Comments on: Excel where your competitors suck

By: On Charging for Wi-Fi at Hotels… | Adam Daniel Mezei

On Charging for Wi-Fi at Hotels… | Adam Daniel Mezei — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:45:33 +0000

[...] Marc van der Chijs writes about how he won’t stay in certain hotels unless they offer free wi-fi. There’s a reason for this, and he goes into it as part of a recent blog post. Posted in Bejing, China, Today's Guest | Tags: customer service, marc van der chijs, Today's Guest, wi-fi [...]

By: China Law Firm

China Law Firm — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:46:41 +0000

So true. In law, it's the "extra" charges that really slay people. Things like charging for a small copying job, or for sending a fax, or for long distance telephone calls. My firm long ago decided that we would spend nearly as much money tracking these sorts of things as we would collect on them. Not to mention the not so small side benefit we realize by not pissing off our own client.

By: ADM

ADM — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:56:48 +0000

Hi Marc,

I should have had this post in my pocket at the moment when I was in Beijing when I checked out. I had EXACTLY this sort of difficulty at a hotel we were staying at near the Forbidden City, which precipitated a rather lengthy debate with the property's On Duty Manager, the GM, and then when I wasn't satisfied, the Regional Manager of the chain's Asia ops based in Sydney.

I eventually paid the toll with a 20% rebate — because we were running terribly late for our SHA return flight at that stage already — but since they *twice* sent me an online survey to complete after I'd gladly paid and partially admitted fault, I replied diplomatically and accordingly but didn't pull any punches. I told them their internet policy was highly deceptive (especially given the rating of the hotel) and IMO totally counter-productive to the image they were trying to leave in the minds of their target market, not to mention their disgruntled guests.

By the way, I've sent the GM this in solidarity. I'm still kicking the issue around with them.

–ADM

By: Marc van der Chijs

Marc van der Chijs — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:24:31 +0000

@Rooijmans @Anonymous @Leo Thanks for noticing, changed the typo

By: Leo

Leo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:34:01 +0000

That may not only apply to the compete to win clients but also to the talent competition as well. Company can easily provide a set of luxurious keypad and mouse to star developer however at some bureaucracy huge firms star developer have to bring their own favorite keyboard. The cost of keyboard is trivial compare with salary but it can makes people happier and feel company care about them. By the way, in 3rd paragraph there is a "wifi" spelled as "wife"

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:19:57 +0000

"I now normally stay in a hotel that is a bit more expensive but has free (and fast) wife".

I like the pun

By: Rooijmans

Rooijmans — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:15:30 +0000

"I now normally stay in a hotel that is a bit more expensive but has free (and fast) wife"

Might want to change that
Cheers,
Toine

By: Marc van der Chijs

Marc van der Chijs — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:04:21 +0000

You're right, there are indeed more benefits for KLM than just the additional EUR 50/suitcase. Still I think it's not a smart thing to do

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:25:45 +0000

You make good points, but remember in KLMs case, the suitcase issue provides additional benefit in the sense that there will now be more space for cargo (revenues from this are very high – especially on US routes) and in the event the space stays empty, quite a bit of fuel can be saved. So the benefit is a little more than 2500. But still, KLM could definitely market it differently and use a different excuse other than saying other airlines are also doing it!