Think more Expedia and booking.com, sites that thr hotels have no say over.
I worked Expedia for a while, and there is a complete disconnect between them and hotels. Hotels offer spare availability, we sell it, but customer shows up and the room is gone. Our service showed it but maybe the hotel had already sold it and we were out of date, maybe the room definition wasn’t correct. So the hotel says they can’t do anything, call Expedia. Expedia doesn’t want to give back money so they fuck around with horrible customer service. The customer blames the hotel.
It’s why I never recommend third party booking sites anymore. Book directly with the hotel. Get the loyalty program with the hotel. Yes maybe Expedia saves you 20 bucks a night, but your experience will be guaranteed with the hotel. Expedia can’t make those promises.
I really feel like the hotel industry is trying to gaslight me when it comes to room booking. I mean, you have a booking system with an API and can make a quick check before finalizing a purchase so even if two people book within seconds of eachother it should be fine.
Nope, they’re making woopsies and overbooking rooms and then the receptionist looks at you like you’re the idiot for showing up to check into the room you succefully booked. There’s no technical reason for this shit to happen so often.
Hotels are paying the price… for using AI tools they know are making inaccurate commitments to customers.
Think more Expedia and booking.com, sites that thr hotels have no say over.
I worked Expedia for a while, and there is a complete disconnect between them and hotels. Hotels offer spare availability, we sell it, but customer shows up and the room is gone. Our service showed it but maybe the hotel had already sold it and we were out of date, maybe the room definition wasn’t correct. So the hotel says they can’t do anything, call Expedia. Expedia doesn’t want to give back money so they fuck around with horrible customer service. The customer blames the hotel.
It’s why I never recommend third party booking sites anymore. Book directly with the hotel. Get the loyalty program with the hotel. Yes maybe Expedia saves you 20 bucks a night, but your experience will be guaranteed with the hotel. Expedia can’t make those promises.
I really feel like the hotel industry is trying to gaslight me when it comes to room booking. I mean, you have a booking system with an API and can make a quick check before finalizing a purchase so even if two people book within seconds of eachother it should be fine.
Nope, they’re making woopsies and overbooking rooms and then the receptionist looks at you like you’re the idiot for showing up to check into the room you succefully booked. There’s no technical reason for this shit to happen so often.