It's sad companies do this and sadder in way that customers don't make more noise collectively in order to coach them out of it. Tweets and forums will increasingly help with this I'm sure. These offers are intended to entice and if we show that not honouring "the spirit" of the offer rather than the zealous exploitation of small print which feels intended to avoid the spirit, this therefore ultimately carries the opposite consequences than those they intended, because customers lose trust and defect when they feel cheated. Now of course reputations good or bad spread more quickly. The problem with this group is that in reality we aren't their customers, the properties are. They want to save their own central spend and aren't too bothered about an individuals loyalty to a particular property which in the end is the real bottom line potential loss in these situations and others in other threads. Making customers happy is about meeting or exceeding the expectations corporations have created not employing people to find cunning and ingenious ways to disappoint them.

When companies go further than the small print they generate genuine rather than tactical loyalty. I'd pick out Amazon as an example which I find really impressive. Ocado in the UK is also really good at going "that stage further".

The art is to take trouble to complain loudly, vocally and publicly - as here. But also be even louder when you get really good service. That is what will coach corporations to understand that better service equals more business.

Seasonal Greetings All.