Salisbury, MD | From complaints about dangerous food situations, to uninvited meeting guests, Knowland has heard it all! On behalf of our clients, our researchers and telesales professionals speak to meeting planners on a daily basis, and boy have we heard some unusual complaints!

  1. Bankers and Beggars

    During a banking convention in a downtown southeastern city, one woman reports beggars, vagrants, and drifters running ramped throughout their hotel and meeting rooms. The coordinator for this particular group stated that the hotel was located next to a bus station which seemed to experience an influx of drifters who somehow gained entrance to their hotel. “The drifters came into our rooms and helped themselves to the buffet, approached the conference attendees for money, and also stole several items from some of the vendors.” She said the hotel called the local police, but this did nothing to deter the intruders.

  2. She thought it was a bran muffin…

    Upon planning a large event for a non-profit organization, one event coordinator reported being extremely disappointed with the breakfast selection. I thought it was a bran muffin when I picked it up, but it ended up being some type of apple muffin.” She stated that she was “quite disappointed” about the muffin, and felt as though she was being purposely deceived by the hotel’s catering staff. She told the researcher that she will not return to this location due to the nasty stunt.

  3. An Itchy Situation

    A coordinator for an automobile manufacturer was holding their annual, weeklong training session in South Florida. She was very pleased with the facility, but stated, “The only complaint was the chiggers that everyone was bitten by. Maybe the hotel needed to spray.” The coordinator said that the hotel staff was very accommodating when notified of the problem, and she would consider returning to the property for future events.

  4. Fish Bones

    One Eastern University’s School of Medicine held their annual conference at an upscale waterfront hotel. The coordinator for the event told Knowland researchers that they had a nautical theme throughout the convention, and the dinner consisted of a variety of seafood. “There was a big problem with the main fish entrée – two people got tiny fish bones stuck in their gums, one attendant got a bone stuck in the roof of their mouth, and three people had some stuck in their throats!” The conference attendants had to be rushed to the emergency room, but no one sustained serious injuries.

  5. The Cookie Monster

    After their annual Theater School seminar in Los Angeles, the event planner recounted a terrible cookie problem that plagued their meetings. “There were over 200 students that attended the event,” the meeting planner recalls. “There were major issues with the catered platter “the cookie monster,” which was a misleading deal by the catering staff. I paid $5.19 for each cookie platter and coffee, and there were only a few cookies on each platter and this put a tremendous amount of pressure on me because I had to keep ordering more cookies while conducting my program. I felt as though I could have been offered more of a variety and larger sum of cookies for the price I paid.” The event planner told the researcher she will never go to that location again due to the stressful cookie situation. The researcher also indicated several complaints from this meeting planner about an excessive amount of fingerprints on the elevator doors.

About Knowland Group| Headquartered in Salisbury, MD, The Knowland Group is a premier provider of sales and marketing products and services to the hospitality industry, world wide. Poised as a leader in the industry, Knowland stands a cut above the rest in over 70 markets within the United States, Canada and beyond. Single minded in its goal to add client value, Knowland is a proven innovator, consistently striving to develop market changing products and services. For more information, visit or call 410.860.2270.

Ari Hantske
+1 (410) 860-2270