Frequent travelers are likely familiar with the experience of booking a hotel, showing up, and having the room look completely different from how they expected.
Sometimes, this can be for the better, such as when travelers get an unexpected room upgrade—but frequently, these surprises leave guests shocked and demanding a refund.
For example, one traveler checked into her hotel only to discover that her “room with a view” featured no real view and instead a printout of a city skyline. Another was appalled to learn that the photos of her hotel room that she found online were old and that the modern hotel room was an unkempt mess.
Now, another internet user is calling out Quality Inn for providing a poor-quality room—then allegedly not letting them check out.
Why can’t this couple check out of their Quality Inn room?
In a series of several videos, TikTok user @flaminghotttcheeto shows off the manifold issues of her hotel room at a Richmond, Virginia Quality Inn.
The issues are almost too many to name. In the video, she shows how she found cigarette butts on the ground, burn holes in the sheets, and a plastic bag over the smoke detector—implying her “non-smoking” room may have been used for other purposes.
As another example, she shows how many of the fixtures in the room appear to be broken and, in a follow-up video, demonstrates that there appear to be unhoused people sleeping in the building and that a portion of the building seems to have been marked as unsafe by the fire marshall in August of this year.
“This hotel? Quality—they just didn’t specify whether it was low quality or high quality,” she concludes in her first video before falling backward on the broken chair that was left on her balcony.
What happened next?
In another follow-up, the TikToker offers some additional information about her stay and how she ended up trying to resolve it.
According to the TikToker, she quickly realized that she and her partner did not want to stay in the room, so she went to the front desk and asked to be refunded.
“They said that it was cleaned and that they do not do refunds, and that I had to talk to a general manager to get a refund,” she recalls. ”So, I asked to talk to a general manager, and they would not let me.”
Frustrated, she managed to get in contact with a friend renting an Airbnb nearby and work out to stay in their location for a night while they got the situation worked out.
However, she still wanted her refund. She called her bank, PNC Bank, to dispute the charge, but was told that the hotel had not checked her out of her room. Upon calling Choice Hotels, the company that runs Quality Inn, she was informed of the same thing.
“I think it’s because if I stay for the full length of the stay, then…I can’t dispute the charge with my bank and I can’t get a refund through corporate,” she speculates. “So as long as I’m checked in, corporate cannot give me a refund or refund any of my rooms, is what they’re telling me.”
She also says she was given the name of the general manager, but the manager hung up on her twice when she attempted to call.
While she admits that the hotel was cheap at $57 per night, she claims that she read reviews for the chain and found them to be adequate, albeit not for this specific location.
Additionally, she notes that even for this price, “I did not think that $57 a night indicated that the hotel was going to be a roach infestation walking on earth.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Choice Hotels via email and @flaminghotttcheeto via TikTok DM and comment for more information.
@flaminghotttcheeto And yes, i was refused a refund because the room was clearly cleaned 💕 @qualityinnsuites #qualityinn #hotel #virginia #virginiaisforlovers #vacation #vacationfail #funny #joke #comedy #hotel #hotelfail #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Dragon 🐉
@flaminghotttcheeto Replying to @Ashlyn V @qualityinnsuites #fyp #qualityinn #hotel #virginia #virginiaisforlovers #vacation #vacationfail #funny #joke #comedy #foryou #foryoupage #part2 #continued #hotelfail #answeringquestions #explained ♬ original sound – Dragon 🐉
Commenters share their thoughts
In the comments section, users offered their views on the TikToker’s experience.
“I mean this wasn’t clean at all. Regardless of the price it clearly wasn’t cleaned, there was trash still in the fridge,” said a user.
“I made the exact same mistake years ago, got a room for $75 a night or something like that and it was filthy, did not stay!” added another. “So glad yall left.”
“From a choice employee, call choice corporate,” advised a third. “They will most likely offer refund or points for free stays at choice hotels.”
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The post ‘This is unreal’: Couple requests refund for this Quality Inn room. The manager won’t let them check out appeared first on The Daily Dot.
