Playing the media card in a resort fee dispute

When Dennis Kavanagh booked two nights by phone at the Resort at Squaw Creek in Squaw Valley, Calif., the agent quoted him a rate that didn’t include a small surprise: a $16-a-day “resort fee” that covered “free” local calls, a newspaper delivery, in-room coffee and teas, Internet access and use of the health club.

The fee is clearly but not prominently disclosed on the hotel’s site, but for some reason, the hotel reservation agent didn’t say a word about it. That turned out to be a big mistake.

Kavanagh is a volunteer for Channel 7′s On Your Side segment in San Francisco, and he knew just who to contact. He turned to me to get more information about resort fees and their application, and I told him the situation wasn’t that hopeful.

Some hotels impose these mandatory fees on top of their room rates instead of quoting an “all-in” price in order to make their rooms look more appealing. You can’t opt out of the surcharges (at least Kavanagh couldn’t) and when you contest them, the hotel usually just points to its own Web site and says, “See, we told you so.”

Indeed, that’s what happened to him. “I complained at checkout,” he says. “To no avail.”

Kavanagh could have taken his complaint to a manager, and he considered disputing the charge on his credit card. But before he did, he sent a note to the hotel’s public relations team, to let them know they’d dinged a Channel 7 guy for a resort fee.

That seemed to do the trick.

Chris, the path I followed was to first email the media contact for Destination Hotels & Resorts. Resort at Squaw Creek is part of this group. Then the public relation/media rep for Squaw Creek called me, and I explained the $16 day resort fee was not disclosed when making a phone reservation. He agreed to delete the charge.

Nice going.

So should consumers start emailing the PR contacts when something goes wrong? Here are the times when I think you should consider it:

• When you work for a media outlet and are on assignment.

• When your case could result in significant media attention.

• If you’re a blogger or social media influencer. You’ll know if you fit into this category.

If you’re not one of these, chances are your request will get passed along to the customer service department.

Incidentally, I’ve been to the Resort at Squaw Creek, and it’s a great property.

The mandatory resort fee? Not so great.

(Photo: Megan Mallen/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Datanerd

    I hope Mr. Kavanagh used his media connection to publicize the problems with resort fees.

  • http://waynedayton.tripod.com Wayne Dayton

    My buddy was paying published rate on a Carnival Cruise. When he didn’t want to upchuck his lunch with the swell of Earl and some upcoming tropical storms, he mentioned he was a contributor to a nationally-syndicated travel radio show, was a revenue passenger, he didn’t want a refund but simply a credit towards future sailing, and in return he was also willing to give an interview slot to CEO Howard Frank. They basically told him to p**s up a tree and play in the steam. So, instead of a long-time and loyal patron, who had given them coverage on-air in the past while NOT traveling on a barter but on his own dime, they preferred, for the sake of $700 or so, to lose a customer forever, forgo an interview of the CEO whose airtime would be something like $6000 in value, and let him go on-air instead to do a reverse p**s on them, telling the listeners that all-inclusive resorts and escorted tours provide better value to the consumer (read: excessive port taxes/fees, nickel-and-diming on-board, etc.), and even airlines are more media-friendly than the cruise lines. One day there will be a huge PR disaster (a la BP) and the cruise lines will need the media…since they have never been media-friendly, they will get no support…and can cry all they want when their business model sinks (excuse the pun).

  • Chris in NC

    Personally, I have nothing nice to say about resort fees. I think they are a poor business practice, and are simply an underhand way to fleece customers out of more money. What is to prevent a hotel from offering a $1 nightly rate with a $100 mandatory resort fee? At least with airline baggage fees, you have the option of avoiding the fee by not checking in any baggage (or not carrying any baggage at all on Spirit Airlines).

    I’m glad that Mr. Kavanagh was able to persuade the resort to refund the resort fees, since it wasn’t properly disclosed. But this case still bothers me. It seems the main reason Mr. Kavanagh was able to get anywhere with his case was because of his media connections. I doubt that Joe Schmo or anyone without media connections would have got anything other than a form letter rejecting the request. He had a legitimate complaint, so he is NOT a scenario where he is using his media connections to make an unreasonable request (ie the “do you know who I am?” situation).

  • John Baker

    Sorry I don’t agree with Dennis’s actions on this one. His implied threat by contacting the PR folks was “fix this or I’m going to make sure that this gets out.” When they give him back his money, he goes ahead with the story.

    @wayne … so your story is this. Friend buys cruise package during hurricane season without trip insurance. Friend decides not to go because of storms (not because of inability to get there or due to ports closed just rough seas). No trip insurance means that he has to follow cruise terms and conditions which don’t allow for refunds or credits. Friend attempts to coerce cruise line with threats of bad media attention if they don’t waive their terms and conditions for him. Friend gets upset because they won’t waive terms and conditions on a room they probably won’t be able to resell and don’t give into his coercion. Sounds like your friend should have purchased the insurance instead of thinking that his media badge would save him.

  • John Baker

    One follow up…. I don’t agree with the resorts actions either. Mandatory resort fees are a joke and should be included in the rate (disclosed or not).

  • Chris in NC

    @ Wayne

    No offense, but I have little sympathy towards your friend based on the scenario that you described. In fact, that falls into the “do you know who I am” category in my previous post. It is VERY different from Mr. Cavanagh’s situation.

    Your friend doesn’t want to cruise this week because of the possibility of rough seas from Earl and other tropical systems. He wants to reschedule his trip. Carnival Cruise Lines says no. So, just because he is a “VIP”, CCL should just waive the rules? What about the other 2000+ passengers on the ship who don’t want to deal with “rough seas?” That is precisely what rubs me the wrong way, that your friend feels he is “important” that he should have special rescheduling privledges. Since CCL says no, he will now blackball the company for an unreasonable request to begin with?

    For the record, I sailed on a cruise ship during Hurricane Mitch and the cruise lines do an excellent job of re-routing ships away from turbulent weather (sure our destinations got changed and some people were upset, but it sure beats cruising in bad weather)

    Had Mr. Cavanagh made a fuss in the lobby upon check-out screaming “If you don’t waive this fee, then I’ll blackball you in the media” it would change my opinion. Rather, he simply used his resources by contacting the media relations contact at the parent company. Its a smart move. The problem remains the same, those of us who are not in the media don’t have access to such individuals. Thats my issue. Had Mr. Cavanagh not been with the media, he would have appealed to a manager (who would have said no), written a complaint (and received a form letter rejecting the request), filed a dispute with the CC company and if he won the dispute (be subject to a collections agency calling months later). Its a word of haves and have-nots. BASIC customer service shouldn’t be that way.

    Fortunately, there are travel ombudsmen like Chris Elliott that help equal the playing field a bit.

  • http://www.singleparenttravel.net John Frenaye

    @Wayne, I agree with the others. Mr. Big Shot did not want to afford a $100 insurance policy and now the world needs to revolve around him?

    And Howard Frank is not the CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines. Gerry Cahill is the CEO and

    Mickey Arison is the CEO of Carnival Corp & PLC which is the parent company of Carnival Cruise Lines as well as other cruise entities. Howard Frank is the COO of the parent company.

  • Teresa

    What a sad posting this is, Chris. You say “nice going,” but the fact is that what Kavanaugh did isn’t something most people can do. Because he works for a consumer TV show, he could make a credible threat of harm to the hotel if they didn’t refund the resort fee. If only people like that that can get fair treatment from a corporation, that would be very sad. It would be even sadder, and also unethical in my view, for him to accept the refund and then not publicize the incident — as I suspect happens often with people who threaten media exposure. It’s to Kavanaugh’s and your credit that he did publicize the incident through your site.

  • http://www.icruise.com Uf

    If it a resort fee is mandatory and you cannot decline it or remove it from your bill, it needs to be included the price. The cruise lines had this issue in the 90′s when they used to quote a cruise at $199 pp + port charges, taxes and fees. Back then, on a 3 night cruise, this worked out to around $199 + $50 for port charges + $35 for taxes and fees.

    It’s my understanding the Florida Attorney General’s office said that since the port charges are required to operate the ship, they must be included in the cruise fare. The taxes and fees were costs that were passed on to government authorities. So instead of $199 + $50 + $35 the prices became $249 + $35 taxes & fees.

    Today, in 2010, a 3-Night Cruise is as low as $189 and the hidden port charges are around $140 pp and taxes and fees are closer to $85 pp. What’s that mean to consumers? Same prices as the 90′s if not better. What’s that mean to travel agents? Commission based on $49 ($189 – $140) versus commission based on $199. (but that’s a separate issue)

    Anyway, the point is that the Florida Attorney Generals office mandated that port charges be included in the cruise fare because they were necessary to operate the ship. If resort fees are mandatory and indisputable, they should be part of the hotel fare. Otherwise, it should be considered false advertising. Resort fees generate revenue. Utility taxes, energy fees, city taxes do not and I would expect are dictated by a governing body. Those resort fees are not and should be included in the fare.

    That’s my two cents worth + thinking fees of $2.

    P.S. Maybe Chris can give more accurate account of the whole port charges issues with cruise lines.

  • Sarah Di

    @Wayne. Your friend is a sore loser who didn’t want to buy trip insurance and is trying to extort money out of a company when they are competely valid, per the contract that he agreed to, in not refunding money. The cruise is not being cancelled so he either goes and accepts the revised schedule or doesn’t go and forfeits money. I can’t blame Carnival for that when these people intentionally booked during hurrincane season.

    Oh and maybe they realised that his “power” was pretty small if he didn’t even know the name of the CEO he was trying to offer an interview opportunity to in exchange for special treatment.

  • Phil

    John, your post above you mention trip insurance and imply that this might have save him. No, trip insurance would not have saved him, trip insurance is very specific in what it will and will not cover, and weather unfortunately is not one of them.

  • Bill

    I don’t like resort fees, and therefore don’t like hotels that charge them.

    I think they should be illegal, actually. As for using the threat of media attention – we’re not on a fair playing field here. If they sell 100 rooms in a night, that’s $2500 in resort fees for one night.

    I do hope this posting causes people to think twice about whether to stay in this or any other “resort fee” property.

  • Clifw

    I once worked in a company which had a very prolific, wealthy CEO (I was in a very junior position, and had nothing to do with him on a day to day basis). I had arranged a performer to come to the US on Air Canada via Toronto for the CEO and Air Canada not only lost his instruments, but their location changed depending on who I talked to (“in the van”"in his hotel”"in Toronto”"at Dulles”"still in Paris”"what instruments?”). With hours before the performer was to go onstage, in despair, I finally pulled the de facto “do you know who I am card” and left a message with Air Canada’s CEO’s office “My CEO Joe Bloggs is unfortunately very disappointed…”

    The instruments were at my desk within two hours.

    So its not just media! And it is unfortunate that sometimes this “do you know who I am” trick need to be pulled at all, but all the polite waiting-my-turn in the world wasn’t going to get those instruments on stage by that evening- desperate times, desperate measures.

  • Linda Rosencrance

    Hi Chris, as a reporter, I absolutely do not think that Mr. Kavanagh should have used his status as member of the media to get the fee removed from his bill. It’s the equivalent of “Do you know who I am?” In fact, many media outlets frown on their reporters/employees doing what Mr. Kavanagh did. It was a personal dispute, not one that had anything to do with his job. He wasn’t working undercover to expose the way hotels tack on fees that most consumers never find out about. He should have handled the situation without mentioning his status as a member of the media.

  • Tanya

    If I am not missing the point of this article, it is that the resort fee was not disclosed in a telephone call. That is poor, if not worse, business practice. If I am calling to make a reservation, then there is some reason I am not using the internet, maybe the site is down, maybe I am on the road, etc. If I cannot see a fee and the fee is not disclosed to me, and I agree to a rate, not being informed of a fee, then the company has now lied to me about the rate. I agreed to stay at the hotel for $100 a night, and all the sudden I am paying $125 with the added resort fee. Over the phone, would I have made the same decision if I could stay at another hotel for $110 in the same area? By the hotel not disclosing the fee during a phone reservation, the hotel has lied to its customer about its rate. That is where the problem and issue is in this story.

    I am with others in that those with media connections should not be treated better than others without, but I also think there are steps that can be taken to protect yourself and get your voice heard. The path may not be as simple, but it is there.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Phil – “John, your post above you mention trip insurance and imply that this might have save him. No, trip insurance would not have saved him, trip insurance is very specific in what it will and will not cover, and weather unfortunately is not one of them.”
    - – - – - – - -
    If he had a ‘cancel for any reason’ benefit in his travel insurance policy then he could have received back money (either 100% of his loss or 70% to 80% of his costs).

    The policies that I buy have a hurricane & weather benefit. Cancellation coverage is provided in the event of a complete cessation of either a common carrier (ticketed public transport) or travel supplier (hotel, condo manager etc.) or your accommodation at destination being rendered uninhabitable by weather. Check individual policies to determine which of the above scenarios is covered as this denotes whether mandatory evacuation coverage is included or not.

    Also, there are benefits when your flights are delayed by weather.

    In this case, since Wayne’s friend didn’t want to go on the cruise (it wasn’t cancelled due to weather), the ‘cancel for any reason’ benefit would have benefited him.

  • larry

    I think resort fees are as bad if not worse than what the fee happy airlines are doing. Companies like Southwest Airlines, and Westjet in Canada make money buy not pis…ing off their customers. Same is true with hotels that “get it” and don’t charge these add on fees. Chris is right to keep harping on this matter. From a business standpoint, I take the long term view, and think these charges are insane for repeat business. Folks need to vote with their feet. The door swings both ways. 15 years ago, I once stayed in a National chain hotel on Miami Beach. When I checked out, there was a $3 per day mandatory “in room safe fee” charge. I protested that I did not use the safe. Didn’t matter to them. I never ever checked in that hotel again.

  • Carver

    It seems to me the question is whether or not guest is right in the underlying dispute. If they are, then they are entitled every legit method at their disposal. For example, I am an attorney. I’d never rant, rage, and foam and froth at the mouth, but I’d give my business card and ask to speak to someone who can assist me. The business card carries enough of an implied threat.

    Using the Do you know Who I am play can be appropriate under the correct circumstances

  • Dixie

    I’m curious if the taxes on the room rate were disclosed to him when he reserved over the phone? If they’re not disclosing taxes, did he complain about those as well, or did he factor in 9% or 13% or 15% or whatever crazy rate he was charged on his hotel room? This world has gotten fee crazy! Quote me the price that I pay, please, including taxes when it’s not the usual and customary sales tax.

  • Mary Graham

    Their sneaky, little “resort fee” secret, the Resort at Squaw Creek charges, is out! I love you guys for exposing these underhanded practices. “larry” is right, folks WILL vote with their feet (and write reviews ALL about it so those of us who check before we book, will know). Personally, I don’t care how great a property is, you try to pull this on me, you’ve lost me and perhaps the many people who will read my review.

  • AWE

    I have a question. I have never used this option but what if the room had been payed for in advance, would the resort fees have been disclosed then or at checkout?

  • Chicky

    In the old days before debit cards, when people still wrote checks, I went to a local restaurant to get dinner for the family. My mom gave me a signed check to pay for the food. She was taking chemotherapy at the time, and didn’t feel like cooking, or going to the restaurant.
    The cashier wasn’t sure about the check, even though I had my license, the name and addressed matched, etc., but the asst. manager came bustling up most importantly to “deal with this.”
    He was less than polite as he asked me if I had “another form of photo ID,” figuring that, like most people, I probably didn’t. I smiled sweetly at him, said, “I sure do” and put my press card on the counter. His eyes bugged out and he said, “You work for the paper?” I just nodded. He harumphed for a second or two, then said, “Take the check” and vacated the counter premises.
    No “Do you know who I am” or anything like that. All I did was show a second form of photo ID, which is the only other photo ID I’ve ever had, besides my license. Even if you never say a word suggesting you might put something about them in the paper, the very idea (as Carver mentioned) is sometimes enough to ensure cooperation. And I wasn’t looking for special treatment or anything like that. I was just writing a $12 check.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    There are two issues here.

    The first issue is the failure of the property to disclose the mandatory resort fee during the reservation process. It is my opinion that if there are mandatory resort fees then it should be rolled in to the base rate since they are mandatory not optional. At the very least, the mandatory fees should be disclosed before confirming the reservation online or giving your credit card to a person over the telephone.

    I have stay at a few hotels where there were resorts fees, etc. They were disclosed during the reservation process and I had to initial the fees during the check-in process. It seems like the resort fees were not disclosed when Mr. Kavanagh checked in.

    As a side note, it seems like this is more of a problem with independent hotels, small chains, etc. than with large chains. I book my reservations with ‘boring’ hotel chains\brands like Marriott, Hilton, InterContinental, SPG, etc. and I don’t run across these issues.

    The second issue is using the ‘threat’ of his media status\connection to expose them. He should have handled the situation without mentioning his status as a member of the media. If he couldn’t resolve the issue then he should have use his ‘media status’ as a last resort. I think that using “do you know who I am” as your lead will rub most people the wrong way; make people defensive; etc.

  • Aaron

    I think Web travel sites may be partially to blame for things like resort fees, baggage charges on airlines, etc. Everyone is trying to compete for highest rank when a punter clicks “Sort by price, low to high”. If a hotel wants to attract leisure travelers, its in their best interests to “unbundle” things like internet access, local phone calls, in-room coffee, etc that many properties provide for free. Note that the two major airlines that do not charge baggage fees (Southwest and JetBlue) also do not appear on Expedia. Coincidence? I think not.

    Maybe by complaining to the companies, we’re focusing on the wrong target. How about putting pressure on Expedia, Travelocity, and the like to include mandatory fees and likely fees (ie baggage) in their pricing? It wouldn’t change their business model, as people would still use them find the lowest price, and it might boost business. (I use Expedia to compare, but usually wind up booking through the airlines to get more complete pricing info.)

    Aaron

  • The Good Doctor

    While Kavanagh’s flip of his media card may have saved him a few bucks on a personal vacation, it’s a disservice to “Seven On Your Side” viewers unless he uses his media connection to inform prospective patrons of the resort’s surcharge. It’s egregious (to me) to tack on a fee for services that guests may never use – it’s an additional insult to tack it on at the end of their stay without ever having disclosed it. As a “Seven on Your Side” fan, I would like to see both issues addressed in a future segment!

  • Carver

    @Arizona

    I see it a bit different. The media card or any DYKWIA card has 2 components. The first is the ethics of the situation, the second is the tactical issue.

    Yes, it often rubs people the wrong way, but that’s a purely tactical issue and you have to decide that one an individual basis.

    It think the ehtical issue is the real question. To me, as long as you are only asking for your fair due, then you can use any card in your arsenal.

    I did that about 10 years ago. A car dealership offered a prize of 10k for anyone who could spin the roulette wheel and get “25″ three times in a row. Basically 1 in 55000 chance. My friend’s husband did it. The car dealership wouldn’t pay. Their argument was that it was actually supposed to be get three “24s” in a row because the promotion was for the car dealerships 24th anniversary.

    The offered me a bunch of crap and wouldn’t budge so I called a reporter who went to the car dealership. Next day, we had the 10k in cash.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Aaron – “I think Web travel sites may be partially to blame for things like resort fees, baggage charges on airlines, etc.”
    - – - – - – - -
    I disagree. The websites reflect the market. It is the American consumers. They want the lowest price. They want deals. Some are too lazy to research. Look at how many products and services in the exact same way.

    @ Aaron – “Note that the two major airlines that do not charge baggage fees (Southwest and JetBlue).
    - – - – - – - – - -
    In regards to Southwest (WN), they do charge baggage fees. The first two checked bags are free but the third isn’t. Also, they charge $ 50 for bags that weigh over 50 lbs.

    If Ma & Pa Kettles read your comments and show up at the airport with three bags per person and each bag weigh over 50 lbs…they will be surprised when WN asked for an additional $ 200 per passenger ($ 50 for the third bag and $ 50 for each overweight bag).

    Yes it is unlikely that a person will need to check three bags but it does happen. When I moved to Phoenix, I checked four bags and had three carry-ons on my flight to Phoenix.

    @ Aaron – “Note that the two major airlines that do not charge baggage fees (Southwest and JetBlue) also do not appear on Expedia. Coincidence? I think not.”
    - – - – - – - -
    The reason why Southwest fares do NOT appear on any fare search engines\websites\etc is that WN doesn’t want the truth about their fares to be known. For years, WN advertised that they had the lowest fares. They built their brand on having the lowest fares. When they went into a market, they cut their fares to the bone. However, after a period of time, they raised their fares.

    For me living in PHX, the fares on US Airways (US) are the same or lower than WN. It is common for me to find US fares that are $ 50 to $ 80 lower than WN. Even if the fare is the same or the US fare is even higher, the benefits that US provide to me outweighs a lower fare on WN. For example, I value my time and to save $ 50 but having to have 2 stops in a WN itinerary which adds two to three hours of travel time doesn’t make sense.

    WN serves a market. They have several happy customers. My brother flies them all of the time but he only takes two to three trips a year. For me, they don’t meet my needs.

    @ Aaron – “Note that the two major airlines that do not charge baggage fees (Southwest and JetBlue) also do not appear on Expedia. Coincidence? I think not.”
    - – - – - – - -
    I know that JetBlue fares are on Orbitz. A few minutes, I went to the Expedia site and entered JFK to LGB and the fares for JetBlue (I wish that a commenter could post screen shots on this site). I am pretty sure that JetBlue fares are on other fare search engines\website.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    A few corrections (in CAPS) due to thinking faster than my typing:

    @ Aaron – “I think Web travel sites may be partially to blame for things like resort fees, baggage charges on airlines, etc.”
    - – – – – – – -
    I disagree. The websites reflect the market. It is the American consumers. They want the lowest price. They want deals. Some are too lazy to research. Look at how many products and services IN THE UNITED STATES ARE SOLD in the exact same way.

    @ Aaron – “Note that the two major airlines that do not charge baggage fees (Southwest and JetBlue) also do not appear on Expedia. Coincidence? I think not.”
    - – – – – – – -
    I know that JetBlue fares are on Orbitz. A few minutes, I went to the Expedia site and entered JFK to LGB and the fares for JetBlue APPEARED (I wish that a commenter could post screen shots on this site). I am pretty sure that JetBlue fares are on other fare search engines\website.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Carver – “A car dealership offered a prize of 10k for anyone who could spin the roulette wheel and get “25″ three times in a row.”
    - – - – - – -
    In a business law class in college, there was a case study of a car dealership that advertised “for 10,000 bananas, you can buy a car.” Someone showed up at the dealership with 10,000 bananas and the dealer didn’t want to part with a car. It went to court and the consumer won.

    @ Carver – “To me, as long as you are only asking for your fair due, then you can use any card in your arsenal.”
    - – - – - -
    I agree. For me, I generally will use it as a last resort. I want the business to do the right thing. If they don’t, then I will use it. A few times, I have used it from the start. As you wrote, it is a tactical issue when to use it.

  • http://www.cutcat.com ChelseaGirl

    I don’t think resort fees should be illegal; they should just be disclosed, and the consumer can decide whether to stay there. I would not necessarily let it stop me from staying somewhere; it would depend on the total cost and whether I thought I was getting good value for my money. Many hotels offer local calls, newspaper delivery, and in-room coffee and teas, and use of the health club for free. If I could find a place in my destination that didn’t charge for those things, I’d choose it over the one that did charge, assuming the overall price was the same.

    Unfortunately, since we can’t depend on the hotels to disclose, we have to ask about resort fees when we make a reservation on the phone. We should call and ask even before we make an online reservation in case the fine print on the Website is too hard to find.

  • http://www.cutcat.com ChelseaGirl

    @Arizona Road Warrior
    I agree that Southwest does not necessarily have the lowest fares. However, if someone shows up at the airport with three bags, they’re taking too much stuff unless they are going way for a really long time.

  • MVFlyer

    So, did Dennis do the piece on the resort property anyway? I think he should have–resort fees are still a way of cheating the customer with fine print, for things that they may or may not use, and his bringing it out over the airwaves would help bring this snotty practice to light.

    Sure, he got the money refunded because of who he is, but how does that help the general consumer?

  • Carver

    @Chelsea

    I go back an forth on resort fees.

    One one hand, I don’t want the government interferring at the level in business, i.e. what can and cannot be charged for. So part of me just wants adequate disclosure.

    Yet, on the other hand, a fair argument could be made that resort fees are simply fraudulent by nature, in which cause, even a free marketer like me would be fine banning them.

  • Chris in NC

    The significance of resort fees is that if you are redeeming a “free” or “comp” room, you are still liable for the resort fees. From a travel agent’s perspective, it reduces commission (well, thats if hotels still pay commissions). From a consumer standpoint, resort fees often aren’t well disclosed and are not included in the total price of search engines. To be, that is an unethical business practice.

    If using an opaque site, resort fees are more sinister. You obtain a room for price X, but it doesn’t include the resort fee. Whats to stop resort fees from escalating to $20, $40 or even $100 dollars.

    While I hate resort fees, if they are capped at less than say 5% of the room rate, I might not be so upset. But, if resort fees are tolerated by consumers, I can see hotels adopt business models like Spirit Airlines.

    As Carver said, Mr. Kavanagh was not making an unreasonable request. The resort fee was NOT quoted or disclosed when he made the reservation. What he was asking for was reasonable, and he was using a legal method to mediate his dispute. Its very different if he went to the media relations contact and asked for a refund of the room rate.

  • MeanMeosh

    @ Arizona – “As a side note, it seems like this is more of a problem with independent hotels, small chains, etc. than with large chains. I book my reservations with ‘boring’ hotel chains\brands like Marriott, Hilton, InterContinental, SPG, etc. and I don’t run across these issues.”

    Actually, you’d be surprised. I’ve seen a growing number of Hiltons, Marriotts, Westins, etc. located in “resort” areas these fees. Do a search of any branded resort in the Texas Hill Country, and you’ll see what I mean.

    I don’t have a problem with the price of the “resort fee” itself. Whether $16 a day for bottled water, internet, and gym access is worth it or not is in the eye of the beholder, but that doesn’t make it a bad deal per se. What does get me all hot under the collar is the fact that these are almost always mandatory; you pay whether you want the stuff or not. It’s NOT the same as the much-maligned checked bag fees on airlines, which you can at least avoid by not bringing a bag. With the resort fees, you have no choice, aside from taking your business elsewhere. They need to be rolled in to the base rate, period. Quite frankly, if the hotels feel they need the money to break a profit, I could care less if they bury a $16 fee in the rate, as long as it shows up in the display price when doing a search. As an aside, I’ve instituted a personal boycott on any place that charges a “resort fee”. I might just start firing off e-mails to any property that charges one, informing them that I gave my business to a competitor because their resort fees offend me.

    As for the traveler in this story using his credentials to coax the hotel into a refund, I don’t have a problem with it in this case. Sounds like there was a real dispute as to whether the fee was appropriately disclosed or not, so if you’re entitled to a refund, any ammo you have at your disposal should be fair game. Where I do have a problem with the “do you know who I am” game is where you use the name dropping to bully somebody into giving you something you’re not entitled to at all.

  • Teresa

    @Carver: Mostly I agree that everyone should be able to use all the tools they have available to fight an unjust charge. But here’s the problem. Customer service representatives know that some people have more powerful tools than other people. I can imagine them putting policies in place that say “If it’s a lawyer or someone with media connections protesting resort fees, OK, refund their money. But if it’s just some usual stiff, well, don’t pay any attention to them. Send them the form letter.”

    It may well be that companies segment the complaint market like this, which means that average people don’t get the same treatment as those who play a credible “do you know who I am” strategy.

    And that’s not good. We get a class of nobles who can avoid getting scammed and a class of commoners who get scammed all the time by companies who know that they can safely scam for anything up to the (fairly high) cost of fighting the scam.

    Class-action lawsuits are the piece of public policy that is designed to remedy such situations. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a class-action suit over resort fees soon. Similar to the CCF settlement, based on insufficient disclosure. I wonder if it will be possible to identify defendants who are big enough fish to make it worthwhile?

  • http://www.roamingtales.com Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

    As a journalist, I don’t agree with playing the media card. It’s not right that some paying customers should get better service than others, on account of their jobs. I also think it’s unethical to alter your journalistic coverage on the basis of that special treatment – your first duty is to your readers, who are probably not journalists or “social media influencers” themselves.

    I would actually be even less inclined to do this while on assignment than I would if I were on vacation. (If it’s a comped or subsidised trip, then they already know. If it’s not, then preserving my anonymity is important so my experience is as close as possible to what my readers can expect). Businesses will only start treating customers better when they know that any and every customer could potentially spread the story to a wider audience. I would contact the PR team only when I had a story ready to publish.

    In the past I might have been more inclined to do it if I were on vacation, only because I would have been unlikely to write about it anyway so I might have considered using it as a bluff. However, I never really did that. Those days are now over, since I have a travel blog and would generally write about any experience, good or bad.

    As for Wayne Dayton’s friend, I’m sorry but as far as I’m concerned, for a journalist to offer an interview in return for personal gain is 100% unethical.

  • Carver

    @Teresa

    Unfortunately, life isn’t fair. Different folks get different treatment. The hotel is ultimately responsible for how they react to the fact that I am an attorney.

    Because the hotel might decide to give me better treatment because I am an attorney is the hotel’s decision. THat’s not a reason for me to forego the perks that I receive from working my *ss of to become an attorney.

  • http://www.roamingtales.com Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

    @Carver I know your comment was directed elsewhere but just to clarify, my comments about journalistic ethics don’t apply to other professions such as attorneys. There are very specific reasons why I think it’s bad form for a journalist to play the media card and it’s to do with the very specific nature of the journalist’s job.

  • Carver

    @Caitlin

    You make a good point. The nature of a journalists job to report the truth makes it unique in this area.

    Really off-topic: By extension, it seems that it would be inappropriate at the very least for a travel writer to accept any perks not generally given to the traveling public, if they are writing about a particular place, hotel, company, etc.

    Yet many do.

  • Steve

    It seems to me that this would have been a case where a credit card dispute would have been in order if the hotel had not backed down. The fact that the resort fee is disclosed on the website is totally irrelevant if the customer books by phone (and the fee is not mentioned by the employee at that time). On resort fees in general, I agree that if it’s mandatory it should be included in the base rate, period.

  • SirWired

    I just got back from vacation, and didn’t see this until now:

    For consumer media people in particular: Don’t EVER play the “do you know who I am?” card. If you are a consumer reporter, and you encounter bad service, feel free to report on it. That is your job. Getting special treatment because of your job (and then gloating about it) is not.

    The early commenter who reported on a radio reporter that tried (and rightfully failed) to extort an unwarranted cancellation out of Carnival: That makes me sick. I’m pretty sure that this “reporter” failed to mention his extortion attempt during his on-air tirade. And if cruises are such a bad value, why was he such a loyal Carnival customer up to this point? And is it common practice to charge companies for “interviews”? If not, how does one come up with the $6000 figure?

    Who the heck books a cruise (which happens on a BOAT) during hurricane season, and then tries to weasel out of his reservation because the waves might, *gasp!*, be rough? Of COURSE he got turned down. Get Cancel For Any Reason insurance if this is a problem.

  • Michelle

    I don’t understand why this cannot be made illegal. It would be like advertising a dress for $100, post that price in magazines, billboards, radio ads etc then when you go to purchase the item add on a $10 stocking fee, a $10 cashier fee, a $2 hanger fee regardless if you want the hanger, a $2 bag fee even if you brought your own bag etc… It is ridiculous and in my opinion (and it seems most consumers agree) that it is false advertisement even though they have all the “fine print” you should not be able to advertise a room for $100 if I can’t stay there for $100!!! What can the population do to overturn this?