jerry305

I'm with the GM on this one.
Well handled, I think.

Anyone who booked the $10 rate should've known it was an error.

If I were the GM, I wouldn't give much thought about alienating the 50 odd people who are putting opportunism w---a---y ahead of loyalty.

travisair

Hi Phil, I think it was very well handled. You sent out a message the very same day the booking was made. - And you still presented a great offer of $69. If I would have known about the deal, I would have booked it for sure, hoping the hotel would honor it. But in reality, people make mistakes. It was obvious this was an error, and if a person needs to stay in the LAX area, the $69 offer you presented is unbeatable.

geeprice

From my perspective as one of those that booked the $10 rate I think part of the problem that you are experiencing is the E-mail that Maria sent sent, it could have been worded much better in my opinion.

First off by your own omission above it was not a "Technical glitch" but rather human error on the part of a new agent.

Secondly the $10 rate is not to low for the hotel to honor, and how that was phrased in the E-mail left much room for improvement.
"The $10.00 rate is too low for the
hotel to honor. The rate of $69.00 will be honored for your reservations.
You will receive confirmation emails with the $69.00 rate for your reference."

Lets look at just one recent example, The Westin NYC Times Square has honored a $60 rate, that also came with a $10 minibar credit, 1 in room movie, $10 Metrocard, $10 coffee card per night, this from a hotel that I assume has a significantly higher ADR than yours to begin with. This is just one of many examples of hotels owning up to there mistakes, though there are of course others were the hotels have weaseled out of there contractual commitments

Thirdly the arbitrary nature of unilaterally imposing a $69 rate on a existing reservation does not sit well with me. If the reservation at the $10 is not to be honored, then that should be communicated to the client in a direct manner, while laying out under what terms or conditions included in the original contract, form of booking, or prevailing law provides for unilateral cancellation of the existing reservation. If after doing that you want to offer a gesture of good will through a discounted $69 rate, then by all means go ahead.

Also while it may be obvious to you that a $10 rate is a mistake, there are plenty of promotional rates below $10 that are genuine, The Hoxton Hotel (London) £1 Room Sale comes to mind for one.

Also just to address a few other comments in the thread, I received the email from Maria 2 days after making the reservation not the same day. I also sent a reply to her laying out my issues with her email the day I received it, and have heard nothing for 5 days.

So in summation from a albeit biased point of view I think you need to Honor the reservations as originally booked, as that is the right thing to do.
Also I think you will find that the reservations if honored will have a high breakage percentage, I personally booked more nights than I will use, and will cancel the extras when it gets closer to the dates, as my travel plans become clearer.

deadinabsentia

My reply was from Maria was 3 days after my booking, and although I replied within the hour, I have as of yet no response. Certainly the emails tone was direct, and did not elicit any sympathy.

Wheras Phil's directness here does.

There is more to consider than who should have 'known' what.
This week, I've had several emails from airlines fares that do not cover cost.
BA 1 pound + tax, Spirit Airlines $9 fares, even United offering all in transcons for $210. These are marketing loss leaders. As pointed out Hoxton hotels in London also has 1 pound rates on a small percentage of rooms.


In todays' age of internet marketing, nothing is too good to be believed it seems.


ALL THAT SAID, this was an error.

That said, it doesn't void the contract that was struck for what any California court would deem consideration.

That said, I would think the vast majority (I know my friends and I booked perhaps 80-90 room nights) of patrons would be happy to come to an arrangement that is mutually beneficial, whether that be some starpoints, a free short stay (2-3 Nights) in a suite anytime, or in my case, I wasn't even going to stay, I only wanted the credit or nights to my account.

Phil can check me into a broom closet for a month if it helps them.

hedoman

WOW! That's great news. I'm sure Phil is looking for a few good customers like you and your friends.

All the more reason to just let the error slide and eat it. There are people booking this stuff with hopes of a higher payoff.

deadinabsentia

Being British, I can appreciate your dry wit, but truthful, I have and do continue to stay at the property. I am loyal, within reason, to them and appreciate Phil's efforts on the forum.

LovetoTravel83

This error reminds me of the Landsborough which is a starwood hotel a few years back offered rooms for somewhere around £30 which the hotel honoured it as well.

I also say yes 50 bookings doesn't do much and don't know what would happen in court as well.

dcstudent

Phil,
I'd probably honor all of the reservations for people who only made 1 reservation, because $10 would not necessarily be seen as a mistake rate since many hotels offer ridiculously cheap rates (in limited quantities) as a promotion.

For those individuals that made multiple reservations, I'd offer to keep 1 of those reservations at $10, and make the rest at $69.

My $.02 (and just as full disclosure, I don't have any rooms booked at the 4pts so I won't be helped or hurt by the solution).

PhilFPLAXGM

Hi Guys!

I want to say that I really appreciate your business. Everything we do is focused on making life easier for weary travelers, but more than that we focus on TIME. Our 24 Hour Check-In/Check-Out program makes rooms available anytime (with advance notice) and allows you keep them for 24 hours. This is still unique outside of the luxury segment. We sell day use rooms from 8 am to 5 pm for $89 Monday through Friday. Even Brewster’s is not all about beer. It’s about taking time out of a busy day to enjoy a flavorful beverage.

We’ve definitely modified some of our service delivery based on Flyer Talk posts. Probably the biggest revelation was how we were handling, or mishandling, the Platinum line. I’m assuming that now we are much better but not quite perfect.

In this case it turns out that it’s 300 room nights that booked in the ten hours the rate was open. Based on my buddy Vinodavid’s post I’m transferring the culprit to the St. Regis just for you guys (but decorum prohibits me from commenting on his sausage analogy).

Now that I’ve made you read all that, I’ve decided to honor the $10 rates across the board. However, any changes or cancellations will put the rate back to the prevailing Best Available Rate.

Because this is public forum and I know my Starwood friend William is lurking, I can’t get creative in order to get anyone stays good for status unless they are here to check-in.

If you guys have any questions you can post them or PM me.

I apologize that we handled it poorly at the start. Luckily for me I haven’t actually been in this situation before.

All the Best!!!

Phil

geeprice

A big^^^ to you Phil for doing the right thing in relatively short order, and I look forward to meeting you in January if not before.

Keyser

i agree....good job phil....^^

schley

I just completed a stay here for one night and actually forgot Phil posted in this thread as much as he does. I commend him and his openness to the community. I can't help but want to swing business to this property as they certainly want to be profitable but have an eye towards customer loyalty for the long term instead of each days profit margin.

Great extension of extending courtesy to customers who did nothing other than book a rate offered (erroneously certainly) by the property. I predict you will have about a 25%-33% no show rate or cancelations on this deal as well. Please share that percentage once known. I feel many just jumped on this hoping to get some starpoints in lieu of a forced cancellation from the property. You will find some will simply not come as they were prospecting for this.

Also Phil FTers will talk about this deal for years to come and remember how you handled it with class. You are now part of FT legend!

PhilFPLAXGM

LOL! Story of my life...fame but no fortune!

Stubtify

Really, really well done Phil. I'm not involved in this $10 deal--but will be shifting my LA stays to your property from the Sheraton. I appreciate you making things right for these people.

TrojanHorse

bold my emphasis

Geez, thanks William

*just kidding *