Question: Ever since we started our current contract with T-Mobile this March, my wife hasn’t been able to place or receive calls or text messages at work.
Read more “My mobile phone doesn’t work — how about a refund?”
Tag: CONNECTION
Did Viking offer enough for my missed connection?
Barbara Shurr’s European riverboat cruise was “wonderful” — until the very end.
Read more “Did Viking offer enough for my missed connection?”
That’s ridiculous! Hotels are charging even more for what should be free
What could be more absurd than paying a surcharge for a wireless Internet connection at your hotel?
Paying even more for a wireless Internet connection at your hotel.
But that’s exactly what more travelers are being asked to do when they open their laptops after checking in. A “regular” Wi-Fi connection typically costs about $10 a day, but if they want to upgrade to a higher speed, they have to pay a premium of between $5 and $10 over an above that rate.
Philip Guarino was faced with that choice on a recent visit to Zurich, Switzerland. A basic wireless connection at his hotel ran at 500 kilobits per second (the average dial-up connection is 56 kilobits per second). The “premium” connection speed was about 20 times faster, which would have allowed him to easily stream videos, make Internet-phone calls and download large files – all the things a reliable high-speed connection ought to do in 2011.
“I pay for the upgrade every time because the difference is so drastic,” says Guarino, a business consultant.
Read more “That’s ridiculous! Hotels are charging even more for what should be free”
Is this enough compensation? Missed my connection because of an emergency landing
Close calls are the narrative glue of aviation journalism. Where would we be without stories of near-misses, mechanical failures and emergency landings?
We might be less understanding of Sean Norton’s problem. His Delta Air Lines flight from Philadelphia to Paris had to divert to Ireland on Nov. 19, causing him to miss a connecting flight. He wants to know if Delta helped him enough, given that a mechanical problem is a controllable circumstance.
This isn’t an easy case, and you’ll see why when we get into the details. But first, we have to acknowledge that things could have been much worse. Delta Flight 196 could have gone down, in which case I’d be hearing from Norton’s next of kin.
How far should an airline go to fix a schedule that’s disrupted by a mechanical failure?
Delta’s contract of carriage doesn’t address emergency landings, so the airline has a lot of discretion in addressing the issue.
Question is, did it do enough?
Read more “Is this enough compensation? Missed my connection because of an emergency landing”
Hey Hotels.com, what happened to my Internet connection?
Question: I recently reserved a room at the Ramada Charleston in Charleston, S.C., through Hotels.com. When I checked in, I was told there was no Internet in the rooms despite what the Hotels.com Web page said.
I explained that I needed Internet access and that the Ramada would not do. I called Hotels.com from the Ramada lobby and the Hotels.com representative, whose English language skills were poor, confirmed with Ramada that there was no Internet and canceled my reservation.
I then went across the street to the Red Roof Inn, confirmed they had Internet in their rooms, and called Hotels.com back to book it instead. This time the phone representative (whose English was even worse) told me my credit card was declined. This was because she couldn’t understand me and input the wrong number.
Finally, I had to book the room with the front desk of the Red Roof Inn using the same credit card that the Hotels.com agent said was declined and the same credit card I used for the initial Ramada reservation. I lost four nights of Welcome Rewards and about 35 minutes on my cell phone.
I think, at the least, my four nights of welcome rewards should be reinstated. But Hotels.com refused, instead offering me $50 worth of “Hotel Bucks.” They promised them within four to six weeks, but it’s been five months, and there’s no sign of them. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated. — Michael Rosenthal, Miami
Answer: Your room should have had an Internet connection, as promised. I can understand how some hotels might think of a wireless high-speed network as an amenity, like a TV or a hair dryer, but if you’re traveling on business, it’s a necessity.
I reviewed the Hotels.com listing of the Ramada Charleston several weeks after working on this case, and I saw that the hotel still claims to offer “high-speed Internet access” on site.
Read more “Hey Hotels.com, what happened to my Internet connection?”