COTTONWOOD, AZ (AZFamily) — Right before Christmas, Suzanne Hendricksen booked a family staycation in Phoenix through Homes & Villas by Marriott.
“There was a great kitchen and a nice backyard,” she recalled.
Her in-laws got to the house first.
“When they got there, they were starting to put the key code in and it didn’t work,” Hendricksen said. “Then they put the key code in again, and some man answered the door and was like, ‘What are you doing trying to get into my house?’”
Turns out, the house had recently sold and the new homeowner had no idea his house had been used as a short-term rental.
“My parents-in-law who are in their 70s and my single sister-in-law — they were scared,” Hendricksen said.
Hendricksen said she struggled to get help from customer service after the incident.
“They basically said the only option that we had was to book a hotel ourselves,” she said. “We didn’t have enough points left to book anything so we had to book in cash. It’s the week before Christmas. Everything is booked. All of the cheaper things are, of course, booked up.”
She said she spent $1,500 on a hotel stay and then followed up with Homes & Villas by Marriott seeking reimbursement.
“They kept sending me emails saying this was a host cancellation,” she said. “And I was like, this was not a cancellation by any stretch. This was a snafu in your system.”
The company offered her more points. She declined and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, which she said did not result in any relief.
After six months of trying to resolve the situation on her own, Hendricksen contacted On Your Side.
“At this point, I’ve spent hours and hours on this,” she said. “I want my $1,500 back. I don’t think I should have had to shell out that cash because of their mistake.”
After On Your Side reached out to the company, Hendricksen said she received a call from a Homes & Villas by Marriott representative.
“She cut right to the chase and said she talked to her executive committee and they looped her in on this and they wanted to cut me a check for $1,500,” Hendricksen said. “You guys probably pushed somewhere on your end, I imagine, and they finally got their attention to the right people.”
A spokesperson for Homes & Villas by Marriott told On Your Side, “We take customer feedback seriously,” adding, “we have looked into our guest’s experience and worked with them to resolve their concerns.”
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