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Don't be fooled by Best Western's "Low Rate GUARANTEED!" Policy
I booked at the Best Western Sea Wake in Clearwater Beach on the Best Western website for $163.00 per night. The website states "Low Rate GUARANTEED! With the Bestwestern.com Low Rate GUARANTEED! program, you can be sure you'll find our best published rates right here on our site. " I found the rate to be $119.00 per night at Expedia.com, Hotels.com, and Tampaguide.com. I wrote and requested they honor the lower rate. Their response?:
The claim has been denied for the following reason(s): - Expedia.com - room type offered is not a guaranteed No Smoking room, Only the bedding and view is advised. - tampaguide.com & hotels.com - the bedding type and smoking type is not advised or guaranteed, only that a Gulf View room is offered. Bear in mind that Best Western only shows non-smoking rooms on their website so the question of smoking vs. non-smoking shouldn't even be mentioned. The point is, if you look long and hard enough, you can excuse and justify everything. Best Western's "Low Rate GUARANTEED!" doesn't exist! |
I found hotels.de offer better rates than the Best Western site for hotels in Europe as well. I found rooms at one German BW for about $35 less per night (same standard, etc.) through hotels.de as the BW's lowest rate. I didn't bring up the "guaranteed" bit with them, but I agree, you can probably do better on another site.
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I guess my real complaint is, if they don't have a "Low Rate GUARANTEED!" policy, they shouldn't say so on their website. It's dishonest, deceitful, disresputable, and a whold lot of other "dis's".
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As everywhere, you should've read between the lines.
Their guarantee is to show all rates so you can pick the lowest possible ON THEIR WEBSITE out of internet special, AAA, AARP, corporate, and others. You even said it in your post: "you can be sure you'll find our best published rates right here on our site." - on OUR site, and they mean it! Now, if there is one honest business, please post here. I'll switch from a pessimist to an optimist. |
Dherron,
Just curious - would you have booked on Expedia and others if you were not guaranteed a non-smoking room? Did you book on Best Western first or did you go to that site after checking Expedia and others and realized that you were not guaranteed a non-smoking room and then tried to recoup the difference? They may sell their smoking rooms to expedia. I'd call the hotel and see if all of their rooms are non-smoking. If that is the case I would resubmit my claim. |
I agree with you dherron. Now I can see if you were comparing a room without breakfast or parking or with an improved view, but because BW only offers non-smoking and the others allow you to request it?
I have found this to be so common with all the places I've ever tried to "match" a price, that I no longer believe or use this guarantee as a reason to patronise a site. If I were you though, I'd send a copy of this thread, plus a letter to the BW corporate offices, and to some of the travel magazine ombudsman columns. It's a small, but irritating deception and I'd love to see what happens if you make a stink. |
"you can be sure you'll find our best published rates right here on our site.'
I believe that is supposed to mean that the best rates will be on <i> their </i> website vs. travelocity or expedia etc. I don't think it meant that you could pick from the lowest prices offered on their website, but all of what we think is moot since they are the ones not backing their words. Debi |
WCM003,
"Just curious - would you have booked on Expedia and others if you were not guaranteed a non-smoking room? Did you book on Best Western first or did you go to that site after checking Expedia and others and realized that you were not guaranteed a non-smoking room and then tried to recoup the difference?" I am actually a smoker so would prefer a smoking room. I know that I am in the minority and, from past experience, find that smoking rooms tend to be pretty readily available. Best Western Sea Wake does have smoking rooms but show only non-smoking rooms when you go to their rates page. I assume this is done purposely so the results turn out exactly as they did: "room type offered is not a guaranteed No Smoking room". I'm just sure it's a scam. Being the queen of excuses and justification, I know that if you are looking for an excuse, you can always find one. That's exactly what BW did. I was so turned off by this scam that I have canceled my reservation at BW and will book elsewhere. |
Just another reason to put me off Best Western. We booked the BW in Torrey, Utah via Expedia and on arrival were allocated a room. We asked if we could stay in the other building with views of the mountains (rather than the road) and were told that the rooms were all booked. Well, this was obviously untrue as there were about 6 cars in the parking lot and we saw only a couple of guests the whole time we were there. They just didn't want to give us the better room because we'd booked via Expedia.
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Why wouldn't you just cancel the $163 reservation and re-book at $119 through one of the other sites? Does the $119 rate come with severe restrictions such as stay or pay anyway? If so, it's not a "published rate", it is a discounted rate like you get with priceline and hotels.com -- there is never any guarantee to match this type of rate with any chain or offer.
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Tracy, thanks for the education! So, a "published rate" is different from a "rack rate" which is different from a "discounted rate"?
In other words, I always knew that "rack rate" meant the rate on the back of the door of the room, the highest possible rate that hardly anybody pays. But now we're supposed to understand that a pay or stay rate is considered a "discounted rate" and not a "published rate"... Did these people write the tax code too? |
tracys2cents,
"Why wouldn't you just cancel the $163 reservation and re-book at $119 through one of the other sites? Does the $119 rate come with severe restrictions such as stay or pay anyway?" Because I know the money would ultimately go to BW and I now refuse to patronize their hotels. No, it's not a "stay or pay" policy. Only $25.00 cancelation fee if canceled within 72 hours of arrival date. I'm working on principle now. They actually do have a disclaimer on their "guarantee" that states "The Lowest Rate Guarantee does not apply to websites that do not reveal the hotel name and location such as: Priceline and Hotwire". But their "guarantee" also states "If a lower Internet rate is found, Best Western will honor the competing rate (under the terms and conditions) and provide a 10% discount for each night of the reservation. If, in the meantime, the lower rate has become available in the Best Western system this rate will be applied and the 10% discount will not apply." Obviously, this part of their guarantee is far from true. |
Yes, I can confirm: BW has cancellation restrictions. Don't remember exactly what it was, but I didn't like them :) As a member of AARP I was able to make reservation with 48 hours before stay cancellation without penalty.
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I am so glad you are canceling! It is a dump. It does not actually sit on the Gulf as advertised, but on an inlet into Clearwater Harbor. Rather than the nice gradual drop off you have on the Gulf beaches, you have an abrupt drop off. I would not swim there--but would walk around to the Gulf side for swimming. What doesn't show in any pictures I'm sure, is that it's next to the soaring bridge to Sand Key, all told making the locale far from ideal. To make matters even worse, it's been sold and will become condos...or that was the last plan I heard for it. Their not meeting your expectations for the guarantee was your lucky day Chica!!
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OO - I read your description and realized that I have stayed in that exact same hotel. I did not like the location at all. Definitely, not the beach experience I was hoping for. It came highly recommended from a travel agent and that was the last time I used a travel agent.
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OO and wtm003,
Thanks for your feedback on this BW. I definitely feel better about canceling! |
I would dispute the $25 cancellation fee with your credit card company. Send them a copy of the BW response as well as a copy of the FAQ page on the BW website.
The BW website states that non-smoking requests are not guaranteed. Their explanation that Expedia did not offer you a non smoking guarantee is therefore bogus, because a non-smoking room was not guaranteed to you originally anyhow...according to their written policy. Expedia and BW were offering you the exact same room and guarantee but at different prices. |
Sounds pretty sleazy and I would definitely contact BW corporate, even if you won't be staying there.
The only experience I have had with this type guarantee is a couple years ago on Continental.com - it was when they were just starting the marketing push to promote online booking, and I did find a fare that was about $50 lower, and they honored their guarantee. |
In 2002 I booked a room at the Hyatt on Maui, then saw a cheaper internet rate. They honored their promise which was to meet the internet rate and give a discount. I think you needed to do this within 24 hours of making your reservation if my memory is correct. My point is that some large chains do honor what they state in their price guarantee policy. I would pursue this with corporate BW.
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tracy2cents,
The $25 cancelation fee is through Expedia, not the hotel. I did, in fact, cancel with the hotel and there was no cancelation fee. I did send the start of this thread to BW corporate. Haven't heard a thing back from them. Proof, in my opinion, that they could care less. Oh well, their loss. |
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