Anyone else get irritated by the constant '1 more room available' on booking sites?

[Razzler1973]

I mean, jeez, I get drumming up hype and getting people to make decisions but surely this is bordering on misleading

I actually googled it and came up with some results about some booking sites having to remove this as it's a marketing tool and misleading well ... not sure they listened

I will be around and about and checking 3 or 4 different cities and towns for places and pretty much every single hotel I check it's 'only 1 more room' or 'room booked 5 minutes ago' and all that guff

What is quite amusing is '5 people looking at this now' and '1 room left' and then 'last booked' date is like 3 or 4 days ago. So, no one booked for 3 or 4 days but RIGHT NOW the whole world is looking at the exact hotels I am looking at!!

I tend to right-click and open many many tabs and they're ALL like that, jeez, so much for low season, eh

Of course, return next day and the rooms are still available

I generally ignore it but it's a bit silly, isn't it?

[MissAndry]

I booked a room in a place with '1 more room left' last week.

When I arrived, I was the only one staying there, no other guests at all.

I guess they all cancelled when they saw I was staying.

Edited June 24, 2016 by MissAndry

[Upnotover]

Yes its silly....but its also not true....why get irritated....marketing is not real.

[CharlieH]

Just like some Airlines "only 2 more seats left at this price"........and it appears everyday !!!

[Lannig]

Oh well, this BS is everywhere now.

On e-commerce sites too: "only 3 pieces left of this smartphone", "last order 3 minutes ago", "2 other people are watching this product now". Yeah, sure.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Lannig

[surangw]

when you see that, try checking for a 2 or 3 rooms family plan, see how fast the b.s. changes gears

Edited June 24, 2016 by surangw

[thai3]

we bought the last new house available in the village, strangely almost everyone else did as well

[Sparkles]

Travel sites only get limited slots.Book direct,cheaper

[Ireland32]

Travel sites only get limited slots.Book direct,cheaper

most hotels you walk into tell you to contact Booking sites, not allowed too, maybe back in the day but not now

[stevenl]

Travel sites only get limited slots.Book direct,cheaper

Yes, limited slits but cheaper only rarely.

[phuketrichard]

its a marketing tool, so what? why does it bother you?

also each hotel gives the hotel booking sites an allotment.

just cause it says "ONLY 1 left" does not 100% mean its true.

there alot more things to spend time on than something like this

[The Old Bull]

I used "Agoda" three times they got it right once.The problem is with the hotels they already have your money so they don't give a f***

Edited June 26, 2016 by The Old Bull

[Razzler1973]

Travel sites only get limited slots.Book direct,cheaper

I have had mixed results with booking direct

Some places have said yeah, come do it, no need to pay the booking site and got pretty much the same price. One place I got for 1000 instead of 1500 going direct and that's emailing them, not even a walk in

Others are 800 or 900 baht but walk in and it's 2500 or something insane

[Razzler1973]

its a marketing tool, so what? why does it bother you?

also each hotel gives the hotel booking sites an allotment.

just cause it says "ONLY 1 left" does not 100% mean its true.

there alot more things to spend time on than something like this

Errr cause it's misleading

Just 'being a marketing tool' doesn't mean you can just out and out lie, you know. There are regulations

You're the guy that used to work at Agoda, right? What a surprise you have no issue with this.

If they're not giving me correct information then don't give me any information at all. Customers tend to not like being mislead. I ignore it but that doesn't mean it's welcomed

[robblok]

Travel sites only get limited slots.Book direct,cheaper

I have had mixed results with booking direct

Some places have said yeah, come do it, no need to pay the booking site and got pretty much the same price. One place I got for 1000 instead of 1500 going direct and that's emailing them, not even a walk in

Others are 800 or 900 baht but walk in and it's 2500 or something insane

More times then not walk in is more expensive as booking through a site. My experience anyway.

[mike324]

technically they could also mean "1 room left" for the next day or any other day other than your booking day too....trying to mess with the bookers mind

[KarenBravo]

Travel sites only get limited slots.Book direct,cheaper

No it isn't.

Many is the time I have contacted a hotel directly for price. Not a single time have I ever been offered a room direct from a hotel that was cheaper than Agoda.com and Booking.com.

You're talking out of your anus.

Edited June 27, 2016 by KarenBravo

[Heng]

It's annoying but it's not exactly pure BS. There can be dozens of different prices and classifications (based on change restrictions, stay duration, etc.) for the same economy/business or first class seat. So there really might be 4 remaining BX30 (made up example... airlines use all kinds of different codes that don't always follow the class Y-B-F traditions) seats left on this particular flight. Business class, weekday flight, purchased 30 days in advance.

But sure, there may be 10 more BXR seats that cost nearly the same but you don't get a refund if you cancel within X days or some such restriction.

I'd appreciate more details when buying but I think there are plenty of whingers out there who would be overwhelmed by all of that information.

[mike324]

Travel sites only get limited slots.Book direct,cheaper

No it isn't.

Many is the time I have contacted a hotel directly for price. Not a single time have I ever been offered a room direct from a hotel that was cheaper than Agoda.com and Booking.com.

You're talking out of your anus.

Some hotels won't give you the online price, I've tried as well, calling the hotel up and say this website offer it at this price, they told me to go book at the website....I'm guessing they sell their rooms as a lot to other resellers which they already have a commitment for X number of rooms ...hence they are not willing to match the price due to the way they are selling the rooms

But nowadays many hotel offers lowest price on their own website, normally it is within like 100 baht difference or sometimes they offer something lame like welcome drinks so that you can't get them to match the price.

Agoda and booking seems to be the two cheapest sites in general, I find booking.com to have the edge.

[MissAndry]

Travel sites only get limited slots.Book direct,cheaper

I have had mixed results with booking direct

Some places have said yeah, come do it, no need to pay the booking site and got pretty much the same price. One place I got for 1000 instead of 1500 going direct and that's emailing them, not even a walk in

Others are 800 or 900 baht but walk in and it's 2500 or something insane

More times then not walk in is more expensive as booking through a site. My experience anyway.

I found a way around that, you walk in, ask the price, then use your mobile on booking.com.

It it's cheaper online, book then and there and show them the email.

[gk10002000]

Irritated? I guess I would call it that. It is the same as when you go to book a plane ticket on some sites. The better prices often show 1 more seat at this price or 2 more, etc. Being from the old school I smell a typical Con pitch. Buy it now before they are all gone. Yeah well

[wooloomooloo]

I booked a 'last room' for a junior suite today and now it isn't available on Agoda.

[fishhooks]

Of all the adverts appearing anywhere in media........Hotels are without doubt, the most annoying and I'm sure turn many of us off their supposed offers.

[bubba]

What I have found with that "Only one room left" hype at booking.com is that there is only one room left at the rate they are showing...there could actually be many rooms left at other rates.

The "only one room left" gimmick does not get me all excited to book a place. To the contrary, it sort of puts me off as I would rather not stay at a hotel that is fully booked and crowded.

I think booking.com needs to revisit their marketing strategy regarding this.

[Razzler1973]

In theory, that makes sense but I look at some stuff with '1 room left' and '5 people viewing this' and 'we expect to sell out in 14 hours' and all that but go back the next day and the next and the next and they're still there at the same price

Granted, stuff does sell out but it is every single damn thing I am looking at .. just once, I want to look at a room and read the reviews without all the pop ups

[NoshowJones]

I booked a room in a place with '1 more room left' last week.

When I arrived, I was the only one staying there, no other guests at all.

I guess they all cancelled when they saw I was staying.

Yeah, they saw your avatar and thought you were the massage lady.

Edited July 4, 2016 by possum1931

[whatproblem]

I booked a room on booking .com and when I arrived it was a smaller room ,the hotel said it was booking .com fault and they said the hotel ,none would give me my money back but gave me the room I booked for one night and the small dingy room for the next ,I will never use them again I paid for the larger room for 2 nights ,they thought they were doing good by giving me for one night

[manarak]

I have sometimes dreamt about a small police department tasked with pursuing white lies in marketing.

[SunsetT]

You should report it to the 'Thai advertising standards agency'............. !!!

[masuk]

Oh well, this BS is everywhere now.

On e-commerce sites too: "only 3 pieces left of this smartphone", "last order 3 minutes ago", "2 other people are watching this product now". Yeah, sure.

or.... ' this special price only for today..."