Susan Leger, 63, and her 6-year-old granddaughter got kicked out of their hotel room after leaving a three-star review. The pair had just checked into their room for a three-night stay at Baymont Inn & Suites in Helen, Georgia, and weren't thrilled with the accommodations.
WXIA reported that when Leger received a notification from Hotels.com to leave a review of the room, she gave her honest opinion, writing: "Rundown. Pool's not open. Toilet doesn't flush well."
What Leger didn't know was that her review was sent directly to the hotel. Her negative review upset the hotel's manager Danny Vyas, who called her and said she had to leave.
Leger and her granddaughter were in their pajamas, getting ready for bed, when they learned they were being kicked out.
"This guy is on my cell phone ranting at me, and he said that he's kicking me out," Leger told WXIA reporter Brendan Keefe. "He's called the police, and I have to leave the room."
Vyas told her that if she didn't leave, he would call the police.
"The man is screaming at me. He was saying, 'You get out now. I call the police,'" Leger said. "My granddaughter's like clinging to my leg and crying so hard. This was scary. This was just horrifying."
A little while later, an officer from the Helen Police Department knocked on her door and told her she had to pack up her bags and find a new hotel.
When questioned by WXIA about why Vyas kicked her out for the review, he initially claimed it was because Leger never reported the issues to his staff before leaving the negative review. However, a few months later, during another interview with the news station, Vyas changed his story, claiming he kicked Leger and her granddaughter out because they complained too much about the issues with the room.
Leger said that Vyas refused to give her a refund, telling her to take the issue up with Hotels.com. The site initially denied her a refund, instead offering a coupon for a future booking. However, after WXIA contacted the booking site, they gave Leger a full refund.
Hotels.com issued a statement saying they have removed the property from their site and are investigating the incident.
"Hotels.com has a zero-tolerance policy regarding retaliation and we will remove any guests, hosts and/or properties from our website who exhibit or promote such behavior in-stay or offline. We have temporarily removed this property from our sites while we conduct an investigation to determine the appropriate next steps," said Shannon Lovich, the head of PR and communications North America at Hotels.com.