Silly prices
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
I was in Slough on Friday. Well, almost: my meeting was actually at the Marriott, Slough, a nondescript hotel barely off the sliproad from the M4 at junction 5.
All very interesting, you say. So what? I want to talk wireless access. The Marriott makes a big thing about its 'communications system'. Wireless, in other words. It's in the bar, in the restaurant, in the lobby, and, what interested those of us in the meeting, in the meeting tooms. (The Marriott calls these 'Board Rooms' to appeal to the grandiose dreams of under-achievers.) We paid quite a bit for the hire of the room, which, although pleasant enough, contained a coffee machine that contributed quite a bit of background noise and when in use made conversation impossible.
I booted up the trusty Z60m and navigated to the splendid Marriott communications system home page. It asked for a 'conference code'. This, I assumed, would be given to us as part of booking the room. Q: When is a conference not a conference? A: When the Marriott says so. Anyway, the upshot was that the cost of getting wireless access for our room - where only two of us had laptops - was £50 per VAT. That's double my monthly broadband bill. Were the Marriott going to send engineers down to install a bespoke network for us? No. Was a member of staff to be involved in helping us access the wireless? No.
Needless to say, we decided we could live without the internet for five hours. We also decided never to use the Marriott again for a meeting, which will cost them more than the £50. The customer speaks.
And don't get me started on the price of their sandwiches! Or the quality: meagre filling on stale ciabatta. Mmmm.
All very interesting, you say. So what? I want to talk wireless access. The Marriott makes a big thing about its 'communications system'. Wireless, in other words. It's in the bar, in the restaurant, in the lobby, and, what interested those of us in the meeting, in the meeting tooms. (The Marriott calls these 'Board Rooms' to appeal to the grandiose dreams of under-achievers.) We paid quite a bit for the hire of the room, which, although pleasant enough, contained a coffee machine that contributed quite a bit of background noise and when in use made conversation impossible.
I booted up the trusty Z60m and navigated to the splendid Marriott communications system home page. It asked for a 'conference code'. This, I assumed, would be given to us as part of booking the room. Q: When is a conference not a conference? A: When the Marriott says so. Anyway, the upshot was that the cost of getting wireless access for our room - where only two of us had laptops - was £50 per VAT. That's double my monthly broadband bill. Were the Marriott going to send engineers down to install a bespoke network for us? No. Was a member of staff to be involved in helping us access the wireless? No.
Needless to say, we decided we could live without the internet for five hours. We also decided never to use the Marriott again for a meeting, which will cost them more than the £50. The customer speaks.
And don't get me started on the price of their sandwiches! Or the quality: meagre filling on stale ciabatta. Mmmm.
