How not to negotiate hotel room discounts

[Crucible1]

I have great sympathy for you, I have been working hotels for too long and even though I burnt out like a piece of overdone toast, I can relate to that. I have heard the whole song and dance for a discount so many times my ears bleed. I can honestly say that although it is not indicative of all hotel customers, there are a few factors I can count on in every conversation with them.

When booking a room:
 Customers will call with every discount under the sun (AAA, AARP, Costco, Sams, Military, Government, Corporate)
 Customers will try to “relate” to me and get an in to make me “sympathetic to their plight” (tragedy is I lost any sympathy years ago for any customers to be honest...a little cynical I think)
 Customers will try to bully me (this never works) into to something lower
 Of all the these on this list, My favorite is when a customer calls me and claims to see a random rate online that is so much cheaper than my current quote to them. This is amusing for two reasons, because I am actually the one that sets the rates online and know how all of that works; it never goes over well when they get rebuffed by that.

When canceling a room:
 Guests get mad when they try to cancel inside a given cancellation policy (i.e. 30 days, 72 Hours, 24 hours, etc...) and I will refuse them a cancellation except for medical reasons or a death. I also require obituaries and doctor’s notes as proof.
 I have seen more people suffer an acute attack of…whatever, right before a big weekend.
 I have seen more people lose family members right before a special event, than any other time in my life.
 Customers seem to think that some change in their plans makes them special unlike every other person that wants to cancel their room and we should make an exception for them.

I have been arguing with customers for years when it comes to refunds and cancellations and I have reached a point where I just have no fear. I also have no sympathy, as bad as that sounds, because of the many times I have been berated by a customer who just a few moments ago was screaming for sympathy. I can tell real pain with just a conversation after all these years, and the majority of people I speak with have none.

I have a routine I follow when a customer offers the “Litany of threats” as I call it. I will actually have a huge smirk on my face, and I will count on one hand from 1-5 the threats to see how many I can get to form this one person.

Here is a common list of threats I hear on an almost weekly basis:

 Calling the Better Business Bureau (BBB / American)
 Contacting a lawyer and suing us
 Writing a letter to the corporate structure
 Getting me terminated because they are so special
 Coming to the hotel to attack me
 Claiming they will spread word of the horror that is our hotel and it will undermine our business and we will shut down

There are more….trust me

[Moirae]

I always find it amusing when they're coming for a special event and somehow they think its going to be cheap. You're coming for Mardi Gras and you seriously think you're going to get a $79 rate because you had it the last time you stayed during the summer? You can't seriously be that stupid.

No, there is no negotiating this even if you go up to a manager because the manager will just tell you the same thing I will. And frankly, YOU may not be willing but someone else is, especially in a destination market like Orlando, New Orleans, Nashville, Anaheim, etc.

Just like Crucible above, I've been yelled at and treated so rudely over the years that I'm pretty much to the point that I no longer care what your excuse is. Oh, I can fake it, but that doesn't mean you'll get anything out of me other than fake sympathy. Why? Because so many people are so bloody rude.

[hinakiba777]

The 30mi issues happens all the time at the hotel I worked at the past two summers. Most people go off to do sight seeing at the other end of the island and don't make it back in time for check in. They usually call to tell us this. Most are smart enough to just reserve the room for the second night, but some do pay for two nights, and then want a discount for the second day because they can't make it.

It sucks but I can't do that. The cleaning regime for a checked in room is totally different than for one up for sale, so the room would not be up to par for other guests. Some understand that, others....well some just don't.

[bankworking]

I'm actually dealing with my first reserved hotel stay coming up. Didn't have try to negotiate any price, just registered at the convention I'm going to and found one of their discounted rooms to reserve (everything within a few blocks was already taken, I had to get a hotel a mile away, and that was the same day that registration became available!)

Of course, I tried to follow the rules listed on the website. Register THROUGH the convention housing for the hotel rooms. I wonder how many people were calling the hotels directly trying to reserve rooms at the group rate? Tried to call up the hotel to confirm that the reservation went through, but apparently, I have to verify through the convention since the hotel doesn't have the specifics of who's taking the rooms the convention has reserved.

Makes me a bit nervous not being able to confirm with the hotel directly, but I have an e-mail confirmation that everything is good from the convention. Don't suppose you would know how close to the convention date the hotel is likely to get the list of who specifically has the rooms, or if I'm just being paranoid wanting to confirm with the hotel itself?

[Moirae]

I'm actually dealing with my first reserved hotel stay coming up. Didn't have try to negotiate any price, just registered at the convention I'm going to and found one of their discounted rooms to reserve (everything within a few blocks was already taken, I had to get a hotel a mile away, and that was the same day that registration became available!)

Of course, I tried to follow the rules listed on the website. Register THROUGH the convention housing for the hotel rooms. I wonder how many people were calling the hotels directly trying to reserve rooms at the group rate? Tried to call up the hotel to confirm that the reservation went through, but apparently, I have to verify through the convention since the hotel doesn't have the specifics of who's taking the rooms the convention has reserved.

Makes me a bit nervous not being able to confirm with the hotel directly, but I have an e-mail confirmation that everything is good from the convention. Don't suppose you would know how close to the convention date the hotel is likely to get the list of who specifically has the rooms, or if I'm just being paranoid wanting to confirm with the hotel itself?

Ahh. Ok, here's the thing about this. Its unlikely the hotel could give you the convention rate.

There's something called a Housing Bureau. They make special deals with the cities Convention Visitors Bureau or a Hotel/Motel Association (sometimes both) they are in to get lower rates, and then all hotels that are part of that deal give that rate. The hotels actually can't offer the rate by contract via phone or in person. If they break that contract there are usually steep fines as part of the contract and then they won't get another contract through them again. They stand to lose too much because those organizations can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

You can confirm with the hotel, however the organization probably hasn't yet released their rooming list to the hotel you're due to stay at. The hotel should have it a week or two ahead of time, so you can check with the hotel to confirm at that time.

Provided that the organization you booked through gave you a confirmation number, you should be just fine. However, that isn't the hotels number, so they won't be able to find your reservation with that number. When you call, just supply them with your first and last name. It will be enough. The reason being that each computer system, each hotel, each website, ALL use different confirmation numbers, and those numbers will NEVER match each other unless its in the notes of the reservation.

Its not as confusing as it seems.

[Crucible1]

Convention reservations are an interesting creature. Its like a thug is forcing you to take a third party mechanism to book your rooms. You cannot get the special convention rate except by booking through the reservations service they provide. They bind all the closest hotels to a contract that means they will have the lowest rate by as much as 50-75 Dollars. As to the reservation reaching the Hotel, it is in between 14-21 days depending on contracted cut off terms.:

[bankworking]

Thanks for the notes. I figured I'd have to wait until pretty close to the date of the convention before the hotel would get the list of who the reserved rooms are for,but I'm expecting every hotel in the area to be booked solid by the time the convention rolls around, so I'm feeling a bit paranoid about making certain I have a place to stay. Did get a confirmation number from the conventions housing bureau, so I think I'm good to go.

[Jester]

On the positive side, let me tell you about my last time in Fort Myers Beach.

I had booked a different hotel from my previous stay, and was told that if I would be arriving after their normal hours (which I would be) that security would check me into my room. That all went off without a hitch, the security guy was very friendly, I checked into my room, no problem. Found the room a bit warm (the day itself was rather toasty), so I cranked on the AC and proceeded to unpack, something I rarely do in a hotel...I normally just leave my shit in my suitcase, but I decided to be civilized for once. After which, I noticed something about the AC.

Specifically, nothing. As it, that's what it was doing.

Huh?

Fiddled with it for a bit, then realized nothing was happening. If anything, the room was warmer inside than the outside was. Which was just all kinds of fucked up.

So, did I throw a fit, stomp my foot, and make all kinds of threats? No. Despite being tired from the drive from Key West, and wanting nothing more than to crash in a bed, I knew that it would accomplish nothing, and besides, I am not that much of an asshole.

What I DID do was go find the security guy and politely explain to him that my AC wasn't working. He came into the room, checked it out, fiddled with it for a bit (not really sure what he did, actually), then told me that he couldn't fix it. However, he would get me into another room.

And put me into a suite. Now, he did explain that the next day they might have to have me move back into a regular room, but I was fine with that, since they weren't charging me extra for the suite, which had an AC unit that was working just fine and dandy.

I thanked the security guy, did NOT unpack, and crashed out in the cool, comfortable room. The next morning, I went immediately to the front office, told them what had happened, and waited for my new room assignment. I didn't get one. The very nice lady at the desk told me it was good, I could just keep the suite, no extra charge.

You might think that this was a non-busy weekend for them. In truth, there was a festival going on that weekend in which that hotel was ground zero. These people just totally fucking rocked, and I got treated very well by all the staff. Which is why I decided that any and all future trips to FMB will find me staying in that hotel and that hotel alone, despite it costing slightly more than my original hotel from my first trip to FMB. (It's nicer, and just better, by far.)

I always find it amusing when they're coming for a special event and somehow they think its going to be cheap.

Cue my older sister, The Witch. A few years ago, she found out that she (and I think her husband at the time as well, can't quite recall) were going to be in the Miami area for her job in late December. Cue her suggesting she come down to Key West for New Year's Eve and stay at my place.

Oh hell no.

I didn't even really want her on my island, but I certainly did not want her in my apartment!

So I told her a semi-truth--I didn't have the room for them. In reality, I could have made room, but honestly, the accommodations I could have offered would not have been up to Miss Princess's lofty standards, and I really didn't want to hear her bitch (more) about it.

So she then suggested that I could get her a room at the hotel I was working at. For New Year's Eve. In Key West. At a discount.

Cue my hearty laughter.

I explained to her a few facts of life:
1. NYE is one of the busiest days in KW.
2. I didn't know if there would be ANY available rooms at that hotel, it being centrally located and all.
3. I could not see my hotel offering employee discounts for a day like NYE.
4. Even with an employee discount, my hotel would be more than a lesser hotel's full price.

The Witch persisted, insisting I check. Knowing full well that 1 was absolutely correct, I asked the front desk about availability for that night and discounts, and found out I was right about 2-4: nothing available, and they wouldn't have given any employee discounts that night anyway.

So, to dissuade her from visiting at all, I simply was a good brother, and got online to find her the cheapest rate in KW for that night, then told her what that was.

Which was clearly more than she wanted to pay, as that was the last I heard about her ideas of visiting KW on New Year's Eve.

The truth really will set you free.

[Moirae]

lol. I don't know why people don't get it.

[Jester]

I do.

It's simple, really.

People are fucking stupid.

Pretty much sums it up nicely, don't you think?

[Moirae]

I do.

It's simple, really.

People are fucking stupid.

Pretty much sums it up nicely, don't you think?

rofl. I can agree with that. In ancient times, these people would have been eaten by wild animals when they were children because they were too stupid to run away. Instead, humanity thinks its a great thing that everyone should be able to breed that stupidity into the next generation.

[Jester]

I don't know if they would have made it to the wild animals. The other members of the tribe may have stoned them to death or left them in the wild to starve. After all, it used to be "That which does not kill me makes me stronger." Now it's more like "That which does not kill me gets me more free shit."

[Kristev]

When I first went to work for the little shop of horrors, my mother thought my discount card applied to her purchases. (It doesn't, not without special permission from an assistant or higher for a one-time only basis.) I wouldn't let her use my discount to buy a dvd (which would have saved her 1.50, if even that.) She threw one of the worst fits she ever pulled in her life (and that's saying something.) She almost got me fired. God, it was so embarassing.

[Jester]

So on our little trip, today we've already had two examples of non-SC behavior, doing things SCs would never do, i.e., acting reasonably and calmly to get special favors.

At the beach hotel, after we had checked out, we politely asked if we could leave the truck parked there for an hour or so while we putzed around at a couple places. No problem. After putzing around, we politely asked if we could quickly use the lobby computers. Again, no problem. Had they said no to either request, we would have calmly accepted this and moved on.

At the downtown hotel, we called and asked if we could check in early or, if that was not possible, could we drop our luggage off early? No problem. (I wanted to do this because I have some lovely craft beers in a box, and don't really want them sitting in a vehicle being heated up by the Florida sun for several hours.) And when we got there, they happily allowed us to check in early. Had they said no to any of this, we would have been good, and would have adjusted appropriately.

Why?

Because we're not fucking douchebag asshole whineaholic ass clowns, that's why.

I can only imagine how some of our more amusing SCs would have handled such situations. And I am so very glad that I don't work front desk at a hotel. Give me the drunks drinking anytime, thank you very much!

[Seshat]

I've never had any problems with leaving luggage at hotels, either before or after check-in. Ask nicely, get a 'sure, no problem', and pick it up when you're ready to check in/leave the city.