A businessman was stung with a £100 fine after complaining to Premier Inn that his room stank of smoke and was accused of causing the stench - despite being a non-smoker himself. Mark Mallender was staying at the budget chain hotel in Dover, Kent, on a work trip.
The 40-year-old, from Wilmslow, noticed a pungent smell in his double room when he arrived at around 4pm, and he found that it was strongest in the bathroom. Mark saw that the window was open so he put the unpleasant smell down to someone smoking outside.
After having dinner he returned to his £49 room and found that the stench still remained. He headed down to reception to report it.
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Mark was then given a customer complaint card but he spent the night struggling to sleep as the smell was so strong. The training course managing director was shocked when he later received a letter blaming him for the smell, which stated that ‘evidence’ had been discovered in his room and that he would be charged £100.
But the businessman claims he has never smoked a cigarette in his life, and says he doesn’t even know how to smoke. Mark said: "I'm not a smoker, I never have, I wouldn't know how to.
“I've never smoked a single cigarette in my 40 years, it's never appealed to me. I've never even bought a cigarette in my life so then to be accused of it was a hard hit.
"If they had found anything it was from the person before and it was fairly well hidden because I didn't see anything in the waste paper bins or anything like that."
Mark added: "When I went into the room I could smell something and at first I thought 'well maybe it's coming in through the window'. It smelled strongest in the bathroom. I left it for a while. I went to get something to eat and when I went back to the room that was when I could still smell it.
"It was at that point I went to reception but the guy on reception wasn't particularly interested. He gave me one of the customer complaint cards. I went back to the room and filled that out, the only response I got from that was a generic standard reply."
When Mark returned to his room after dinner he said he aired his room thoroughly to try and get rid of the stench before trying to get some sleep.
He said: "I didn't have the window open all night because I'm quite a light sleeper, the window was open right until the point I went to sleep and then the next day. Clearly whoever had been in there smoking had done so in the bathroom, because that's where the strongest smell was. I didn't sleep very well, it was disrupted because you could smell it continually in the room."
After his stay he was stunned to receive the letter blaming him for the smell. It said that he would be fined to ‘restore the room back to its smoke-free condition and any lost revenue while the room cannot be sold to other guests’.
Mark said: "I went on holiday for a week and when I came back I saw this letter. It had the Premier Inn logo on the envelope and I thought they were responding to my complaint. I was quite stunned when I read the accusation that I'd been smoking and enclosed with the letter was the receipt that they charged me £100 to my Premier business account.
"I genuinely thought they were responding to the complaint that I raised but in reality they were suggesting it was me. I was very disappointed. It's quite a stinging fine to receive. They said they took it was to make the room usable for the next person. I'm pretty disappointed with how this has unfolded.
"You would hope that before they were to proceed with their allegation they may have researched to see if anything has been raised but clearly that didn't happen. I'd like an apology from them and I would like them to explain to me what the evidence that they claim to have found was and how they prove that was linked to me because it wasn't.
"I'd also like the fine to be refunded. It's certainly made me warier. If there's a very small issue or a similar situation I'll be making sure it's raised straight away to avoid allegations in future." Premier Inn says it is liaising directly with the guest.
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