Ever been abused for booking a cheap rate online? I have. Please help!

dwhes on 31/10/2012 - 11:17

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone had ever experienced bad customer service or been abused by a hotel for booking a cheap rate online through a 3rd party site (hotelclub, agoda, expedia etc)? I can now officially say that I have experienced it. This morning I experienced some of the worst treatment I have ever had to deal with.

Back story:

I had been looking to book a hotel online for a destination in Australia for 4 people for 2 nights over NYE. This destination doesn't have a huge amount of hotels and they are filling up quite quickly for the period. Anyway I researched online like the good ozbargainer I am and found that I could achieve a much cheaper rate booking via www.hotelclub.com than booking via the hotel directly. The rate was also cheaper on zuji.com. Normally in these instances I ring the hotel directly and see if they are able to match the price, most often they do.

In this instance the lady that answered was very abrupt and said "No we have a 3 night minimum then and the rate will be at full price". I advised her I could book it elsewhere for much cheaper and with no minimum night requirement. To which she replied that she was meant to have taken the 3rd party sites down. At this point I said thank you for your help and hung up.

I decided that I had nothing to lose booking with hotelclub before I assume she would advise them to no longer sell rooms, I made a booking. Hotelclub confirmed the booking had 100% gone through and that there was no minimum night requirement and it is up to the hotel to correctly advise them if they no longer have any rooms available for 3rd parties to sell. Form this point I assumed everything was fine and that I am sure I had frustrated the manager but I had done nothing wrong. I was not expecting to be treated amazingly at check in or the best room but I wasn't expecting anything bad as a result. In fact I had possibly done her a favour by making her aware of the mistake before other potential customers went ahead and made a booking via 3rd party sites.

Fast forward to this morning:

1 week after the booking was confirmed I today received a phone call at 6:10am, we are in the same state as the hotel so it was also that time for them. At this time the phone woke my partner and I up and I proceded to answer the call. What I received was the same lady on the other end of the phone verbally abusing me for booking the room via hotelclub when she said she had a 3 night minimum. I calmly in my sleepy state responded that I was sorry but I had done nothing wrong other than book a hotel room online for an advertised rate, if I had never even called you I would have been totally unaware that you wanted a 3 night minimum. After several more minutes of abuse from the women she proceded to hang up on me.

Fast forward to 9:30am this morning:

Called the hotel back and spoke to the lady again. Calmly stated that I did not appreciate being woken and spoken to like that at 6:10am. She advised that she didn't appreciate me booking a room when I knew she wanted a 3 night minimum direct from the hotel. I again said I'm sorry but I did nothing wrong, I would never have known that if I hadn't called you to offer you to match the rate, perhaps it was not morally perfect but I am a customer trying to spend as little possible. She then advised she is sorting it out with hotelclub via email and hung up on me.

Wow. I had never encountered something like this before and was a little shook up to be honest. I know what I did was probably not morally impecable, but I literally would have had no idea about her 3 night minimum requirement if I had just proceded to book with hotelclub like I initially did. The 3 night minimum was not mentioned on the hotel's own personal website, it just said to call them for bookings over the christmas/nye period. Now I have no idea what is going on with my booking and where to go from here. I assume she is doing everything she can to get hotelclub to cancel the booking. I am now in linbo and have been charged the full amount for our stay. There are minimal hotels left for the 2 nights we need and to have any chance to book another one, I need this resolved ASAP.

Has anyone else experienced this before and can offer any advise? This appears to be the only person I can speak to at the hotel, she answers the phone every time someone calls and will not put me through to anyone else.

David

Travel

Comments

  • boretentsu on 05/11/2012 - 16:00
    -1

    You can continue to say "I've done nothing wrong" and it's technically true but you knew you were not welcome under those conditions and invited trouble by booking it via hotel club anyway.

    Lesson is: don't call up to avail yourself of information - just book it!

  • reecious on 05/11/2012 - 17:30
    +2

    I'm sorry to hear that you have had such a bad start to your holiday. I completely agree with you, it's her blunder whether you rung her previously or not, she screwed up. Write a bad reviewa and list the circumstance in which she yelled at you over the phone. Noone deserves to be spoken to like that, especially not at 6:10am after she's woken you up. I think you should name the hotel, not just to shame her, but so she loses business due to her stupidity and rudeness.

      • reecious on 05/11/2012 - 22:00
        +14

        Marketing and good business 101 my friend. If an item or service is on sale for a particular price, described in such a way as this gentlemen has experienced then yes I would jump on the persons back. Heres why, it is her responsibility for advertising, and what is listed should be so, otherwise it's known as false advertising. It is ridiculous to compare this consumer to a shop lifter, you're absolutely idiotic if you think this. A better analogy would be someone selling a product, say a laptop, in which it is advertised online to be $800, however the special is finished and the manager has failed to take down the offer. You buy the laptop anyway, the manager even though the sale has finished is by law suppose to offer you this product for the marketed price. I'm pretty sure you would be annoyed if he then proceeds to ring you at 6am and abuses you over the phone because he's now losing a couple of hundred dollars in profit due to his stuff up. If you rung up or not it doesn't matter, it was the managers responsibility right?. If you ever worked a day in your life, you would know that even if shampoo was on sale and the 'special' price tag was never removed you must still provide the product for the price advertised. What you described is embarrassing to read. 'Shop lifter', no it's called being smart. The manager should have the decency to suck it up and say, "well it was advertised like that on that particular website, what else can I do but offer this man that service". It's one customer who's doing this, she can then take down advertisement after and now she's more aware of her fault, this is how you learn by making mistakes. Being called at 6am in the morning and abused because she stuffed up is uncalled for and completely out of hand. The fact that this person doesn't name or shame her is proof that there are good people in the world who really respect other people and their businesses even when they're not at fault. We don't live in the 1920's anymore, we don't know our local businesses by name. This is how the marketing world has developed, and people who screw up their job shouldn't tip toed around. They should understand their blunder and accept responsibility.

        "Kids these days". No, adults these days. Understand that culture and society has developed far beyond what you think is the 'norm'. Personal attacks at this person is uncalled for and it's people like you who everyone sneers at because you generally annoy everyone around you. Catch my drift old timer?

        • dwhes on 06/11/2012 - 10:09
          +16

          I've tried to stay polite and explain my reasoning throughout your continued comments. It's becoming tiring. You are obviously a perfect
          human being and have made your point several times. Also you have no idea how old I am and clearly based on the vast majority of comments, most people believe she was in the wrong. I respect your point of view and right to have so, but whole heatedly disagree with everything you've said. Comparing me to a criminal for her lack of ability to do her job and subsequent abuse? Nice. I am a consumer and making the most of the time, money and options I have available to me. In my job I've made mistakes like anyone else and it has resulted in better outcomes for others. Did I stamp my feet and throw a tantrum like she did? No, I learnt from my mistakes and took it on the chin.

        • reecious on 06/11/2012 - 12:40
          +5

          As I've stated, which I did not leave out, asking first is irrelevant. It's her responsibility regardless, her responsibility to take down the offer, it's not up to the consumer. Like this person has mentioned, what if they never had called? She would still have offered these people the price advertised on the website, but she never would have abused them at 6am. Your comment, " this changes their motive from honest mistake to a scammer", is out of context. A scammer is someone who swindles someone by fraud, this person is far from doing anything like this to this lady. They're playing the market to their advantage, and good on them. If I were to make a blunder like this at my work it would be on my head, I could get in serious trouble for such a thing and so I should, because it's my responsibility.

          "I know what I did was probably not morally impecable" but you also said "I had done nothing wrong" several times. does that sound like a rational argument to you? " Sounds like a rational valid argument to me. Dwhes feels bad about making the booking due to the managers mistake, but Dwhes is right in saying that they have done nothing wrong because they booked the room by the book, meaning everything was done on legal precedence. Have they done anything wrong legally? No. Scamming is illegal so your argument about them being a scammer is completely out of context.

          My advice to you luke, is to read over my comments and Dwhes'.

        • MLC4 on 06/11/2012 - 12:58
          +12

          'Luke' if that is your real name, um….be quiet now. Seriously, just stop. I don't even know you and feel so humiliated/embarrassed on your behalf. Whether you agree or disagree with the original post, write your opinion and then drop it. Don't turn your life long goals and ambitions into commenting on every post that doesn't agree with you. You've had your say, move on, get a life-one which does not involve your current girlfriend (The Computer) and realise that being persistently negative is not healthy.

          In response to dwhes; I personally completely agree with what you did. It was a case of bad luck for her, she made a mistake and in the business world you don't get let off with a 'slap on the wrist' you have to cop the penalty on the chin, LEARN from it and move on.

        • voteoften on 06/11/2012 - 15:51
          +3

          So, after a barrage of abuse at 6am, having been woken up, he is expected to apologise and follow "standard procedures"?

          I think the OP was best placed to evaluate the situation.

        • Shout It Out on 08/11/2012 - 21:55

          I personally am simply incapable of respecting anyone who rings me at 6am to abuse the living daylights out of me. Not even the queen herself!
          I would also not be capable of having a long conversation to try and find common goals when I got woken up from my peaceful slumber and being yelled at, at 6am.
          My only goal would be to get back to sleep ASAP.

          So I can understand why the OP wasn't following your "communication 101" theory and strategy.

          Perhaps if she had rung a decent time say, 11am, then the OP might have had a different chat and outcome.

        • caidstech on 09/11/2012 - 16:38
          +1

          I've got a feeling "Luke" is the woman from the hotel. ^.^

    • voteoften on 05/11/2012 - 23:29
      +17

      Letting people know his/her experience is not unnecessarily harsh. It is the facts.

      • spartacus77 on 06/11/2012 - 12:13
        -2

        Maybe you have not run a small business and are inclined to back the bargain hunter. It's an opinion at the end of the day.

        • voteoften on 06/11/2012 - 15:49
          +2

          I'm on the side of the truth. If he tells it like it happened, what's wrong with that?

      • Eivad on 06/11/2012 - 14:10
        +1

        I think it's okay to name and shame only after you have first genuinely tried to resolve the complaint with them.

        If negotiations fall apart, then I think the OP should feel free to disclose the hotel name on here or Tripadvisor. People might read his comment, and it might make them reconsider. Then again, if his comment is lost in a sea of positive comments, people will most likely dismiss OP's bad experiences as 'one-off'.

        The only real time OP's complaints can substantially affect the hotel's business is if it contributes to what is already a large number of negative feedback and reviews.

        • voteoften on 06/11/2012 - 15:48
          +1

          So, what is wrong with telling it as it happened? Even with a good ending? If it is the truth, then it is valid.

        • Luke212 on 06/11/2012 - 16:11
          -1

          vendor verdicts are banned from many forums because they are rigged with bias on both sides. im sure the lady would offer a totally different perspective. who is telling the truth? noone knows.

        • voteoften on 06/11/2012 - 16:57

          The OPs story has a ring of truth to it. Tripadvisor allows places to respond and many do.

        • alizzan on 08/11/2012 - 10:26

          @voteoften - Maybe what Eivad is getting at is that until the whole situation has been and gone, then it's a little premature to submit a review. The OP might get to the hotel and have the woman completely friendly and apologetic. I still think that her previous behaviour should be mentioned in a review, but if she does a 180, then so too should that.

          @spartacus - Not sure if you get the whole issue here. It wasn't that she didn't want to let the OP have the single (or double) night minimum per se, it was the way she handled herself afterwards. If she had have said "Look, that's my mistake, I should have asked the website to take it down" then it probably wouldn't be an issue. Her behaviour after the fact is the big problem, in my opinion.

        • voteoften on 08/11/2012 - 12:50

          Agreed that it should be after, so that the totality of the debacle can be shared.

        • Shout It Out on 08/11/2012 - 21:59

          I agree. Name and shame them if you end up having a horrible stay because of this situation. If the OP still ends up enjoying his stay due to change of attitude, than naming and shaming should not happen.

        • voteoften on 08/11/2012 - 22:39

          I disagree. I reckon he should report the entire experience, including the ending, regardless of whether the ending is good, bad or indifferent.

          It's the truth that should be told. A happy ending doesn't change the angst that the OP will have for the next few weeks.

  • grasstown on 05/11/2012 - 21:29

    Good on you for not naming. She didn't handle it right, She has been spiteful calling at 6am. Some people just get it wrong, she's running it on her own, perhaps her first time using those hotel sites, who knows.

    • voteoften on 05/11/2012 - 23:29
      +2

      Well, maybe the positive reviews she gets from other people will negate the bad review from the OP.

    • PainToad on 09/11/2012 - 13:35

      Just because she's ignorant doesn't mean she can be a bitch.

      • grasstown on 09/11/2012 - 19:29

        If she was a real bitch the OP wouldve probably named. It's grey. The OP has a vibe about the whole thing. No matter how the facts look in writing, there are things in the OPs mind which gives the OP some reservation.

        So naming might play on the OPs mind if the OP is not inclined to do so. Perhaps the OP would prefer to deal with It some other way that doesnt make the OP responsible for a disproportionate result.

        • voteoften on 09/11/2012 - 19:46

          And maybe he/she is waiting for the outcome. Stay tuned for january.

  • parisienne on 06/11/2012 - 09:54
    +9

    Honestly,poor dwhes is being given a bit of a rough time here by some people.If he did find this offer no longer valid,yet managed to grab the deal via another avenue,it's called a "bit of luck" (companies these days will scam,cheat,lie WHATEVER to get you and your money in,yet when we find a loophole,and get a little extra for our $ it's wrong ????.)He didn't steal anything,he didn't pay with a fake/stolen cc,he didn't book then not pay,he didn't trash the room then bolt….he simply got a night less than they wanted at a price for those who did stay a minimum length of time.HE PAID FOR IT,SO SHE SHOULD BE RESPECTFUL OF HIM AS A PAYING CUSTOMER…NO MATTER HOW OR WHERE HE PAID.RINGING SOMEONE AT AN UNGODLY HOUR TO DISH A TIRADE OF FOUL LANGUAGE AND ABUSE IS NOT OK,and he shouldn't have to wonder whether he and his companion have a room for the night after a long haul flight to the other side of the world.

  • uccoffee on 06/11/2012 - 11:47
    +3

    she might organise a room with evil spirits and ghost, you sure you dont want to cancel?

  • ozf1 on 06/11/2012 - 12:16
    +3

    I've been following this post for the last few days, I wouldn't want to stay there after your experience, ignoring all the negative comments towards you.
    I would just not feel comfortable, and I would have pushed the middle man for an alternative accommodation at no extra cos to you (assuming there are equivalent options where you are going). In my opinion you did nothing wrong.
    I recently flew to HK with my family (four of us), dealt with Flight centre for the flights and accommodation, despite the agents promise of 'we can match any price you can get etc'. I dealt directly with the two hotels I stayed at and 'saved' around $200.00 for our 8 night accommodation. All the while telling the agent what deal I was getting. At the end I advised i booked directly and also purchased travel insurance directly. He was very understanding and polite about it all, although I understand he may have spent a few hours searching for the places I specified etc, he never matched or bettered the prices I quoted to him, may be he thought I was bluffing, I wasn't.
    At the end of the day, I have to look after my family and try to make my hard earned money get me the best I can afford at the best price I can.

    Maybe this was the first time this lady dealt with the hotel booking sites… well, her profit margin expectations are her problem not yours, obviously at one point she was happy to let the rooms at the price you booked.
    Name and shame on trip advisor I say.

      • ozf1 on 06/11/2012 - 15:53
        +6

        WTF are you on. We are all consumers in our society, it's a simple transaction.
        Of course you are insulting. It's like telling you to go and Fornicate Under the Consent of the King your self and then apologise for telling you thus.
        The problem to society is that we all want to get as much as possible for as little as possible on one hand (me and dwhes), and then providers, in this case a B&B, change their mind and want to charge more hoping you don't find out it's available for less, thus making a larger profit.
        You are saying a single consumer can not do this, you do realise it's being done to us via taxes, bank fees… etc. The gains and profits of government and banks in particular are in the billions, is this Ok. Problem 'in' society is hypocrisy.
        You are in the ozbargain forums you realise.

        • Moderatorneil on 07/11/2012 - 09:02

          Discussion is fine but let's respect each other's opinion and not make this personal.

      • deal seeking missile on 07/11/2012 - 19:00
        +2

        @Luke: What the OP did was take advantage of a pricing error, its not very different to the time when everyone got the imfamous $5 Kogan coffee mug. Kogan took it like a champ and for that we respect him. I would later go on to buy a phone from Kogan and i'm sure it would have made up for the difference many times over. As a business manager if you dont understand the concept of repeat-customers, you're not going to be in that business for very long.
        I cant even remember how many times pricing errors have been posted on Ozbargain, if you dont like them, i'm not sure you're in the right place.

        • voteoften on 08/11/2012 - 02:36
          +4

          Other consumers need to be aware of the behaviour exhibited by the hotel hag. That way they can make up their own mind whether they wish to deal with that establishment.

          BTW, what sort of lose/lose behavior are YOU exhibiting by banging on about this? You sound like someone with a lot of book learnin' looking for a place to use it, with the added benefit of putting people in their place. A place that is happily below you, apparently.

        • leiiv on 08/11/2012 - 02:56

          It is not even a pricing error. If it were, hotelclub can just easily cancel the booking and refund the money, problem solved.

  • ilostnemo on 06/11/2012 - 13:12

    reecious,

    If a mistake is made, the person advertising the price doesn't have to accept it, for eg If you advertised your car on ebay for $20,000 and accidentaly left out a 0, and I bought it for $2,000, I doubt you will sell it.
    If you look up Contracts, Offer and acceptances, all will be there.

    I'm puzzled why the hotel just didn't cancel the booking.

    I just got back from a holiday in Kslbarri and with our dollar the way it is, tourism is suffering. (not really relevant, but they are doing it tough)

    I would be more sympathetic to dwhes, if he hadn't of phoned first, but he did and we reap what we sow.

    Good Luck.

    • reecious on 06/11/2012 - 14:00
      +3

      This is true to a degree, but as the booking was made through an alternative booking site, offering cheap accommodation, the offer is intended to be fulfilled period. Non-refundable rooms and other special deals can have different cancellation policies. From what I understand, it may make the room unavailable for online booking. So if she were to 'cancel' the booking the room would be empty for the night, as it was pre booked, and noone was then able to book it. She would be losing money if she were to cancel Dwhes' booking.

      • ozf1 on 06/11/2012 - 15:41
        +4

        exactly!, the "lady' should've taken down the 3rd party add sooner, I think it may have been an 'oops, I didn't count on people finding they can get us cheaper elsewhere'.

    • voteoften on 06/11/2012 - 15:58
      +1

      I assume that is Kalbarri, in WA?

      If their tourism is suffering, I say great. They are a crap town with crappy people doing crappy things to tourists.

      I bag Kalbarri, every chance I get. I have a story that would freak people out about the duty of care in that town. I've told it before and it is very distinctive so I don't want to tell it here as it could identify me.

      • kiwipride on 09/11/2012 - 13:44

        Is it something to do with the "fluffy toy" incident?

      • champstarr on 10/07/2019 - 00:10

        Do tell or link. Haha. We're going there next week.

        Sorry didn't look at the date.

  • prinsenhof on 06/11/2012 - 20:49
    +2

    I would have done the exact same as the OP. At the time of the call, he had no idea that he was speaking to the manager who sets the prices/agreements with others. There have been more instances than i can count where i have gone over some ones head to get the advertised deal. To the sales peoples defence, they always hear the "i want it cheaper" and often have automatic responses. At the end of the day, you've got a place to sleep, if its double booked you'll manage, other hotels may go as far as giving you staff quarters if your stuck. The funs to be had outside of the hotel. Depending on your family situation, take a small tent and pitch it in a quiet carpark, youll find you've started a small tent city by the morning :P

  • surm on 07/11/2012 - 10:44
    +13

    If the opposite happened, how would this lady react?

    Suppose the OP mistaknely made a booking via the 3rd party booking site on less favourable conditions (higher price, longer stay requirement etc). If the OP later finds out about the availability of the cheaper price/shorter stay requirement, Would the lady then offer him a refund?

    Suppose the the lady mistakenly advertised a higher price on a booking site. If the lady later realised her mistake, would she acknolwedge her mistake and offer partial refunds to customers who already made bookings?

    Almost all the time, if a customer made a booking at a higher price by a mistake (directly with the hotel or via 3rd party booking sites), the hotel would still adhere to its cancellation policy even if the customer says s/he made a mistake.

    So why cry when they are at the receiving end?

    And, for those who think the OP made a moral crime; is it any more than the hotels that offer competitive prices via 3rd party sites, but only offer higher prices to those who walk-in and make direct bookings because they can squeeze more?

    • dealman on 09/11/2012 - 18:32
      +4

      And, for those who think the OP made a moral crime; is it any more than the hotels that offer competitive prices via 3rd party sites, but only offer higher prices to those who walk-in and make direct bookings because they can squeeze more?

      srum, me thinks you summed it up the best ! This is just differential pricing in reverse.

  • t_c on 07/11/2012 - 18:45
    -3

    All this drama could possibly have been avoided by allowing a buffer of 3 days before booking online.
    Booking so quickly online must appear to her as though you specifically tried to put one over on her.

    However now the damage is done, maybe you could ring the hotel and tell the lady you didn't realise she would be so upset in regards to a 2 night stay and have tried everything to cancel the booking thru the online agent but have been unsuccesfull.

    then make available the offer for her to cancel the booking either thru the agent or if not possible to provide a refund from the hotel allowing them to then receive payment minus comission at a later date from the agent.

    Be warned this could work against you if she says no and then decides to use this as ammo, claiming a mixup, thought that you cancelled, ect ect ….

    maybe you could do a chargeback on your CC, after explaining the abusive hotel operator and the agents no cancellation policy.

    one thing is for certain, you will definately have a very memorable NYE either for better or worse.

  • c64 on 07/11/2012 - 23:31
    +2

    i can't believe you gave the hotel your custom after they were rude on the phone in the first place

  • leiiv on 08/11/2012 - 02:49

    If I were you, I'd just change my plan, go to other place, or just stay at home :)
    provided that I can make hotelclub to cancel and refund the booking.

  • ilostnemo on 08/11/2012 - 10:51

    Can the OP please follow up, on any new precedings.

    I hope hotelclub can move your accommodation to another hotel.

    Does anyone know if the hotels can remove negative feedback, ie what is stopping a neighbouring hotel doing a bad write up.

    I'm sure the OP can see some believe it's right and some believe it's wrong, even the OP said "I was not expecting to be treated amazingly at check in or the best room", but on a bargain site most will side with the person receiving the bargain.

    I would assume the hotel hasn't received any payment yet and the money is in hotelclubs' possession.

    • dwhes on 08/11/2012 - 11:05

      I will be sure to. Hotelclub can't/won't move my accommodation to another hotel. Some beleive it's wrong but as you can see the majority beleive she is clearly in the wrong. I wasn't expected to be the star guest upon check in, but in no way does my actions justify how she behaved. In many people's mind I wasn't even doing anything morally wrong, however I have said myself what I did was a bit sneaky, but I did nothing legally or otherwise wrong and took advantage of the options available to me, for the criteria I required. I'm not sure if the hotel had received the payment yet, I imagine it stays with hotel club until I check in. Anyway I am a forgiving person and looking forward to our stay.

  • macharmaine on 08/11/2012 - 22:26
    +5

    bring a printout of this thread with you. upon check in, if she treats you bad, you tell her hundreds of potential customers will read about your bad experience, and each of us have hundreds or even thousands of friends/ followers on Facebook/ twitter and so all of them will read about this too! PLUS trip advisor, which has thoudsands of viewers daily… oh and if you're making a video of course it will be on youtube as well…

    • ozf1 on 09/11/2012 - 00:31
      +3

      "thousands of friends/ followers on Facebook/ twitter"- some of us have NO 'real' friends… :(. I need a hug!

    • aerona on 09/11/2012 - 05:03

      does my 50c meritline tweezers or bunch of fake moustaches count as friends?

    • dealman on 09/11/2012 - 18:35

      Don't ever do this unless you want your personal details posted here and everywhere else by a vengeful hotel manager!

      Revenge comes in many forms….

  • Az on 09/11/2012 - 10:34
    +2

    It was clearly the hotel’s responsibility to take off the offer of discounted rates and not that of the consumers to confirm with the hotel first. They ought to honour what has been sold through proper channel. It is not uncommon to find hotels offering higher rates than their agents.

    I recently went to Coles and saw some discounted FINISH rinse product. I bought two bottles of the same. While leaving the counter after payment I realized that I have been charged full price. I went to the Returns counter and explained it. The lady went to the rack while I was waiting at the counter, brought the discount tag with her and showed me something written in small letters saying that the discount is valid till the previous day (or something like that, I cannot remember with certainty). However, she added that it was their mistake that they did not remove the tag in time and therefore she talked to her superior (sitting behind her) and gave me one bottle for free and the other at the discounted rate. She could have possibly thrown the tag away on her way back and claimed that there was none but she did not. I was obviously delighted. Apparently this is the policy of Coles so keep an eye on the expired tags to grab some freebies.

  • michael_james_martin on 09/11/2012 - 10:54
    -7

    Ahhh it only makes sense that most people in this ozbargain community would think this situation was uncalled for I guess being cheap and looking for technicalities allows us to disregard or understand peoples reactions. Here is a senario that most ozbargainers would snap up without a thought…. a store misprints a $49 dollar product as 49cents on their catalogue… this gets posted on ozbargain and due to a policy the store offers regarding having to honor advertised prices we take advantage of the "stuff up" until they run out of stock… (even when we know this is costing the company money) however regardless of this being legal… it is obviously unethical.

    in this situation
    quite simply —- there is no.. "what if i didn't know" scenario because if you didn't know(by not speaking to her before booking) then obviously she would have responded differently….well we would hope…however I hope we can assume the fact you told her your name and your booking had your name that she linked the two and her response was due to that connection of actions.

    The simple matter is that you were made aware that they had a 3 day minimum…you were also made aware she was going to take it down to avoid anymore confusion….knowing this you swooped in before she had time to take down the add with the 3rd party.

    I completely agree her response to that was beyond unprofessional however I do believe that your actions attracted a senerio where professionalism could be disregarded by emotions.

    YOur sneakyness which was so blaitantly obvious will make your stay very uncomfortable and not worth it in my opinion. Unless you want to parade around as the guy that got a good rate by going against your moral compass….and the hotel's best interests (as you mentioned it probably wasn't the moral thing) your only chance to redeem the situation is to apologise for your sneakyness and hope that she then responds in apologising for everything she did in response to that. However if you feel an apology isn't warranted then good luck staying there.

    I may have misinterpreted some of this however this is just my understanding of the situation.

    • dwhes on 09/11/2012 - 12:00
      +3

      My chance to redeem? Sorry but I don't feel like I have anything to redeem. It is an apartment complex where staff and the manager should have very minimal impact on our stay anyway but that's not the point. Im looking forward to our stay, as long as there is a room when we arrive, and if there isn't I'm sure we will figure something out. I took advantage of an option available to me for the criteria I needed. This is not the same as a $49 product displayed as 49c, the rate was a legitimate rate, hence why she has to honor it, not because she is choosing to. It is up to the hotel vendor to remove their rates from 3rd party sites if they do not wish to sell at a price or date. My actions doesn't justify abuse at 6am. Perhaps a grumpy call at a reasonable hour with an attempt at a resolution would have been fare from her behalf. When I arrive I will speak to her and politely say we are looking forward to our stay and posting a positive review, hopefully we can put all past disagreements behind us. She has 100 other apartments to manage over a busy period, I'm sure we will be small fry and out of her hair in 2 days.

      • voteoften on 09/11/2012 - 12:26
        +1

        I feel the need to reiterate that the only "benefit" received by the OP is one less day than the desired minimum. FFS, it is peak time, they will sell the room on the other night anyway.

        The hag just doesn't want to have to clean.

    • Luke212 on 09/11/2012 - 13:38
      -5

      michael_james understands people. its definitely not common knowledge judging by how many down votes i got for saying the same.

      and the OP makes his situation worse by not apologising. a simple apology would have solved your issue - irrespective of who is to blame. do you want to be righteous and correct at all costs, or do you want have a stress free holiday? if you apologised you could have had the deal AND know you will be treated well - this is win/win that i was talking about before.

      • voteoften on 09/11/2012 - 19:49
        +1

        Nothing to apologise for. He would be patronising her, instead of granting her the level of respect she deserves.

  • ilostnemo on 09/11/2012 - 12:48
    +2

    To the OP,

    If you knew then , what you do now, would you still have done what you did.

    The lady is going to have the shits on with you, just as anyone would, if someone had gotten one over them.
    I wouldn't bother speaking to her, as this could remind her of the incident. I would play dumb and if questioned
    about the said incident, I'd say that person just booked the holiday, they aren't with us. I'd phone hotelclub and say to them a different credit card will be used to pay the account, and get another person to use theirs, or use a load and go credit card.

    Your goal should be to enjoy your holiday, and believe me, if the staff wanted, they could make your stay pleasant or unpleasant.

  • kiwipride on 09/11/2012 - 13:50
    +3

    dwhes, I really wish I could ring the hotel ahead of time for you and tell them to look after you really well or else….. :)

    Imagine that, dozens of people ringing up supporting the OP. Although, Luke could be a problem. (the force is definitely not with that guy)

    I feel so bad for dwhes. Would like to help.

  • hello007 on 09/11/2012 - 17:09
    +4

    If a business fails to check the accuracy of its advertising and wears extra costs because of their failure - then that's just a cost of doing business.

    It's simple for the business to get two or three people in management to carefully check all advertising prior to release.

    If they can't or won't do this then don't advertise.

    If consumers take full advantage of such offers then good luck and all power to them.

    But don't blame the consumer when the business advertises the offer and then tries to change the goalposts.

    There's little excuse for such failures as practically all costs associated with advertising… Including legal checks and professional proof reading are tax deductible.

    So do the checks and you have no problem.

    If I spot such loopholes and failures I, for the above reasons, are more than happy to take the fullest advantage of them.

  • surm on 10/11/2012 - 08:42
    +4

    Had hotel lady got back to the OP immediately after the booking and removed the ad sooner, things would have looked differently. Perhaps the OP would have agreed to cancel the booking at that time.

    Though she had informed the OP that she intended to remove the 3rd party listing, she only realised that the OP had made a booking via the 'erroneous' ad a WEEK later and apparently removed the ad at that point. I can't blame anyone other than the hotel lady.

    • voteoften on 10/11/2012 - 17:07
      +1

      Now that you point out the one week delay, I am shocked that someone who is so halfassed about their business could manage to remember the name of the person who called even when they hung up, nevermind a week later.

      What a hag.

      I look forward to a full report in January.

      • bluedufflecoat on 10/11/2012 - 23:26

        There could be another side to the story,i.e. Maybe hotel club didn't pass on the booking info in real time… So she might have changed the terms eventually but between when the booking was made and when she got the info.

        I remember making a last minute booking with Wotif, for the same day, and when we went to the hotel, they had no record of it. I had to show them email confirmations, etc.

        • voteoften on 11/11/2012 - 00:48

          Yeah, that has happened to me. The booking website blamed the hotel and the hotel blamed the booking site. Meanwhile, I had to cool my heels, waiting to get up to my club room.

  • QF1 on 11/11/2012 - 16:32

    Gosh I think we all missed out on a whole heap of bargains just reading the arguments and counter arguments here.!!! Lets wait and see what happens. I do wish the Op all the best but do tell us how it went. maybe the manager was just having a bad day and sometimes phone conversations can be misleading. All the best dwhes.

    Time to look for more bargains

    • voteoften on 11/11/2012 - 17:41

      Gotta spend more to save more.

  • ballsofsteel on 11/11/2012 - 18:24
    +3

    FINALLY SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN JANUARY.

    please keep us posted. :)

  • [Deactivated] on 11/11/2012 - 22:01
    -4

    Meh, you shouldn't of made that booking and she shouldn't of abused you. Why all this drama? Get over it.

    • MasterScythe on 12/11/2012 - 11:26

      Pretty much this ^

      Shes allowed to be pissed because you bothered to check and went over (what you believe to be the owners) head.
      You have a right to be pissed because it was a deal she no doubt arranged that you used to go above her head.

      Honestly?
      If it was a big chain id have done the same.
      If it was a small private owned chain, I dont know, depends how I was treated on the phone.

      But thats with 20/20 hindsight.
      I also think If i tried to book something on the phone and was told no, then found it online on a manner i wanted, my thoughts would be:
      "COOL! I guess the employee didn't know about this one!" and feeling happy I was clever. No staff can know EVERYTHING right?
      As opposed to rubbing my greedy mits together, my steel clawed glove glinting, laughing maniacally, as my black cat purrs on my lap as i click 'book now'.

  • Hash on 12/11/2012 - 18:17
    +2

    To OP

    I work in the hotel industry and hope you find this atleast a little useful.

    If you have booked the Accommodation via a 3rd party website it is the hotels responsibility to keep those updated correctly if you have booked the room and paid for it as well as recieved the confirmation they cannot cancel your booking and you have done nothing wrong although she is clearly not doing her job properly. Updating these sites takes no longer then 2-3 minutes max.

    Hotel Club and Trip Advisor (let alone a lot of reviews on there are highly accurate) aren't really the best places to be booking when there are better competitors in Australia such as Wotif.com and Accommodation Wholesalers Australia. (if you are going overseas Agoda is always worth a look at also but generally the rates are more expensive in Australia.

    Though this hotel should be marked as a place never to stay at as by the sounds of it they provide horrible customer service and im also interested to know which property it was so i can refer to friends and travel agencies as a dodgy place.

    • s_agno3 on 13/11/2012 - 17:02

      Do you get information about like how much one pays on a 3rd party website? I saved $500+ with a 20% discount through a 3rd party site, where it was already $100s cheaper and i keep wondering what if they found out?
      Would they do something to get what i paid for? because this happens when people buy groupon vouchers at restaraunts (sometimes). they get the wrong end of the stick.

      • webbj on 19/11/2012 - 09:31

        The accommodation providers do know how much you paid, and receive most of it from the 3rd party. Large providers receive automatic notification into their management systems with most of the smaller providers getting an email as soon as the booking is confirmed with the price paid, names, booking conditions etc.

        Typically large sites (wotif.com, lastminute.com.au etc) charge smaller/medium accommodation providers ~10% commission, the remit the balance to the provider.

        All of the 3rd party sites allow providers to enter their availability and special deals or rates, eg certain dates, room types or durations might provide a discount. This is where it can tricky and whilst providers might have a set of rules (eg: min 5 nights stay between specific dates) rates may be much less, however they need to make sure they are kept up to date to avoid circumstances like the OP described.

      • Hash on 20/12/2012 - 18:23

        The hotels and companies choose the rates on these websites so that the deals are still somewhat profitable for them. For these Accommodation sites they are generally put up on the internet by the hotels themselves unless you are looking at a booking agency like QANTAS hotels, ACA or Accommodation Wholesalers Australia. Where they must request availability from the hotels.

  • ilostnemo on 13/11/2012 - 19:45

    They will get information on how much someone pays, as they would be reconciling bookings with payments. They are the ones who set the rates, but like the OP said you can get the hotel to match these most of the times. The rates they quote are like RRPS ie inflated.

    Just remember there are always 3 sides to a story, and we're hearing one.

  • kiwipride on 19/11/2012 - 16:43

    OP, might want to read this, :) http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/revenge-the-creative-ways…

  • MrsJools on 22/11/2012 - 04:07
    -1

    WOW! I am astounded at the number of people that think that the behaviour of the Hotel Employee is acceptable.
    When you pay for a service you are entitled to that service, no ifs, buts or maybes. I am also surprised that the OP chose to stay at an establishment that quite obviously has no regard for their patrons, potential or actual. The number of places I have stayed & thought afterwards If only I had known
    Personally I would demand that hotelclub refund or offer a credit due to the aggressive behaviour of the Employee. Else I would get online & lodge a complaint to the ACCC. There is absolutely no way you should stay somewhere that you have been explicitly told you are not welcome… it is ridiculous & hotelclub are culpable in supporting the disgusting behaviour of the Hotel they advertise & sell rooms for.

  • califrag on 01/01/2013 - 10:52
    +1

    Happy New Year David.
    I've been tracking your story since october and am keen to hear how your stay was. If it was bad, it's time to reveal the name of the hotel just so we all know to avoid it.

    • [Deactivated] on 02/01/2013 - 15:45

      me too!

  • ilostnemo on 02/01/2013 - 16:24

    OP will reply when discharged from hospital.
    Food poisoning, who would of thought?

    I hope it all ended up OK, for me the stress leading it up to it, wouldn't of been worth the savings. (I do stress easily though)

  • [Deactivated] on 02/01/2013 - 16:55

    I remember going to Eden & pulled into a Caravan park on evening & inquired about a cabin, it was $200/night, So I called up wotif from the car park, same cabin + free morning paper was $120, so I booked 1 night. Went & got some dinner, came back. The manager said I didn't think you were coming back because we were too pricey. He was not happy when I mentioned that I booked for $80 cheaper on Wotif. But too his credit we I decided to stay another 2 nights & he gave me the wotif price minus the book fee (but no paper).

  • dwhes on 04/01/2013 - 15:48
    +5

    Haha sorry I didn't reply earlier guys! Short story, our stay went fine :) Turns out we were the least of the ladies troubles! We arrived late in the arvo on NYE and she checked us in. There was no mention of the previous incidents and she was very polite. She is indeed a live on manager and also owns at least 1 of the units. There were around 60 2-3 bedroom units in total. We were provided with a ground floor unit that was close to reception, not sure if this her doing or we just happened to get that room due to our late arvo check in for a sold out couple of days. The apartment itself was beautiful and although it didn't have the views of the upper apartments, we could still see the ocean and had a large courtyard area, which suited us fine. The problem with our stay though was that directly above us was a group of 6 young guys. She advised us on check in that they had been advised to not get out of control and to keep it down or they would be asked to leave. On NYE we went to bed at around 3am and heard the guys get back at around 4am and they continued to party well into the morning. It was annoying but we didn't overly care as it was NYE. The problem was that the next night they started partying in the arvo and continued well into the night. At around 2am we were getting pretty sick of it and called reception. The lady answered and went up to speak to them. They argued with her and wouldn't shut up. Long story short, she called the police on them, they arrived and got them to shut up and we finally got to sleep. Next day we checked out and she apologised profusely, apparently a number of other guests had complained also. She advised us that she was kicking them out a day early, think she might have been regretting her 3 night minimum in their case :P Overall our stay was great and not in any way affected by the previous calls. My credit card hasn't been charged for any "lost" or "broken" items, yet. Took photos of when we arrived and left just to be safe but I am certain nothing is going to happen. I don't think I will name the place we stayed as in the end everything turned out ok. What she did was unacceptable and unwarranted but I don't want to hurt them as tourism is down in the area and I'm not someone to hold a grudge. She definitely comes off as a lady that you don't want to cross though and she doesn't like when things don't go her way. Anyways all was good in the end, our NYE was fun, the apartment was beautiful, we only had to stay 2 nights and I paid the price I agreed and was happy to pay. The guys upstairs were painful for the second night but it hardly impacted our stay and wasn't really her fault; other than likely putting us underneath them on purpose, but the rest of the hotel could hear them anyway. Cheers.

    • gooddealmate on 04/01/2013 - 17:50
      +1

      You're not gonna tell us where it is after 2 months or suspense!?! aarrgh

      Well at least it worked out Ok for you anyway.

      • dwhes on 04/01/2013 - 18:01
        +3

        Haha I'm sorry! I guess I'm just happy to let it go. Our stay was fine and I don't hold grudges. If I was to name it there is really no good to come from it.

  • califrag on 06/01/2013 - 12:42
    +2

    Good on you for posting the follow up Dave!
    Glad your stay was fine and she didn't give you any more troubles. I have to confess that I wanted to unleash ozbargainer hell on her for not being willing to honour the online deal when she was too lazy/disorganised to update her online deals, but like you said - no point being spiteful. Hopefully noone else gets caught out by her in the future.
    Cheers

  • macharmaine on 13/01/2013 - 01:19
    +1

    cmon can you at least name the town??!! so happy for you that it turned out fine in the end! i was a bit worried for you!! This has to be one of the most interesting thread ever.

    • dwhes on 13/01/2013 - 08:51
      +1

      Haha nah sorry there is no point to it. It's somewhere near Townsville in NQ ;)

      • kiwipride on 15/01/2013 - 22:59

        Townsville?

  • parisienne on 14/01/2013 - 10:16
    +1

    Well,i just stayed at the next worst place,in probably the worst town…and i'm NOT afraid to name and shame (you give attitude and revolting service this is how i respond).It was in Taree (went up with some friends to check out their property for plumbing issues with hubby).It was the http://www.thetareemotel.com.au and i have never been so glad to get the hell out.Ruder than rude owners (agreed check in time was not adhered to,made to wait another 4 hours in 45+ degree heat for rooms to be sorted out following a 5 hr drive,after which we were told "what else do you want,in this heat that's pretty good ?"),accused of being disorderly and loud (a bunch of guys had just turned up that night, got pretty drunk and started fighting…NEXT DOOR to us).Our friend who was the reason we were there in the first place (he has a learning disability)was accused of being drunk and stupid for locking his keys in his room by accident,he and his wife were refused a receipt (for tax purposes,as it was an investment property )and no other arrangement was offered to rectify this in the morning AND air con did not work in the rooms (great in that heat,and no one would help with that).All in all…a great stay really.Do yourself a favour if you are in or near Taree…STAY AWAY FROM HERE….The Riverview Motor Inn is not somewhere you want to be.

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