A LoyaltyLobby reader alerted us about an ongoing fraud at a Marriott-affiliated hotel in Wisconsin called Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Fond du Lac.
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There appears to be a General Manager that reviews are referring to as Dhvani Patel, who really hates guests and Marriott Bonvoy.
What is taking place?
Discount and award reservations are canceled as hotels claim to be overbooked. The cancellation email may come from a private email address, not one affiliated with Marriott. The hotel is willing to rebook your reservation at a higher rate.
You are most likely told to leave if you question anything or ask a question, or the police will be called in.
General Manager, Dhvani Patel, appears to be using a rather salty language and curses to guests.
Reviews left on Google and TripAdvisor:
While traveling with my Aunt we had planned at staying at this location. We had the rooms booked but when we arrived were told that because I have a service dog we would have to be switched to a different room because of allergies which is against federal law but I wasn’t going to cause a problem as my aunt travel a lot and stays at Marriotts all the time. We were going to be staying in separate rooms and the general manager told us that me and my service dog(who I cannot be separated from) would not be able to go to the other room per there policy. At this point she had referred to my service dog as a pet several times, even though she was told and corrected that he is a service dog not a pet. I asked for a copy of the policy, she said they don’t have a written policy. When I checked their website later I found they follow ADA which is federal law. When I asked for the policy she because rude and told us we were no longer aloud to stay there and had to leave. We were all polite and just asking questions to get clarification on a policy that apparently does not exist. She was nothing but rude and I would not recommend staying here if you are disabled.
And
I stayed at the hotel in June and booked the room with points. When I arrived in the rain on a motorcycle, the GM (Dhvani) informed me that she had cancelled my reservation. I asked why and she said she didn’t have any rooms available in that classification (parking lot was empty for most of our stay). I noted that I needed a place to stay. She said there was a suite available, but I would have to pay. I reminded her that I am a Platinum Elite member and should be eligible for a complementary upgrade; especially since she arbitrarily cancelled an existing confirmed reservation. She said they don’t have to upgrade and if I wanted a room, I’d have to pay. She was dismissive, rude and I assumed she just didn’t know Marriott policy. Rather than argue, I paid for the nights and immediately called the Bonvoy customer service number from my room and was issued a case number. The Marriott customer service rep said the property was required to resolve the issue before I checked out 2 days later and that the GM should have done the upgrade complementary under the circumstances. The GM failed to resolve the case before I left, did not credit the points or nights to my account and refused to resolve the billing issue with Marriott after the fact. I asked customer service at Marriott why they can’t resolve the issue and they said the properties are franchise, so each owner has their own billing system which has nothing to do with Marriott corporate. Bottom line is, I wouldn’t stay at this property ever again and if you have a dispute with any Marriott property, you need to resolve before you leave or you forfeit your rights under the guaranteed reservation policy at Marriott. Finally, since the GM is a liar, and she keeps claiming “You have never stayed in this hotel. You must be confused with some other property.”, I attached my cancelled reservation and the subsequent bill.
And
This is the worst experience I have ever had with a hotel. The general manager (Dhvani) emailed me a sketchy email from her personal account saying they cancelled my room the day of when traveling to the area for a wedding. I called upset and asked for a refund from my deposit and she was not helpful at all. She told me they overbooked the room, but I think she cancelled it because I was paying a great discounted rate. I then went online and saw that I could still book rooms and told my friend to call the hotel and ask if they have any rooms since she knew my number. She told my friend rooms were available. I then called back and sternly spoke to her not yelling saying I needed to talk to whoever her boss is and she is lying to me and she continued to lie. After telling her my friend just called and she said they have room she began screaming on the phone and told me that it’s very bad I investigated the situation and that I was a terrible person and hung up the phone on me. At this point I am very upset and have never been treated so poorly in any business setting. I now have just seen that I have been charged for the room full price and now arguing to get my money back. I have never experienced a more unprofessional and sketchy practice in my entire life. After reading other reviews it sounds like at least one other person has had nearly the same experience so I would NOT stay here.
And
Shady business practices by this independently owned franchise in Fond du Lac, WI. I was trying to use my annual “Free Night Award” and was assured that rooms were available when I called the Marriot 1-800 to make the reservation. The General Manager, Dhvani, canceled my reservation three times with no reasonable explanations. I called the hotel and Dhvani claims there were no double queens available, but if I wanted to pay cash she could get me in a king suite. No thanks … I won’t be spending any money here, ever.
And
Their system overbooked the hotel and we were not notified until the day before when we could no longer find rooms. Their website STILL said I could book after they canceled our reservation. So, buyer beware.
And
DONT USE POINTS OR REWARDS HERE!!
We had booked a one night stay to spend the weekend with over a dozen of my family members for a volleyball tournament. Most of them arrived the night before. When my husband and I arrived, several were quick to tell us to avoid the manager. However we had already witnessed her chewing out my cousin in the hallway. She was kicking him out for speaking poorly about her to other family members. He is a Titanium Elite status and had booked rooms using points that were canceled, then rebooked (after he’d called corporate) only to get two rooms with kings instead of the double Queen he’d asked for. That night, his sister-in-law needed another room and was able to get a double Queen “… at 3:00a. So, they were available and he just wasn’t given one. He stopped at the front desk to ask, and this made her angry and this the reason she was kicking him out. In the end she agreed to let him stay but the damage was done. She was rude, loud and unprofessional. My cousin stayed calm the entire time.
After reading other reviews, clearly this hotel is a penny pincher. I will say my bed was the most uncomfortable I’ve ever had at a Marriott facility, the breakfast was the leanest I’d ever seen as well. However, the place was clean. I’ll at least give it that.
And
Worst manager ever!
Absolutely HORRIBLE customer service. The manager cancelled my reservation claiming to be oversold, but then allowed me to rebook at a higher rate. She’s a detriment to the hotel and should not be employed anywhere where she can treat guests so poorly.
And
Unusually poor experience
We booked 4 nights in late June to early July. Using suite nights we were awarded a suite upgrade only to have the hotel call the day before to cancel our suite award and downgrade us to a room with 2 beds(we had a king originally). The hotel was almost empty the first few nights and maybe half full the final night. Being a Lifetime Platinum it was my first time being downgraded like this. I understand they are in it to make a profit, but it was still disappointing. Breakfast was well below the normal decent Fairfield fare. Again, clearly cutting corners. Finally, they never credited my Bonvoy for the nights or points. When I contacted Bonvoy the hotel told them we had a group rate which we did not. We were not with any group. I now had to start a claim through Marriott to have our suite night awards reposted to our account. All in all they have what appears to be a staff that isn’t up to Marriott standards.
And the hotel’s most common response to all these reviews?
we could not find you in our system. You must be confused with some other property. This is a new hotel.
Conclusion
When you read these reviews, you cannot but wonder if apathy has set in at the Marriott HQ and that they don’t give any consideration to guest satisfaction. Marriott used to pride itself on taking care of their guests rather than opening files.
Corporate must be aware of all the issues at this Fairfield Inn hotel in Wisconsin based on all the cases opened by Marriott Bonvoy members after their reservations were fraudulently canceled and online reviews.
It shouldn’t be too challenging to deflag the property or ask Dhvani Patel to remove herself from day-to-day operations, as she is not qualified to work in the sector.
