Part 2 - Continued from Google review .
I left at 6:15 p.m…read more that evening, exactly as indicated to front reception, and returned around midnight. No one had entered the room during my absence. Nothing had been cleaned. There was no follow-up the next day.
By Saturday morning, after another sleepless night with the window open just to breathe, I woke up with a pounding headache, congestion, and nausea. Still no call, no follow-up, and no management.
On Sunday (departure day), I went back to the front desk. Aprit was on duty again. I told him nothing had been done, that I'd spent three nights in an uninhabitable room, and that I expected not to be charged. I asked for management. He passed me a card and told me to email manager, Lee Campbell.
I insisted that I needed this rectified immediately and requested that he contact Lee for directives.
He said he had contacted management at my request but had been instructed he was not permitted to act without approval.
As franchise manager, could Lee Campbell, franchise manager, not provide approval with reasonable steps to rectify the situation during his call to Lee?
I asked to speak to Lee. He said he was unavailable.
Hmm.
Even maintenance said, "We wouldn't want a guest charged for that," and admitted it was bad for everyone if a poor review came out.
Aprit said I would be charged for the one room. I was charged for both, less one night.
Unfortunately, management seems to operate under a different philosophy.
To make matters worse, my daughter informed me in the morning that her room (326) had hair in the bed on the first night. She couldn't sleep in the sheets and instead laid bath towels across the bed. I called the next morning to request new bedding, which was eventually brought later that day -- but no guest should ever have to request clean sheets upon arrival.
When my invoice arrived, one night had been deducted, with a note that read: "room smells like smoke." As though the smell, and the negligence behind it, lasted a single night instead of three.
I later called and left a voicemail for the manager, Lee Campbell. He did not return my call.
I wrote an email to manager Lee Campbell, and cc'd Wyndham customer care office.
I received Lee Campbell's email response -- a completely fabricated recount that stated the problem was "corrected" and that I was "glad to have accepted the recleaned room." None of that happened. He went so far as to close his message with, "We hope you enjoy your next stay at the Days Inn Cranbrook."
There will be no next stay. EVER.
I was also contacted by Sherri from Wyndham's Presidential Customer Care Office, who was gracious, professional, and sincerely apologetic. She explained that because this particular property is a franchise, she could not personally issue a refund -- she was sorry to hear of my stay and that Wyndham would be intervening with the franchise -- that as a franchise the responsibility lies with Manager Lee Campbell to provide reimbursement. But we know his stance; dismissive, negligent and dishonest.
Sherri offered me a complimentary one-night stay at any Wyndham property as a gesture of goodwill. It was unexpected and unnecessary on her part, but very kind and appreciated. It does not compensate for the money sent, nor hold Lee Campbell responsible for his inability to manage the property. How unfortunate for the Wyndham brand.
Sherri however displayed empathy and class -- qualities entirely absent from the management at the Days Inn Cranbrook.
Manager Lee Campbell has refused to take responsibility or ownership for the condition of his hotel, the lack of response from his staff, or the failure to provide a habitable room. The dishonesty of his written response compounds the issue, reflecting a disregard not just for guests, but for the Wyndham brand itself.
This doesn't even begin to address the matter of the unsanitary sheets in my daughter's room, which required changing and resulted in her sleeping on towels the first night.
For anyone considering staying at the Days Inn Cranbrook Conference Centre, simply put: DON't. Between the smoke-filled rooms, the dishonesty, the apathy, and the absence of accountability, this property is a disservice to its guests and to Wyndham's reputation.
If this is how a Days Inn by Wyndham is managed, then the franchise system itself needs a closer look.
I have never left a Google review before; however, not taking the time to warn others would be as negligent as the disregard I was shown as a paying guest.
I do not expect to hear from Lee Campbell again; integrity and accountability seemed to have checked out long before I did, and customer care and honesty clearly have no place in his version of hospitality.
