A woman vacationing in Las Vegas was stunned to discover an unexpected charge that more than tripled the cost of her hotel stay.
Jocelyn Harper was looking for a place to stay over Labor Day weekend when the Westgate Las Vegas on Paradise Road was suggested.
"My sister lives in Vegas, and she suggested it because it's affordable and has a tram that takes you straight to the Strip," Harper told Newsweek. "I was only there one night and just wanted something convenient."
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Harper said her stay at the hotel was "fine overall" but that she ran into an issue when she checked out. That was when she discovered she had been charged a $566.90 smoking fee.
However, according to Harper, there were two major issues with this charge. First, she said she doesn't smoke. Second, the smoke detector had picked up someone smoking in the room at 6:15 p.m. Harper said she was not in the room at that time.
Newsweek made several attempts to contact Westgate Resorts for comment.
According to the company's terms and conditions for booking a room, "any guests found to have been smoking in the room will be assessed a fee for additional cleaning."
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Harper said that when she first inquired about the charge, they told her that "their smoke detectors are super accurate" and that once the charge is on there, "there's not much they can do."
Suddenly, what was supposed to be a cheap stay, setting her back around $200 for the night, ballooned to $730. Worse still, when she checked her bank account, she realized the money had already been extracted.
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"I got pretty upset because that's a lot of money to just have taken away," she said.
Harper refused to back down, though, pointing out that the alleged smoking took place while she was out of the room.
"I realized I had been at the pool during that time," she said. "So I told the front desk, and she said she'd request a locksmith report to prove I wasn't in the room."
Unfortunately for Harper, she was told this would take "two to three days."
She returned home unhappy but didn't give up her pursuit of rectifying the charge. "I emailed and called, with no proper response," Harper said. "It was extremely stressful to lose almost $600 like that. I was really upset."
That was when she decided to take to social media. Harper is a travel vlogger who shares clips and tips on TikTok under the handle @travelingwithjoce. She shared a clip documenting her experience at the hotel on the platform.
The video has been watched 1.3 million times and counting. In the clip, Harper pointed to several reviews on TripAdvisor from fellow travelers who claimed to have also been erroneously charged for smoking in their rooms. Newsweek was unable to contact these travelers.
"When they saw my TikTok video going viral, they finally reached out to apologize and started the process of refunding me," Harper said.
Westgate Resorts ended up refunding her the $566 smoking fee and offering a free two-night stay in one of their premium rooms. Harper said she also received an apology from the hotel's general manager and the head of PR.
"They said their smoke detectors are extremely accurate and had been tested over a million times and they also sent me a document about the smoke detectors they use," she said. "They also said they refunded the people who appeared in my video via their TripAdvisor reviews."
Despite this, the experience has soured Harper's view of the company, and she's unsure whether she will accept their free room offer.
"I have a year to use it, but I have no real desire to go," she said. "If I do take them up on the free nights, that will likely be the last time I go."
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