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Brian and team, who work for a digital marketing agency run this Digital Crosstalk blog.
Occasionally we might blog about companies and people we work with but for the most part we'll simply be blogging about stories and events which we find interesting.

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18th
AUG

Pricing error sees Venice hotel rooms offered at €0.01 a night

Posted by Brian | Filed under hotels

: Image via Wikipedia

It could have been the bargain of the decade but you had to be quick to take advantage of it! However, the deal was wholly unintentional and blamed on a computer error.

The Crowne Plaza Venice East Quarto D’Altino – a four-star hotel situated only 15 minutes by train from Venice – inadvertently offered rooms for the kingly ransom price of €0.01 – one euro cent, causing a stampede of bookings which filled the hotel until 2010 according to a report from NewsTin. Rooms at the hotel normally cost between €90 and €150 per night.

Before the error was recognised, the hotel had received the equivalent of 1400 room bookings on the night the rate appeared on the hotel’s website. The bogus rate was first believed to be the work of a hacker, but it was later found to be a case of simple human error at the offices of the hotel’s parent company in Atlanta, Georgia. The hotel is part of Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG).

However, the hotel is to be applauded despite it losing out on some €90,000 revenue as a result, and has committed to honouring the rate for those customers who hold a valid booking confirmation, although it was stated bookings would be non-transferable.

Perhaps other retailers should take note and consider honouring prices and rates quoted in error as a means to generate some positive PR?