.  He/they checked around and ended up moving, about 2 A.M., to a property near Nellis AFB, in North Las Vegas.  Well, at 6 A.M. Reveille and I think sounds of jet engines.   They are both from Las Vegas and are quite familiar with the city and I think there was something going on and the town was full that night.  I wonder if they had to pay for the first room that they checked out of, because it was so cold?  

[wintermom]

.

 

 

 

Edited March 12, 2017 by wintermom

[solascriptura]

I would of asked for it for sure. In fact, after a few hours of no hot water I would have asked for a different room and probably an upgrade.

Edited March 13, 2017 by solascriptura

[Guest]

I would of asked for it for sure. In fact, after a few hours of no hot water I would have asked for a different room and probably an upgrade.

See, I could NEVER ask for an upgrade. If they offer, great, but I'm not asking.

 

I did ask about compensation for those of us with no hot water and they took half off our night. I was ok with that.

[solascriptura]

See, I could NEVER ask for an upgrade. If they offer, great, but I'm not asking.

 

I did ask about compensation for those of us with no hot water and they took half off our night. I was ok with that.

Honestly, the hotel staff is so used to all sorts of requests that they wouldn't even bat an eye. Even if they said no they would do so politely.

 

I'm glad that you received something though!

[Starr]

I mentioned a problem with a room on our way out once, heat? window? something. They quickly gave us the room at no charge.

[Bluegoat]

No, probably not.  I would expect, if I heard about it and didn't show up, or I got there and didn't check in, due to the problem, that they would not charge me/take my deposit.  If there was a hurricane or gas leak or tsunami, that the hotel wan't responsible for, I would not expect compensation.  If they offered a discount or cupon or something, that would be nice, but I would only expect that might happen at an expensive place or a chain.

[Mimm]

I wouldn't ask because I'm a wimp but I'd be annoyed they didn't offer. I wish we'd have asked for a discount on a hotel room we got when the extremely loud fire alarm went off by mistake three times in the middle of the night.

[Mergath]

I would ask. That's a pretty big thing to have to deal with, and the hotel staff is used to it. Last time we stayed at a hotel, the towels in the bathroom had been used, and the maid just folded them up dirty and put them back on the shelf. Nothing like grabbing a towel and finding it already wet and covered in someone else's hair. :thumbdown:  I complained and we got a discount on the room (and a bunch of clean towels, lol). It was no big deal for them to do the discount.

[Mandamom]

I frequently shared a room with a particular mom and her daughter for gymnastics meets. We shared rooms several times over several years. I think the last few meets, we didn't have to pay for anything because she always got free rooms for future stays. Other people in our groups never asked and they didn't get comps. The experience taught me the value of requesting compensation. 

 

I am the personality, though, that will probably not ask, even now that I know. 

 

 

[Reefgazer]

I would ask for compensation and also ask to be released from any reservations without penalty so that I could go elsewhere. 

 

Not exactly compensation, but in a similar vein:  When I go shopping in department stores and reach the checkout counter, I always ask if there are an coupon reductions, military discounts, or other promotions they can give me.  I have *never* been refused!  I always get something, even if it's just 10% military discount.  It's worth asking.  We got 40% off a prom dress this weekend because we were able to stack 2 coupons that I didn't have but were available at the register once I asked.

I'm pretty laid back. Things happen, I get it. My bff is not like this. She always asks for compensation.

If you were in a hotel with no hot water for 24 hours, would you ask for compensation and what would that look like?

 

Edited March 13, 2017 by reefgazer