To Whom it May Concern ~
I have debated on if I should respond to this post. My first instinct is to ignore it and not waste another moment of my time or energy on dealing with this Bully-Scam Artist. However, because this is a public forum and it does have the potential to impact future guests and the choices they make about lodging, I feel a response is warranted.
I believe the best way to deal with situations like this is with facts. The facts are this
1. The guest did have his credit card charged 2 times. One for EACH of the 2 rooms he occupied during his stay at the Brookside.
2. The Brookside has not now and has not EVER been under "investigation" by the Chamber of commerce or The Fire Marshall. The person who wrote this review did file a complaint with the Chamber of Commerce -- it was the FIRST complaint that has ever been filed on this business (or any of the other businesses that we have ever been affiliated with.)
3. The Brookside has recently had both State Health inspections and Fire Protection inspections. We received a 95/100 on our State inspection. The Fire inspection is an optional inspection that we pay for. This is something we choose to do to insure that we are up to code and have everything (fire exits, lights, extinguishers, etc) in optimal working condition. The state inspection is posted on-line and is available in the lobby of the motel for guests to view at any time. We welcome and encourage inspections at any time.
4. We may be new to the Brookside, but we are certainly not new to the hospitality industry. When someone calls you and tells you that they are "Doing you a favor" by allowing you to give them a room for free instead of calling the fire inspector -- it is in your best judgement to charge them for the room and call the fire inspector yourself.
5. The facts are that the person who posted this review checked into 2 rooms at the Brookside Motel. He made a claim that both rooms he had were missing batteries in the smoke detectors. Without question, we immediately remedied the situation. The guest was satisfied. The following morning, he came down and demanded that he not be charged for his stay. The Desk Clerk on duty contacted management. They agreed to look at the situation and contact the guest later in the day, after they had time to collect the full story. This was not enough for the guest. He was out of control. He tried to intimidate our staff, he "tried" to scare us by using threats of contacting the state and the fire Marshall. When this didn't work (as we had no reason to fear an inspection from the fire Marshall) He finally left. When he got home, the madness continued with repeated harassing calls to BOTH of our businesses. Demanding personal information, swearing, etc. Eventually, we had no choice but to contact the police and have a "harassment claim" put against the guest.
6. The truth of the situation is we work on the basis that our guests are ALWAYS right. We will do whatever is reasonable to make sure you leave here feeling like you got a good value and that you had a good experience. That said, I won't have my staff or my property be threatened or Bullied.
This "Guest" probably would have gotten a discount or certainly would have had a better shot at it if he would not have acted as though we were in a position we needed to buy his silence. We will NEVER buy someone or ask a guest to keep quiet about something we are doing. Wrong or right. We stand behind our staff. We stand behind our business practices. We will ALWAYS put the safety of our guests first -- and nobody will ever have to question that. So, if you ever think that you will get a room for free by telling us you will turn us in to the Chamber, the health department and the Fire Marshall if we don't give it to you. Bring your Credit Card. We will never run our business with ethics like that.
In conclusion, I would again like to say that we welcome guest inspections at ANY time. Certainly, we don't claim to be perfect -and certainly there is always room for improvement. We have learned SO much in the last 2 months. We have worked hard and will continue to work hard until we have this property in TOP shape. We have some amazing plans for our little piece of South Dakota, and we know it will be a treasure. We hope you will stop and see for yourself.
As always - Wishing You Safe Travels ~
Tammy Gilbertson
Battle Creek Lodge