‘Keystroke error’ turns $289 rate into $28

by Christopher Elliott on November 26, 2009

keyQuestion: I recently found a $28 per night rate at the Westin Imagine in Orlando. I was amazed. I booked the room, and several days later I called the hotel to ensure that it was a legitimate rate. They confirmed this, so I booked nonrefundable airfare, and have been happily anticipating my getaway weekend ever since.

That is, until this past Monday morning, when I received an e-mail from the hotel’s director of revenue management saying that the rate was caused by a “keystroke error” during data entry. The actual rate was $289. The Westin offered a rate of $99 per night as an apology, but refused to honor the original rate.

I contacted Westin at the corporate level, and the hotel offered to waive its mandatory valet parking charge of $18 per night, but insisted it couldn’t honor the $28 rate. Then the manager of the hotel responded, offering to throw in an extra 5,000 loyalty points.

I’m writing because I don’t think I’m getting fair treatment by this Westin hotel. If there is anything you can do to help, I would be extremely appreciative. — Terry Capps, San Diego

Answer: If you book a rate that you know is an error, then you shouldn’t expect the hotel to honor the price. But $28 per night wasn’t an obvious “fat finger” rate, and the fact that Westin confirmed it certainly didn’t help.

If the hotel had offered rooms at $0, then this would be a different story. Actually, it wouldn’t be a story at all. If a business mistakenly prices something at a rate no reasonable customer believes is valid, it shouldn’t be required to honor that price. But you can find hotel rooms at $28 a night.

I admit, it’s not a popular opinion. You don’t have to look hard to find one of those vintage online forums where people feel that a travel company must honor every rate, no matter how ridiculously low. Nor do you have to search long to find a travel columnist who supports this misguided view.

They have a right to their opinion, but I won’t advocate for them. People who try to force travel companies to accept unreasonable or erroneous prices are stealing — no two ways about it.

You pushed the Westin to do the right thing. But did you push too hard? Your first contact resulted in a $190 per night rate reduction. Not bad. Subsequent requests prompted the hotel to remove its “mandatory valet parking charge” and a few extra frequent-stayer points. (I could write a whole column about mandatory valet parking charges, but I’ll restrain myself.)

Is that enough?

That seems pretty generous to me, but I thought I would give the hotel one more chance to review your case. I asked the general manager to consider your request, and although he wouldn’t lower your room rate, he agreed to pay for your airfare to Orlando.

I think that’s a more than equitable resolution.

(Photo: Chris Campbell/Flickr Creative Commons)

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Tagged as: fare, fat-finger, Westin

  • Frank

    I’m writing because I don’t think I’m getting fair treatment by this Westin hotel. If there is anything you can do to help, I would be extremely appreciative. — Terry Capps, San Diego
    =================================================

    Westin Hotel in MCO during high season for a mere $28.00 a night?
    Then they reduce it from 289.00 to 99.00 and that’s NOT generous?
    Add points and that’s not enough? Offer to pay for parking because you need a rental car in MCO.
    Now pay for your airfare between SAN DIEGO and ORLANDO.

    This breed of traveler is simply taking advantage of the situation and encourages other travelers to do the same. VICIOUS CYCLE.

  • Terry

    Hi Christopher, I agree that generally “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is” and that should be a ‘red flag’ to the consumer. Having said that, an airline we deal with is currently offering airfare to Atlantic City for $8.00 (yes, eight dollars), plus the inevitable taxes. Normally a ‘red flag’ for me. The offer is legitimate and has been offered now for three weeks.

    In the San Diego case you’ve recounted, the consumer did check with Westin to verify the rate, and the rate was confirmed by the Westin representative — so it should have been honoured. Did the consumer get the name or number of the person confirming the rate?

    The offer of the Westin executive, to pay the airfare, was very generous, since the consumer would not have been making the trip, if it hadn’t been the $28/night rate. But, was that airfare on top of the reduced rate of $99? Did the total amount of the paid airfare and discounted room rate equal what the consumer was expecting to pay for airfare and the $28/night rate?

    I look forward to your future column about mandatory (and frequently undisclosed) valet parking charges (and, while you are at it, mandatory — and also frequently (still!) undisclosed — ‘resort’ fees’, ‘communications’ fees, etc.)

    All of your columns give me food for thought and improve my interactions with my clients. Thank you.

  • Frank

    Terry November 26, 2009 at 2:17 pm
    In the San Diego case you’ve recounted, the consumer did check with Westin to verify the rate, and the rate was confirmed by the Westin representative — so it should have been honoured. Did the consumer get the name or number of the person confirming the rate?
    ============================================

    Yeahhhhhhhhh, where’s that representative’s “name” with this story? Without it, it’s simply a he said, she said situation.

  • Terry (not Capps)

    I should have clarified earlier I’m not the person from the original story.

    Frank:
    1) One of the points I was trying to make is that the representative’s “name” should have been obtained and the fact it was available – IF it was obtained, would have added more credibility to the consumer’s plight.
    2) I wasn’t aware that this was a “high” season booking.
    3) Big companies in the travel business DO offer ridiculously low “loss leader” prices just to get traffic to their website. Usually, a limited number — like one or two — of these special bargains available, for a limited time (frequently between 0001 hrs and 0100 hrs– and they are sold out by 0002 hrs)

    I also agree with your statement:
    “This breed of traveler is simply taking advantage of the situation and encourages other travelers to do the same. VICIOUS CYCLE.”
    Far too many people do abuse the system and their cries of “wolf” create huge difficulties for legitimate cases.

  • John.M

    I have to question the basic premise of “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. In this day and age of deep discounting of hotel rooms and airfare, at what point is the customer supposed to say, “That sounds too good to be true, so I shouldn’t expect a company to honor the advertised rate”. As an example, should I have not purchased tickets that were advertised for $68.00 round trip between JFK and London? That sounded really cheap but the airlines published it. So should I have passed it up because it seems to be too cheap? We are all assuming the the customer has to bear the burden of being responsible for the questionable practices of the airlines, hotels, tour operators, etc. What about the corporation bearing the responsibility for its actions?

    In this case, I believe that the hotel should have honored the rate, enjoyed the brief positive press that it would have received instead of trying to play the customer. In the end, the hotel gets a black eye for looking like a bully and then for caving in by purchasing the ticket.

    Yes, some travelers take advantage of vendor errors, however a far more common event is vendors taking advantage of customers. How many articles has Chris done on Cruiselines overcharging, hotels not honoring a rate and demanding the customer pay more, or car rental agencies not having the reserved class of car and charging extra for an upgrade or airlines and their myriad of fees that are applied even when they don’t apply?

  • frank

    Terry (not Capps) November 27, 2009 at 4:50 pm
    Frank:
    1) One of the points I was trying to make is that the representative’s “name” should have been obtained and the fact it was available – IF it was obtained, would have added more credibility to the consumer’s plight.
    =================================

    i concur with your statement. The story has less credibility without IDENTIFICATION. Great post, Terri

  • Liz

    I’m not clear why the Westin shouldn’t honor the rate. If Terry had made a mistake and booked a non refundable room for the wrong dates, would the Westin have allowed her to correct “keyboard error?”

  • Kate

    Terry called and doubled check with Westin to make sure the rate was accurate before purchasing a plane ticket… so why is Westin balking at what they posted in the first place. Westin was in the wrong the minute they refused to honor the price they typed in. Had the price been typed in accurately, Terry probably would have never purchase a plane ticket in the first place. I guess I know where NOT to stay when I travel to Orlando. Talk about taking advantage of a customer.

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