Everything Is Broken
Now it’s my turn.
Last week I’m flying home.
My flight gets delayed in air, then lands late so I miss my connecting flight…
[Skip over all the stuff about airline customer support, getting rebooked, etc.]
It’s ~10pm and I’m stranded overnight. I need a last-minute hotel room.
I figure I’ll try HotelTonight because that’s their shtick, right? “Incredible last-minute hotel deals” says their homepage hero banner.
I find the closest hotel, click “Purchase” it takes me to checkout, I do the whole Apple Pay thing, then it says “failed to book” because there are no more rooms left.
Ok? Would’ve been nice to know that before going through all the checkout stuff, but ok. I’ll find another.
Two more hotels, same deal. Click through, checkout, blah blah blah, payment won’t go through. It says there are no more rooms left.
No I’m getting frustrated. I’ll try one more time…
Same flow. Finally! Payment goes through. Confirmation number and all — I’m good to go!
I leave the airport and get a rideshare to the hotel.
Go up to the desk. “Yes, I’m checking in please.” They ask for my name. I give it.
They can’t find me.
“Oh, no…” I think.
“Do you have a reservation number?”
Hell yes I do! Right here in the email HotelTonight sent me.
I give it to them.
It’s not in their system.
“Ok well, can you get me a room?”
Nope, they are completely full for the night.
Knowing that I booked through a third-party system, and it’s not in the first-party system, I know there’s no chance I’m getting a room.
So now it’s 10:30pm. I’m in the lobby of the hotel for which I have a bogus confirmation and I begin my search for the next-closest hotel.
I know at this point I’m not using anything internet-based to make a reservation. Over-the-phone only!
I call a bunch of nearby hotels. Every one is giving me their automated phone system — “If you want to book a reservation, press 1. If you want to…”
I sit through the first couple calls and eventually connect to a human: “Do you have any rooms available tonight?”
“Yes sir, can you confirm which location you are calling for?” They don’t know because this isn’t someone at the hotel. This is a call center somewhere.
I quickly realize this ain’t gonna work.
New rule: if the number online is a centralized number that gives me your automated phone system, I’m out. Next hotel.
I just need to connect to a human at a front desk.
I call maybe 12 hotels. About two give me humans at the front desk. Both of those are booked solid for the night.
But you know what? Props to those hotels for having direct lines to a human. YUGE props.
A direct line to a human feels like the ultimate luxury at this point.
“Hey you got any rooms tonight? No? That’s ok. I appreciate you being there to answer my call, friend. You have a good night.”
Eventually I find a hotel 20 minutes down the road where somebody at the front desk answers and says they have a room. “It’s twice the cost since it’s our last room.” I don’t care, I book it. This is a phone call with a person at the front desk, I know I’m getting a room.
Postscript: I also spent several days going back and forth with a rep at HotelTonight to get a refund. I guess it’s hard to prove that their system sold me a room that did not exist.