Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Hotel foolishness Poor Wi-Fi Results in Lost Business. A survey found that half of hotel guests would not stay in a hotel again if they were dissatisfied with the Wi-Fi service there: Most of the folks in the survey said Wi-Fi was important to their visit, so it sounds like they chose the hotel based on the availability of the wireless network. The conclusion here is that while Wi-Fi is broadly used as a customer retention tool, the opposite is true if the service is poor.... [Wi-Fi Networking News] Now that's an interesting survey. I do base my choice of accommodations, at least in part, on the availability of WiFi, with a preference to free WiFi. As a result, I've been favoring Best Western when I have a choice. Until now: I received a rather troublesome email from Best Western, which included the following lines: "Best Western is presently seeking your permission to communicate via e-mail with you about Best Western news, events and special offers. . ." "If you do not opt-out of receiving this information in the manner indicated below, then Best Western may contact you via e-mail with these materials." Whoa there, pardner! You're asking my permission, and simultaneously declaring that I have to opt out if I don't give my permission?!!!? What's wrong with this picture? If I ignore your email (or it's scooped up in my spam filter, whence I retrieved this one, in fact), you interpret that as permission? No dice! I hit the opt-out button, and fired off a nasty-gram to BW, explaining the error of their ways. So now I'm not so sure I want to choose BW for my next hotel stay. BTW, I wrote to the Marriott folks after my stay in Baltimore to complain about the foolish daily charge for internet access and explain the value of free WiFi. Never received a response from them, so Marriott is not exactly at the top of my list either. 1:19:29 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

QOTD "In our civilization, and under our republican form of government, intelligence is so highly honored that it is rewarded by exemption from the cares of office." Ambrose Bierce. [Quotes of the Day] 9:58:45 AM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

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