Super 8 Motel - Cendant Corporation bait & switch type pricing, resistance to honoring on-line bookings Ames, Iowa & Portland Oregon
I booked a room over the phone for the Portland, OR Super 8 Motel a couple of hours before I left for the motel. This Super 8 is by the Portland Airport, and offers a fenced parking lot you can use while you are away if you stay at the Super 8 the night before you leave. I was quoted the price of $63.88 over the phone, and I even mentioned that it was only $20 over the regular nights rate and the clerk agreed. This was a real savings over leaving my truck in the long-term parking at the airport.
When I checked in later that night, the same person was at the desk as who took my reservation over the phone. She charged me $73.88 instead of $63.88 - I questioned the difference and she said she never quoted me the $63.88 at all. I had it written down from when I was taking notes during our conversation, and all the other info I wrote down was correct to the penny. She would not budge. It gave me a real ripped off feeling, but it was late in the evening and I felt a bit stuck with paying the $73.88.
When I arrived at the Super 8 Motel in Ames, IA, the experience with the front desk clerk was the weirdest I have ever experienced. My on-line confirmed rate was $39.49 a night. I gave my confirmation number and his rate was $49.00 a night. I challenged the amount nicely, and he went off on me about how he didn't "have" to honor any on-line booking amounts, and in fact told me Super 8 was going to stop honoring all bookings that were made on-line except those made through the direct Super 8 website.
He really had an attitude of doing me this big favor by putting through my room rate at the $39.49 amount and actually said that he didn't have to honor it but would this time. He told me that Super 8 didn't honor AAA discounts either, but it is printed right on my confirmation that my room rate is a AAA discounted rate.
This gentleman lectured me about on-line booking sites, how bad they were for Super 8, how Expedia was one, and that I had booked through Expedia. I told him I didn't think I had used Expedia, since I didn't use that site, but he insisted. After I checked my paperwork, it shows that I booked through United.com, not Expedia. But I got a lecture about using Expedia anyway.
On another note, don't count on the continental breakfast at Super 8's. The same donuts were in the same places for the two days I stayed at this hotel, and the milk for the cereal was in question as to freshness.
I own a retail business, and customer service is one of my pet peeves. I can recognize poor customer service immediately. I always treat the clerks with respect, even if I have a problem, because I figure that I will not be treated with respect back if I don't show them the same. I was to the point of rudeness with this gentleman, although I don't think he could tell because he was on such a roll, and my rudeness is not the shouting kind. I just turn off and I feel that is rude behavior. But I seriously was turned off by his behavior and by the behavior of the other desk clerk in Portland. I felt the attitude was take it or leave and we don't care. I felt the price adjustment was done intentionally. Many people don't make a fuss, or question a difference in price, and think how much extra money is made off those who do not question.
I travel alot. This is my first experince with Super 8 Motels. At this time, I don't believe I could recommend Super 8 to anyone based on these two experiences. In my opinion, there are strange financial dealings going on where they are not being straight with their clients. Once you quote a price, you are suppose to stick with that price. That is good customer service. No one can make you be on an on-line account or service, such as Expedia or any other unless your company agrees to be represented there and you agree to their rates. So to say that the on-line sites are just quoting prices randomly and Super 8 isn't going to accept those rates - well, that seems to be between Super 8 management and the on-line sites and clients should not be stuck into the middle of that argument.
Super 8 should clean up their act. I believe from what I have heard on his radio show that Clark Howard recommends sending complaint letters to the Investor Relations department of a company to get good results. Super 8 is owned by Cendant Corporation and their address is Cendant Corporation, Investor Relations, 9 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019. I plan on following up this filing with a letter to that department.
Cindy
Springfield, Oregon
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Super 8
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Garry
Winchester,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Too much of management's kool-aid
#2Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 25, 2005
I fear that is what the desk guy at Ames, Iowa was drinking.
My professional opinion is that this property was not attempting to pull a bait and switch in the classic sense, but was instead trying to avoid responsibility for its manager and/or owner's ignorance.
I'd like to try explaining this situation from the motel's side of the picture, NOT to justify it, as this Inn clearly dropped the ball, but so that readers will be be better informed and be more effectively able to defend their interests if and when they encounter simular situations.
As a whole, the lodging industry is in the midst of a prolounged shake down period with third party distribution channels such as external internet websites. Some descison makers are quite frankly overwhelmed by their options and oppertunities. These folks often don't understand how to properly set their rates for various third party channels, and they don't understand how changes in one sector of their rate matrix can impact other sectors, or they don't understand how to properly alter rates across a 12 month calendar, or they may simply forget to update rates at some little used venue until a busy wkend in peak season brings in a resv set at what was a slow winter rate from 2 yrs ago.
So all of a sudden a desk employee is confronted with an odd rate which s/he doesn't recognize. Now, one of the eternal truths of management is that the more inept a manager is, the more difficult s/he is to work for, and often times the more rigid s/he is in respect to allowing his employees leway to use their judgement to solve problems. Instead the employee probably works under a rule "If those d**n reservations screw up again and send through a rate we don't offer (meaning a rate that occured through mgmt's ignorance of the interface, and is termed a 'screw up' by virtue of further mgmt ignorance) up the dang thing to our 'what it should be'.
Given the horrid turnover among motel desk employees (200% + per yr) a lot of them don't even know better than to believe what the mgr says. Thus the desk person really believes that Expedia and the like are snake oil merchants, and actually think they're 'educating' the public when they give their little pitch about how the motel is gonna part company with them.
Where education is needed is on the motel's end.
This is not to say that there aren't glitches and sometimes improper rates are quoted but that is not the guest's problem. Ya see, motels can control who has interface access to their resv system. They also have controls over the rates abailable for sale to any external venue at anytime. The motels have ultimate control over the process, our opting to partner with any external service involves our signing off on an agreement to do A, B & C to maintain the rates we wish the third party to sell, and they agree to work within those parametors. If a third party booker finds a way to hack our system and sell an unauthorized rate, our problem is with the third party booker (and will be resolved in a court of law). It is not with the guest who was smart enough to sniff out an extreme bargain and jump on it.
This is what you, as a guest need to keep in mind. MOST motels which are actually on top of their rates and distribution position will recognize an oddball quote for what it is, something that has slipped through the cracks and needs to be addressed by management, while the resv in question is honored (along with something being said to the gsts so they wont anticipate the same rate during future stays). If a clerk pitches a lower case fit over what "some internet service did to us" consider it a HUGE red flag that the mgmt is in way over its head.
So, what to do:
From the lobby call a)the guest assistance number of the chain in question, b)the third party resv service, and c)the customer service number for the credit card used to hold the room (explaining to them that you gtd a rm on your card at x rate and now the facility is trying to make you pay for its ignorance).
You can expect that the problem will be properly resolved, the motel will be reminded of its obligations, and you will get the rate that was quoted to you.
If for some reason the motel digs its feet in and refuses to bulge . . .you then have to ask yourself if it is the type of dump you want to stay in. Run like hell, find another motel, and advise you credit card company you have cxl'ed the resv based on refusal to honor the agreed upon rate. This way, in the event the bums try to bill you as a 'no-show', you will have already laid the groundwork for your cc ompany to deny the charge.