Savoy Suites, Noida and Wifi/ Networking hassles

I've already blogged about the travelguru / Savoy room reservation fiasco.

Another interesting (it didn't feel that way then) was the wi-fi access.

I was in room/suite 302 (don't take this room if you go to this place, and want wi-fi ). This one is tucked away at the corner of the building. Getting into the room - which is very nice by the way, I saw a placard displaying rates for a wifi access with 256 kbps downstream internet access speed.

It was something like Rs. 400 (about $8) for 12 hrs of usage. I called up reception, and he readily created an id for me, and asked me to logon to an ISP's (BharatNet.net) website, and enter my username/password.

That sounded fine - but my laptop wasn't seeing that wireless network. It was seeing a couple of password protected networks in the neighbouring buildings, but no Bharat net. I told this to the reception. By the time all this happened, it was around 12:00 am. He hooked me upto the tech guy, and the guy asked me the usual troubleshooting questions.

Finally, he said I could use a cable and use the port in the ante room of the suite. I wasn't too inclined to sit anywhere other than the bedroom where I was comfortably watching TV. The ante room too, has a TV. But I figured out quickly it was for display only. It wasn't hooked upto anything. :)

The tech guy says "I'll call you back in 10 minutes sir" . This was around 12:15 am.

I waited and finally went to sleep around 1 am.

The next night, the same story went on from about 10pm to 12:00 am. Then I relented and asked the guy to send me a cable, and that I'd sit in the other room and surf. I really needed to check mails at the office, in case any fires were on.

The network cable came, and I was connected. I went to the ISP's portal and logged in. It logged me in, welcomed me. But even after 15 min.. no access to the internet. I was thinking it will probably enable the required gateways to give me access.. but no. So I call back the front desk and he says 'oh sir, power outage.. even we've lost the internet connection. If you wait for 10 -15 min more, it should be on'. You'll probably guess what happened next - again I waited till 1 am and went to sleep.

The third night.. I briefly tried to see if something was on. It wasn't. So, I just called up the reception, and told him I finally didn't get any connection. That the wireless access points probably didn't have the range to reach this room. He was again sorry, and apologized for the inconvenience, etc. I also reminded him that since I didn't have even 1 minute of internet access, he definitely shouldn't be charging me for it.

He almost sounded hurt that I should even bother to make that suggestion. Something to the effect of "Of course not, Sir. We're very sorry for the inconvenience caused, and we definitely wouldn't be charging you for this!" came loud and clear through the phone.

Next morning, I checked out and was presented the bill at the front desk. They had charged me for the wi-fi internet access.

A deep breath later, I spoke .. and pretty calmly. There again were a lot of 'of course sir' , "we're sorry sir's .. and a new checkout statement was generated without the charges.

I bid them goodbye and walked out to haggle with the autorickshaw guys.

Travel Guru.. Savoy Suites Noida, and high tech..

On the same trip that I had my wonderful MakeMyTrip.com experience, I booked my hotel through TravelGuru.com. I was impressed that I could indicate that I'd pay with cash. They would send somebody home to collect the cash. True enough, somebody came in a couple of days and picked up the Rs. 22,664 ($480) for 3 nights at the Savoy Suites in sector 16 at Noida.

The hotel was nice and all, but just before I set out to my room, the chap at the counter says 'Sir, you're checking out on the 17th ? '.

I almost nod and walk off (like I usually do), but for some unfathomable reason my brain works on that right away, and issues me a warning.

"No, I'm supposed to be checking out on the 18th.... so I'm staying 17th night too.." I say.

"No, Sir, we don't have any vacancies for the 17th" says he with a smile.

"Well, you've taken money from me for 3 days and here's the booking.. " I return the smile while handing over the document. "Why don't you call the TravelGuru guys and sort this out? They have this in their system ? "

He looks at it .. " Ok, Sir. We'll find out about this and let you know by tomorrow about this". Again with a smile. Charmed by that, I nod and trod away to the room.

As you may have guessed, this exchange of smiles continues the next morning, evening, and the morning following that. Each guy repeating the same things. I'm now feeling like I'm in Groundhog day. And its becoming real hard to keep up the Bill Murray charm.

The second night - when I'm being asked to vacate the next morning for sure, I think its time to probe this a little more. Clearly, " please call Travelguru and sort this out" wasn't working.

I ask, "Can you please show me your transaction from Travelguru that says this reservation is for 2 days, instead of 3 days like I see it? "

"No transaction sir.. " the kid at the desk says "..Gurmeet" .

I almost walked away from desk right there. You see I have a history with guys named Gurmeet - they all seem to be intent on wrecking my life. More about it sometime later.

But walking around the next night in stinky Noida looking for a "Sir ke oopar ek chuth (a roof on my head)" wasn't exactly looking like a fun thing either.

So, I will myself to go on : " Gurmeet? What about Gurmeet? "

He shows me a piece of paper "Gurmeet, sir. He took down your reservation as 2 nights, checking out on 17th"

Now I realize I deserve a slap from Edward De Bono to be carrying my assumptions for so long. "Wait a minute. You mean TravelGuru.com just calls you and you guys write down the reservation on a piece of paper? "

"Yes sir" he says with an eyebrow raised that seemed to say "What else? Use the computer?"

"You mean they have no clue about your vacancies? Your systems have no hookup/linkup? "

"No sir" the smile comes back on his face. The accompanying thought may have been "Where is this duffer from?"

"You don't even have an SMS or anything from them about the booking?"

"No sir" the smile is still there, as he tries to help me "but you don't worry sir. We'll take care of you"

My feeble brain starts to get confused as to which train of thought to follow up on. But I falter on

" But your Gurmeet could have just taken it down wrong. I'm sure Travelguru has this on their systems. Look at the printout... "

He nods understandingly "I understand, sir. But we have no vacancies right now. If one opens up tomorrow, you're the highest priority sir" .

".. And don't worry sir, we'll take care of you" he adds.

I finally take the bait " What do you mean by that? If you say you have no vacancies, do you mean you'll hook me up with some other hotel nearby?"

"No sir" he shakes his head "..but you are our guest, and we'll make sure you are fine"

Flattered but still as flustered, I struggle deciding which direction I should go now. He helps me out. "You see, a lady is checking out tomorrow. But she wants to check out in the evening by 7 only. I will ask her if she can checkout on time"

He calls her. "Ma'am, since we have other guests who need the room, I will have to charge you a full day's rent for the room..." There's more squawking from the other side.. and finally he says " Sir, I will get back to you later. She'll let me know in 10 min "

I say "You see this can't wait any longer. I need to know now if I need to start hunting around for another hotel"

His smile continues as he repeats how he 'understands' the situation. And also repeats the 'take care of you' line. That damn Garnier ad, I'm thinking.

I say "I'll come back after an hour. You figure out by then whats the situation".

He nods.

When I walk upto him later on, he's again smiling the 'I understand sir' smile.

"Sir, the lady is angry with me. She says she won't come to this hotel again if I charge her for overstaying. And she doesn't want to vacate before 7 or 8 pm"

This is a problem I could solve. I say "Thats ok. I come back after 9pm. So, I'm perfectly ok with her staying that late, so long as you'll give me the room by the time I come "

His smile widens "Ok sir. Then we can manage this. It will take us only 15 minutes to clean the room"

I ask "So, what will be the room number tomorrow?"

He says " No problem, sir. You can stay in your room. We'll manage"

That confused me, but I just nodded my understanding at his understanding, and walked to my room.

Sure enough the next day I remained in my room, and my problem was mysteriously solved. So, clearly the lady leaving the room late wasn't an issue independent of me.

So, what really was the problem?

MakeMyTrip.com - part 2

I'd previously talked about my Makemytrip.com experience for domestic travel booking. I was just thinking that their system wasn't showing my bookings coz it wasn't updated right - as it was saying it had charged my card.

The truth was far more interesting. I finally got a person on the phone the next day. It turns out, the message was wrong. My tickets weren't booked at all !

So, I ask about why the message was the opposite. I also mentioned that I was using an international card. She says ' Sir, we now have a new option for an international card when you pick the card type. You can't pick 'visa/mastercard' though it maybe that. Please re-do your booking with the international card option'.

True enough, I went online and chose that option and the booking went through. I was able to see my booking, and even print the e-tickets.

And to my relief, at the airport counter the agent did let me into the airplane - both the to and fro journeys. :)

So, makeMyTrip, thanks for a weekend trip filled with phone calls and unresolved fears, with a Rs. 22,000 hotel booking in place but no airtickets to match that.

MakeMyTrip.com experience

I previously have booked international flights once through MakeMyTrip.com, and the experience was real nice. I got somebody on the phone, she got me a better deal for Lufthansa than the one at the Lufthansa website, the booking was done, the phone service was prompt, and I had no hitches throughout.

Booking a domestic trip to Delhi was a different experience altogether.

Calling them, they say 'for domestic travel, press 1' . And when I do, they say 'please book online at makemytrip.com' and hang up on you. Without a word of apology/explanation or anything.

Well, I thought..and went online. Unlike travelguru, these guys atleast take credit cards that are of international origin.

At the last page of booking after evading the travel insurance potholes, I see the option to sign in, or go without it. I say to myself ' I'll probably be doing this again, so let me create an account'. I look for a link to create an account and continue with my transaction. None.

Then I think 'ok, they expect desis to be smarter ', and started a different browser, created an account, and tried to sign on.

Maybe I was too slow creating an account, but they throw up a 'session expired' message and throw me back to the homepage.

Ok, I login and start the booking all over again. They take my mobile phone number, credit card .. and take me to the final page.

The final page doesn't even say 'your booking was successful'. Instead, the first message I see is

"You have previously attempted to make a booking with similar details. To avoid making a duplicate booking, kindly call our Customer Support team at 1-800-11 8747 (MTNL & BSNL) or 1-800 102 8747 (All Major Operators) and quote your MakeMyTrip Booking ID : FLTXXXXXXXX. Thank you."

I was thinking .. "you guys expired the session on me, don't you know that ? Or can't you know that? "

I go ahead and call them and get through after N tries.

There, I'm asked to enter the last 4 digits of my booking id. I do.

Then the voice says 'you're calling from a different phone than the number you've given us. For security reasons, we must have the number you gave us'.

I take a deep breath, but think 'ok .. security reasons.. good'. And enter my mobile number. The voice says 'sorry ..invalid number, please try again'. I try with the '91' prefix. No use - same error. It even repeats back to me my mobile number I entered (which was correct). In fact, the webpage also shows me the number I entered - correctly.

After N tries, and saying 'does not match', it says connecting to an operator.

This was really trying. But I want to make sure my booking is correct/valid. So I wait. While I wait .. I start keying this blog. This entry has come to an end after 30 minutes. The music on the phone is still on.

I go back to the 'error' page. I read on more.. and it turns out it may not be an error page after all.

I see "You will be able to view the details of your E-Ticket online in your account in the next 30 minutes."

I also see "The amount of Rs. 11468 has been charged to , Bangalore . Mobile number: <> ."

Hm.. I think. Maybe I can hang up after all .. or should I make sure?

The music is still on the phone - Kenny G is repeating the first 2 lines of Breathless - playing with a passion he's never before played. He stops at random points and restarts .. I don't mind that. But I do need to hang up if I don't want to have Kenny G nightmares. So, Makemytrip - you win, you have defeated me.

Part of me is really curious. Maybe I can keep this on speaker phone and really see if they ever answer my call. How long will it be ? 1 hr ? 2 hrs ? 5 hrs ? That would be a cool number to put on the blog. And probably a world record to be on the phone support line of any company.

But I finally hang up.. while the sax is screeching on a particularly passionate high note. Hopefully Kenny G hasn't done any lasting damage to my surviving few grey cells.

Final thoughts:

This is India's top travel portal. They're raking in a lot of money owing to the marketing, and probably good prices.

But can't anybody with deep pockets and a little more customer orientation do a much better job than these jokers? If they did, make my trip would probably pick a more suitable profession like 'make my kabab' or 'make my bread' or something.

Update: The matter didn't end here. Click for part 2