During our recent holiday to the western part of the state, my spouse and I, both retirees, stayed at Comfort Suites in Burlington, Washington. We checked in with my service dog for seven nights without any issues. We provided all necessary information about our service animal and completed the required paperwork. Caleb assisted us with the check-in process and informed us that there would be no pet fee charged, which we expected.
However, after entering the lobby with our belongings, our dog barked. Caleb immediately claimed that our dog was not a service animal because, in his view, service animals do not bark. He accused us of lying and attempting to scam the hotel, demanding that we prove our dog was a service animal. When we explained that, according to the law, we were not required to provide proof, he insisted that he knew the law better than we did and continued to call us liars and scammers. He even threatened to charge us a pet fee if we didn’t show him a "little white card." We were taken aback by his rude and inhospitable behavior, and ultimately, he charged us a pet fee after we had already checked in, despite this being an illegal charge under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Unfortunately, Caleb's behavior did not stop there. Every time we entered the lobby, he responded with disdain, giving us evil stares, animated laughter, or finger-pointing, which made us feel harassed and bullied. This clearly violated our civil rights.
On the day of our checkout, I discovered we had a flat tire. I changed it to the spare tire and didn’t think much of it until I took it in for repairs. It was then that I learned the tire had been slashed, possibly with a box cutter. I knew this was not a random act. I contacted the hotel's property manager, Scott Turbush, via email, hoping to resolve the situation. Unfortunately, he was unhelpful, stating that since we did not complain during our stay, it was our fault. He offered to refund the pet fee as compensation, which was an illegal charge in the first place. I requested a phone call to discuss the issue further, but he refused.