Orbitz recently admitted to showing visitors to their site from a Mac computer higher priced hotel rooms. Through their research, they have found that Mac owners are willing to pay 40% more for four and five star hotel rooms, so they start your search with rooms with a premium price. You will have to drill down in your search to find a more reasonably priced room.
Wow, thanks for letting me know. I always knew that companies used demographic information (such as what websites you visit), but I had no idea that they are even using your computer information to make judgments about you and get you to spend more money. It's frustrating! It makes me wonder if they keep history of college students visiting home, for example, then hike up the prices to the city. I know it's making a profit, but it's also borderline evil.
Whoa, that's one of the craziest things I have ever heard! I have a Mac so this is good to know, I will make it a point not to use Orbitz at all anymore because of this. That's pretty shady of them!
I guess that's because people who pay for Mac's are more likely to waste money. The Mac is overpriced in my opinion, and if they pay extra for a room then a person with a PC then so be it. I'm sure they feel like they don't have to purchase anything at discount price because they have so much money. I'm happy with getting a deal, so I'll stick with my PC.
Am I the only one that believes this practice is just shameful? You should have access to all opportunities no matter what type of computer you have. Its almost like discrimination. I am sure there are Windows Users that would like a luxury vacation and a mac user that may be on a budget sometimes.
No, you are not the only one that thinks this is shameful. I think so, too! That is just terrible that a major company thinks it needs to do that. It makes me wonder if it is more than just Orbitz doing this kind of profiling.
Woah, that's terrible! How have they gotten away with that for this long? I agree that Mac computers are generally overpriced when you can get the same quality from a regular PC at a lower price, though there are benefits. Still, that doesn't necessarily mean that people with a Mac don't deserve the same deals a PC owner gets. In this economy, everyone is looking for lower prices and better deals. That's just shady and underhanded. Like dissn_it, it makes me wonder about other companies.
As far as they are concerned, they aren't preventing you from getting the same deals...it's just on you to do a little more searching within the site to find those deals. They believe that they are just giving you the top quality rooms and rates that you so clearly prefer. I'm sure that there are many companies that are doing this and it will just be a matter before they are found out.
I read about this yesterday on my favorite tech news site. It's absolutely shameful. I smell a class action suit coming and it would be completely justified.
I think they would be able to get out of a suit because you would, (or at least, I'd make sure my attorneys insisted this,) have to find the other rooms in the city you were looking for that was cheaper than the rooms you chose. I'd think you'd also have to prove that they were comparable in every way, room size, amenities, distance to the main attractions, ratings, etc. There will be someone looking for a way to sue, but they probably have some loopholes that they've been waiting to use for moments of exposure like this.
That is very interesting to see! Kind of terrible that companies, which have a good reputation, have resorted to this kind of targeting!
Well, you have to think about it all the way through. Do these companies have a good reputation because they've never before resorted to this kind of thing? Or, do they have a good reputation because they've never before been caught resorting to this kind of thing? All companies do target researching, so it's not that new or even that underhanded. When people are selling things, they start with the best and you have to work them down to what you are willing to pay.
