BIG issues with Fanime Housing

[royjovero]

Hey all. Hopefully someone with some kind of authority reads this, but I'm having HUGE issues with Fanime housing right now.

So my girlfriend and I will be staying at the Fairmont from Thursday-Monday. I had the money set aside to cover the room and deposit, but things came up and we needed to take some of the money out. I still had enough money to pay for the room, just not the deposit. So I called Fanime Housing, which is really ran by CRM (Convention Resource Management), to get some answers. I spoke to Sylvia, she said that we can send a check for the cost of the room as a prepayment. Doing so will exempt us from having to pay the deposit when checking in to the Fairmont on the 24th. I was skeptical, because it sounded too good to be true for our situation, and called back the next day. Once again, I spoke to Sylvia and she confirmed what she had said before. She even went as far as saying that if anything happened to the room, like damage or room service, I would have a bill mailed to me. So she emailed me a copy of the invoice with directions for payment.

We sent out the payment and fast forward a couple weeks, I received an email from Fanime Housing showing that the room has been prepaid. I then called Fanime Housing again to make sure that I wouldn't have to provide a card for the deposit and everyone I spoke to confirmed what Sylvia had told me. There was even a section in the email that said the following:

IMPORTANT HOTEL POLICIES:
Deposit Policy:   Credit Card Guarantee or Check Deposit of 1 Night's Room & Tax
Guaranteed By:   Check, AMOUNT: US$ 405.84
Cancellation Policy:   Last day to cancel is Friday, April 27, 2012

My understanding, and I went over this with the people at Fanime Housing, is that the deposit for the room is 1 Night's Room + Tax via check or Credit Card. OK, I'm staying 4 nights, so let's just say my deposit should be 4 nights' room + tax. Quite obviously, I guaranteed my room by prepaying by check.

Now fast forward to a couple days ago. Since it's getting close to the convention, I figured I'd call the Fairmont to confirm what Fanime Housing had told me. I know that they won't be able to pull up my reservation until May 18, but their policies shouldn't change just because of a convention, right? Well, basically I spoke to the Fairmont's front desk manager, Jennifer, and she had told me that even though I prepaid through Fanime, I would still have to pay a deposit because it is the hotel's policy. This didn't make sense, because the email I received said that I had guaranteed my room be prepaying. Not only that, but it's $100/night by CC, or $300/night cash!!! So I'm led to believe that the people over at Fanime Housing/CRM intentionally lied to me.

Now it's time that I need some answers.

First - Do I really need to find a way to come up with the deposit? I did not sign anything saying I'd pay a deposit and the Fairmont already has my money. What happens if I show up to check in and I can't provide the deposit?

Second - I do not feel that I am going out on too much of a limb, but I feel that someone in the Fanime chain of command is responsible for this massive headache. It's too late for me to cancel my reservation, because it's past the April 27th deadline, and if I were to wait until the 18th to cancel, I'd probably lose money. Is there anything the Fanime staff can do to fix this? Can you guys tell the staff at the Fairmont to make some kind of arrangements with me? It's way too late to change plans now, and I don't have the money to try to get a reservation somewhere else.

This is my first Fanime since 2001, and I'd hate to say it, but it's been way more stressful than anything. The whole ordeal with Fanime Housing has left a bad taste in my mouth and I'm actually not too excited to attend anymore, at least right now. Fanime is supposed to be "By Fans, For Fans." Well, this fan is currently getting screwed, and there's no lube to be found anywhere.

Fanime admins, please help me out here. I can provide all documentation I've received from Fanime Housing as to prove that I'm not trying to scam you guys. I've provided the names of people I've spoken to. I wish to work together with you to come to some kind of resolution in this matter. Please reply ASAP, or PM me if the information is sensitive in matter.

Thank you.

[Mango Bunny]

Wait,what?

They told me I couldn't pay my room fee until May 18th.

Hi Aimee,

You can definitely pre pay with the hotel but you would have to contact them directly to arrange this. Please wait to contact them until at least Fri, May 18th so that they are able to access your reservation.

Please contact FanimeCon Housing should you require further assistance.

Thank You,

Jacy Dawson

"I spoke to Sylvia, she said that we can send a check for the cost of the room as a prepayment." Does that mean that you can leave a check as the deposit in case of incidentals? That's the way that would make more sense. The deposit is for any damage that you might do to the room, or any minibar purchases (etc etc) That might happen. I think you might have misunderstood the situation. The room is guaranteed by check. Mine is currently by my trusty visa.

Guaranteed By:   Visa: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx (pretend there are some numbers there)
Deposit Policy:    Credit Card Guarantee or Check Deposit of 1 Night's Room & Tax

You got a room with a check, you haven't paid any sort of deposit. It sounds like a mis-communication.

Was the check cashed?

I don't think Fanime is trying to pull one over on you. I think either you or them thought you were talking about a different situation.

[royjovero]

So you were allowed to prepay the room + tax by check or money transfer if you did so before April 27th, which I did. That is why I received the email stating my room is guaranteed.

As the root of this problem is the fact that the people over at Fanime Housing stated that by prepaying, I would not have to pay the deposit. I was given their word, only to have conflicting information given to me by the Fairmont front desk manager.

I'm still having one hell of a time trying to figure out how to come up with the money for the deposit. I really don't want to have to sell personal items to cover a charge that I will receive back in a couple days time.

[Mango Bunny]

Your room -is- guaranteed. I guaranteed my room by putting down a credit card number. You did yours with a check.

"I'm led to believe that the people over at Fanime Housing/CRM intentionally lied to me." Why? Why would they do that?


Someone might have given misinformation about the deposit, but I HIGHLY doubt it was intentional.

[M]

Please do not panic... We're going to look into this and we'll get back to you, royjovero.

(This post was originally made in haste to show that a staffer saw it before more comments were made.)

#####

Hi. I'm going to have someone look into this ASAP.

I do feel that some of the comments made by you (royjovero) wasn't really necessary. The facts are enough for us to look into it without the commentary.

[royjovero]

I apologize if I've made some unsavory comments, but I'm sure someone can understand my situation.

Mango, I understand your room was guaranteed with your CC number, but was it charged at all? I don't think so. My check cleared, so now I'm out $405 and some-odd change. I was explicitly told that by prepaying for my room, that no deposit will need to be made.

MPLe, thank you for taking a look into this matter. There has to have been some miscommunication and/or misunderstand somewhere in the woodwork for this to have happened.

[royjovero]

Everything has now been resolved. I again apologize for some of the comments made. And I think you, Fanime Staff. You can lock this thread if you deem it necessary.

[M]

Locking. Please PM me if there are any other issues and we'll see what we can do. =)

[venus_ivy]

We do what we can! <3