As is normal for my wife and I during one of our many road
trips, my wife selected a hotel for an overnight from a hotel guide. She called
ahead and obtained an unsolicited price quote that was a few dollars less than
the guide stated. Upon confirming the reservation and offering a credit card
the clerk told her it was unnecessary as they had plenty of rooms available.
When we arrived the same clerk told her the price was 50%
higher than he quoted on the phone an hour earlier. A heated discussion was then
under way. As we were tired, I suggested we pay the higher rate and took
obvious note of the clerk’s name tag. When he saw that move on my part he
closed his computer screen and stated that “we will not have any room available
for you now.” He went on to state that
he has a “right to select who to do business with.” We were agreeing to his
raised price, but he was refusing service. He never said the hotel was filled
or there were no available rooms. It was obvious he had been caught attempting
to implement a bait and switch and was going to be reported.
We drove across the street to another hotel for the evening.
Wrote a letter to the hotel chain corporate management and copied the BBB in
the area, in each case identifying the clerk by name and suggesting that he be
fired. Hopefully the firm did just that. In any event, we will not stop at that
hotel again and we will let our friends know of it at well.
What would you do in a similar situation? How would your
business react?
Steve Koenig, SCORE Counselor
Visit is at: www.scoresouthflorida.net
