i remember a few years ago the four points lax offered a mistake $10 rate & a number of people took advantage of that....the gm of the property at that time (phil) is pretty active on ft & he actually asked for advice here on what he should do....eventually i think he decided to honour the rate but informed all those who booked it that they would not receive any on property elite benefits....so no upgrades, free breakfast, etc....i think that was extremely generous....even though i was not one of the lucky ones to take advantage of this rate, this gesture definitely won my loyalty & i continued to stay at this property till phil moved to the westin lax....

Do you remember Phil's last name? Are you sure it was the Four Points and not the Crowne Plaza LAX? I remember seeing his name lots of times in the USA Today when they had columns on the hotels and they always quoted a GM in the LAX area first name Phil. I can't remember his last name though.

Received the same canned email AFTER reaching out to MBonvoyAssist on Twitter. Echoing others - I wouldn't have been bothered as much had the property been proactive in reaching out.

However, the way this was handled was pretty much textbook NOT how to run a hospitality operation.

The random quoting of the Marriott T&Cs in the email from the GM was another nice touch. :rolleyes:

I plan to reach out to the GM, but expect the same response Star_Guy received.

Another few avenues for those that may want to put a bit of pressure on the hotel:

NYC Department of Consumer Affairs Complaint:
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dca/consum...complaint.page

OTO Development (owner of the property)
https://www.otodevelopment.com/company/leadership/
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update...53183929249792

He just went by Phil on FT even though someone may know his last name. For example see post # 594.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...thread-40.html

Phil Baxter
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...r#post23981247
https://www.hosthotels.com/news/prop...ater-and-power

i'm tempted to say its phil baxter....not 100% sure though....

here is the post from 2012:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/19552662-post443.html

Not really the same thing. Airline fares are wacky without rhyme or reason. Did you ever go to a restaurant ( other than all you can east Sushi:) ) and have them say not finishing everything on your plate ( hidden city Itn. ) would be more expensive than had you ate all on your plate.

Second $ 1000 is a lot of money. Just for a more comfortable seat? for the same flight? A non expert consumer could reasonably that that a grand for a single flight is the pricing.
Hence , a meeting of the minds".
Does anyone expect a hotel in Manhattan to be $3 for a night?
If you were in a car dealership and a 120.000 car , was mislabeled for $1200 would you expect the car dealer to sell you the car for $1200 and not the $120,000 price?
Same with a Steinway Piano?
You reap what you sew. Airfares are so convoluted and without rhyme or reason , that one may think that is the price. Think of the budget European airlines that sell tixs for "$1 fare " plus fuel and other surcharges

what is the big deal with posting a corporate email?
 

First, you are talking about a G.M.
The name of the General Manager is in the public domain
Any customer centered property , would provide both the name and corporate email to a guest who inquired.
He is not a "low- level " employee AND I don't see his home address , personal email , or where his kids go to school posted?
What is the big deal?
Perhaps a bit indiscreet , but hardly a "lack of class" by the poster. Maybe he wants others to write emails?
Franchisees buy points at cheap very low wholesale rates. A good will gesture of 15K points would not be unreasonable.
Or a 50% off certificate valid during lower occupancy periods.

Just checked and see now he is the GM of the Westin LAX airport. He seems to be a fixture of the LAX hotel scene.

No one could possibly expect a roundtrip intl F to be < 1000 USD. No one. Not even with the absurdly convoluted pricing.

And yes, it is law in a lot of places that if something is mislabeled, that's on the seller. Not screwing up stuff like this isn't that hard.

Well , which places? Common law from England a contract exists when there is a meeting of the minds, or in New York a lower standard, ( in favor of the consumer) if there was is a reasonable expectation from an ordinary consumer that it was a bonafide offer to sell., then it was/enforceable
Which" places is "it on the seller ". well if Walgreen's labels it $2 bucks too low in NYC they have to sell ONE of the item for $2 bucks less than intended.
Did you think that $3 buck for a Manhattan Marriott was legitimate offering?
most important ,we can agree to disagree $1000 to sit in the middle of front of the bus instead of the rear is not the same as a $140K Porsche "listed for $140-.
Where are there a lot of places that it's on the seller if the salesman marked by mistake the $140,000.00 Exotic car for $140 or $139, 840.00 less than the "real price"
A Grand for a single airline tix is hardly the same as $3- for a Manhattan hotel room or a Porsche for $140-


Why can't a middle income American with a $45,000 annual income, before taxes think that a thousand dollars is a good sale price for a plane tix? How much discretionary income post fixed expenses does that consumer have?
after housing, food, car payments, gas, dependent card ( kids) , I could go on and on

first sometime airlines honor it sometimes they don't.

1- do piano sellers offer " absurdly convoluted pricing." as a matter of ordinary business practice?
2- do car dealers act similarly.

I'm not saying to "pox on your house" when it does not honor what a fllyertalker --- we are a small small outlier of consumers knows to be a mistake fare beciase a ride on the bus is "only" 1000-
I'm just saying that airlines have less moral ground than a car dealer Piano store to not offer a sale.
Finally, once an airline offers an Eticket number -- the transaction is complete
Conversely ,a hotel reservation number is not as final and definitive.

I'd like to be an eagle eyed consumer " a lot of those places" : ) :)
 

[QUOTE=

And yes, it is law in a lot of places that if something is mislabeled, that's on the seller. Not screwing up stuff like this isn't that hard.[/QUOTE]


ummmm what and where are there "lots of places" that this is the law?
I'd like to be an eagle eyed consumer " a lot of those places" : ) :)
I'm not anti consumer and pro Marriott.
could Marriott AND the individual property have handled it better , yes. And the local G.M ? yes
but an obligation to sell room for $3 ????
how many booking for that one night were there anyway?
perhaps the oversold guests should have been walked to the Lowell, Park Hyatt or perhaps the Mandarin Oriental in the time warner center?
I won't post on this thread again because I want to remain civil and agree to disagree. But someone--- a non-flyertalker----- can't think $1000 .00 for a single plane ticket s very expensive?
does they hotel have to honor the rate under the law? I don't think so . Just my humble opinion. That's why they have horse racing.
Should they have summarily cancelled without notice? NO!!
How about a classy letter of apology and goodwill low five figure MR points deposit or $ 150 gift card good at any Marriott and call it a day?

If the hotel average room rate of $199 and accidentally listed it as 199,000 and you booked a non-refundable rate thinking it was $199, I have full faith Marriott will cancel the error overpriced rate

Had the rate in dispute in this thread been something more possible (or believable) say $60 or something, I can imagine some people fell as if was a genuine sale and hotel should pony up. But $3 is clearly a mistaken fare for reasonable person, so I don't see why hotel franchise would honor that.

As for legal, I am not sure it is a formal contract or if it is really a "invitation to treat" situation when the price is shown on the website. I just dont see enough injustice that effected users would file a class lawsuit. And I don't see enough injustice for general public sympathy that it will rally public support for all the Marriott members that didn't get their $3 /night hotel.

Or ... how about giving the consumer 9 months notice and offering to let them make a reservation at 25 percent off regular rates. Considering no one seems to have actually been inconvenienced, that seems very fair.

Sorry not fair at all. And I never received that "2nd offer" anyways and I am Lifetime Titanium and an Ambassador member. Hasn't returned any calls either. Read reviews on the Marriott site(negative ones) and similar theme that mgmt doesn't return calls or respond. In my opinion the way this GM has handled this has been terrible and that's being kind.

His email address was posted here earlier. Did you email him to ask if you could take the 25 percent discount rate?

That email was NOT sent to me. He sent it out to another person who had their reservation canceled and questioned it. I received the 1st generic email that another flyer talk member posted here, that offered nothing. The fact of the matter is imo this GM has not handled this situation well, has been inconsistent on who has even received his new "offer" and doesn't return calls. The Marriott website reviews of this hotel state the same thing, their frustration with mgmt.

Why not ask your ambassador to contact the GM directly? With 100 nights and $20K of spend (or grandfathered in for 2019), your ambassador is at your service.

That said, why would you want to stay at this kind of property in the first place? I wouldn't.

The amount of positive publicity they would have received would have worth millions in free advertising.