wxguy

I stayed at the LAX Marriott last week and was astounded to find they are charging $1 for each toll-free call from the room. I wrote a scathing letter to the GM, remarking how this is just as onerous as charging for each elevator ride or bar of soap. TOLL-FREE CALLS COST THE HOTEL NOTHING, and charging guests is absurd.

Here's what the GM's assistant replied:

FTers revolt! Do not stand for this. WRITE TO MARRIOTT NOW.

socrates

My understand is there are a few tests out there, this one and the pay for faster HSI test...neither is going well (I'll keep my personal opinion to myself on both of these tests)

craz

I can see that You dont stay at SPG or Hiltons, a $1 a call would be great. They charge per time on the call.

It was all started when people would use dial-up as their connection and stay on for hrs, which meant that if enough people did so at the same time a number of the hotels tel lines would be out of use.

OK who uses Dial-up today. well if the hotel is charging $20 a day for its Broadband connection alot of people would

wxguy

I've stayed at properites that charged $0.10 per minute for "toll-free" calls after the first 20 minutes which were free, for this very reason. That's entirely reasonable.

craz

I agree with You, but I was talking about where they charge from the get go. No free time what so ever.

I remember once that at check-in I was told no Ups are available even thou my car was the 10th one parked in the lot and all the rooms were dark. OK maybe they expected a bunch of buses to pull up but it was 10:30pm.

Got up to my non-upgraded room to see I was given an accessible room. So I picked up the phone and called the Plat Desk of SPG. Got switched to a reg room no Up and in the morn the bill had a charge for the 800# I called (which was to the Plat desk). I spoke with the Mgr who finally took it off, but gave me a hard time about it. Once I said OK leave it , Ill simply file a complaint with Corp about this whole stay , was he willing to remove it. OK I admitt I should have checked out the rates before I called or I should have gone down to the lobby and used the pay-phone. ( It took place before there was free roaming on the cells), but I simply forgot and made the call.

Dont know the last time I made a call from my room w/o having 1st checked to see what if any charges will be assessed.Then again my cell works everywhere (most places) today w/o roaming etc. But during Peak time would still rather use the room phone for 800#s then my peak mins.

But do complain, cause if people dont then it will be implemented Marriott Wide.

Brendan

Oh-so-thank-U, Wxguy for posting this, so we all can influence their test !
I remember the mid-1990s when charging for toll-free calls & LD access were rampant until enough people said 'Enough!' One chain put a full-page ad in USAToday announcing the end of such charges.

I suspected that hotels believed that guests would be intimidated by the threat of being called cheapskates & road-warriors would not complain when they were on expense acct.s.

jfulcher

I would potentially pay for faster HSI. Say at a courtyard where the HSI is super slow because it's free. My cell phone generally has faster internet

TOMSURFER

Once again, compared to North America it is rip off Europe. In the UK toll free calls cost Ł1.99p - about $4.

However this is not too bad compared with Ł0.99p - about $2 per minute or part minute for all UK land line calls.

BigLar

At the HGI I stayed at a lot this summer, every guest was given one hour of long distance free. I asked and was told this was an hour every night. She told me either that or one hour every call, she wasn't sure.

I didn't push it.

Oh yeah, HSIA was also free.

Kiwi Flyer

$1 a call is nothing. Last hotel I stayed at charged me local call rates (something like $4 a minute) for all my toll-free calls.

wxguy

Outrageous! I hope you refused to pay. (Isn't "toll-free" and "I was charged" an oxymoron?)

slakko

The Frenchman's Reef / Morning Star in St. Thomas USVI (as at 2 weeks ago) also has a $1 for toll-free calls charge. Sounds to me like this is rapidly becoming more than just a 'test'.

bdschobel

I was shocked to find a $2 charge for a toll-free call made at the Marriott Marquis in NYC. They refused to remove it from my bill. No warning. I was just lucky I noticed it while checking my bill on the TV.

This is really outrageous. At least such charges should be waived for elite travelers.

Bruce

Guy Betsy

Elite travellers have never obviously stayed at Ian Schrager hotels.

The one at SFO where I stayed at when it first opened, charges local phone calls at $1 a minute!!! Toll free or not !

The $1 charge for toll-free calls is acceptable. Most hotels in USA charge that. Some charge more. The ones in UK are the extortionists where they , like Kiwi said, charges per "unit" (how they justify this is anyone's guess).

I was staying at the Scandic Hotel in CPH last month, and I had to make an emergency call on the house phone to Germany. More of a - please call me back at this number - kind of call. Well, my friend was slow in writing down the number, and kept asking me to repeat the question... anyway.. the call ended up being over a minute. I was expecting it to be at least in the region of 5 Pounds. That would be the case for UK..

But when I checked out, the call was less than the equivalent of 1 Pound! Amazing..

DCBob

What do you mean "NO WARNING"? I have stayed there in the past and know they provide a listing of telephone service charges in every room. Are you saying that listing showed toll-free calls were free or that you never bothered to look at the listing?

That said, wouldn't it be nice if every hotel was like the Hoxton in London with a charge of 3p (6 cents) per minute for local calls and 5p (10 cents) per minute for direct dial long distance calls to the USA?