Travelodge not responding to emails

Martyndwn

Can anyone tell me there telephone number of the Travelodge customer services office? I am getting fed up with automated responses and un-satisfactory emails.

Also as as see from previous posts, I am probably not going to get a satisfactory response from them, can someone supply their press office details?

Thanks

PhylPho

I'm not sure what kind of Customer Service operation Travelodge can run.

The company's business model seems to be to pare costs down to the bone and run promotional price campaigns at £9 per room per night. (Well, you can't have high operating costs and nine quid a night accommodation, can you. . ?)

Though as business travellers, Mrs P and I used Travelodge extensively in the 1980s (when it was a genuine value-for-money alternative to pricier hotels) and the 1990s, the Forte era has long gone.

Back then, Travelodge was a brand owned by a group with specialist expertise in accommodation provision and catering.

Today, Travelodge is owned by a venture capital outfit based in Dubai.

Generally speaking, offshore venture capitalists are not exactly renowned for knowing much about the industry sector into which they move. They do, however, know a great deal about how to make as fast a return as possible on an asset before it is depleted.

Travelodge's provenance is in stark contrast to Premier Inns, which is where all our custom goes and has done for a long time. Premier is a division of Whitbread UK, and its sister divisions range from Beefeater to Costa to Brewers' Fayre. In other words, Premier is part of an operation steeped in the ways of leisure catering. Travelodge is not.

Our last-ever stay at a Travelodge was through force of circumstance when we found it necessary to book into one in the Midlands region. The room was OK but the bathroom, horrendous. It stank. There was no functioning ventilation.

We raised this with the receptionist next morning. She told us the company was having a problem because the ventilation units were so old, it was proving difficult to get like-for-like replacements. She said seven rooms in the hotel were similarly affected.

We asked why those rooms, and ours, had not been taken out of commission. She said, understandably, that wasn't her decision.

We asked how come the company didn't operate a maintenance and upgrade programme sufficient to ensure it wasn't lumbered with malfunctioning apparatus so out-of-date that repairs were out of the question and replacements, impossible to find.

She didn't know.

But of course, she wouldn't. Staff at Travelodge have to cope as best they can with what they've got. They are not company managers. They do not have a seat at a boardroom table in, er, Dubai.

When we returned home, we Googled for the Local Authority which covered the district in which that particular Travelodge was located and rang its Environmental Health department. We reported that a potential health risk existed in not one but seven bedrooms as a result of non-compliance with environmental health regulations.

We have no idea what the outcome may have been, nor do we much care. As far as we were concerned, our experience was entirely commensurate with being daft enough to stay at a hotel not owned and operated by hoteliers but by offshore money-men.

Which takes me back to my original point, and the question: when venture capitalists own a company -- any company -- just how much overhead d'you think they allow for something as non-productive as. . .

Customer Service????

Anyway. Good luck to everyone here; hopefully, things will be put right.

vikki.f

Boxing Day 09 we used Tollworth Tower, booked 2 rooms, one had a mirror missing in the bedroom and the other a bedside cabinet.

Not essential but annoying and at the time we didnt see a point complaining, as 2 couples we were placed amoung a number of teens / twenties on the same floor.

within a couple of hours we all had horrific head aches, which was put down to the other residents smoking what was told to us as illegal substances, we also had them knocking on the door every few minutes.
we informed receiption and went out for a walk, yes freezing cold but had to clear our heads, went back for something to eat and told we could only have menu food that was microwavable, the smell was worse and so was the noise insisted we were moved,

2300 given different rooms,

next moring we told reception again we were disgusted at the service, on contacting head office they disputed this conversation and said that if we had left (2300 on boxing night) they would have considered a refund,
As far as the room was comcerned it was acceptable, as the damage had been noted and we were told thats the type of people who stay at those prices
well needless to say we have not been back, premiier, holiday inn and hilton.

its true you get what you pay for, theres money saving and money saving, and we would rather pay for a good nights sleep

PhylPho

vikki.f wrote: »

its true you get what you pay for, theres money saving and money saving, and we would rather pay for a good nights sleep

Says it all, really. But this thread will probably still keep growing as others discover to their cost the truth of your comment. . .

AJS33

I am having trouble with Travel lodge i emailed Cust Serv and they are now not responding to my email, even though it was there system that made the mistake.

As CS won't take calls does anyone have a number for the head office - i really feel like calling the CEO.

Or does anyone have an address to write to

Unbelievable customer service

sarahh112

AJS33 wrote: »

I am having trouble with Travel lodge i emailed Cust Serv and they are now not responding to my email, even though it was there system that made the mistake.

As CS won't take calls does anyone have a number for the head office - i really feel like calling the CEO.

Or does anyone have an address to write to

Unbelievable customer service

I am having the same problem. I tried to book two (different) nights at their Luton Travelodge and somehow their system booked two rooms for the same night. I know full well that when I ordered them I specified different dates.

I spoke to someone on their 'helpline' who said that there had been a lot of problems with their website, that I wasn't the only person who had experienced this issue and that if I emailed then someone would sort it out.

So I duly emailed them and eventually got a reply saying that they would give me credit for the incorrectly booked room as a gesture of goodwill so that I could book another room. That isn't good for me as the cost of the room (on the correct day) has now shot right up. I want to know why (as it was their websites fault) why the cant just swap the dates for me, especially as if they had responded to my original request I would have been able to get a room for the same price

Every email I have received since has been the standard 'get lost' email, contradicting my original one. I have even phoned back the 'helpline' who said they would get someone to ring me today - but I have received the automated email again today.

I am at the end of my tether and would like to speak to a human being rather than just be fobbed off by another automated email. GRRRRRR :mad:

PhylPho

sarahh112 wrote: »

I am at the end of my tether and would like to speak to a human being rather than just be fobbed off by another automated email. GRRRRRR :mad:

You could try Googling for Chief Executive, Travelodge. It won't get you a phone link but his name and address should be enough for a Signed For letter.

Then again, if he's spending a lot of time in Dubai, Signed For isn't available. . .

tsoprano

If you book a room at Travelodge and ask you to verify your card and then email you to say that they can't accept you? what is going on there?

Why couldn't they verify the card and why have they rejected the booking? Does that mean I can't book at a Travelodge again?

terryw

tsoprano wrote: »

If you book a room at Travelodge and ask you to verify your card and then email you to say that they can't accept you? what is going on there?

Why couldn't they verify the card and why have they rejected the booking? Does that mean I can't book at a Travelodge again?

Is this by phone or an internet booking?

tsoprano

internet booking