HUGE Super 8 Appleton disappointment today

[CHICAGORANDY]

Bah Humbug!

My Christmas surprise?


A phone call from booking.com this morning advising me that my reservation for the 8 day stay at the Super 8 in Appleton during EAA Oshkosh 2017 has been 'altered'. The motel now says they 'made a mistake' and the rate will NOT be the $64 per day as quoted and confirmed 4 months ago.... it will $200 per day, and my options were to accept it or cancel the reservation. I suggested they were out of their minds and to obviously cancel. This is literally the same bait and switch a mom-n-pop motel near Oshkosh pulled on me last year.

I did send off a nasty-gram to Wyndham Resorts corporate that owns the Super 8 chain explaining my total dissatisfaction with their business practices. I expect no response or resolution from them if course.


Ho-Ho-Ho and Jack Frost roasting on an open fire.

Super 8 Appleton can go do something anatomically impossible.

The sole saving grace is that I did have the foresight to have a back-up reservation at a tiny joint some 50 miles away so I can still be a Tram volunteer again next year.

[gbrasch]

A friend of mine has had the same experience with them. Grab a tent and come on down and join us in Camp Scholler, much more fun!

[deftone]

A friend of mine has had the same experience with them. Grab a tent and come on down and join us in Camp Scholler, much more fun!

+1

Even my wife who hates outdoorsy type stuff loves our week in Camp Scholler!

[John Cox]

I have LaQuinta Elite and secured with points my stay back in 2015. Two months before the "Big Show", La Quinta announced special event pricing. My room remained secure but the pricing reflected the Market (Supply/Demand) factors which exceeded my points. Staying 30 miles west also reflected the economic impact to Wisconsin. Everything adjusts to EAA and you are not receiving anything unusual. Sorry for the Coal in your Stocking.

John

[gbrasch]

One more thing, a couple of years ago I flew my plane to OSH and made a car reservation with Enterprise months in advance, it was dirt cheap, guess they didn't have EAA in their computer at that time. Closer to the show, a friend paid almost a grand for a car for the week. Not sure how they are doing things these days but might be worth checking early if you need a car. At least Enterprise honored my deal when I showed up, and they dont take your credit card in advance.

[L16 Pilot]

My wife I stayed at the airport Super 8 several years ago for a symposium at the EAA museum. Basically it was about you'd expect for an old motel that hasn't been updated and according to my wife it wasn't the cleanest. You can check the reviews although I understand that most reviews seem to be negative. People don't seem to post positive ones. Hotel/motel prices anywhere close to Oshkosh during EAA are 'out of sight' due to the demand. I've often stayed at Stevens Point which is a good one hour or so drive during the convention (closest I could find). I've also camped under the wings but I'm not that excited about the communal showers and wall to wall camping. I had about all of that I wanted during my air force years. Of course there are those who have fancy campers with all the amenities and that's a different story.

[malexander]

Of course there are those who have fancy campers with all the amenities and that's a different story.

lol....This is me.

I'll take my MH, with my bed, my shower, my washer/dryer any day over a motel or hotel. PLUS, the RV isn't so picky about weather.

[1600vw]

lol....This is me.

I'll take my MH, with my bed, my shower, my washer/dryer any day over a motel or hotel. PLUS, the RV isn't so picky about weather.

I don't know, I saw a lot of these RV's stuck in the mud the week I spent at Osh. But some day I hope to own a 40' Tiffin with 4 slides. I will then drive it to Osh. That day is coming.

[Floatsflyer]

Chicago, you are a victim of corporate malfeasance and you must fight back vehemently. You have the power more then ever.

With apologies to Paddy Chayefsky, Bookings.com and Super8/Wyndham have mettled with the primal forces of consumer nature and they will atone!!! Their behaviour is dispicable, dishounerable, immoral and, subject to jurisdiction, may even be unlawful.

As a consumer, when you book a hotel room, a rental car or any other like service, the only thing you can rely upon is that reservation. They cannot dishonour it by changing it in any manner for they have entered into a contract with you. Do you have the confirmation notice(via email) they would have sent you and/or the confirmation number of the reservation?

No "mistake" was made by the hotel, you know that, they know that. They just want to see how far they can screw you and get away with it. You must tell them that if they want to f**k you, they have to kiss you first!

You have many weapons in the digital and non-digital world to fight back with, embarrass them and get them to honour the reservation:

-File a complaint with the Appleton Board of Trade and follow up.
-File a complaint with the Appleton Tourist Board (if it exists) and follow up.
-Write a review on Trip Avisor of how you've been treated by the hotel and the internet booking company.
-Call the Appleton local newspaper, ask for editorial and speak to a reporter about your issue and hopefully they'll run a story about how corporate hotel management is mistreating visitors to Appleton and Wisconsin.
-Check the Chicago newspaper dailies to see which ones run a consumer complaints column and contact the writer. Their job is to successfully resolve complaints.
-Finally, write a campaign of your anger and disgust with the hotel and booking.com on Facebook, it might go viral. Don't be shy, beat the crap out of them. Corporations know the power of social media and they do not want to be bombarded with a sh*tload of bad publicity and negative attention. If you don't know how to do this, elicit the help of your kid or grandkids.

As I said, some jurisdictions make it unlawful for service businesses to specifically engage in such misconduct. It's usually a city by-law or a state law. Check it out.

Good luck, let us know how you make out and never let the bastards take advantage of you.

[dougbush]

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