Complaint Department
Here's the first of my complaint letters from vacation and, I think, the most serious.

Rocky Mount - Days Inn Golden East
ATTN: Manager
1340 N. Wesleyan Blvd.
Rocky Mount, NC 27804

Dear Manager:

On Thursday, August 7, 2003, my family and I stayed at your establishment with my 10-month old daughter. This was not a planned stay and we did not have our travel play yard with us, so we requested a crib for our room, which was offered as an amenity by your hotel.



The crib we received was in an unacceptable condition. The first thought that entered my mind was a report I had seen on Dateline, well before I even had a child, about the dangerous condition of many hotel cribs. As you can see from the enclosed photo, the crib we received was missing slats, creating a space large enough for an infant’s head to become lodged or stuck. The crib was also rickety and unstable, as it was missing one of its wheels. I tossed and turned all night, afraid that the crib would collapse during the night and injure my child.

If Days Inn is going to offer cribs as an amenity to its guests, I would expect that the crib provided would be in a safe, working condition. This one incident marred an otherwise pleasant stay at your hotel. Our rooms were clean, the price was reasonable and the children enjoyed the outdoor swimming pool. I have stayed at other Days Inn locations before, but this was the first time I needed a crib and I was very disappointed. I would appreciate a response to know how you plan to address this safety issue. For your information, I have enclosed a copy of the transcript from the Dateline report on hotel crib safety, as well as a checklist from the Consumer Product Safety Council regarding hotel and motel crib safety. I think if you use this checklist on the Gerry® brand crib we had in our room, you will find it does not meet these standards.

In addition to those copied on this letter below, I will also be posting a copy of this letter on my personal website to make family, friends and other readers aware of our experience. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,


Andrea [Last Name]

CC: Joseph R. Kane, Jr.
President & CEO, Days Inn Worldwide
1 Sylvan Way
Parsippany, NJ 07054

Lea Thompson
Dateline NBC Correspondent
c/o NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10012

Nychelle Fleming
Children's Product Hazards Specialist
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Council
Washington, DC 20207-0001