Wired
: Doubletree sucks. I just stormed out of my hotel in Tampa because their $10/day Wayport Internet access went wonky and they told me it was my problem and I had to call the 800-minute number. I’m now in Starbucks on my second cup before the flight back home. Blogging this afternoon.
12 responses to “Wired”
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I love the verb “stormed”. Funny image, Jeff.
That said, what a load of poo. I’d definitely write a letter of complaint. -
I stayed in a doubletree in Houston once. I have to work on the road so I require high speed internet to keep working (so i can log into the mainframe of my office without things being to ridiculously slow). So I said to them, “Do you have a high speed internet connection?”
And they said yes.
So I get there and guess what? The “high speed” connection was a jack for an ordinary dial-up phone line. No LAN, ethernet, DSL, cable modem or anything else that ordinary people call “high speed.” no, apparently 56K is “high speed” in their book. I had half a mind to take them to small claims court for fraud in the inducement. But i figured a better revenge is never to stay there again. I travel enough that they should care about my business. What you tell me suggests that doubletree has a national problem.
Btw, what is so great about doubletree that justifies the cost? Oh, if you like spending a few hundred a night for a room, go right ahead, but I would be equally happy at a comfort inn. -
Jeff:
How did you get stuck with a stay in Tampa in the first place?
On the bright side, Tampa has a well-designed airport, so you’re probably better off blogging from that airport Starbucks. -
You should’ve looked at this (http://www.hyperorg.com/misc/DoubleTreeShow_files/frame.html) before staying at a Doubletree Hotel.
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Jeff
Thanks for your comments about your experience at the doubletree. The Wayport team prides itself on providing great high-speed Net service and we are sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. Today, we have more than 200,000 people connect to our service each month. Typically, if a customer is having troubles, the hotel (or if you were at any Wi-Fi public location including a Starbucks) does recommend that they call the service provider to help you determine what the issue is and get it resolved. For Wayport, calling 877-WAYPORT would get you into our 24/7 call center experts who can see from our call center here in Austin into every port of our more than 120,000 guest rooms. This way they can help troubleshoot and get you connected. Typically, the employees at each Wi-Fi location do not have the technical expertise to provide such insight so we have found that this system works rather well.
Feel free to call me at 512-519-6149 and provide me with the room number you were in so we can check on the status at the property. I would also like to send you a free Wayport connect so you can try us again.
Best Regards
Dan Lowden
VP of Marketing, Wayport
512-519-6149 -
FWIW, Dan ain’t bullshitting. I’ve had Wayport problems in hotels and airports, and I did call the Support line, and I did get an answer and the proper help. Expecting hotel staff to help with Ethernet connectivity problems is practically…dumb. Expecting an empathetic manager, however, is not. So yeah — Doubletree sucks.
However…many off-brand hotels are offering free hi-speed internet these days, and absorbing the cost. Amerisuites, for one — Wingate, for another. You don’t get nice-smelling cookies on your pillow or gorgeous sprays of flowers in every nook and cranny, but you get reliable broadband. And I’d rather work and blog than pig out on stupid cookies. I can do that kind of thing on my nickel, thank you very much. -
Glad Dan took my call to heart.
As said in my other post above, Wayport has always been helpful, in the past. Your experience seemed more atypical than normal, so when Bob Cox of theNationalDebate.com tipped me off, I contacted him through his PR team.
I guess being the media does carry some weight.
Glad you are happy with his response.
Andy Abramson
Co-Host KenRadio.com’s “World Technology RoundUp” -
Some real high-brow blogging here at the Buzzmachine.
UN bombed in Iraq and more dead Jews in Israel and all Mr. Jarvis cares to comment on is his poor service at a third rate motor lodge.
I guess we know where NOT to look for information. -
Ripping the OL from his varsity sweater, Letterman lists the reasons why little troll weimdog should go away and not bother us:
- This is Jarvis’ personal blog, for him to post about whatever he wants.
- He is providing a service to bloggers by telling us not to stay at Doubletree.
- This blog is free.
- You smell funny.
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Weimdog: Let’s see whether we can put two and two together here, shall we? I was (1) out of town, (2) without access because of Doubletree — which, did I mention, sucks — and thus was not able to read and write much of anything. If it’s news you want go find a reporter. Jeesh.
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Uh, sorry Mr. Jarvis.
There was so much news breaking, and this is where I usually come for the inside scoop on the middle east and couldn’t get my fix.
Sorry for being an ass.
BTW, I don’t smell funny Floyd. -
>BTW, I don’t smell funny Floyd.
Sorry about that weimdog. I must have smelled my cat Blackie. He’s kind of stinky. :-)
