Update: Ann and John Stewart will get a refund after our story aired.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) Basketball fans are trying to get refunds after the SEC basketball tournament was canceled in Nashville over COVID-19 concerns.
Ann and John Stewart are big Kentucky fans who came to Nashville with the sole purpose of watching the games. Now that they can't, they want to go home.
"You’re going to have to make exceptions to the rules regarding this so people are not left out in the cold like we are so to speak," John Stewart said.
This morning they found out they will probably not get a hotel room refund from the Mint House at the Reserve that they booked through a third party website. It cost them over $1,100 for four nights.
"I think this is really bad customer service. I mean there’s lots of people here right now, we’re all concerned. We’re all scared, we don’t know what’s happening,” Ann Stewart said.
Amid COVID-19 concerns and impending bad weather, Ann Stewart said she would feel safer leaving for Lexington.
"They don’t seem to think it’s anything they should be concerned with," she said.
However, a father and son duo are thankful that their hotel will not charge them if they leave town early. James Newton said he got pretty lucky that it won't hit him too hard in the pocketbook.
"It shows me that Hilton is doing more than just the bottom line, they’re really caring about the people that are in the hotels, and trying to keep long term customers happy," Newton said. "I flew Southwest, they have a zero cancellation policy, so I'm able to change my flight pretty quickly."
His dad, Dr. Buddy Newton, is an infectious disease doctor and Arkansas fan. He believes the SEC tournament should not have been shut down.
"We didn’t shut down things for influenza," Buddy Newton said. "It’s not like you’re walking around and licking the guard rails. You’re doing things that you normally do, and we don’t normally get sick with doing those types of things."
As fans navigate getting refunds, the hospitality industry is trying to figure out the best way to manage cancellations from a viral pandemic.
"It’s all we can do,make the best of a bad situation," Stewart said.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to several hotels on their policies, and they did not immediately get back to us. However, a spokesperson for Hotels.com issued a statement:
"We know many travelers are needing to adjust their plans right now. As you can imagine, call volumes are very high, and our customer care teams are working to help customers as quickly as possible. With this evolving situation, we’re doing our best to work with hotel partners to make exceptions to their policies so we can issue refunds. We’re working to find resolutions for customers as soon as we can in these unprecedented circumstances."
If fans bought game tickets through the SEC and its officials partners, they will be refunded by the end of the month. If they bought tickets through a third party vendor, fans need to work with them directly on getting a possible refund.
