Jeffrey V. Fallis 
Hayley Wells had a dream vacation in Chicago, but when she got home, it turned into a nightmare. “It’s very scary that I was in this hotel the night of the 12th when someone was also staying there at my expense,” said Wells, a victim of hotel fraud. Wells and her husband had two reservations at the W in Chicago. The first was for their planned trip. The second was for when they had to check in due to a problem at the airport. When they returned to Omaha, there was a major issue on the ledger for their first reservation. “They showed (my husband), me and this other stranger on my reservation,” Wells said. This stranger racked up over $6,000 in room, food and valet parking fees. “The Saturday after arriving home was the last communication I received from the hotel. They shut me down after that,” Wells said. Marriott is now investigating to find out what happened. “Well, I’ll definitely check at reception. I’ll physically hand them the keys,” Wells said. Metro experts have some tips to help the next time someone checks out of a hotel. Tim Darby, general manager of the Magnolia Hotel, recommends checking in person instead of using any type of key drop box or leaving your keys in the room.” For payment, I strongly advise you to stop by reception and to drop off your keys, hand them over to a person,” Darby said. He also recommends customers take a receipt with them. “In order to get that zero balance receipt, they have to actually get you out of the system,” Darby said. Darby said. Even with the uncertainty about what happened in Chicago, Wells is trying to see the bright side. “I’m lucky, in a way, that I put this on an American Express credit card. because they are going to work with me to dispute the charges,” said Are Wells. Wells also said that in the future she plans to book rooms up front. hotel, not from third party sites. She also said she would continue to pay travel expenses with a credit card instead of a debit card.
Hayley Wells had a dream vacation in Chicago, but when she got home, it turned into a nightmare.
“It’s very scary that I was in this hotel the night of the 12th when someone was also staying there at my expense,” said Wells, a victim of hotel fraud.
Wells and her husband had two reservations at the W in Chicago. The first was for their planned trip. The second was for when they had to check in due to a problem at the airport.
When they returned to Omaha, there was a major issue on the ledger for their first reservation.
“They showed (my husband), me and this other stranger on my reservation,” Wells said.
This stranger racked up over $6,000 in room, food and valet parking fees.
“The Saturday after arriving home was the last communication I received from the hotel. They arrested me after that,” Wells said.
Marriott is now investigating to find out what happened.
“Well, I’ll definitely check with reception. I’ll physically hand them the keys,” Wells said.
The Metro experts have some tips to help the next time someone checks out of a hotel.
Tim Darby, General Manager of the Magnolia Hotel, recommends checking out in person instead of using any type of key drop box or leaving your keys in the room.
“For payment, I would strongly advise you to stop by reception and drop off your keys, hand them to someone,” Darby said.
He also recommends customers take a receipt with them.
“In order to get that zero-balance receipt, they actually have to remove you from the system,” Darby said.
Even with the uncertainty over what happened in Chicago, Wells is trying to see the bright side.
“I’m lucky, in a sense, to have put this on an American Express credit card, because they’re going to work with me to dispute the charge,” Wells said.
Wells also said that in the future, she plans to book rooms directly from the hotel, not from third-party sites. She also said she would continue to pay travel expenses with a credit card instead of a debit card.
