The San Jose Fairmont Hotel, which served as headquarters hotel for ConJose, the 2002 Worldcon, has agreed to reverse "cleaning charges" imposed on some members' bills after the convention.

In mid-September, the Fairmont, citing excessive cleaning required in certain sleeping rooms and suites located in the "party wing" of the hotel, began charging extra "cleaning charges" to the credit cards of the people in whose name those rooms were registered. ConJose Facilities/Hotel Liaisons objected to this practice, and the convention advised members who received such charges to protest them both with the hotel and with their credit card issuer.

After a period of negotiation with the Fairmont, ConJose agreed to pay additional cleaning charges to the Fairmont, while the Fairmont agreed to refund all of the individual room cleaning charges. ConJose agreed to make this payment without admitting any fault or responsibility, in order to avoid a long dispute between the hotel, the convention, and the conventions' members.

ConJose expects that the additional payment to the Fairmont will not affect the convention's ability to pay its bills and traditional obligations, including membership reimbursements to program participants, staff, committee, and qualified volunteers. Such traditional reimbursements are generally paid after all of the convention's contractual obligations and bills are paid.

The original extra charges were separate from attendees' hotel bills, and began appearing on individuals' accounts around September 11. Other additional charge also appeared (see previous article Billing Issues with ConJosé's Fairmont )

ConJose regrets and apologizes for any inconvenience this situation may have caused any of its members who stayed in the Fairmont. ConJose recommends that any attendee who received an extra cleaning charge and who has not yet received a credit for the same amount contact their credit card issuer, the Fairmont San Jose, and ConJose.

Posted October 29, 2002