Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/31/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I recently had reason to visit Erie for the first time ever as my son wa playing in the Division 3 Collegiate Water Polo Eastern Championships held at Haggerty Event/Halliman Pool the weekend of October 22/23. I joined parents, families and fans from colleges including Augustana College, Washington and Jefferson, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Penn State Behrend and Austin College. In preparation for my trip I looked at hotels in the area and was hoping to find a unique hotel experience where my sister who joined me could walk to the venue, see the town and really get a look at some of the aspects of a town that you don't get from a chain hotel off the freeway. Coming from Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada we are both used to and comfortable with a downtown type setting and embrace the historical and often diverse experience that can come with such a choice. The Avalon Hotel was described on line as a land mark location, rich in history and even went so far as to say "experience luxury and tradition." Upon checking in after 10pm we were harassed with sexual undertones at the front desk which was our first hint of being uncomfortable. Noticed a strange portfolio open on the desk on hotel letterhead with their fancy logo stating that residents of Erie County were not able to stay at the hotel which I have not encountered at other hotels and did not know the significance of. Our next hint of something off was the stickers used to mark room numbers. While I could go on about the quality of the room, light fixtures that didn't operate, smoke alarm chirping, stains on lampshades, window on 4th floor that did not close those are all insignificant compared to being roomed on the same floor as the patrons who had harassed us at the front desk and meeting several patrons on the elevator when we went to request room without chirping smoke alarm who had mentioned their temporary living status at the hotel? NOT safe, NOT as advertised!!

  Business Response

  Date: 11/12/2022

  **** ********* *****
  I’m writing in regards to client *** ******* *********** from whom submitted a formal
  complaint to the office of The BBB against my company, The Avalon Hotel and Conference
  Center located at 16 West 10th Street Erie Pa 16501. The alleged incident with *** *******
  occurred October 22th 2022 during their stay. Upon the arrival of *** ******* she was checked
  in while another group of guests were being checked in. The other party smiled and welcomed
  *********** and her accompanying guest to the city of Erie and both groups proceeded to be
  checked in. *********** returned shortly after and informed the manager of an issue with their
  room. The manager proceeded to apologize, offered a complimentary beverage and then
  moved them to a new room. My company prides itself on providing our guests with a safe,
  clean and affordable stay making this complaint very personal to my employees. As previously
  stated we take a great deal of pride in our property and at the end of the day my staff are regular
  people just like you and myself. Unfortunately there are certain aspects of a guest's stay that are
  out of our control and within those aspects our staff is trained to handle these circumstances
  with the utmost professionalism and integrity. It saddens me to receive such a complaint that
  would tarnish my company's reputation especially after already being compensated.
  *********** left a few key details out of her complaint. Her stay was originally booked from
  11/22/22 to 11/24/22, where she had paid on average 1/3 of what the going hotel rate was within
  the city of Erie PA. My point in mentioning this is, our property is not a 5 star property, we’re a
  historic property which is older than most properties however our rates are set accordingly.
  Following the first night of *********** she came to the front desk and informed staff they would
  be checking out one day early. The guest was checked out and refunded for her prior night stay
  and not charged for the second scheduled day of their stay. The interaction *********** had
  with staff in the morning in regards to other guests was disheartening. Here at The Avalon Hotel
  we don't discriminate against race, social status, religion, income level or any other factor that
  could separate one paying guest from another. My company is here to provide paying guests
  with the same treatment as other paying guests and any reasoning as to why they may be
  staying at our hotel is quite frankly not our business. *********** questioned numerous guests
  while on property in regards to why they were staying here and for how long. Our other guests
  made complaints about feeling uncomfortable and like they were being talked down to or viewed
  as less than by these women. It is disheartening to know we couldn't live up to the expectations
  of this guest. Following receiving this complaint my company was notified of ***********
  disputing the full charge of her hotel stay through her bank. This client has not only received the
  total amount of her expected 2 day stay, a full refund for the one night she actually did occupy
  
  the room but also has gone above and beyond to tarnish our company reputation and belittle
  not only our guests but also my staff who are regular people just trying to maintain as a local
  small business.
  
  Best,
  Rikki ** S*******
  Hotel Management
  Nov 8, 2022

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/24/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I stayed at the avalon hotel and conference center roughly 2 months ago I paid a 300 cash deposit and payed for a room using my credit card. I was told that I had to many people coming and going during the daytime. I only had 2 people who were there one whom was in a wheelchair. I was approached by the manager who said I couldn't have guests. No were in there policy did it say I couldn't have guests the maximum time they were there was for 2 hours tops. They did not spend the night nor stay for longer then a couple hours. They were rude and I chose to leave early because I couldn't beleive that they appraloached me about the issue. Anyway to make a long story short they charged my card another 369 dollars and kept my deposit of 300 cash. When I approached the manager she said it was because I had t9 many people coming and going. There was no damage done to the room and even went out of my way to clean and empty the garbage. Remember I even left and went elswere because I was upset. They charged me 669 dollars for traffick and refuse to return my money to me I decided to file a complaint here before I file a suit on small claims court. They had no authorisation to charge my card and there policy says nothing about guests. They scammed me because they could and didn't think I would do anything about it. I sent them a email and plan on filing in small claims court if this isn't resolved. I'm homeless now and staying in a shelter because I can't get my money back people don't have 669 dollars to throw away. What they did was wrong and unjustifiable please help thanks

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/18/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hotel reserved for 8/12-8/14 under my husband's name ****** ****** Discovered bed bugs and black mold in hotel room and was denied full refund.