A non-smoker is furious after he claimed he was fined at a Dover hotel for “smoking in his room”. Mark Malldender, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, was staying at the Premier Inn when he claims he was hit with a £100 penalty after complaining to the hotel chain his room stank of smoke.
The managers at the hotel accused him of making the stench despite the fact he is a non-smoker. The 40-year-old said he noticed the smell when he arrived in the room at 4pm, after travelling to Kent for a business trip.
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 given a customer complaint card but couldn’t sleep because 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.
Speaking to the MEN, 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. 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.”
He added: “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.
“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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Article Source: Kent Live
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