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Had a "lady" come to the desk tonight, she had a reservation through the Brand website. It was a CASH reservation (ie: not guaranteed), and when she came in she presented her Corporate Lodging card as payment.
Now, I've discussed this particular form of payment before, but I will give a brief description here as a refresher. Basically, business travelers sign up with this company and pay a fee per use for a really great rate at hotels that have a contract with said company. Since the rate is individually negotiated at each hotel, the only way to book a room for Corporate Lodging is to call the hotel directly, or walk in. THERE IS NO WAY TO BOOK THIS TYPE OF ROOM ONLINE. On top of that, a common abuse of the CLC (as it is commonly abbreviated in the industry) is to use it for non business related expenses. Thus when it is presented, if we are AT ALL suspicious as to the purpose of their visit, we can request some sort of proof that they are here for work and not vacation.
Per our contract with CLC if we have a room available, we MUST sell it to the person presenting the CLC card (unless we have another reason to refuse service). The rate we negotiate with CLC is much lower than our regular rate, and thus if we have a reservation for a room at the regular rate, and they then try to use CLC, we are essentially losing money that we were, in a way, promised. What this lady did is ensure that a room would be available, and then try to use the knowledge that I detailed earlier in the paragraph to get the room cheaper than she booked it for.
When confronted with this situation, I was unsure how to proceed, as we do want to keep up occupancy, but I don't like people who make fraudulent reservations. So, I got my manager, who initially told me to refuse her. He then came up, and asked her for a work order to prove she was on business, as if this was the case, we would have done as sheordered asked (cancel her online reservation, and make a new one under CLC). She insisted that she didn't need to provide a work order, as it wasn't required for CLC. However, per our contract we CAN ask for this. She swore in the process of arguing with my GM, who promptly told her she needed to go elsewhere. (This, according to him, was the primary reason she was refused a room)
She proceeded to call CLC, who then called us to find out what the problem was. My manager explained the situation, and was told by CLC that we had every right to refuse service. She then called our corporate number, asking to speak to a supervisor immediately.
She complained to corporate that this (booking online, paying through CLC) had never been an issue before, and that rep informed her that her reservation had already been cancelled. When she ended the call, she asked us if we would then check her in under CLC, and she was again informed that this would not happen. She then tried calling corporate AGAIN. I informed her that they can't force us to sell her a room. She continued to complain to corporate, and obviously didn't get anywhere as she asked for my and my GMs name before she left.
SC
Now, I've discussed this particular form of payment before, but I will give a brief description here as a refresher. Basically, business travelers sign up with this company and pay a fee per use for a really great rate at hotels that have a contract with said company. Since the rate is individually negotiated at each hotel, the only way to book a room for Corporate Lodging is to call the hotel directly, or walk in. THERE IS NO WAY TO BOOK THIS TYPE OF ROOM ONLINE. On top of that, a common abuse of the CLC (as it is commonly abbreviated in the industry) is to use it for non business related expenses. Thus when it is presented, if we are AT ALL suspicious as to the purpose of their visit, we can request some sort of proof that they are here for work and not vacation.
Per our contract with CLC if we have a room available, we MUST sell it to the person presenting the CLC card (unless we have another reason to refuse service). The rate we negotiate with CLC is much lower than our regular rate, and thus if we have a reservation for a room at the regular rate, and they then try to use CLC, we are essentially losing money that we were, in a way, promised. What this lady did is ensure that a room would be available, and then try to use the knowledge that I detailed earlier in the paragraph to get the room cheaper than she booked it for.
When confronted with this situation, I was unsure how to proceed, as we do want to keep up occupancy, but I don't like people who make fraudulent reservations. So, I got my manager, who initially told me to refuse her. He then came up, and asked her for a work order to prove she was on business, as if this was the case, we would have done as she
She proceeded to call CLC, who then called us to find out what the problem was. My manager explained the situation, and was told by CLC that we had every right to refuse service. She then called our corporate number, asking to speak to a supervisor immediately.
She complained to corporate that this (booking online, paying through CLC) had never been an issue before, and that rep informed her that her reservation had already been cancelled. When she ended the call, she asked us if we would then check her in under CLC, and she was again informed that this would not happen. She then tried calling corporate AGAIN. I informed her that they can't force us to sell her a room. She continued to complain to corporate, and obviously didn't get anywhere as she asked for my and my GMs name before she left.
SC
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