I stayed in a beautiful Hyatt hotel last week in VA. The lobby was filled with pointsettias and the air was festive with holiday cheer. The front desk clerks were welcoming and the experience, for the most part, was very pleasant. Even a little neglect in the restaurant didn’t seem to bother me (in fact, the delay in the delivery of a dessert menu was probably a good thing for the waistline).
But there was one thing that really irked me - and always does when I am paying $299 a night to sleep - it’s the $9.95 I have to pay to get access to the wireless network so I can check my email. What is it that reporter John Stossel says on TV “Give me a break!”
Why is it that when I’m staying at a Hilton Garden Inn or a Marriot Courtyard or one of the other less expensive hotels I get internet access and even some bottled water for free? Why is it that in the high end expensive hotels internet access (not to mention $5 bottles of water) needs to be an extra charge. It’s really an insult! We know the bottled water distributor doesn’t charge the hotel more for the water - why is the charge being passed along to the consumer?
The last time I saw Fred Reichheld speak (he’s the granddaddy of the whole loyalty business) he talked about what he called “bad profits.” These are profits the company is making at the expense of the customer relationship - he includes high airline change fees, rental car companies that charge for gas at three times the going rate at the station, return check fees at the bank, and cell phone companies that give the best rates to the new customers while the loyal ones get charged penalties if they try to break out of old expensive contracts. The last time I tried to get home a day early after a long multi-state trip Delta wanted more money for the change than the ticket had cost - what is up with that? I got the impression while on the phone with the rep that even she thought it was ridiculous - there were open seats on the plane, but if I booked one of them I would be spending several times the cost of the original ticket. So I spent an extra night in a hotel - at least this one had free internet access.
Fred goes so far to say that bad profits are inconsistent with the golden rule. They alienate customers and they de-motivate employees (who usually think the charges are stupid too.)
When will companies stop being so short term stupid? If every coffee shop in town can offer wi-fi for free tell me again why YOU have to charge?
Read two great articles on “Sweating the Small Stuff” (the first one is mine.)
Sweat the Small Stuff
In Small Biz, There’s No Small Stuff
Posted in Customer experience | Tags: bad profits, Customer experience, nuisance charges
