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Damned decimal point

April 12, 2006

Here we go again! Seems the Residence Inn Times Square incorrectly posted a $24.90 per night room rate for late August, erroneously placing the decimal point after the four instead of after the nine. Now people who have booked this too-good-to-be-true price are afraid the hotel will cancel their reservations.

Well, to them I say: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Knowingly booking a so-called “fat finger” fare isn’t illegal, of course. But as I pointed out in a recent Troubleshooter column, it is unethical.

Why? Someone forgot to move the decimal point. It was a mistake.

What if a cashier gave you incorrect change (handing you dollar bills instead of tens) and you didn’t discover it until you got home? Or what if a merchant inadvertently added two extra zeros to your credit-card purchase, and now that CD you bought for $14.99 is going to cost $1,499?

Put yourself in the hotel’s shoes. Taking advantage of someone else’s mistake is wrong, wrong, wrong.

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.

8 comments

  • Joshua Katt

    Yes it is except for the mistakes seem to always go against the consumer and big business rarely jumps to fix them without a complaint and additional work from YOU to correct their wrongs. When is the last time a hotel undercharged you for anything yet surprises always seem to show up on my folio.

  • Eric Z

    Being in the reservations business, I see mistakes made by a hotel once in a while ( I don’t see the mistakes made at the hotel). However, I see errors made by guest all the time;i.e. booking the wrong dates, booking for groups far in advance when the groups aren’t loaded yet and then paying a higher rate later in the year when the group is loaded but sold out, booking enough rooms for the group but forget the bus driver. This is just a smattering of what is easily noticeable. The Residence Inn’s typo is easily noticeable as well. We do our best to correct the guests mistake but the guests always tries to take advantage and get more than what would be considered a fair remedy.

  • Jay

    How does one distinguish the inadvertent mistake from the true promotion, like one of the European discount airlines offering to carry passengers for just the taxes associated with the normal fare, with the fare being zero or perhaps a nominal EUR 1.00?

  • David

    You can distinguish a mistake from a promotion in that a promotion is “promoted.” This rate was never advertised and you had to jump through hoops just to find it. (book for a whole week, only in the month of August)

  • Jimbo

    If Marriott does not honor this rate, why then should I make another reservation on their website? How can I trust the online rates to be true? Hotel reservation systems are trying to automate as much as possible and drive customers to make bookings online as this is cheaper than paying the salary of a human reservationist. Marriott should rethink the way it is handling these reservations, I will never stay in a Marriott property again.

  • Diane

    I think this rate was an obvious mistake and trying to force Marriott to honor it is tantamount to stealing the change from the cashier in the above example. No one was harmed. No plans have to be changed…in fact, people were posting that they were booking rooms for family members who hadn’t even made travel plans, just because it was “such a good deal.” Do you want hotels to start charging cancellation penalties across the board? I think you can trust a reasonable online rate to be true. But this was obviously a mistake.

  • Jimbo

    Diane, mistakes do happen, but in the past, these have been honored by airlines and hotels for the sake of goodwill. In this case, Marriott chose to take a very hard line and did not even offer any compromise. Travel websites often have promotional rates such as Ryanair, cruise lines, and Skyauction. Marriott left a voice mail indicating that my reservation would be cancelled if not rebooked at the $260 rate, take it or leave it. I’ve returned $$ when given the wrong change, but in this case, I expect better treatment from Marriott, a hospitality company that up to now was head and shoulders above the rest. Employees are empowered to make things right and satisfy the customer. If you look at the big picture, there were possible abuses of multiple reservations. OK, so cancel the mulitple reservations for family members and travel agents, honor the rest. At the end of the day, what would this cost Marriott compared to all the poor customer relations this has caused. After this experience, I really can’t consciously stay at another Mattiott property. Lets face it, its the total customer experience that differentiates a Marriott from a Hilton or a Wyndham, it isn’t the bricks and mortar. The only real difference between a Marriott and other brands is the way it treats its customers, and right now, I feel as if Marriott is treating me rather poorly.

  • http://www.acouplethings.com/blog Scholar in Training

    Do the airlines allow me to say “oops” if I make a mistake? No. Why should we allow them to as well? This is particularly true when it comes to their shady business practices of shielding taxes and fees until the last possible moment (good ‘ol bait and switch move). Sorry, I have no sympathy for the airlines in these situations.

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