Verbally attacked by GM because I booked online!
 

About once every 3 or 4 months I at the Country Inn and Suites in a small MN town. Everytime I checked in for the last year the I was told if your booking a reservation please call rather then book on-line. Well, it's 2012 and it's a hell of lot easier for me to book on-line then to call, be put on hold, wait wait wait, and give all my info all over the phone.

So I check in this week and the GM says "Haven't I told you before to call rather then book on-line" I explain it's a slower process and I lose out on 1,000 points for booking on-line. We go back and forth and I finally say forget it. I'm just going to the HI down the street and you probably wonder why your occoupany rate is 50%.

Clearly the on-line booking bonus must be getting paid by the hotel you stay at, but is it really that big of cost to annoy your customers everytime they check-in?

MSPDeltaDude - Please check your Private Messages for a note from us.

Thank you!
Club Carlson

Not so sure it is the 1,000 points or the commision that CC would get for the booking as opposed to you booking direct.

The property probably has to pay something for the bookings that are coming through the chain website, or maybe they cheat when it comes to the franchise fees etc. Who knows, but totally inappropriate behavior from the property. Either you belong to the chain and fulfill with the requirements, or you reflag the property and go independent.

I suspect that this hotel is sandwiched between a large lake on the south side and a busy highway and railroad on the north side. If so, it's one of the reasons I stopped staying at CIS when there were other good choices.

MSPDeltaDude. . . could you enlighten us to as what the PM noted? Just curious, not trying to interfere with anything confidential.

I just responded to the company rep right now. I'm not going to name the city. With the way the Internet is archived and goggle I don't want this please to lose business if they correct the problem. If someone REALLY needs to know PM me. :D

How curious!
 

Club Carlson obviously wants to be a big boy and play with the majors - by having an online presence here at FlyerTalk, and such a QUICK response!

The OP has it right, the location must be paying something and by booking online he is cutting into their revenue.

Nothing more annoying than a company not understanding that guests want an accurate, up to date, and working website.

I've had similar behaviour from a Carlson Country Inn hotel in Chicago that I regularly frequent. Seemed like a required patter from the desk clerks to those who've booked on the internet. I've ignored it.

+1. I really like the Club Carlson web site and booking rooms on it. It would annoy me to no end if I was staying at a hotel that tried to insist that I call to reserve rooms vs. booking online. No question I would just choose a completely different hotel. I am not going to book by phone, and it would bother me to book online if I knew I could get a better deal by phone.

Hasn't he the right to ask you to call? He is, after all, the GM and it fully depends on him how to manage his hotel. I'd better call next time if I were you!

Ummmm - no he doesn't have the right to ask you that. If they're going to be a branded hotel, then they need to play by the rules which in this case probably don't include the GM skirting booking policies of the brand.

of course the GM can ask, if he is interested, but in my books he has no rights to force the customer. And as its formulated, it sounds like a threat, which is totally unacceptable

of course the gm can ask, but after the guest explains that they'd rather book online that should be the end of the discussion and the gm should not bring it up again.

If was paying for the stay with my own dime & this was at a hotel where they charged for parking (or something else I'd rather not pay), then I might negotiate with the GM. Sure I'll call but you need to give me X rate or comp me Y or give me X amount of extra points.

Why would they care about how you book your room?