Over the years I have come to appreciate, in a perverse way, the power that corporate America has over the "lesser" individuals it courts as customers. We little people often willingly go along with scams that are blatantly against our own good (such as allowing unhealthy food policies that are literally killing us in the name of commercial cultural integration), with little demand for alternatives. But when a company in this day and age uses the clock against me (and I presume others), I get a bit annoyed.
In late August I made a reservation at Circus Circus hotel in Las Vegas for my partner and myself using the online system Lodging.com. We happen to have birthdays within a few days of each other, so we have been planning for sometime to take a unique get-away in celebration. I thought this past September would be great since I like to drive and we had found an exceptional rental car deal—not knowing that gas prices were going to Bush-wack that idea out of the water—which would allow us to do some photography on the way. And blessed be the Gods, for they actually gave us a good opportunity for a one-night hotel so we could clean up and rest between all-nighters. Thanks Lodging.com, or so I thought.
Unfortunately, the bane of our existence—work—came pounding with opportunity a few days before the target weekend (September 17<sup>th</sup> was the stay-over night). So having read the contract, I knew that I could get my money back (less a $25 penalty fee) if I cancelled greater than 48 hours in advance of my reservation.
My reservation was for 3pm on the 17<sup>th</sup>. I cancelled the agreement at 10am (give or take) on the 15<sup>th</sup>, which by my calculations is 53 hours in advance of the agreed upon check-in time.
Not satisfied with the online cancellation, I called the company to confirm. And the person at their customer service number told me that she found my cancellation and that her records showed the I would pay the $25 fee and get the remaining $100 plus back in a short period.
After waiting about a month, I called again. And was promptly informed that no, the admitted 48 hours didn't count from the time that I could use my reservation, but from midnight of the beginning of that day, meaning I really had to cancel my reservation in or around the 72 hour mark. "Well," the customer services supervisor was kind enough to tell me, "we really can't be precise with the time like you said because we get thousands … no hundreds of thousands … of reservations."
I'm sorry, but that does not elicit much sympathy from me. When I initiate transactions—from making the arrangement to begin with to seeing movies or ordering meals in the hotel room—my costs and actions are billed from the second or even microsecond that they happen. So why is it so difficult for Lodging.com to be less precise when it comes to returning the money? In my case, the transaction was an ATM transfer, taking nano-seconds at most to occur as they grabbed my money for their investment at the time I made the reservation.
The answer, of course, is that they know they can get away with this. Most of us just accept such silly corporate sins as a given. "Well, it says in the fine print …."
Laws governing consumers do not protect us from this kind of corporate fibbing. Technological evolutions notwithstanding, we remain victim to the kinds of gimmickry that profiteers like Lodging.com use to twist and turn the rules to their advantage, even as they use clear language indicating otherwise—which sets me up for the scam and provides them the cover they need as they wonder back and forth between computer time zones.
I have learned to believe that 48 hours is 48 hours. While in the past it may have been justifiable for them to round off their fortunes in the way they suggested here, but there is no justification for it today. Yet we continue to allow it to happen for fear of … what? … being hurt for asking that convenience go both ways in our agreement?
I don't expect to get my money back, because, like credit cards and other financial transactions, the fine print gives the profiteers the right to use these kinds of scams to their advantage. Customers simply have no voice in these systems, leading Lodging.com to gain from deeply seated injustices.
But there are ways to change this. This kind of deception is why, in part, that I am now so committed to using empowerment strategies to find ways to engage people to be much greater participants in the issues of their lives. Collectively there are ways to engage public processes—even those commanded by greedy self-interests—to conform to rules of equity. Lodging.com may be playing by the old rules because they allow these kinds of systematic Lodging.cons.
In a recent article about credit card HurriPAINS, I detailed how consumers can get hurt by multiple punishments for a single borrowing infraction, often with profound financial implications that can directly hurt a person's financial security. In that piece I recommended a series of Congressional steps for ensuring that the public gets accurate, fast information about our credit interactions just as do the investment hounds for the wealthy.
The issue of the value of time seems no less important. For I can see no justification that allows for ordinary people to no longer feel comfortable with the accuracy of our clocks.
By the way, you are free to comment on the Epower ideas through http://www.EverydayAdvocacy.org or maybe by taking a look at some of my other sites (that are in stages of development), such as:
Contemporizing Ben Franklin's Silence Dogood:
Enjoying Community Eats as food empowerment: (Sorry ... this one is not available yet!)
http://CommunityEats.pbwiki.com
Or being editorially active in our new Right To Participate
http://OurRightToParticipation.pbwiki.com
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