They showed her the net rate and now she wants it

November 26, 2012

Eleanore Brouhard knows a secret.

When she checked out of her hotel, it revealed the “net” rate it was charging her online travel agency — a number far lower than the one she was quoted. Now she wants the hotel to honor the lower price for her.

I get requests like hers with some regularity, and I normally tell them they’re out of luck. If you bought hotel rooms in large blocks, you might qualify for a low rate, but not as a single traveler. But lately, I’ve had second thoughts about that response, and I’m thinking of mediating one of these cases. Maybe you can help me figure this out.

Back to Brouhard’s case: She found a room at the Wyndham Dallas Suites – Park Central for the nights of Oct. 11 through 14 via a link on the AARP site. The transaction was handled through Expedia.

“When I checked out I was given an itemized receipt for $329, which was lower than Expedia had quoted,” she says.

When she asked about the lower rate, a representative assured her that was the correct price. It’s hard to imagine anyone arguing about a lower price on a room, so it must have been a brief conversation.

But it wasn’t quite right.

When my Visa bill arrived, I was charged a total of $416 for the three nights, a difference of $86.

I called Expedia and was told the hotel made a mistake giving me the receipt and that this was the “net rate,” which I never should have seen.

Well, I did see it and it says nothing about net rates. I asked for a refund and a supervisor offered me a $50 Expedia coupon, which I declined because I will not be doing further business with Expedia.

I would like a refund of the difference and also I feel that people should be warned that such a thing can happen. AARP offers this link as a means for senior citizens to get good travel rates and I feel that this did not happen here.

Hmm. Didn’t Brouhard agree to the $416 rate? Wasn’t that “good” enough for her at the time?

Fact is, many businesses have wholesale and retail rates, and it’s generally understood that the way they make money is by marking up the product. Expedia bought thousands of rooms from Wyndham, and then resold them to guests like Brouhard to make a profit.

Still, the hotel gave her a folio with a lower number, and when she asked about the rate, a representative told her it was correct. Shouldn’t a business be required to honor a price it quotes?

From my perspective, Brouhard’s motives matter. Had she found out about the Wyndham rate error on FlyerTalk or via one of the Boarding Area blogs, and booked a few rooms for her and her friends, knowing full well that this was a rate error, I would have sent her my polite form rejection letter. (Booking a “fat-finger” fare when you know better is stealing — no two ways about it.)

But Brouhard found the rate through AARP, and she probably assumed the association had negotiated an even more aggressive discount on her behalf when she saw the final hotel rate. And a hotel representative verified the rate, too, when she checked out.

I’m thinking about asking Wyndham and Expedia to consider honoring the lower price.

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dourdan

like you said “it’s generally understood that the way they make money is by marking up the product”.

She gave her money to Expedia, not Wyndham, so she pays Expedia’s price.

Yes Wyndham made a mistake by giving her a receipt. Actually when i prepay a hotel through a website like Expedia I usually do not get offered a receipt (unless I had extra charges like movies, food or phone calls.) — i think the OP might have insisted on a receipt, causing the computer system to print out the lower price that they sold the room to Expedia for.
bill

if the op thought $416 was a good rate then the rate should be $416. she should have her due diligence and researched what hotels were charging in that area before paying expedia.
fallinseattle

I feel for the woman, but she was willing to pay the price before she knew what Expedia paid the hotel. The employee was not supposed to provide her with a receipt (I worked as a hotel clerk for a short time, they are supposed to get their receipt from Expedia if they booked that way) and going to the hotel to get a discount would probably result in that employee being disciplined or fired for their mistake, all for her to get a small refund on a price she accepted at the outset.
http://flyicarusfly.com/ Fly, Icarus, Fly

I had a visceral reaction to this post. Against the OP.

I still can’t figure out what POSSIBLE reason she thinks she has to get the net price. Did she book a thousand rooms? Does she spend time dealing with exasperating consumers like herself? So, to sum up: She wants to pay the hotel the same price that Expedia pays them which means she wants Expedia to operate for free, booking her travel out of the goodness of her heart?

If she wants to pursue her case, then it is solely with the hotel. I can’t understand why she thinks Expedia has anything to do with it. And she wants to ‘warn people’ what? That businesses need to make money? Really? Secondly, she wasn’t “quoted” a price. She PAID an agreed upon price. Despite being a senior and having decades of life experience, I’m not sure she fully understands how the world works… Please do NOT mediate this case.
http://flyicarusfly.com/ Fly, Icarus, Fly

Or she could’ve booked directly with the hotel and negotiated an AARP price. Leave the middleman out of it if she’s that savvy a traveler.
GrantRitchie

It seems to me that if the OP has a Wyndham receipt IN HAND for $329, then that’s what she should have to pay. Fax the receipt to Visa, and see what they have to say about it. Let Expedia and Wyndham slap-fight each other for the remaining $86.
TonyA_says

I am willing to bet the merchant on record is Expedia and she became the guest of Expedia. When you buy from Expedia, you deal with and pay Expedia UNLESS you do not prepay Expedia but post pay at the hotel itself. When you buy you already know your contracted rate. And, when you prepay, the hotel only gets your credit card to bill the incidentals and not for the room.

Every guest has a folio and that includes the room, phone, meals and other services the guest used. In a MERCHANT booking, the hotel should only have given her a receipt for the incidentals and not the room.
However, this could have been the new Expedia pay at hotel option lauched last summer.
http://m.travelweekly.com/3_article?guid=242706&t=1&s=1&from=1_tab1
If so, then this might have been the reason why the hotel showed her the net rate by mistake.

Obviously voted NO to mediation as a good explanation about how Expedia’s Merchant Model works should be enough to solve this problem.
http://twitter.com/DutchessPDX Dutchess

This is stupid and the OP is just being greedy and playing the “Senior card” (this is the same as the single mother, military, sickness or any other argument attempting to sway your opinion on emotion). If you walked into Macy’s and happened to find an invoice from a supplier laying around next to some clothes you wouldn’t expect Macy’s to give you the clothes at the wholesale price so why should you expect Travelocity or other site to do the same thing. You should definitely NOT mediate.
TonyA_says

She would have two receipts. The first receipt would between her and Expedia for $416. That will be the one charged to her credit card. The second receipt will be from the hotel to Expedia for $329. The second receipt will be charged to Expedia’s one time use credit card it gave the hotel to charge for her stay. That said there is no basis for her dispute.
http://twitter.com/DutchessPDX Dutchess

Except it was an error. Next time your boss makes a mistake on your paycheck how about he uses “well you have it on paper so that’s what you get paid”. Suddenly doesn’t make so much sense now does it. She had an agreement, she should honor it.
TonyA_says

The Best Available Rate, BAR, is about $109 and the AARP members rate is 92.65 all before a 15% tax. If they spent 4 nights on the AARP rate, the total is 426.20.
Seems like she would have paid less going through Expedia unless she could get the Stsy 3 and save 30% offer from the hotel.
TonyA_says

Also, Expedia or not, you know your room rate when you check in.
I wonder if the receipt with the NET rate is in her name. It is probably under the merchant’s, Expedia.
sirwired

Expedia in this case is a reseller for something they negotiated a special price for. She is not a customer of the hotel; she is a customer of Expedia. On her own, it is unlikely she would have been able to obtain the same rate. (It may have been a pre-paid rate or a rate that required Expedia to rent out a certain number of rooms whether or not they were occupied.)
mikegun

So now making reasonable income for providing a service is bad?
mikegun

I recently used Priceline to obtain a hotel for two nights. I asked for a receipt upon checkout and was told that I already have that from Priceline and there were no incidentals charges. (No room service, restaurant, bar…etc.) The hotel should have done the same thing in this case as it sounds like she paid Expedia. They could provide a separate bill for incidentals if needed.
TonyA_says

She did not see the Stay 3 Save 30% promo! IMO, that will be better than Expedia’s daily rate.
BillCCC

I voted incorrectly, after re-reading the post I realize that she received the lower rate on checkout and not when booking. No, do not intervene. She should pay the price that she agreed to with Expedia.
mikegun

Nice. So now a manager at the Wyndham Dallas Suites – Park Central can just look into the history of Eleanore Brouhard’s folio, see who checked her out and fire or discipline the offending employee for making a simple mistake that escalated into this.
mikegun

Probably thinks the AARP/Senior rate should ALWAYS be the cheapest.
sirwired

Do we know that promo was available when she booked?
TonyA_says

I doubt she got the AARP rate since that rate is good only with a direct or agency booking. Expedia has its own rates. Expedia must have just paid for a banner link to show up in AARP pages. Hence she ended up in
http://www.expedia-aarp.com/
TonyA_says

Most probably since it is a discount and not s room rate.
She won’t see it if she went here http://www.expedia-aarp.com/
But she will see it if she went to Wyndham’s own site.
Wrong to assume that AARP or MERCHANT rate is cheaper if you stay 3 days or more.
TonyA_says

Obviously a mistake by the hotel employee. They are human.
What is irritating is the OP’s taking advantage of the mistake.
http://twitter.com/johntbaker John Baker

And if Walmart accidentally showed them their price for that 50″ tv, I bet that she’d want that to. Sorry but there really isn’t anything to see here. I think its laughable that she didn’t think that Expedia was going to make money selling to her. After all they are a business not a charity.
Ed Boston

Hmmm…. Your response got me thinking. What if that $329 itemized receipt she got wasn’t the net rate but the actual rate with the Stay 3 30% discount applied? In other words, Expedia pocketed her 30% saving.
TonyA_says

Ooooh, that’s too brutal. But Expedia’s discounted MERCHANT NET rate is already about 30%. Personally, I think she was not a smart shopper. Wyndham offers a 25% discount if you PREPAY. That or the Stay 3 Save 30% is enough incentive to go directly and book with them instead of screwing around with Expedia. Plus if you book directly you are sure to earn loyalty points and maybe even a room upgrade.
When will people learn to stop buying from travel vending machines without checking the source first?
technomage1

Exactly. She made the agreement with Expedia and it was a paperwork error that showed her the lower rate.
john

She didnt buy the room from the hotel directly she bought it from expedia. She needs to understand how sites like these work before booking through them.
emanon256

I voted no. as mush as I hate Expedia, they are right in this case. Would Mrs. Brouhard walk into a grocery store, buy a pond of coffee for $5.99, and then demand to pay the wholesale rate that the store paid for the coffee? That’s what she is doing here. If the Expedia AARP rate was better than the rate she would have gotten booking directly through the hotel herself, then she already got a deal. I do agree that the hotel made a mistake showing her the wrong rate, but it was simply a mistake. She still made a deal, and got the deal she made, what the vendor paid is of no concern to her where she saw it or not.
mikegun

Exactly. In my case, I was asking for a receipt to verify there were no incidentals charged to my card that I presented at check-in. Had I been given a receipt, and it showed the price paid by Priceline for my room, I would not have even considered asking for a refund.
mszabo

Heh, I had the same reaction. This case should not be mediated. However I would disagree on one point. I’d say the only person to pursue her case with is Expedia or perhaps even AARP. The hotel has nothing todo with it, it has no control over how much Expedia charges. Now the hotel did make a mistake here, but that beef is between Expedia and the Hotel. Certainly Expedia has a more valid case against the hotel than the OP.
emanon256

I had this happen to me once back when I used these sites. This was not at the 4-star days in :) It was in Memphis at a nice hotel. I had paid just over $100 a night, and the hotel gave me a receipt at checkout listing Priceline as the customer and it was $60 something a night. I never though I should get a $40 discount. This was the incident I mentioned once before where the room was half under construction and had no TV and I asked for a new room and was told “Not at the price you paid.”
Walhon

I’m sorry…but I must disagree on the military argument. Orders change, and situations change sometimes on a moments notice. I understand your point that its wrong to pull that as a sympathy card, but people should realize that military can be called TDY any time, and in those instances, companies should make concessions. Anyway, I have gotten way off topic so end rant!
http://www.facebook.com/akardoff Alan D Kardoff

I am going to try and buy direct from carriers/motels & rental agencies. If I also find a difference once, Goodbye Expedia. Perhaps others can recommend bungling sites that offer lower prices.
TonyA_says

Was it the Peabody (where the ducks come down the elevator from the penthouse cage, cross the lobby to go the fountain and swim)?

The 4 star Day’s Inn??? Must be beside Elvis’ house (Graceland)?
http://www.facebook.com/linda.bator Linda Bator

Wyndham may have made an honest mistake, but the client KNEW she was expected to pay the $416, which is what she paid. The fact that she wants the commission from Expedia is ridiculous – no one works for free, and this was a greatly discounted rate – too bad that Wyndham showed her the net rate, but it does not mean she should get the commission back!
TonyA_says

I believe Dutchess was referring to a DISCOUNT or SPECIAL RATE and not flexibility or cancellation policy waivers.
TonyA_says

Again, we need a HOTEL/CAR MERCHANT DISCLOSURE LAW !!!
Honest folks think the are buying the same thing since they believe they are dealing only with an AGENT of the hotel property or can rental company.
WRONG !!!
emanon256

It was the Peabody. We stayed there 3 separate times on Pricelines name your own price option, all during holiday seasons, and each time we paid close to $100 a night when the BAR on the Peabody website was closer to $200. This was all 2006-2008. The first time we were treated well, the second time we got the “Not at the price you paid” bit, and the third time we were asked to pay additional fees upon arrival, even though we pre-paid. That was the last time.

We also stayed at the Marriott in Memphis and were treated even worse, that was horrible, and also Priceline.

The Expedia 4-star Days Inn was in Niagara Falls and we walked out it was so bad.

I miss living in Memphis, we visited a lot, and then live there for a year. My wife worked for the prison system and the VA hospital.
RR

Why did she not book the room directly with Wyndham? Was it more expensive? That is how travel agencies get their money. You provide a service, you are paid for it.
ssheldo

I know how this may infuriate a TA – after all, they;re entitled to their commission. I had this happen when I booked a cruise with Carnival. They gave me the net rate and when I called to ask why the rate was higher after I turned the booking over to my TA, they 3-way conferenced me with the TA and as soon as he answered, dropped off the line. He was left to explain the error. He said this happens a lot with CLL.
Walhon

Yes you are correct. I just had to vent a little. Got it off my chest, and I’m good now.
Bill___A

If she knew what the rate was and they made a mistake on the bill, that was stupid of them. Expedia should be quite upset with Wyndham. However, when Expedia buys blocks of rooms, don’t they have to pay for them whether they sell them or not?

if she agreed to the price Expedia quoted her, that’s what she should pay. And Wyndham should smarten up (not that I have high expectations of them anyway).
They made a mistake and whatever manager she talked to probably has no clue how it works.
Mike

That was the rate given when she checked out. She gave the hotel a chance to correct it then. To thereafter change it was wrong. It was also bad PR.
Grant Ritchie

Not quite the same thing. How would you feel if you went to Walmart to buy a 50″ TV that was on sale for $1000, were told (upon checkout) that the price was actually $800, questioned that, were assured that the price was indeed $800, received a RECEIPT in the amount of $800, then got a VISA bill for $1000? Probably the same way this woman does. The difference in her situation is that a third party, Expedia, is involved.
Grant Ritchie

Yeah, after reading all the other comments, I’m rethinking this. I agree with you folks. Thanks for setting me straight.
Christina Conte

I was going to add a comment and read yours…you did it for me!! Well said.
TonyA_says

Good question, RR.

Here’s the Answer: http://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/press-center/info-09-2008/American_Dream_on_Life_Support___Boomer-Plus_Americans_Believe_They_Will_Leave_World_in_Worse_Shape.html
(I wonder how much Expedia pays AARP for the benefit of confusing its members.)
But if she simply used the AARP hotel page she could be directed to Wyndham instead of Expedia.
http://discounts.aarp.org/offer/index/offerid/77259/uSource/SPOP2/categoryId/401/subCategoryId/402
Andrew F

IMO, a quoted and confirmed price should stand. One employee error — OK; three (sending an invoice, confirming it, NOT calling back shortly with apologies) — that’s final in my book.
whatup12

as both a canadian and swede, i clearly have socialist tendencies, but this is a joke. why not get the car dealer to sell cars at cost or the 7-11 to sell slurpies for a penny?
If this is consumer advocacy, I might also sign up for some business advocay blogs. I cant beleive that they offered her $50–and she felt like she had the right to turn it down. this is a bad joke of a post.

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