Strike One for Lodging and Flash Sales

We've all seen the discussions about using flash sites. The best article I've found as a reference is this one, featuring hospitality journalist/blogger Adam Kirby. Still, I don't think the travel industry or any others should write off such flash sales entirely, as suggested by many. They should instead respect these deals for what they are and make good use of them as a marketing tool.

But to really understand how these flash sales work and how my industry can use such a promotional tool, I should try it out as a consumer, right? Of course! Thankfully, I received multiple opportunities in December 2010 and booked a couple that offered seriously deep discounts. They both offered plenty of time to book a reservation, so I was merely awaiting a change in weather and more free time to plan my trips, perhaps even as a combo since they were both in the same part of the state.

But all has not gone according to plan.... I received an email from groupon earlier today notifying me that my purchase from a dude ranch in southeastern AZ would be refunded due to a problem with the deal. From reading the discussion page on groupon's site, I gathered that they had overbooked the ranch and were immediately getting rid of the offer.... "sorry for any inconvenience."

As a hospitality industry professional and experienced traveler/yelper, I can't help but be critical of the ranch's handling of this situation. There's already been a great deal of controversy within the hospitality industry about utilizing flash sales like Groupon (and a weak consensus thinks it's always a bad idea). But these guys decided to do it anyway, offering an amazing discount and making too many groupons available, which resulted in the ranch being overwhelmed. Not good, but it's an understandable mistake and groupon deserves part of the blame for not foreseeing this eventuality. Now it's time to make things right.

If they want happy customers, the dude ranch should clearly explain what happened and offer customers a choice. I know that I was pleased enough with the deal that I'd opt for a rain check; others may want to cancel, in which case perhaps they should also receive a peace offering like a percent-off future stay coupon. In this case, we would all at least know what's happening and have some say in how we can each be made whole by the ranch's mistake -- we might even sympathize and become more loyal followers of the business.

Instead, I predict much resentment for this dude ranch as a result of the "sorry, but here's your money back," email. Many, like me, were probably trying a dude ranch for the first time and could indeed become repeat customers, especially given the proximity of this one. It is somewhat isolated, but near a single major feeder market (and not too far from a couple others), so I'd argue that the flash sale might have prompted a desirable outcome for the ranch. I somewhat doubt that this will now be the case. Bummer. Next!