Unfair recruitment process exposed at Travelodge

I applied for 21 jobs at Travelodge using the Travelodge Careers website in February 2018 and I wasn't even shortlisted once. After applying for so many jobs with the same company I thought my CV would get picked out at least once but I wasn't even shortlisted once, I only received emails regarding 3 job applications but I had applied for 21, obviously at this point I felt like something unfair was going, I wanted to know why I wasn't shortlisted even once and what was going on with all the other applications so I tried contacting Travelodge but the only email contact I could find was for their press office so I emailed them proof that I had applied for 21 jobs hoping they would forward it to the relevant person.

I got a response back from the "Recruitment Manager" but the first 2 emails kept insisting that we discuss everything over the phone, I was assuming they wanted to cover something up at that point so I kept insisting that we should discuss everything in writing so that if something unfair is really going on then at least I have proof in writing.

At first they claimed that I hadn't completed certain things on my application form so I received "an automatic knock out" message. They claimed I haven't completed the section regarding "right to work in the UK" and "outstanding criminal convictions", I know for a fact that I had completed these sections on all the 21 applications correctly, I also know for a fact that their website doesn't let anyone submit incomplete applications as there is a special section for this called "incomplete applications" and the "incomplete applications" section on my account is completely empty.

When I knew I had completed those sections but they still tried to use that against me I just felt like they were insulting me by saying I am not a British citizen and I am some kind of criminal. I am a British citizen since birth and I have never had any criminal convictions in my life so I responded by saying they need to look into what happened.

The then got back to me with a very similar response but this time they also included an image which was supposed to be a screenshot of their internal system and it shows "---" in front of a lot of things but I know for a fact I completed those so either something is wrong with their system or someone has just tampered with my applications to make it look that way or the screenshot is completely fake, I don't know what is going on but I can tell that half of the image is cropped away so I cant even tell what the image is supposed to be, if it is really my application then why are they hiding it from me by cropping parts of it away? I know that something isn't right.

I knew for a fact that they were basically lying to me at that point and looking for any excuse to get out of it as there is no way for me to have got those questions wrong or have left them incomplete on all 21 applications.

I then asked the Recruitment Manager to escalate this to her manager, at that point I got a response from "Head of People Services and Compliance" who said they will investigate this over the next week.

I then heard back from the "Head of People Services and Compliance" who claimed "I've found that there is a technical issue in the system (likely caused by a recent technology update made) that has triggered an action where your application was rejected on three occasions." they also said "Whilst this is not satisfactory, I can also confirm that no human action was taken in your applications and no one at Travelodge has viewed or actioned any aspect of your application"

They just clearly admitted that 3 of my applications were never even considered because there was supposedly a "technical issue" with their system. They also just said that "no human action was taken in your applications" I will prove this to be a lie in a moment.

I had applied for 21 jobs but they are only talking about 3, so I asked them what happened to the other 18? I asked to escalate this to his manager.

This is the response I got:
"Three of the applications is where I understand you have had a response explaining your application was not successful. I understand you have not had any response to any of the other 18 applications and to be clear, these have not been reviewed by anyone at Travelodge"

Meaning 18 of my applications were just completely ignored and were never even looked at or considered.

They also said this:

"Your complaint will not be passed on to anyone else in Travelodge. Your complaint has been investigated by our Recruitment Manager, and I have taken over the investigation and response as a senior manager in the organisation. "

They have now clearly refused to pass this onto anyone senior which is why I am going public.

Proof Traveldoge is doing fraud and that they are completely lying specially regarding the "no human action was taken in your applications":

Well when I logged into my Travelodge account to take some more screenshots today it now says "22 Job Applications" but wait I only made 21 applications and I have a screenshot of my account from when I made the complaint, where did this 1 extra job application come from?

Well according to their dashboard it says I have applied for this 1 extra job on 28 July 2012, if I really applied for that job in 2012 why does it have my most current mobile number, in employment history why does it show all the jobs I held after 2012 like the jobs I had in 2013 and 2016? this is proof they have just added a fraudulent fake job application in my name to their systems which I never even applied for. I didnt even have a Travelodge careers account back in 2012 I registered for an account around February 2018 when I applied for the jobs which is proof they are completely lying when they are saying "no human action was taken in your applications"


Since I started complaining they have been repeatedly said things along the lines of:
"Recruitment Manager" wrote this:
"That's not a problem I can confirm our conversation in writing after the call, it would just be useful to speak with you to find out how you've applied and I'd like you to apply for a role whilst you are on the phone so I can see how it comes through and talk it through with you."

"Head of People Services and Compliance" also wrote this:
"In terms of resolution, I have and continue to offer you the opportunity to apply for any job role with us that is currently active. I will ensure your application is processed to the interview stage where your profile is shortlisted. You have this commitment from me. "


That obviously sounds like they want me to make a new application so they can take some kind of "human action" and tamper with my applications, when I refused to apply again they have some how made up a fraudulent application in their system with the 28 July 2012 date.

There is obviously something dodgy going on with the Travelodge recruitment process that needs to be investigated properly. I am here because I want to make my story public just in case I am not the only person they have done this to, maybe after this becomes a public matter Travelodge will provide a real explanation to what happened to my 21 applications and why it has fraudulently made up an application in my name that I have never applied for.

I have a full paper trail of all the correspondence and I have proof they have fraudulently added a job in my name to their system.


Update (17 April 2018):
I would just like to clarify some things:
1. I can totally understand that maybe they had a lot of applicants so I didn't get shortlisted.
2. They never even sent me a rejection email for 18 job applications so when I first emailed them it was mainly because I just wanted to know what happened, Im sure most people that are applying for jobs always try to get some kind of feedback about what happened to their applications, I was just doing that and when they said I haven't completed some things obviously I just followed up because I wanted to know why they were saying that because I know I completed them, I think its fair for me to ask them about why they said that.
3. If there is really a fault with the system I just wanted to know what that meant for my applications could they have been completely ignored due to this? I think its fair for me to ask that question when they are claiming there is a system fault.
4. There is an extra application showing up in my account, I never made that application, where did that come from? Is it a system fault?, did someone from Travelodge put it there? I think its fair for me to ask those types of questions when it has my details all over the application.

Thank you for all the responses, they really help, please keep them coming
It would be great if you could please stay on topic, Thank You, any offensive comments attacking me will and have been reported to the forum team.

If there are any Travelodge employees or former Travelodge employees on here that wish to come forward about their experiences at Travelodge and wish to have a friendly chat with me then please feel free to private message me, That way you can remain completely anonymous and even if you share your details I promise to keep your details anonymous.

I will post an update if I hear anything back from Travelodge.