Originally Posted by
idealflyer
I hate to see hotels getting away with this. Booking.com had Sheraton DFW for $49 on the Club level. Hotel is offering $119 as a "middle ground". Booking.com is still showing the same rate but has also contacted me. Both are trying to bully me to either cancel on my own accord, or pay the higher rate.
Isn't this a violation of bait and switch policies? You would not go to a restaurant, order the special of their printed menu and expect to pay more when the food arrives, no?
Mistake rates seems to be honored less and less. As anyone simply checked into the hotel, paid the higher rate and then deal with their credit card for refunding the difference as it was not the original agreed upon non-refundable rate offered?
I'd hate to see this thread devolve into more misplaced moral indignation, as the entire point of the thread is premised on the idea that, no, you shouldn't assume all mistake rates will (or should) be honored. But no, the proper comparison would be if you saw a sign saying Filet Mignon, $4.0, and you knew it was a mistake and meant $40., but you nonetheless brought all your friends to the restaurant, which you would never otherwise go to, and each demand $4 filet mignon and tap water for dinner.
The reason mistake fares and rates are less frequently honored is because of the greed of consumers. That was a major factor in the US DOT changing its position on mistake fares. Reasonableness of consumers would go a long way. You are trying to bully them just as much as they're trying to bully you. You're arguably worse as you're trying to take advantage of what you know to be an innocent mistake.