Beware of dayuse.com

vectorvector
edited June 2023 in General

So based on the recommendation of this forum I booked a hotel with dayuse.com, only to find out when I tried to check in that the hotel would not honor my reservation because they were full. The check-in desk sent me off with a, too bad, so sad ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It sure would have been nice to be notified of this before I got to the check-in desk.

I don't care what the allocation of blame between the hotel and dayuse is. Bottom line is that my reservation being dishonored without advance notice fails the "you had one job" test. I'd think that a system would be in place for the hotel to notify dayuse that reservations aren't being honored so that dayuse can in turn notify the user. Or if such a system is in place, based on check-in's cavalier attitude surely this was not the hotel's first (or fifth) failure to comply, and dayuse should have banned them for being a repeat offender. Or if it's normal for dayuse bookings to be a crapshoot I did not see where that was spelled out.

Thank you for attending my TED talk.

@Charlie_Bear Forgive me for being presumptuous, but would you consider stickying this warning? This is an abject failure of a frequently recommended resource.

Edit: Forum software ate the backslash in my ASCII shrug.

Comments

  • [Deleted User]apphill (deleted user)

    I experienced that same thing, she said they were booked, no rooms available.
    Only to find out 10 minitues later that the clerk didnt know what she was doing So a manager had to tell her what to do and BOMB a full suite was available.

  • Mike403Mike403

    Isn't the point of a reservation to ensure that rooms are available?

  • musso75musso75

    I've had bad and good experiences on dayuse.com, only 2 bad really but over only maybe a total of 5 bookings.

    The exact same thing happened to me at La Quinta Inn & Suites in New York City Central Park location. She explained that they were having more clients than planned and therefore didn't have any room. They didn't feel bad at all and never sent me a note to warn me about it. I had to find a substitute right away as the session was starting in 15 min. I managed to find another one but they didn't charge me the right price bracket I had chosen. Basically they charged me for the one that was a bit longer.

    All this to say that I contacted dayuse.com and I've had the best personalized answer with multiple follow ups and everything. They fixed the one that overcharged me by mistake. They couldn't help financially with the one that didn't honor my booking because I didn't pay anything really. However the employee at dayuse.com confirmed me that it's not how it's supposed to be. I blame the hotel more than dayuse.com.

    I'm glad you wrote this because it made me go back and see about this hotel. It turns out they are no longer offering rooms on the website. Another branch in midtown still has room so maybe it was just that location who were the problem. This makes me even more confident about dayuse.com taking care of the problem.

    Maybe we can use this thread to at least list the ones that did not honor their booking but personally I've kept using dayuse.com as I don't know other alternative. I always have a plan B from now on though.

    I do agree with you that they could be better at banning hotels that don't offer a reliable experience. They must know when it happens even if nobody complains. They see that the booking never happened but the client didn't cancel.

  • RadiantHugsRadiantHugs Mod
    edited June 2023

    @vector I’m sorry you had a bad experience. My own experience with dayuse.com has been sketchy too - the hotel just didn’t know there was a booking and couldn’t find it. In the end they made good, but the hassle and wasted time was annoying. I disagree though that this review should be a sticky; for one it has nothing to do with cuddling itself, and I’d rather not have to be forced to scroll through this while looking for important information, such as the frequently asked questions.

  • [Deleted User]MrAdmirer (deleted user)

    I didn't even know what day use is, but it sounds like the app is just not ready for prime time. Based on what I've read there is too much of a disconnect between the app and the hotels.

  • MeltMyWayMeltMyWay
    edited June 2023

    Day break hotels .com and resort pass are some alternate options … I haven’t personally experienced any issues with these two or with Dayuse myself

  • vectorvector

    @sage91436 Thanks for the suggestions!

  • [Deleted User]CharlesInWI (deleted user)

    The “You Had One Job” test got a legitimate grim chuckle out of me.

    So, sorry for your bad experience, but thank you for the humor and turn of phrase!

    I’m absolutely stealing that!

  • vectorvector

    :+1:

  • AllAboutSoulAllAboutSoul

    I've checked Dayuse for various areas, and it's never even a close contender for Orbitz or Hotwire.

  • w8ed_blanketw8ed_blanket

    @vector Was this for your first hosting cuddle you mentioned a few days ago? Was the cuddle session able to happen in the end or is it for a later time?

  • MeltMyWayMeltMyWay

    @vector You’re welcome :)

  • vectorvector

    @w8ed_blanket Thank you for remembering my scenario! Nice to feel seen. Fortunately in that area one cannot walk three steps without tripping over another hotel, so I was able to book alternative last-minute accommodation. Paid through the nose for it, but oh well.

    The cuddler I booked was a consummate professional and delightful company (not sure what the etiquette here is about naming names). Many five-dollar words were employed in the glowing karma I left for her.

  • w8ed_blanketw8ed_blanket

    @vector Hah, well I thought you had a very considerate topic, so I thought your name looked familiar. And yes, I would lean on being safe and not disclose identity unless given permission to do so.

    And yay! I'm super happy you had a great time!! Always love seeing success stories.

  • calintzcalintz

    If that is in your budget, Hilton offers discounted rooms under their Hilton Workspaces program.

  • vectorvector

    Yes, based on some of the threads on this forum I am extremely fortunate to have already had a cuddling session a week after joining this site and notwithstanding that my profile is bare-ass blank. I made sure to let my cuddler know of my appreciation of her leap of faith.

  • [Deleted User]Mman (deleted user)

  • vectorvector

    On point. It's amazing how far we haven't come even with 30 years of advancement in logistics and information systems and the general professionalization of industry.

  • [Deleted User]solo80 (deleted user)

    Thank you everyone for the heads up was eyeing them for some time. I typically host from a Airbnb.

  • TheFunCartelTheFunCartel

    There is always a lag between search engines and availability at hotel chains. The devil is in the disclaimers on Dayuse and other search engines. It is never a guaranteed reservation. If you want a guarantee call the hotel directly and speak with the general manager.

  • CuddleWhoCuddleWho
    edited June 2023

    FWIW I've never had this problem when using dayuse.com (granted I've only used it maybe 6 times), but I have had it when booking directly with a hotel. Personally I'm not sure whether dayuse is the real problem here, or if hotels in general don't feel obligated to honor reservations regardless of where they came from.

  • vectorvector

    @CuddleWho Dayuse is definitely part of the problem. Comically I can't leave a review of the hotel on dayuse because the hotel didn't let me check in. If users whose reservations were dishonored were allowed to review the offending hotel, this one would be downrated to hell, and people would know to stay away. Regardless of whether this is by design or an oversight, the way this is set up is 100% dayuse.

  • TxTomTxTom
    edited June 2023

    I've always dealt directly with the hotel.

    I like to stay at Holiday Inn Express (probably because of their hot, breakfast buffet). I'm not familiar with any reservation apps, so although I may be paying a bit more reserving thru the hotel, I've never had a problem and a room is always available for me.

    As far as rental cars, I always reserve the cheapest, smallest, knees-in-the-chest compact car available a week or two in advance. The day of, it never fails, they don't have my reserved car available. They try to sweet talk me into upgrading at a discounted rate. But no, I hold firm. Within minutes, they cave and I get a free size upgrade.

  • frankparker9frankparker9

    There are a number of these sites. I’ve used hotelsbyday.com and bookadayroom.com . A google search will bring them all up on page 1. Usually they work, but YMMV. Maybe some are better than others. Unapologetic hotel desk people is the worst! Sorry that happened!

  • cuddlefaerycuddlefaery
    edited June 2023

    Hi, former hotel management here 👋 worked in hotels for most of my life and doing my best to stay out of that industry now lol 😅

    Any time you book through a 3rd party (Expedia, Booking.com, DayUse, etc.) the risk of issues increases for a number of reasons:

    1. It's a bit like playing telephone - the hotel tells the 3rd party what is available, the 3rd party decides how to present that to potential customers as "deals" - often changing room descriptions and setting their own cancellation policy that overrides the hotel's, the guest tells the 3rd party what they want via booking, the 3rd party tells the hotel what the guest wants - but often screws it up because systems often don't talk to each other perfectly so things get lost in translation, so the hotel tries to interpret as best as they can. Things like placement and early check-in requests often never get communicated.
    2. 3rd parties frequently sell room types that don't in fact exist - they'll sell standardized, generic rooms (what the industry calls flow-through rooms) that the hotel can assign to any room type as long as it meets the minimum requirements. Thus, 3rd parties end up often booking ADA and smoking rooms as they're the cheapest and last available without telling the guest that is what they will be getting.
    3. Any issues having to do with the reservation have to go through the 3rd party - the hotel cannot make changes or it runs the risk of the 3rd party refusing to pay. Usually these reservations come to the hotel with one-time use virtual credit cards (the guest pays the 3rd party, the 3rd party pays the hotel so that the 3rd party keeps their commission) so changing the original reservation would invalidate the card. This means having to call the 800 number for the 3rd party, which is often an overseas call center with someone who knows absolutely nothing about the hotel. The 3rd party will talk to the guest, then have to call the hotel, and the game of back and forth telephone continues with more chances of miscommunication and everything taking much longer than it should.
    4. The best deals on 3rd party sites are usually non-refundable, non-cancelable as they are prepaid. Guests often miss the fine print on this and get upset when they show up and they are assigned the wrong room type, or their requests didn't come through, and there's absolutely nothing they or the hotel can do without incurring full fees.
    5. DayUse is a relatively new phenomenon and while it is great for slow days at hotels, it has potential to be a nightmare after busy nights or if guests are slow to check out. Hotels cannot force guests to leave early so that early check-ins can be moved in, and a guest that paid full rate for a full night and already in-house is absolutely going to have priority over someone only coming for a few hours.

    This hotel DID drop the ball in that they should have contacted any DayUse guaranteed early arrivals to let them know they were not going to be able to accommodate them on time as soon as they were aware of the problem - but perhaps they were banking on someone checking out before you got there. It also sounds like potentially DayUse never sent the reservation over or there was some other miscommunication, because they DO happen frequently when 3rd parties are involved. While it's not impossible that the hotel staff lied about the missing reservation, I also know how frequently 3rd parties eff up or the systems just don't talk to each other properly.

    In case it wasn't apparent, hotel staff very much have a love-hate relationship with 3rd party sites. They're amazing when things are slow, but when things go wrong they can go epically wrong and trying to explain the situation to upset guests NEVER goes well because we're the ones in front of them left holding the pieces.

    My best advice is:

    • whenever possible, book directly with the hotel
    • ALWAYS call the hotel directly to confirm your reservation at least 24 hours in advance
    • Call the hotel again before you head to check-in to ensure your room will be ready - especially if you are checking in early or have special requests
    • If you are booking through a 3rd party, make sure to read all the fine print and save or write down their customer service number and your confirmation number (it will be different than the one the hotel has)
    • if something goes wrong during your check-in, try to remember that the person in front of you very likely had nothing to do with the mistake. Take a deep breath, speak calmly, stick to the facts, and listen to them fully before you respond. They are there to help you and understand how frustrating these situations are - believe me, they'll be frustrated as well. The calmer and kinder you can be, the easier it'll be for you to work together to find a solution, whether it be delaying your check-in a bit, making a new reservation, booking elsewhere, etc. I've always gone out of my way to help customers who did their best to remain calm despite stress.

    I hope this bit of insight helps. I know all too well how much this situation sucks, from both sides of the counter. Hopefully you'll be able to find a better hotel/method of booking that works for you in the future.

  • vectorvector

    @cuddlefaery I always appreciate getting to learn some inside baseball, thank you.

  • pmvinespmvines

    Used it once and wasn't a big fan . In the end my cuddle friend and I wanted more time together so even if we weren't planning to sleep over i wish we had simply paid for the night so we could have the freedom to leave when we wanted.

  • AllAboutSoulAllAboutSoul

    @pmvines I usually pick a hotel that has a breakfast buffet.

  • pmvinespmvines
    edited June 2023

    @AllAboutSoul I'm a Hilton boy so yeah, kinda spoiled on the breakfast part

  • cuddlefaerycuddlefaery
    edited June 2023

    @pmvines @AllAboutSoul Having grown up in hotels (my mom started working in them when I was 10, I started working at the one she managed when I was 16, eventually went on to management myself until burnout lol), my favorite breakfast of the brands is definitely Hilton.... But I still prefer indie B&B's hands down even if they're a little more run down or don't have all the perks.

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