With a hoarse voice, Rachel Mitchell talks about her love for the Buffalo Bills. Before football season kicked off, Mitchell decided she was going all in for the team.
"Fingers and toes crossed for the Buffalo Bills to make it to the Super Bowl, which is part of the reason we booked these rooms so far ahead," said Mitchell. She and her husband were optimistic about the Bills' chances to make it to the final game and were interested in visiting Arizona for the first time. They researched hotels and booked two rooms in February 2022.
The bookings were made so far in advance, and with the addition of Mitchell's government ID discount, she locked in a rate for two rooms over Super Bowl weekend for less than $165 a night each at the Hyatt Place Phoenix-North.
Mitchell says she and her husband joked about the price, saying the hotel likely wanted to reserve rooms for a higher price.
But the joking stopped when Mitchell received a sudden phone call.
Mitchell says the caller stated they were a third-party operator working for Hyatt. The caller told her the hotel was being sold and Mitchell would need to cancel her reservation.
"I said, 'Well, is Hyatt going to be doing something? I don't understand we have a reservation.' She said, 'Again, I work for a third party. I can't help you, you need to cancel your room,'" Mitchell said.
At first, Mitchell thought she was being scammed, but the caller did not ask for any personal information or details. Mitchell checked the callback number the caller gave her. It connected to the Hyatt.
Mitchell did not cancel her reservations. She went to the hotel's website and saw they were still taking reservations, although at much higher rates than what she paid. Mitchell called Hyatt customer service herself. She says no one could verify if the hotel was being sold or not but advised her not to cancel.
Confused about what was going on, Mitchell reached out to the Let Joe Know team.
We reached out to Hyatt. A spokesperson by email with this statement:"Upon being notified of this claim, we immediately investigated with the third-party operator and understand this cancellation notice was made in error. We regret this confusion and understand the hotel is honoring this individual's reservation and will be in touch with this guest accordingly."
Mitchell then received an email re-confirming her reservations. That email also stated there were no plans for the hotel property to leave the Hyatt brand.
Still, Mitchell worries other guests with reservations may have received a similar call and canceled their rooms.
"I have to believe that there are other people that Hyatt contacted and said, 'You need to cancel your reservation.' And they did. And now they're scrambling. And I don't think that that's fair," Mitchell said.
The Let Joe Know team asked Hyatt if other people received cancellation notifications and if Hyatt is still using the same third-party operator. Hyatt has not responded.
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