Don’t Nickel and Dime Me!

Recently, I stayed at a hotel that I had thought was a good value for the dollar. That was until I checked in and learned about the “add-ons.”

Warning: I’m about to “rant” on this hotel— but I have a point! First, I always ask if the hotel has charges for toll-free or “800” numbers. Yes, they did, and it was higher than a local call! And, if I stayed on the call for more than ten minutes, I would be charged 15 cents per minute. They explained that people get on the Internet and stay on for long periods of time. Unfortunately, that penalizes those who want to use their toll-free access or direct phone numbers to call their office, home, etc., I guess I’m getting used to this, but I appreciate the hotels that don’t charge for toll-free numbers and, given a choice, I will stay with them.

1. Second, I asked about their workout facility. I was informed that there was a $15 charge for daily use of the facility. Most hotels don’t charge for this. Their excuse was that it was run by an outside management company and they had to charge. So what? When hotels are competing for business, this is the type of amenity that almost all hotels don’t charge for. While I disagree with the charge, the hotels that practice charging for this amenity usually have very nice facilities.
2. Third -and this took the “add-ons” to a higher level- this same hotel that “nickel and dimed” me for phone calls and use of their gym charged me an extra dollar for using a towel in their gym. Come on! They already were charging me $15! Just charge me $16 and throw in the towel. I told the gentleman that was “bilking” me out of $15 to use his gym to keep the towel. He asked, “How do you plan to wipe the sweat off the equipment that you use?” I flippantly answered, “That is your problem.” He informed me that I had to have the towel or I couldn’t use the equipment. AGGH!

Am I going back to this hotel? Not unless I have to. And, to anyone that asks my opinion of this hotel, I will pass on a less than favorable review. I don’t think that is what the hotel wants me to do.

Here is another example. I recently hired a consultant to help me. He charged me by the hour as well as all related expenses. He got a parking ticket and it showed up on my bill. I was shocked.

One final example… My father used to complain about the architect he hired that charged him for drive time. The guy got lost at the job site and charged my father for the extra time. Whenever he and my father met, they would have a few minutes (fifteen or twenty) of pleasantries before getting down to business. It was always on the bill. One day they went to lunch and all they did was talk about baseball. It showed up on the bill. My father was infuriated and never used or recommended him again.

Here is my point. Are we easy and reasonable to do business with? Do we “nickel and dime” our customers and clients? Do our clients ever feel like they are being taken advantage of? Think of the above examples and take a look at your business. Do you do anything that resembles the hotel, consultant or architect? Remember what the customer or client wants. They want your product or service to do what it is supposed to do – and they will gladly pay for it. They will even pay more if they feel they are getting good value for their money. “Nickel and diming,” however, could potentially diminish the perception of good value as it did for the hotel in the above example.

On the “flip side,” one of the more expensive stores to buy clothes and accessories is Gucci. One thing they don’t do is nickel and dime you. They just charge a lot of money for their merchandise. But that is okay because you get what you pay for. You get excellent service and a high-quality product. They are a success story. So it seems fitting that we close with a quote from the great Aldo Gucci. He once said…

“Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.”

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.

(Copyright ©MMXI, Shep Hyken)