Mountain Lakes Lodge

Case #*** 2/17/To Whom It Concerns:
Mr*** gave “Duplicate Charges” as the reason for the chargeback That is not the case at all; He was charged a completely separate fine of $for his party having smoked in the
unit.Mr*** provided his credit card for the deposit and is therefore “the booking guest”.Smoking is not allowed in any of the buildings on either of our properties That is clearly stated in multiple places:1) On both of our websites (www.grand***lodging.net and www.grand***rentals.net )2) On our booking engine3) On the confirmation the booking guest receives.4) On a plaque adjacent to the chedesk.5) Prominently on the wall inside each unit.6) In the “Welcome Book” in each unit.If any guest has any questions regarding any of our policies, we are available by phone, text, email or in person to answer them.Procedure, evidence and witnesses:Co-manager, *** ***, as part of standard procedure, briefly checked on the unit on the morning of departure (Sunday, January 25, 2015) and smelled a strong odor of smoke.*** ***, our head of housekeeping, entered the unit on the morning of Monday, January 26, to clean it and immediately called me to say “They smoked in #A lot! Really a lot!” I went down to the unit right away and as I entered, was taken aback by the overwhelming and unmistakable odor of cigarette smoke Please see Ms*** statement.I looked carefully around the unit and noticed cigarette ashes on the side table on the right side of the queen bed and on the floor below The smoke odor was even stronger in that areaThere was also a small amount of ash on the floor under the dining table and the smoke smell was very strong in that area, concentrated in the curtains above the table.I photographed the ashes on the side table and the snow on the back deck, which had no footprints in it.Standard procedure when someone has smoked in a unit is to strip all fabric items down to the mattress and wash it I put all of the fabric items (bed and bath linens, bedding, mattress pads, curtains, shower curtain and throw rugs) in the trunk of my car The odor was so strong, that I could still smell it the completely separate driving compartment.I contacted the *** County Sheriff’s Department.I requested that *** ***, who was on the property on Tuesday, come into the unit and tell me his observations He immediately said “Somebody smoked in here.” I asked him to go over by the side table and tell me what he saw on it He said “”Cigarette ashes” I asked him if he saw any footprints on the back deck and he said “No.” Please see Mr***’s statement.We had friends helping us, *** and *** ***, who were staying in a unit two doors down from Mr***’ party during the same time The unit between doesn’t have one of the small backyards, so they could very easily see when anyone was outside of the #unit Our friends smoke and also had their small dog with them, whom they let out in the backyard of their unit to relieve himself They volunteered that in all of their time out there over the same 3-day period, they never saw anyone from unit #smoking outside, period Please see Mrand Mrs***’s statement.When someone smokes in a unit we not only wash all fabric items, but we wipe down every surface with deodorizing cleaner and shampoo the mattresses This gives us ample opportunity to observe evidence of any alternative causes for the odor Unfortunately, we found nothing that is not explained by cigarette smoking in the unit. The contact information from a previous booking by the same party was used for the booking I was comfortable having Mr***’ email address as the booking guest, but due to an interruption, failed to copy his telephone number off of Caller ID Chris Daniel, another member of the party, was also listed on it and I had two telephone numbers for him.I called the telephone number on the reservation and talked to Chris Daniel regarding the smoking and the $fine for doing so He denied they smoked in the unit I asked for any possible alternative explanations for the odor He gave these two:1) “Maybe it was electrical- the power went off for the kitchen area.” I asked if it came back on and he said “Yes.” That is easily explained by someone accidently hitting the “off” switch on the power strip, turning it off, then turning it back on again The odor was not electrical.2) “There was no water on Sunday morning.” The GFCI breaker in our pump house, 50’ from unit #4, had tripped due to moisture Once notified, we had the issue fixed within five minutes It would have absolutely nothing to do with a smoke odor in the unit.I asked him to please have the other members of the party contact me right away if they had any plausible reason for the odor other than smoking in the unit.When I was 100% certain that they had disregarded our rules about smoking and had smoked in the unit, I charged the credit card on file for the reservation, in the amount of the $fine for smoking I immediately emailed a receipt showing the charge and reason for it I also sent an email to Mr*** explaining the fine Attached were 1) a pdf showing the applicable information on our confirmation, matching the confirmation Mr*** received at the time of booking and 2) a photo of the ashes on the side table as proof.Mr*** called me two days later complaining about the charge to his credit card.Sincerely,*** ***, ManagerMountain Lakes Lodge and North Shore Resort*** ***, ***