Ripped off by Hotel Frisco!
First of all, let me clarify one thing. The
ownership of Hotel Frisco has changed since Feb '99 and
our only complaint is with the previous owners (and the
Attorney General of Colorado), so this story in no way reflects
on the current management or facilities of Hotel Frisco.
The owners of Hotel Frisco in February 1999
were Roberto and Louise Moreno. It is our understanding
that the Hotel Frisco was acquired by a nice couple in 2002
as a result of the Morenos' bankruptcy. Good riddance, we
say! Mr. Moreno was abusive, dishonest, and used foul language
in subsequent correspondence so we're glad he's gone.
Here is the story as described to a travel
magazine:
I
made reservations, over the phone, for Hotel Frisco on 11/13/98.
My credit card was billed for ½ of the total charges
at that time ($459.90). The other ½ of the charges
were processed on 01/04/99. On 01/12/99 Roberto Moreno of
Hotel Frisco called and notified me that the hotel had experienced
a burst water pipe and that the room that I had a reservation
for would not be available for my anticipated stay. I made
lodging arrangements elsewhere the next day. I called Hotel
Frisco on 01/14/99 to inform them that I had made lodging
arrangements elsewhere, and requested that my payments be
credited to my credit card. I was told at that time that
this would be done.
When
I returned from vacation in mid-February, I noticed that
the credit card bill still didn't show a credit from Hotel
Frisco. For 3 statement cycles I called the credit card
company and Hotel Frisco. Each time I heard promises from
Hotel Frisco of prompt action to remove the charges, but
they never did so. I was able to get the final payment removed
from my credit card since I took the precaution of disputing
the charges, but the down payment was too far in the past
to dispute according to the credit card company. (They received
my dispute letter 3/5/99 and claimed they could not honor
a dispute for a charge more than 3 months in the past).
I
contacted the Summit County (Colorado) Chamber of Commerce,
but they were unable to help since Hotel Frisco was not
a member of the Chamber. I then turned to the Mountain States
Better Business Bureau. They couldn't even get a response
from Hotel Frisco. I then filed a Consumer Complaint with
the Colorado Attorney General's office, but they refused
to help and told me my only recourse is through legal action.
Ultimately we got a small claims judgment
here in Kentucky since they attracted our business via the
Internet, but the Morenos filed for bankruptcy before we
got back to Summit County to file the papers so our claim
is no longer valid. The Colorado AG was totally unresponsive
and didn't seem to care that a Colorado business was STEALING
from residents of other states.
Now that the Morenos no longer run the hotel,
I'd like to stay there next time I'm in Frisco because it
looks like a great place!
The lesson learned is to NOT give a credit
card deposit over 90 days out unless you have to, and if
you do, make sure the business is affiliated and in good
standing with the local Better Business Bureau and Chamber
of Commerce.
Why the Town of Dillon, Colorado sucks!
To find out why Dillon, Colorado sucks and
why I will never spend another DIME in their town, read
on...
March
23, 1999
To:
Mayor Roger Pelot
Town of Dillon
P.O. Box 8
Dillon, CO 80435
Copy:
Julie Boyd - Town Manager
P.O. Box 8
Dillon, CO 80435
Becky Simonton - Event/Marketing Director
Summit County Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 2010
Frisco, CO 80443
From:
Bill & Alicia Colp
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Paducah, KY 42003
Subject:
Handicapped Parking Spaces in Dillon, Colorado
Dear
Mr. Pelot,
My wife and I visited Summit County together last January.
She had never skied Summit County before so I wanted to
show her all of the wonderful skiing opportunities in Summit
County and neighboring Eagle County. We stayed in Frisco
since it was centrally located, and one day, after skiing,
we decided to take in a movie in Dillon.
January 26th was quite a snowy day, and by the time we arrived
at the movie complex in Dillon that Tuesday evening, it
was pitch black, snowing heavily, and the roads were blanketed
in snow. When we found the movie complex, we saw a parking
lot to our right, so we pulled into the lot and parked.
Since any parking space markings were covered in snow, we
just parked in a space as best as we could determine based
on the terrain still vaguely discernable under the blanket
of snow. There were very few cars in the lot when we arrived,
so we just parked in the first available space.
When we returned to our car after the movie, there was an
envelope under the wiper blade. At first I thought it was
an advertisement, but when I looked inside I found a parking
citation:
I
was puzzled at first. I didn't see a meter and I was certain
that I wasn't parked on the sidewalk, so I looked closer
at the ticket to discover that I had parked in a handicapped
space! My wife and I both looked around a bit before we
looked up to see the sign.
Once
we knew to look up that high, we could see the sign, but
on a snowy night when you turn into a parking space from
close range, the sign is not apparent. I suppose locals
know to look up for handicapped parking signs, but your
visitors do not. (At least we didn't). From then on we were
alert to look up for handicapped parking signs, but we didn't
see any posted above the line-of-sight anywhere else in
Summit or Eagle counties. In fact, we didn't even find any
handicapped parking signs posted above the line-of-sight
in Dillon except those posted in municipal lots!
The
snow let up mid-week and the Saturday we left was sunny,
so we went back to the same parking lot and took this picture
from the driver's perspective in our rental car:
You can barely make out the bottom edge of the sign, even
on a bright, sunny day. For comparison, we took this picture
a few moments later at the U.S. Post Office two blocks away:
Of
course, you always expect such extremes from the Federal
Government, so we sampled a nearby Burger King in Dillon:
It
quickly became obvious that the City of Dillon is alone
in elevating handicapped parking signs above the line-of-sight
of the driver. This obvious injustice would be easily proven
in court, but alas, the folks that don't know to check overhead
for handicapped parking signs are tourists for whom fighting
the ticket is not cost effective. We are included in that
unfortunate group. We can, however, take some action.
If
you agree that this ticket should be dismissed, please take
appropriate action in a timely manner. I will be sending
in my payment for the fine on April 5, 1999. If my check
is cashed or otherwise not returned, I will assume that
you disagree with my position and I will take action to
warn others of the dangers of patronizing Dillon, Colorado
...
Did you see that ticket?!? We could have parked ON THE
SIDEWALK and saved $80!
The reply from Julie Boyd, Town Manager, said in part:
"The
Town of Dillon has adopted the Uniform Traffic Code, and
follows its guidelines for placement of all signs on Town
property. Enclosed is a copy of the page from that code
which stipulates that signs shall be installed with their
bottom edges no lower than seven feet high. In order for
a sign violation to be enforced in Municipal Court, the
signs must be installed to this standard."
In other words, if they posted the sign low enough for
us to SEE it, they couldn't enforce a ticket if we parked
there. Who came up with THAT idea, Catch-22 author
Joseph Heller? OK, so they could post TWO signs: One that
fits their code and one, lower on the same pole, we can
actually see. But collecting the fine is more important
than helping tourists find an appropriate parking spot in
a snowstorm.
It's not that the handicap parking signs are posted way
above your line of sight, (we all know to look for that
now), it's that the city didn't care that tourists were
being tricked into parking fines when it was pointed out
to them. What other fleecing of tourists does the Town of
Dillon, Colorado condone?
We won't find out because not ONE business in the
entire Town will get ONE MORE DIME from us. Whether it be
groceries, gasoline, clothing, or movies, next time we ski
Summit County we will make a conscious effort to boycott
Dillon.
