Perseverance Pays Off, Millennium Pays Back, Loyalty Lives!
The Bloody boycott is over, readers – you again have official permission to stay at the fabulous Broadway Millennium hotel. Didn’t know there was a boycott? Here’s the story. Last year, we attended the PMAA conference at the Millennium, making a provisional reservation in the event of a need to stay over. Although we cancelled, the hotel nevertheless charged our guaranteeing credit card.
Every effort to get that charge reversed failed, including irate calls, a testy letter, and even an appeal to American Express. We resigned ourselves to initiating the world’s smallest boycott.
Serendipitously, months later the hotel mailed us a satisfaction survey – computers, you see, don’t understand about rubbing salt into wounds. With rekindled acrimony we dashed off another nasty-gram just for the pleasure of venting, not really expecting management to care.
Wrong! A refund check arrived last month, accompanied by a personal note of apology from prexy Michael Littler – offering a room upgrade if we’d give him another chance.
There’s a loyalty program! Loyalty is not about buying allegiance with points. It’s about being sensitive to customer needs. Loyalty is also a two-way street – the Truth Staff hopes that this column will reward Mr. Littler for his understanding of loyalty, and put the rest of the hospitality world on notice.
By the way, the Millennium is perfect for a weekend retreat. Just steps from Broadway, they put out the best brunch spread in town. That’s the truth.
