SALEM, Ore. -- The Oregon Department of Justice has reached settlements with 10 Oregon hotels after customers complained about rates being raised or reservations being canceled leading up to the Aug. 21 solar eclipse.
This comes after the DOJ said earlier in July that a dozen Oregon hotels were working with the department to find solutions to complaints from customers about having their rates increased or reservations canceled.
A KGW investigation in March first exposed how some Oregon hotels had canceled reservations, then jacked up room rates once they realized how many people were coming to see the eclipse.
Each hotel has a different settlement, but each customer who had a reservation canceled or the price increased will get $500 per reservation, according to DOJ spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson.
The DOJ said at the time it had seen an uptick in complaints from customers about their room rates doubling and tripling, or having the reservations canceled, for the time of the eclipse.
Edmunson said the department continues to get complaints. Additional settlements are possible.
Companies that reached a settlement with the DOJ are:
- America's Best Inn & Suites at 1014 NE Highway 101 in Lincoln City
- Liberty Inn at 4990 NE Logan Road in Lincoln City
- Palace Inn and Suites at 550 SE Highway 101 in Lincoln City
- Sailor Jack's Oceanfront Inn at 1035 NW Harbor Ave. in Lincoln City
- Quality Suites at 5188 Wittenberg Lane NE in Keizer
- The Grand Hotel at 201 Liberty St. SE in Salem
- Econo Lodge Inn & Suites at 251 Airport Road SE in Albany
- Motel 6 Madras at 1539 US Highway 97 in Madras
- Stafford Inn at 1773 NE Third St. in Prineville
- Super 8 Motel at 250 Campbell St. in Baker City
The Grand Hotel in Salem must cut checks to 22 people from as far away as Japan and the United Kingdom who booked rooms for around the time of the eclipse.
In addition, the company is paying $3,500 into the DOJ’s Consumer Protection and Education account as part of the settlement, Edmunson said. "This is to help support our consumer education and outreach work," she said.
It's unclear whether the Grand Hotel must pay the money because the company canceled reservations or raised rates. Steven Johnson, president of the Grand Hotel, declined to comment Monday.
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