Gateshead Tavern Motel

The first thing that bothered me was how little reassurance I got about my card details being removed. Alison said they had an old system and she’d “look into it,” even after I insisted I didn’t want to risk this happening again. Earlier, she’d called back to say her staff were “useless” and had apparently charged the wrong account, but there still wasn’t an apology or a proper effort to sort things out. I only found out about the charge because I’d been billed for a room I never booked. I’d stayed at the motel years ago, and for some reason my payment details were still on file. It turned out I’d been charged for somebody else’s room. I was nowhere near the motel and hadn’t even left my hometown. When I first rang, Alison was very sceptical and not much help. She kept saying she didn’t know who I was or how they could have my card details if it wasn’t me, which left me feeling as if I was being blamed. After I said I’d contact the bank’s fraud team and leave a review, her tone changed and she got defensive. She said she didn’t like how I was speaking to her, though I wasn’t swearing, raising my voice, or interrupting. She said she’d “look into it” and call back, then hung up. I called my bank’s fraud hotline in the meantime. They advised me to cancel the card while they investigated. When I raised how unsettling the motel’s response was, Alison again said she didn’t like the way I was speaking to her. This was easily the worst customer service I’ve ever had. I was just trying to get a motel error corrected and received no apology. I strongly recommend not staying here. If you do, make sure your payment details are removed from their system afterwards.