Football fan blitzed by hotel when reservation he made nearly a year ago is canceled

ATLANTA — A football fan who booked a hotel nearly a year ago now says his reservation is canceled.

"I was just in shock," Michael Marshall told Channel 2's Michael Seiden.

When Marshall isn’t working as a corporate travel agent, the Minnesota man is earning extra money as a stagehand. So this week, he paid his own way to Atlanta so he could work behind the scenes of Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show.

“I made my hotel reservations last February, so February of 2018, and everything was booked and confirmed," Marshall explained.

But earlier this month, he got a call from a manager at the JW Marriott in Buckhead.

“The hotel called me and said that the corporation bought out the entire hotel a week after I made my reservation, so they waited an entire year to tell me," he said.

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In a letter dated Jan. 4, a hotel manager apologized for the cancellation and offered to honor his rate at a less luxurious property.

“They did offer me 10,000 points. I suggested more like 50,000, which is enough for one free night and they didn’t really go for that," Marshall said.

It turns out the property on Lenox Road is serving as the team hotel for the Los Angeles Rams.

After hearing multiple reports of similar situations, we contacted the governor’s Office of Consumer Protection. A spokesman sent us an email, that says, in part:

"We have received two complaints regarding hotels. Consumers involved in a dispute over lodging should first attempt to work with the business directly to resolve the matter. We will be reviewing closely any complaints we receive regarding this issue."

Marshall said the hotel never charged him for the reservation but, because they notified him so late, he's now staying in four different hotels over the next week.

We reached out to management but they havent responded to our emails or calls.

Cox Media Group