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A failure to launch — and refund

February 25, 2010

Glenn Cox had planned a trip to Orlando to watch the next Space Shuttle launch, but when liftoff was postponed, he found himself holding a hotel reservation with some surprise restrictions. His room at Orlando Airport SpringHill Suites by Marriott was completely nonrefundable, to be exact.

Now a deal’s a deal, and if Cox had booked the nonrefundable rate, there wouldn’t be much anyone could do about it. But Cox contends the reservation was made under less-than-clear circumstances, and that SpringHill owes him a credit, if not a full refund.


He picks up the story:

When I called SpringHill Suites to cancel our reservations, I was told that they could cancel, but we would still be charged on our credit card. They said we had booked using the advance rate, which has a non refundable rate.

I went back and looked at the Web site, and it does state that the rate is non-refundable. However, I feel the layout and wording are misleading. The rates are separated into two catagories:

The regular rate or the advance rate, which includes continental breakfast, wireless Internet, and free transportation. All at a CHEAPER RATE!

Which would you choose, when looking strictly at prices?

So the advance rate, which is less expensive, actually includes breakfast, Internet and free transportation? And the refundable one doesn’t? I can see how that might confuse the average guest.

I suggested he contact SpringHill Suites’ owner, Marriott, for a better explanation. Cox sent a brief, polite email to the company. Here’s how it responded:

We researched your reservation and have determined it was booked online via Marriott.com. The rate, which was selected at the time of booking, was a special advance purchase rate. This is a discounted rate with special terms and conditions, including a requirement to make payment in full, including tax, at the time of booking. As noted online, this rate does not allow for any changes or cancellations without forfeiture of the advance payment.

Please accept our apology for any inconvenience this incident may have caused. To ensure your concerns are addressed, your comments have been sent to the hotel’s Accounting Department for further research. They will investigate the situation and contact you within three to five business days.

We apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Cox. Your patronage and goodwill are very important to us. If we can be of further assistance; we invite you to reply to this email.

In other words, tough luck.

But I though Marriott might be concerned that one of its customers felt misled by its rate display, so I contacted the company on Cox’ behalf.

Yesterday, I heard back from him.

I just got a call from Annette at the SpringHill Suites in Orlando, and she told me that she had cancelled the reservation and all charges.

You are the MAN! Thanks for your help.

I’m happy to help, but I think in the end, when this was brought to Marriott’s attention, someone agreed that the rate display could have been clearer. Which is good for all customers.

Update (10:30 a.m.): Steve Loucks, a friend of this blog and a spokesman at Travel Leaders, adds the following advice:

As you probably know, this option is being provided more and more often by an increasing number of hotels via their online sites, but it isn’t always very obvious to the casual booker.

My advice is if the price looks to good to be true, it just may mean you’re paying for the room in advance and that it’s non-refundable, so be sure to read the fine print before you complete your reservation. And if you’ve already placed the reservation and need to cancel, take it up directly with the hotel in polite terms (along with explanation that you did not see any clear indication while booking that it was non-refundable) and you just may receive a refund as a goodwill gesture.

(Photo: Matthew Simantov/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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45 comments

  • Wrona

    So because that deal had more to offer, he assumed it was refundable instead of looking at the terms? Even though it was the cheaper rate? I’m sorry basic reading comprehension shouldn’t confuse anyone. And even among average travelers, it’s pretty common knowledge that non-refundable rates are typically cheaper than refundable rates.

  • Chris in NC

    Sorry Chris, I disagree. I have been booking on marriott.com for quite some time, and the cancellation policy is CLEARLY disclosed.

    In Rate Rules, there is always a section like this:
    Canceling Your Reservation

    * You may cancel your reservation for no charge until March 3, 2010 (3 day[s] before arrival).
    * Please note that we will assess a fee of 279.92 USD if you must cancel after this deadline.

    Every reservation that I have booked at Marriott.com has the Cancellation Policy. I suspect Mr. Cox just picked the lowest rate, didn’t look at the rules, and ASSUMED that he could cancel the reservation.

    Sorry for sounding harsh, but that is how I see it.
    Chris

  • Thalassa

    Chris, the OP was clearly wrong on this one.

    Of course the non-refundable advance pay was cheaper and had more features. That’s the way it should be. If you pay in advance and agree to non-refundable, they’re giving you bonuses for doing it. If you’re not committed to actually showing up, why would they give you extras?

    I’m actually a little disappointed. I think your power is being used for bad. Not a Superman thing to do.

    Why have rules if they’re breakable?

  • Bob 148

    I have a question. We see loads of posts about how companies refund a wronged customer once you have been in touch with them.

    I presume that there are some cases where you get involved that the company refuses to change their mind. I can understand that you would be reluctant to post about them, but would you care to comment on how many there are, and what sort of issues are involved?

    Also are there many situations where you receive a complaint from a traveller and that you side with the company involved? Do you publish those?

  • Christopher Elliott

    @Bob, yes, I publish my failures here as well as yours (and I mean yours, generically). I prefer to focus on the solved cases, but a quick read of this blog’s archives will yield plenty of failures to launch.

    To the others who think my “power” is being abused. I would have written about this one even if Marriott hadn’t refunded the money. I think it was a valuable case study, either way.

  • John

    I agree! It is clearly stated on the marriott.com site that the rate is non refundable. People don’t take the time to read anymore. They simply see the lowest rate and take it without reading what terms and conditions are applied to the rates. Sounds like Mr. Cox just wanted to find some way to get his money back. He didn’t have any problem paying for it in advance but when things didn’t work out his way he wanted out. I have to agree with Thalassa!

  • http://www.shawntutt.com Shawn

    Seems I’m seeing a lot of these lately (booking the advance rate and then bailing out). In this particular case, I think the hotel was correct in not refunding the money. Too many times, people book a deal that is “too good to be true” and don’t take responsibility to read the conditions.

    I’ve used these “advance, pay in full” rates from time to time, but only when I’m double sure that I’ll make the trip. And I book them knowing full well that if I have to cancel the trip, I’m out whatever amount of money I paid in advance.

    We should hold businesses to a standard of honesty but should we not also hold customers to that same standard. In this case, I think they only gave the refund to avoid bad publicity from you.

  • Justin

    I think this is one of the few times the individual should have reaped what he sowed. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse to break it, as the saying goes. It is his job to research what he books and read the fine print. One could not go and sign a contract and then use the excuse, but I wasn’t aware of that clause at the time. I skimmed it and everything, but I swear it wasn’t there beforehand. Unless you can blatantly prove that Marriott misled him, which doesn’t seem to be the case, I believe the ball is in his court. I am glad Marriott helped and maybe they could make things more clear. Still, I feel they went ABOVE and BEYOND in this case.

  • Katrina

    Just FYI–recently booked a non-refundable trip on the Hilton site, and before it charged my card, I got a box I had to check stating that I understood it was non-refundable/non-changeable. If all hotels did this, I think this problem would go away quickly.

  • David Z

    And if you’ve already placed the reservation and need to cancel, take it up directly with the hotel in polite terms (along with explanation that you did not see any clear indication while booking that it was non-refundable) and you just may receive a refund as a goodwill gesture.

    Methinks the word may should be ALL CAPS to emphasize that you MAY receive a refund using that “tactic” on a nonrefundable booking, meaning it won’t always work.

    Sure it’s good customer service to bend the rules and reconsider. But…what about those who did the same thing, needed to cancel for sometimes arguably “lesser” reasons, yet the hotel didn’t bend?

    Can’t help but agree with the other commenters something might’ve been amiss on the OP’s part. But…what’s done is done.

  • Lisa S

    Shouldn’t companies have to put next to the price that the room is not refundable? It seems to me that companies are allowed to be very deceptive and require clicking on many links. I just tried to reserve a car and was forced to click on 6 different links in order to read all the fine print–I do mean very small font! You shouldn’t have to be an expert traveler to book a room, reserve a car, or buy an airplane seat. ALL THE INFORMATION should be printed on the same screen. Anything else should fall under deceptive practices.

  • http://rjtalestold.blogspot.com/ Dick Jordan

    Katrina offers the perfect solution for this booking problem as longer as the non-refundable policy has been clearly stated where the rate is quoted on the hotel Web site and not buried in some lengthy “Terms and Conditions” page written by the hotel’s lawyers and that can only be reached by clicking through to another page.

  • Carver

    I’ll the take OP at his word that he made a mistake. Absent any evidence to the contrary, I’ll assume that it was a good faith mistake. I’ve made honest mistakes myself although I travel regularly.

    I don’t have a problem with the OP asking for a favor. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

  • http://www.angrymarks.com/ Kevin Fields

    I knew as soon as I saw the teaser what was going to end up happening.

    Look, the question has been asked many times, especially over the last several weeks, “What good are rules if they can be broken? How many times should a hotel make exceptions?”

    The answers are: if the hotel makes an exception for its own policy, that should be up to them, and they should do it as frequently or as infrequently as necessary in order to conduct good business.

    I think Chris hit the nail on the head here. Clearly Mr. Cox was not entitled to a refund due to his own ignorance. But, the hotel chose to give him a refund anyhow after Chris pointed out some issues with making that information less clear. The hotel could have come back and said, “Tough luck, we think it’s clear enough, and there aren’t any extraordinary circumstances which we should give consideration.” They didn’t, instead after Chris contacted them, they did give consideration.

    I don’t think that this clears the way for anybody to start making up excuses to try to get a refund on a non-refundable ticket. But it never hurts to ask, the worst thing that can happen is that you’re told no. Actually, I take that back, I think the worst thing that can happen is that this gets dragged into a court, you are still told no, and now have to pay the other party’s legal expenses. But for most people it won’t go that far, and only those who clearly have a legitimate case will push it that far.

  • Monica

    I agree with many of the others. I think most people know that the cheaper rate is the one with the most restrictions, while the refundable rates tend to be higher. This sounds like someone that was just looking for the cheapest option at the time without completely reading the details. I believe the Marriott sites have it clearly noted when a purchase is non-refundable. This traveler should have been SOL.

    I would have purchased a refundable room because the slightest bit of bad weather could cause a delay and I would want the ability to reschedule.

  • Mort B

    It was nice of Marriott to agree to a refund (after Chris’s intervention), but this in no way changes the basic fact, which is that the OP needs to be more careful in reading all of the conditions attached to any reservation (airline, hotel, rental car, etc) beforehand. There are instances where a cancellation simply cannot be avoided (a death of a close relative, a major illness, etc.), but the fact that a shuttle launch is delayed is not one of these reasons.

  • frostysnowman

    I also agree that Marriott did not really owe a refund, but it was nice of them to do it. And I think Mort is right in saying that a delayed shuttle lauch is not a great reason to expect a refund if you’ve purchased a non-refunable hotel room.

    I sympathize a little with the OP, though. I booked a hotel room on-line yesterday and almost confirmed the prepaid, non-cancelable rate because the wording that spelled out those restrictions was quite small. I didn’t really notice it until it was almost too late. The difference in cost between the prepaid and regular rates was only a few dollars, but as someone said it’s human nature to jump at the best deal. And now I know to be extra careful about this in the future.

    All of these sites could save themselves and us a lot of trouble if they would just take a little extra time to use a larger font or something simple like that to call out restrictions so that things are completely transparent to the consumer.

  • BucksterSF

    I find it disturbing that we are reading more and more stories where people did someting, didn’t read or apparently make any attempt to understand the transaction, and then cry foul when they want to change the terms. I book travel all of the time and all it usually takes is 60 seconds of reading some details to understand the restrictions.

    The quote: “Which would you choose, when looking strictly at prices?” says volumes. My response would be, “Why would you EVER look just at one aspect of an agreement.”

    We (as a consumer society) are more and more feeling a sense of entitlement when we’re clearly in the wrong. And we all will end up paying for it.

  • Steve

    As someone who always books hotel rooms online, I can see both sides of the story. Certainly, it’s usually spelled out somewhere that a rate is non-refundable. But it’s not always clear.

    I always wonder about what I see on the Priority Club website when I go to book a room. There’s often an Advance Purchase rate (clearly non-refundable), a Featured rate, and a Best Flexible rate (clearly refundable). The Featured rate is between the Advance Purchase and Best Flexible rates in price, but I’ve never been clear on what exactly it means. If you click for an explanation, it doesn’t explicitly say if it’s refundable or not. I haven’t booked a room at that rate yet, but if I ever did and was subsequently told it was nonrefundable, I’d argue that I had no reasonable way of knowing that.

  • Phil

    Every time someone books something on the Internet and it doesn’t turn out the way they expected, the call foul. They never accept that they have done something wrong, did not read properly the restrictions on what they were purchasing, the website was not clear, did not understand what they were booking. It is always the suppliers fault never the one purchasing. If one does not know what one is doing when booking, or one does not fully understand the booking terms then don’t book it, get help. Also I think all these advocates that go after help for these morons should stop doing so, let them sink or swim, let them think for themselves, own up to their mistakes and pay the price.

  • Phil

    Reply to Steve above, if you don’t know what your booking or you want an explanation then pick up the phone call the hotel and ask, they all have 800 number. Then after you get your question answered you can book intelligently, or for that matter since your on the phone book it right then with the hotel representative and when booking by phone always get the name of the person you are speaking to, just common sense.

  • David Z

    Katrina offers the perfect solution for this booking problem as longer as the non-refundable policy has been clearly stated where the rate is quoted on the hotel Web site and not buried in some lengthy “Terms and Conditions” page written by the hotel’s lawyers and that can only be reached by clicking through to another page.

    While not all do that, some actually do.

  • Mike P

    I completely agree… Chris, I love reading your site, but you need stop going after things like this one where the client does not take responsibility for his own actions. Had the launch not been delayed he would have been as happy as a clam getting a great rate, but instead it was delayed due to weather which clearly isn’t a valid reason for a person cancelling a reservation. To be fair, these companies are in business to make money, and non-refundable should mean just that — non-refundable. It is your responsibility to read the fine print when you book something online, or any where for that matter. Good prices come with restrictions, people should know that by now.

  • Carver Farrow

    @Phil

    Harsh. Why shouldn’t someone get some help once in a while. I guess if you make an honest mistake that makes you a moron.

  • Christopher Elliott

    My momma told me there’d be days like this.

  • http://www.hotelwithheart.com hotel sweetheart

    As someone working for an online hotel booking site, I say Marriott is faultless, at the same time very considerate. If I were Mr. Cox, I’d definitely book my future hotels with Marriott as a gesture of gratitude, and even tell people of the positive experience he’s had. Online hotel booking sites do have policies to uphold especially as in this case, when it was written in black-and-white. But then it also does not leave Marriott happy knowing that one customer of theirs was unhappy, right? I think that’s what happened there. The cost of one room can’t replace the worth of one happy (and hopefully, loyal) customer.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    I am a Platinum Marriott Reward member (75+ nights a year) for the past 8 years and I have been booking on Marriott.com for this period of time. The cancellation policy is clearly posted before booking\purchase.

    I went to the Marriott website, selected the MCO SpringHill Suites, the date of March 8 for one night and two rates appeared:

    “Advance Purchase rate, Continental breakfast daily, wireless internet, prepay in full, non-refundable, no changes, airport transportation” $ 149.00

    “Regular Rate” $ 159″

    If you click on the rate rules link for the $ 149 rate, again it states that your credit card will be charged in full, it is totally non-refundable and etc.

    When you go to the booking, it repeated the cancellation policy which is highligted in light blue\aqua color.

    Three times the cancellaiton policy is stated BEFORE booking\purchasing. I have a hard time beleiving Mr. Cox story that he didn’t know that his room rate was nonrefundable. It is my guess that he chose the lowest rate without regards to the chance the space shuttle launch could be postponed or cancelled due to the weather, equipment and etc.

    The subject of advance purchase\pre-payment rates for hotel rooms have appeared on Elliott and Consumer Traveler websites before. I don’t know why someone will book these rates. In regards to MCO SpringHill Suites, the AAA rate was $ 134, the prepayment rate was $ 149 and the regular rate was $ 159. Since I am an AAA member, I will select the AAA rate (which is cancellable up to 6:00 PM on the day of arrival) over the advance purchase or pre-payment rate. Even if I was not an AAA member, I will select the $ 159 rate knowing that stuff can happen when traveling.

    @ Mr. Elliott: Your continued championing of individuals like Mr. Cox is disappointing when there are real issues, real problems that you can go after.

  • Steve

    Why should I have to pick up the phone and deal with someone who may or may not know more than I can figure out just from looking at the website? Given the level of “customer service” nowadays, I’m almost inclined *not* to believe what some front-desk person tells me. Besides, if a company is going to offer the option of booking online, they should be clear enough about their rates that you don’t have to call someone with questions. If I’m going to do that, what’s the point of going online at all?

    In the example I mentioned, it looks like the in-between rate is refundable. The very short explanation of the rate says that it may not be available at all times and may have a minimum stay requirement; it says nothing about being non-refundable. The advance purchase rate (like the Marriott rate that the subject of this post booked) clearly spells out that it’s nonrefundable. I have no problem with that.

    My original point is that it’s equally foolish to assume that the customer is always wrong as it is to assume that the company is always wrong.

  • Kevin M

    To be fair to Chris: his job here is not just to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong, but to advocate on behalf of the traveler. Sometimes, that means advocating on behalf of the traveler even when the traveler is in the wrong. (Not always; a “wrong” traveler who’s polite and in a jam, even one not of the travel provider’s making, probably deserves more consideration than a “wrong” traveler who’s abusive and/or just doesn’t like some of the travel arrangements.

    In other words, he’s more like a lawyer than a judge.

    But I think it might help, Chris, if (once a case like this is settled) you made it clearer in your reply whether you felt that the travel provider was justified in whatever behavior started the inquiry. For example, in this case, if you’d said “I simulated a booking on the Marriott site, and I found that you could only see the non-refundable terms by clicking on two successive links”, readers would know that Marriott’s website was possibly deceptive. Alternatively, saying “I found the fact that the room was nonrefundable was stated next to the original price, and again (highlighted in blue) next to the final ‘book it’ button” suggests Marriott was in the right.” Even in cases of the latter, there’s nothing to say you couldn’t appeal to the travel provider and ask for special treatment, but at least it would be clearer to us on the outside whether you think disclosure was adequate, terms were fair, and so forth.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Wrona: “I’m sorry basic reading comprehension shouldn’t confuse anyone.” I agree with you.

    @ Chris in NC: “I have been booking on marriott.com for quite some time, and the cancellation policy is CLEARLY disclosed.” I agree.

    @ Thalassa: :I’m actually a little disappointed. I think your power is being used for bad.: I agree.

    @ John: “People don’t take the time to read anymore. They simply see the lowest rate and take it without reading what terms and conditions are applied to the rates.” I agree.

    @ Shawn: “In this case, I think they only gave the refund to avoid bad publicity from you.” I agree.

    @ Justin: “I am glad Marriott helped and maybe they could make things more clear.” It is disclosed three times. The advance purchase rate comes up in BOLD type stating that it is non-refundable. I wish that I could post the screen shot from the Marriott website. If you see it then one must question Mr. Cox’s story that he wasn’t aware of the rate rules.

    @ Lisa S: “Shouldn’t companies have to put next to the price that the room is not refundable?” It is very CLEAR on the Marriott website. If you see how Marriott does it, one must question Mr. Cox’s story of not knowing the rate is disclosed.

    @ Kevin Fileds: “Clearly Mr. Cox was not entitled to a refund due to his own ignorance. But, the hotel chose to give him a refund anyhow after Chris pointed out some issues with making that information less clear.” It is very clear…again, I wish that I could post the screen shots from the Marriott website. Unless the person did not pay attention to all of the disclosures, I can’t see how a person could not tell that the rate was non-refundable.

    @ Dick Jordan: “Katrina offers the perfect solution for this booking problem as longer as the non-refundable policy has been clearly stated where the rate is quoted on the hotel Web site and not buried in some lengthy “Terms and Conditions” page written by the hotel’s lawyers and that can only be reached by clicking through to another page.” It is stated in CLEAR and CONCISE words that is non-refundable before the rate for the room appears. It is not buried or a click through is NOT required.

    @ Carver: “I’ll the take OP at his word that he made a mistake.” It will be a mistake like choosing the wrong dates. This is not a mistake. When will people in this country start to take responsibilities for their actions or lack of actions instead of wanting someone else to bail them out.

    @ hotel sweetheart: “As someone working for an online hotel booking site, I say Marriott is faultless, at the same time very considerate.” I agree.

    @ hotel sweetheart: “If I were Mr. Cox, I’d definitely book my future hotels with Marriott as a gesture of gratitude, and even tell people of the positive experience he’s had.” “The cost of one room can’t replace the worth of one happy (and hopefully, loyal) customer.” I don’t think that Mr. Cox will ever book another room with a Marriott brand hotel.

  • Colorado Road Warrior

    I agree with Arizona, I am also Platinum Marriott and their bookings are extremely clear and provide all details before confirmation/payment.

    This person wanted a deal and when it didn’t work out, didn’t want to hold up his end of the agreement. I’m also disappointed that Chris wasted some of his power to help someone who is abusing the system, for those points that Chris used up to help this guy, may not be available in the future to help someone who has a real issue and needs that help.

    Sometimes the right answer is that the person did something that they have to live with and to bail the out hurts all that play by the rules when something legitimate needs to be addressed.

  • Carver Farrow

    @Arizona

    As a plat member of Marriott, you are obviously a sophisticated traveler. Sophisticated travelers often forget how easy a newbie is mislead. In your example, I can see how someone might just assume that the lowest rate is the most restricted (e.g. AAA) and book the $149 instead. I’m not saying that it happened in this case, but its worth speculating.

    I do admire your cajones though, in telling Chris what is a meaningful use of his time and what’s not.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Carver: “In your example, I can see how someone might just assume that the lowest rate is the most restricted (e.g. AAA) and book the $149 instead.” First, the example that I listed, there are only two rates, the Regular Rate and Advance Purchase Rate.

    If you are an AAA member, you have to do a separate search on the Marriott website for the AAA rates and the ONLY rates that are listed are the AAA rates…The Regular rates and Advance Purchase rates are NOT LISTED. I included the AAA rate in my post to show the value of being an AAA member as well as that sometimes the AAA rate is lower than the Advance Purchase Rate since there was a recent ‘column’ on Elliott about Advance Purchase rates.

    Carver, this is not soley directly at you but it is my suggestion that people goes to the Marriott website to check it out, see how it works and etc. before making comments, making assumptions and etc. For example, Chris ran an article\column about someone flying from the US to Europe but claimed nothing was posted on the airlines’ website if a meal was included in the fare for thatbflight. I went to all of the airlines websites that flew that route (there were four airlines and three of the four diclosed that meals were included in the fare…the fourth airline was a code-share on one of the other three) before I wrote my post.

    @ Carver: “As a plat member of Marriott, you are obviously a sophisticated traveler. Sophisticated travelers often forget how easy a newbie is mislead.”

    The website states “Advance Purchase rate, Continental breakfast daily, wireless internet, prepay in full, non-refundable, no changes, airport transportation” How is PREPAY IN FULL misleading? How is NON-REFUNDABLE is misleading? How is NO CHANGES misleading?

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Carver Farrow “I do admire your cajones though, in telling Chris what is a meaningful use of his time and what’s not.”

    I have been the customer advocate for the product development of software products. As a customer advocate, sometimes you have to tell the customer in a polite way that they are wrong, out of line, they are being unreasonable and etc. You can’t expand ‘political capital’ on wrong causes.

    It is my opinion that when Chris champions the causes of Mr. Cox, he loses creditability. In the long term, he will be less effective.

  • y_p_w

    My wife wanted to do some Black Friday shopping and we figured that a hotel near the local outlet mall would be safer than driving home with an early morning zombie-like shopping daze.

    I’d been thinking about it for a while, and the Fairfield Inn location (on Marriott.com) did have a $90 AAA rate when I checked a few weeks in advance. I put it off and later found two things when I reserved the day before – an $80 last minute (could be canceled by 6 PM) rate as well as a $100 “shopper’s special”. The shopper’s special seemed somewhat generous. It involved $80 worth of gift cards – $50 at the local outlet mall and $30 at a local brewpub. I was skeptical and checked their terms; it said something about requiring a two day stay with one night at $170. It didn’t really make that much sense to me that one would need to pay $80-90 more and be required to stay two days in order to get $80 of merchandise; I would have thought a special like that would entail some sort of discount. So I called up the hotel, talked to the front desk, and was told the $100 for one night would be a valid rate to get the gift card.

    When we got there the manager informed us that the rate was wrong and said he wished the Marriott.com website didn’t publish that since they didn’t honor that special for only a one day stay. However – he did drop the rate to the same $80 last-minute rate that I could have originally booked. Since we got there before 6 PM, I think we might have even been able to cancel altogether. So what am I trying to say? Just that sometimes the website can be a little bit confusing, even after making a call to the hotel to clarify what it means.

  • Carver

    @Arizona

    My point is that there are two possibilities. 1) The OP made a mistake or 2)The OP deliberately go a non-refundable rate and has buyers remorse.

    The fact that the website is clear has no bearing on whether the OP made a mistake or not. He might have misread it, he might have clicked the wrong button, he wasn’t paying attentionany number of possibilities present themselves that conclude with the fact that it was an honest mistake by the OP.

    In which case, I think that it is appropriate to ask Chris for help. Like you, I am a Marriott Platinum member and have been so for several years. But I’ve still made mistakes when booking rooms. I onced booked the wrong DC Renaissance. Another time I had the wrong dates for my hotel stay, my car rental, etc. Stuff happens. It is unreasonable to expect perfection every time.

    Now, as far as non-refundable rate, there are different non-refundable rates. There are non-refundable rates which forfeit the entire amount, the first night, are transferable with a change fee, are transferable without a change fee, become totally non-refundable after 24 hours.

    Ultimately though, I don’t think that we are necessarily disagreeing in theory. If the OP had knowingly booked a non-refundable rate, then I’d probably be in line with your thinking. But the OP said he didn’t and I take him at his word.

    I do though disagree in that I don’t think Chris is expending political capital. I think its the vast minority who disagree with Chris’ advocacy in this matters.

  • kenish

    A few comments to add to the others. If Mr. Cox has enough interest in the space program to travel to a Shuttle launch, I will guess he’s aware the on-time track record is far, far, worse than the airlines! The delays are usually measured in days or weeks, not hours. This awareness should have increased his due diligence on cancellation / change policies of all the travel suppliers, not just the hotel.

    Participating in several online forums I also agree people are often too rushed or lazy to read webpages or do a little research. Questions are often posted that a 30 second Google search will answer!

    Last comment, I have never seen a prepaid, non-refundable booking that is not clearly flagged as being exactly that. Several sites even present a pop-up with a “Before you continue, be aware…..” along with a “Confirm” button.

  • Annette

    If you to that hotel’s website and book a room it says right there in nice bold letters beside the rate:
    |Advance Purchase rate, Continental breakfast daily, wireless internet, prepay in full, non-refundable, no changes, airport transportation|

    It says it again in the reservation details on the sidebar on the booking screen. There is absolutely no possible way for anyone booking that rate NOT to know that it was nonrefundable.

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  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Annette: You are absolutely correct. In my post, I said the same thing as well as telling people to go to the Marriott website to check it out before posting. The people that are ‘supporting’ Mr. Cox are using emotions instead of the facts. I doubt if of the Mr. Cox supporters went to the Marriott website to check it out. I doubt it that Chris Elliott went to the Marriott website.

  • FJP

    The real question here is why has the hotel industry become like the airlines with all these nonrefundable prices. IMO it is a secret price increase. The hotel that used to offer a $99 unrestricted room has really increased their rate to $110, but you can still book a $99 room if you are willing to be punished for having a normal life, in which people get sick, something comes up at work (or in the case of a business trip doesn’t come up), it snows, etc. I happily accept the risk if I am getting a room at close to half-price through an opaque site, but for the $10 or so at most you save by booking nonrefundable from the hotel, it’s a steep risk.

    Usually I can identify the nonrefundable rates but that doesn’t mean hotels don’t have ways of being deceptive. One that I have noticed as a result of booking rooms for multiple family members is that some hotels have a “senior” rate that is NOT their lowest rate, not even their lowest unrestricted rate, for the room. In one instance I recall, it was about $15 higher. I wonder how many seniors automatically select that option from the drop down menu and never know thay have just been cheated out of $15.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ FJP – “The real question here is why has the hotel industry become like the airlines with all these nonrefundable prices.”

    The hotels came out with these non-refundable prices to compete with the websites like hotwire.com, hotel.com, priceline.com and etc. Instead of selling the rooms to hotwire, hotel.com, priceline and etc., they can offer lower rates (i.e. non-refundable rates) so that they can keep more revenues. There are some hotel brands that their non-refundable rates are substantial and then there are some hotels brands that their non-refundable rates are that lower than their regular rates.

  • John

    Chris…

    I’m just curious what it is that you say to companies when you contact them that almost always gets them to side with the customer, even if the customer’s complaint is completely unreasonable (such as in this case). I read your site a good amount of time and have seen this in many cases. Do you threaten to wrongfully give the company bad publicity on your blog or what? It seems to me that in many cases where the company has no reason to change its mind, it changes its mind after you write to them. Seriously…what do you say to them?

  • Christopher Elliott

    @John, great question. I always ask politely if they can help me answer a reader question. I never, ever, threaten.

  • Joe Farrell

    Stupid is as stupid does. Ignorance of what you bought is not a defense when the information is available.

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