Venetian "Suite-est" Rate Guarantee...Be Wary...
in [Las Vegas]
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From: Mikey 4:30 on 8 Mar 2007 17:28 Hey y'all...new to this group, so wanted to say hello and give all a small word of warning if anyone here is trying to save a buck or 2 on the Venetian... I wanted to book 2 nights at the Venetian (Apr 1 for 2 nights) and being the deal hound I am, I found that priceline.com had rates SIGNIFICANTLY lower than those advertised on the Venetian's brand new and shiny website ($159 for a venezia bella suite room vs. $219 on V's site). Mind you, this wasn't an 'opaque' (name your own price) price, but a standard booking price if you just felt like booking a room thru priceline's regular reservations system. Even regular Venetian suites were $119 vs $199! I called the Venetian to ask what their policy was on price matching. Well, they have the "Suite-est" rate guarantee, which states that if you book first on the Venetian website and find a lower price on a third party reservations site WITHIN 24 HOURS that they will match the price and give you a complementary upgrade upon confirming the price. This is done by filling out a form and waiting for an answer - which should take 24 hours. Being that there is a new, shiny website for the Venetian, there are still new, shiny bugs in the system with broken links, etc. I tried 5 TIMES to send this form in, then finally had to call reservations again and they did it for me manually. 48 hours later - NO ANSWER or notification of any sort. So, I called, and they said that they had no record of my request. Wonderful. The price on Priceline had now changed by this point, but they said they would honor the price I quoted them anyhow and still give me a nice upgrade to a view suite. Very cool... 5 min later, I get my confirmation via email that my claim has been denied because the price I had quoted did not match the price on priceline.com. Hoorah. They quoted me a piece of their terms and conditions that states that the rates are honored at the time the price is confirmed by the reservationist, REGARDLESS if time has gone by and the price has changed. I think that this policy is a little skewed (DUH) and a little unfair if you think about it. I mean, whyc ant they just look up the price when I call and tell them where I got the price? yes, I know that would be beneficial to the customer and not to the bottom line of the hotel, but at the same time, they should know that they are gonna get my $60 a night (and a lot more) back at the tables or in the slots anyhow, so its a no lose situation for them. Why should the customer jump through hoops like this when a fine, 4 star establishment like the Venetian who prides themselves on customer service should be able to take 30 seconds and confirm a price on the internet. Other hotels have done this for me (the Orleans comes to mind immediately) at the time of reserving and there were no issues whatsoever... In the end, after raising a little hell (in a business-like fashion, mind you - no yelling or berating :-) ) they indeed confirm that I was told the price would be matched and I would get a complementary upgrade to a 'view' room (big whoop-de-do) as opposed to the Terrazzo suite that they reservationist told me I would be receiving. Just wanted to make everyone aware of the process that this may be for you if you do pursue the same thing. Saving the money is a good thing, and I wouldnt think they would be thrilled that they were getting less money for the room, but isn't making the customer happy a good thing for a casino? Especially repeat customers? Anyone else run into issues like this with price matching? In any case, I'm splitting my stay - the 3rd and 4th Im staying at the Orleans (love that place) cause their deal was too good to pass up... $48 for 1st night, then 2nd night comped, $50 free play+$50 f&b. Even if I DONT stay there, I'm checkin in and playing and eating! Best, Mike
From: Donkeydode on 8 Mar 2007 17:49 A guy named Mikey, new to group? "Mikey 4:30" <mike(a)sludgecore.net> wrote in message news:1173392890.612085.299800(a)n33g2000cwc.googlegroups.com... > Hey y'all...new to this group, so wanted to say hello and give all a > small word of warning if anyone here is trying to save a buck or 2 on > the Venetian... > > I wanted to book 2 nights at the Venetian (Apr 1 for 2 nights) and > being the deal hound I am, I found that priceline.com had rates > SIGNIFICANTLY lower than those advertised on the Venetian's brand new > and shiny website ($159 for a venezia bella suite room vs. $219 on V's > site). Mind you, this wasn't an 'opaque' (name your own price) price, > but a standard booking price if you just felt like booking a room thru > priceline's regular reservations system. Even regular Venetian suites > were $119 vs $199! > > I called the Venetian to ask what their policy was on price matching. > Well, they have the "Suite-est" rate guarantee, which states that if > you book first on the Venetian website and find a lower price on a > third party reservations site WITHIN 24 HOURS that they will match the > price and give you a complementary upgrade upon confirming the price. > This is done by filling out a form and waiting for an answer - which > should take 24 hours. > > Being that there is a new, shiny website for the Venetian, there are > still new, shiny bugs in the system with broken links, etc. I tried > 5 TIMES to send this form in, then finally had to call reservations > again and they did it for me manually. > > 48 hours later - NO ANSWER or notification of any sort. So, I called, > and they said that they had no record of my request. Wonderful. The > price on Priceline had now changed by this point, but they said they > would honor the price I quoted them anyhow and still give me a nice > upgrade to a view suite. Very cool... > > 5 min later, I get my confirmation via email that my claim has been > denied because the price I had quoted did not match the price on > priceline.com. Hoorah. They quoted me a piece of their terms and > conditions that states that the rates are honored at the time the > price is confirmed by the reservationist, REGARDLESS if time has gone > by and the price has changed. I think that this policy is a little > skewed (DUH) and a little unfair if you think about it. > > I mean, whyc ant they just look up the price when I call and tell them > where I got the price? yes, I know that would be beneficial to the > customer and not to the bottom line of the hotel, but at the same > time, they should know that they are gonna get my $60 a night (and a > lot more) back at the tables or in the slots anyhow, so its a no lose > situation for them. Why should the customer jump through hoops like > this when a fine, 4 star establishment like the Venetian who prides > themselves on customer service should be able to take 30 seconds and > confirm a price on the internet. Other hotels have done this for me > (the Orleans comes to mind immediately) at the time of reserving and > there were no issues whatsoever... > > In the end, after raising a little hell (in a business-like fashion, > mind you - no yelling or berating :-) ) they indeed confirm that I was > told the price would be matched and I would get a complementary > upgrade to a 'view' room (big whoop-de-do) as opposed to the Terrazzo > suite that they reservationist told me I would be receiving. > > Just wanted to make everyone aware of the process that this may be for > you if you do pursue the same thing. Saving the money is a good > thing, and I wouldnt think they would be thrilled that they were > getting less money for the room, but isn't making the customer happy a > good thing for a casino? Especially repeat customers? > > Anyone else run into issues like this with price matching? > > In any case, I'm splitting my stay - the 3rd and 4th Im staying at the > Orleans (love that place) cause their deal was too good to pass up... > $48 for 1st night, then 2nd night comped, $50 free play+$50 f&b. Even > if I DONT stay there, I'm checkin in and playing and eating! > > Best, > > Mike >
From: tc1820 on 8 Mar 2007 17:48 Being a "deal hound" you will fit right in here. Welcome.... tom in ct
From: matt on 8 Mar 2007 18:07 You made one major error: you actually tried to get someone to honor their price rate match. They aren't used to this and don't really want to do it. In fact, they mostly put the claim on the web site to discourage people from shopping anywhere else. As a matter of principal, I book where I find the lowest rate. I hate running around and doing the Venetian's, or whomever's, legwork. I will book with who has the lowest rate rather than have to hope to God the rate-matcher doesn't have too much combersome paperwork and will actually not deny my claim. If they, or anyone else, want my business they should have the lowest price. Think about it: their policy guarantees that the cheapest price they will ever charge is the rate another company is already offering. And to charge that, you have to jump through their hoops and fill out their forms. The Venetian gets you to work for them finding out what other sites are charging and you're the won working for them to win your own business. Still, the cheapest they charge is their competitors' price, and usually they collect a lot more. In this case, the site that offered the lowest rate didn't even get rewarded for doing so. Matt
From: Mikey 4:30 on 8 Mar 2007 18:36
On Mar 8, 6:07 pm, m...(a)bigempire.com wrote: > You made one major error: you actually tried to get someone to honor > their price rate match. They aren't used to this and don't really > want to do it. In fact, they mostly put the claim on the web site to > discourage people from shopping anywhere else. > > As a matter of principal, I book where I find the lowest rate. I hate > running around and doing the Venetian's, or whomever's, legwork. I > will book with who has the lowest rate rather than have to hope to God > the rate-matcher doesn't have too much combersome paperwork and will > actually not deny my claim. > > If they, or anyone else, want my business they should have the lowest > price. Think about it: their policy guarantees that the cheapest price > they will ever charge is the rate another company is already > offering. And to charge that, you have to jump through their hoops > and fill out their forms. The Venetian gets you to work for them > finding out what other sites are charging and you're the won working > for them to win your own business. Still, the cheapest they charge is > their competitors' price, and usually they collect a lot more. > > In this case, the site that offered the lowest rate didn't even get > rewarded for doing so. > > Matt I'd agree with you on booking where you find the lowest rate first if it weren't for a couple of factors that did keep me motivated through this (and whenever I do a price match with a hotel in Vegas)): 1) most third party discounters want full pre-pay...sometimes that isn't all that convenient at the moment. 2) if you cancel, most if not all of them charge anywhere from $25- $75 cancellation fee even if cancelling more than 72 hours in advance, and a few (mainly opaque dealers) have zero cancellation policies and you lose it all if you need to cancel - whereas most hotels will issue you a full refund of your deposit if you cancel in a reasonable amount of time if you book direct. 3) Even though the upgrade isn't fantastic, its an upgrade nonetheless (even if it isnt the one the reservationist hadn't told me I was getting)... 4) If I'm playing for a long time and take a hit in the wallet (which I usually do!) there is actually a chance of getting my room comped because I booked thru the hotel and NOT thru a prepaid 3rd party, whereby I'd get zippo in room comp... And I am sure, Matt, that since you are part of the World's only website, this is not lost on you :-P Now mind you, I dont play to lose or for what I am going to be comped, but it does cushion the blow a little, and if I can get all the benefits of the hotel services but still pay the discounter rate, I'm all for it. However, my soliloquy was just a rant to share this particular experience with Venetian - most other hotels I have tried this with don't even blink - they seem more than happy to do it... I just expected more from Venetian's customer service, which claims to hold itself to a higher standard to provide a unique experience. I love the hotel and the rooms are to die for, but they are pricey, and who wouldn't want the best deal they can get? And as far as Priceline not getting my business on this one goes...I love Shatner, but he got enough of my dough from buying all the Star Trek Movies on DVD already... :-P |