Last week I started telling you about our unpleasant experience at a Motel 6 in Portland Oregon on Schmeer Road.  If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, you really should so you won’t be lost on this conclusion.  Go ahead, I’ll wait.

All caught up now?  So basically where we last left off was the three-ring binder extensive Rule Book that basically told you not to do anything or take anything or breath or sneeze while staying in their establishment or you’d get charged extra and be put on a “Do Not Rent” list.

And the menu in the bathroom outlined what you’d get charged for lost, stolen or soiled items from the room:

After our extensive (and stressful) check-in with the sullen text-happy night desk clerk, we finally managed to unload the necessities from our vehicles and took the dogs for a walk before trying to figure out what to do about dinner.  Since check-in took much longer than anticipated, it had gotten late, so a quick call to my brother-in-law confirmed that it was too late for his poor working soul to come meet us for dinner.

Remember we had crossed the Washington State border and turned around to go back to Portland so we could have dinner with my brother-in-law.  But since check-in took way too long, that was negated.  Thanks for nothing, Motel 6.

We flipped through the brochures in the room denoting what was in the area for dinner, but decided against pizza since we’d had that the night before.  Except the kids still wanted pizza. 

Since it was so late, the pub was no longer delivering to the motel, but we were welcome to place an order and come pick it up.  We opted to do that, the hubby and I ordering gourmet burgers for ourselves, and a small pizza for the kids. 

The hubby almost got lost (and almost gave up) trying to find the pub to pick up our food and finally returned to his ravenous family with what turned out to be a delicious dinner.

Since this was our sixth night in a motel during the course of our road trip, we were not surprised when Little Dude ate his pizza too fast and didn’t quite keep it down.  I know, right?  Of all the other motels, this extra strict one had to be the one he got sick at.  On the carpet. 

It wasn’t very much, only a small section that was no bigger than a small dessert plate (I know, I’m sorry, the visual just doesn’t compute).  We hurriedly grabbed a couple of towels from the bathroom and cleaned up the small accident off the carpet, using plenty of soap and water to make sure there was no residual staining left behind.

We of course joked (but not a funny-ha-ha joke) about how we were probably going to get charged for that.  Little did we know…

Remember, one of the ‘rules’ is that if the ‘terry’ is excessively soiled, you would be charged for it as outlined in the Rule Book.  To avoid being charged for their threadbare ‘terry’, we studiously washed the soiled towels in the sink with soap to make sure there was no residual staining left behind.  The towels were back to brilliant white when we were done.  No more pizza sauce stain.  Score. 

The carpet had a very faint orange-ish stain that we couldn’t quite get out, but we figured maybe if it dried it would not be so obvious.  The spot didn’t quite dry. That’s not good.

The next morning we were getting ready to leave – remember, it was the morning of my dad’s brain surgery and we were trying to get the kids, dogs and stuff rounded up as quickly as possible since we still had a 2-hour drive ahead of us to arrive at the hospital in Seattle.  The hubby, who had paid cash for the room and the extra ‘refundable’ deposit, went in to retrieve his refund.  His name and signature were on all the paperwork, so he went in with his I.D. to at least get the extra $40 back.

A few minutes later he exited the motel fuming, and told me that since the reservations were made in my name, I would need to go in with my I.D. to get the deposit back, even though he was the one who paid it and signed the slip.  Confused yet?  So was I.  I grabbed my wallet and marched into the front desk:

Me:  “I understand you need to see my I.D. for the deposit refund even though it was my husband who paid and signed for it?”

Roxanne (the General Manager, no less):  “Don’t be coming in here with an attitude because you’ll get nowhere with me.”

Me (flabbergasted):  “Excuse me?  I don’t understand why people who pay cash get penalized.

Roxanne:  “It’s just to protect you.”

Me:  “Protect me?  We’re frickin’ married – what are you protecting me from?”

Roxanne:  “It’s just our policy.”

Me:  “Whatever.  Here’s my I.D., where’s my husband’s money?”

Meanwhile the maintenance dude had rolled his cart through the lobby during the exchange, and came back right at that moment and said something in a low voice to the GM.

Roxanne:  “Oh, it doesn’t look like you’re getting the deposit back anyway.  Your dogs peed on the carpet.”

Me:  “No, our dogs did not pee on the carpet, they peed outside.  What makes you say they peed on the carpet?”

Roxanne:  “You might want to come take a look, because there’s a wet spot on the carpet.”

Maintenance Dude:  “It smells like pee.”

Me: “It’s NOT pee, the dogs did NOT pee on the carpet, that was BARF.”

Maintenance Dude: “Oh, barf?”

Me:  “Yes, BARF.  And we cleaned it up, that’s why the carpet is wet.  It is NOT pee.”

Roxanne:  “Well, whatever, you’re not getting your deposit back.”

Me:  “We’ll see about that.”

I exited the Motel 6 and made sure anyone within earshot would hear me say to the hubby that it’s the worst motel we’ve ever stayed at and I was going to make sure everyone I know would avoid it like a plague.  So here I am.  Avoid it like a plague.  Don’t let it fool you by how it looks from the outside:

We drove to Seattle (we were late) and were relieved that my dad’s brain surgery went very well.  We visited with him at the hospital, then got ready to drive to my parents house for the remainder of our stay in Washington.  The next day my hubby decided that the whole ordeal at Motel 6 – just that one Motel 6, mind you – was too much.  He wanted me to cancel all the subsequent reservations we had for the return trip the following week.  He did not want to set foot in another Motel 6 again. 

He posted a complaint on Facebook, tagging Motel 6 corporate with his tirade, and was surprised to get a response to his rant with the offer of them ‘making it right’ and offering a phone number for him to call.  He did call, and they were just as flabbergasted as we were by the whole ‘Rule Book’ scenario, and the fact that we were definitely overcharged for our stay.  In fact, the policies at that particular Motel 6 are not policies that Corporate Motel 6 maintains.

Interesting, no?  The customer service rep wanted to refund our entire amount on the spot, but when she checked with her supervisor they decided they needed to go through the proper channels in order to open a full investigation into this particular Motel 6 and its General Manager – which could ultimately lead to them paying some hefty fines for their actions. 

That’s where it’s at right now – aside from the hubby did get an email from Roxanne that was full of nonsense and fluff – and didn’t apologize for her actions, nor offer to ‘make it right’ at any time in the empty message.  Once we send copies of our receipts we most likely will get a refund – although I’m not sure about that extra $40 cash deposit, since that was on a separate receipt that Roxanne kept and did not give back to us.  So we’ll see.

Meanwhile, we’ve been making sure we tell everyone about the bad experience – including the subsequent Motel 6’s we stayed at on the way home (yes, since hubby had a reassuring chat with their Corporate office, he was willing to keep the reservations we still had for the return trip) the night desk people at each of those Motel 6’s were just as flabbergasted at the whole scenario – one even took notes to pass on to her boss at the absurdity of the ‘Rule Book’ and how we were treated. 

We’ve been thanked by the other Motel 6’s about taking it to Corporate – apparently it’s one of those deals that if Corporate doesn’t know, they get away with it and give all the other motels in the chain a bad name. Ya think?  I’ll let you know how it all plays out in the end.  Stay tuned.

Have you ever had a bizarre experience when you’ve traveled?

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I’m joining the lovely ladies at Small Town Mommy and Blue Monkey Butt for What The Hell Wednesday – because if this isn’t a WTH situation, I don’t know what is.


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8 Comments

  1. Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in a place that bad, although when I was younger, we were staying in a motel in Orlando, and while we were at the parks, the management rented our currently occupied room to another couple, with our luggage still in there. My dad unlocked a door to see a sight happening on the bed my sister and I were supposed to be sleeping on the very night. Lots of fun that trip. 🙂
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  2. It sounds as if this whole experience got pretty nightmareish at times and, for someone like yourself whom has such a sunny attitude to thing so, it must have gotten PRETTY bad.

    I’m sorry to read that you hit so many speed bumps but am just glad to know you’ve got the strength and personality to soldier on and continue along a positive path in life! 🙂

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