Glad I Didn't Trust the Website

My husband is currently relocating from Dallas to North Carolina. With the dog. And his brother. Tonight.

It's 22 degrees in Nashville and they need a hotel.

So, he calls me and asks me to find him a hotel room. We've been through this before with the cats and Motel 6 when I relocated to NC. Hotels that list online as taking pets sometimes only have a few rooms that they allow pets in, but in a move of most excellent customer service, they won't let you book those room specifically online.

My brother in law doesn't want Motel 6. Ok then, Choice Hotels.

I bring up the website, and I do love the find-a-hotel-along-a-route feature. Not all Choice Hotels take pets, but they have a search capability for locations that do. I select one of those locations along I-40 and I call.

Not only does that location not take pets, he's suggests I stay at the Best Western.

Ok, so I call a different location. This one takes pets and will actually put the guys into a pet room.

But I'm asking myself how many really, really angry guests these chains end up with. You have to reserve with a credit card. If you can't make it to the room by 6 you either loose the room or loose the fee. If you don't get one of the rooms, or the website lies to you, you're out on the street. With your pet. In the cold. (Or the heat).

This is a way to make poor customer service turn from bad data to angry email letters sent around the world.