Maybe random was the wrong word... what I meant was that they tried to make it as unpredictable as possible by using late-night and back-to-back times.
Exactly. That was more my point. I don't think that they were really random, and I would question whether all of the times during Week 1 were the times that they originally had in their plans. However, I don't think that LMT ever said that they had been randomly assigned until they made changes for Week 2. Of course, their insistance that the videos had worthwhile clues certainly led people to believe that the predetermined times would not be changed during the week. All a relatively minor offense in the grand scheme of things, IMO. Still, I'd love to one day hear an official explanation of the clues from LMT or the viral video folks.
To get the reaally nice hotels you had to book your reservation on the very first day before they started imposing limits on the value of your booking. I know a few people who ended up getting awful properties and decided to decline their reservation.
Completed a stay at the Hotel Scribe Managed by Sofitel in Paris about a week and a half ago. My two nights there great! Room was more than I expected, thankful for the free breakfast included in my rate (otherwise costs 37EUR...if it had not been free I probably wouldnt have gone for it), and I managed to get a street view instead of a courtyard view.
I will admit it was my first time staying in a hotel like this...which was uncharted territory...such as the turndown service that caught me by surprise one night. Still I had a great time and couldnt have asked for a better hotel...especially since the 3 nights previous I had crashed at an easyHotel in London (talk about opposite ends of the spectrum)....
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Elliott seems very consistent.....very little substance.
He asks LMT for an update 4 days before the promo ends,
and he is discussing it NOW?
Of course there were huge problems with the promotion.
We know all about the problems, we were there !
But LMT did not bankrupt themselves or crash the stock market !
FT'ers often deal with strange and unpredictable
situations in our quest to bag a deal.
Errors are the lifeblood of much of what we reap.
For those who had the time to spend, and some luck,
it seemed worth the effort to roll with the punches.
I figure I garnered at least 30% of minimum wage !
...and I get to pay tax!
Despite much sloppiness, valuable hotel stays were handed out.
Winners are now consistently enjoying some fine wins.
That core conclusion does not seem to be part of his story.
Hotel Deals rarely match the value LMT offered in this event.
I haven't seen posts about lawsuits to get a booking honored;
yet that is not a rare evolution with hotel rate errors.
Elliott's story simply whines about the reality of fine print.
Regarding management, communication, and
marketing failures, the LMT promo does not really
stand out as such in today's world !
Elliott might better have reported details about the
various bizarre behaviors triggered in thousands
of people across the country !
It was one of the strangest events I've EVER participated in!
That story is waiting to be told well.
Did it really set a Guinness record; I am not sure for what....
....or was that just another myth floating around at 3 AM?
Most fascinating to me were the technical issues;
the game evolved and contestants leveraged software tools.
LMT responded with network tactics that I imagine
are standard study in protecting networks against
"cyber-warfare" denial-of-service type attacks.
Now if Elliott had managed to dig some juicy details
about how that all went down internally at LMT,
that would be interesting journalism!
Or at least he could have found out
what LMT intended the "clues" to be !
Did any of the complaints to the BBB or similar agencies lead to any investigations into LMT?
Yes, Florida's Division of Consumer Services received a number of complaints and has cases open on the subject. Complaints were forwarded by them to LMT, and LMT is expected to respond. I don't know if LMT has responded to any of the complaints yet.
Just wanted to report that I got back from a 3 night stay at the Hilton Aldwych in London. I was so excited to get the promo I clicked on the first 5 star hotel available and that's what I got. It was certainly posh and had a great location, but seemed geared to business travelers. The bathroom was almost as big as the bedroom, and although the room description listed a minibar/fridge, it turns out you have to have it unlocked by the front desk and they charge you 50 pounds a day deposit which is then refunded every morning - definitely didn't want to mess with that. The included breakfast was great (continental or hot breakfasts were both free), and checkout involved simply dropping off the keys. Haven't got my 1099 from LMT yet, though. I'm sure they will quote this around 300 GBP/night, and while nice, the hotel was certainly not worth that, IMO.
Maybe random was the wrong word... what I meant was that they tried to make it as unpredictable as possible by using late-night and back-to-back times.
redsox28, my stay starts in April, I hope it's still happening! And actually, I'm staying in Boston, so I'm looking forward to it.
Gotta love Boston in April! Have fun! I assume you live in Maine, where abouts?
Haven't got my 1099 from LMT yet, though. I'm sure they will quote this around 300 GBP/night, and while nice, the hotel was certainly not worth that, IMO.
I won a vacation in August (or July, I forgot) of 2008 for a stay in September. I did not receive the 1099 from the company until February of 2009, in the midst of receiving all other tax papers from other employers, etc. I would expect the same to be true for this "win", so look for it at the beginning of 2010 would be my guess.
I bow to anyone else who has more knowledge than I do and who could correct me if I'm wrong. This is just the one time before this promotion that I have ever won anything "big".
How does LMT get away with misrepresenting the * ratings?
I just checked LMT and a 4* hotel in Little Rock AR was $103/night including taxes. After checking around, the hotel they have listed as a 4* is the Hilton, which is listed as a 3* on other websites. How can they misrepresent the star ratings?
I just checked LMT and a 4* hotel in Little Rock AR was $103/night including taxes. After checking around, the hotel they have listed as a 4* is the Hilton, which is listed as a 3* on other websites. How can they misrepresent the star ratings?
Because they can, and one website's 4*, is another's 3*, is another's 3 1/2*, and on and on. And besides that the hotel industry is always changing. A 3* today could be a 4* after a decent remodel, and who knows when someone last visited to give them a rating.
Who's to regulate them anyway? Our government lets private companies rate the quality of such things as corporate bonds. Enron was at least rated A if not AA or AAA right before it crashed. Same with AIG. And that was a heck of a lot more important.
Because they can, and one website's 4*, is another's 3*, is another's 3 1/2*, and on and on. And besides that the hotel industry is always changing. A 3* today could be a 4* after a decent remodel, and who knows when someone last visited to give them a rating.
Who's to regulate them anyway? Our government lets private companies rate the quality of such things as corporate bonds. Enron was at least rated A if not AA or AAA right before it crashed. Same with AIG. And that was a heck of a lot more important.
Post of the day.
It is a jungle out there.
Buyer beware.
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