Business travelers outraged by Swisscom WiFi ripoff at hotels
I thought this old post from 2004 about Swisscom Eurospot’s outrageously priced and lousy hotel Wi-Fi service would be long forgotten and recede into the mists of time. Unfortunately it has not. Today the article got a comment from Ed:
I travel for work in Europe and I cannot stand the extortionist SwissCom rates. I am currently in Vienna at the Hilton StadtPark and just paid 22 Euros for their economy 24 hour internet usage. Even at that price the internet is so slow that I may as well be using dial up!!
Apparently, hotels like the Hilton are still charging very high prices for WiFi in Europe. My advice to travelers: write to the managers of the hotels or better yet, demand to talk to them in person and tell them this is not acceptable and that you will stay in another hotel, one that actually provides free WiFi.
In boutique hotels, they do not charge for WiFi. I run Mapplr.com, a website that reviews boutique hotels (as well as luxury B&Bs and apartments) and restaurants worldwide and I can say that in all the boutique hotels I’ve stayed in, they NEVER charge for WiFi. Not only that, the WiFi service is fast.
Wanted: free, good WiFi at hotels
A recent survey carried out by Devicescape (maker of EasyWiFi) showed the importance of free, good WiFi at hotels. Of the people they surveyed:
What surprises me is that many chain hotels like the Hilton still charge a lot of money for WiFi and very often, the service is poor. During these difficult economic times hotels cannot afford to anger their customers so people should complain and carry out their threats to stay in hotels that offer better service.
Download the survey from Devicescape. They publish one every quarter.
Related posts:
Travelers shocked by high Wi-Fi prices in Europe
Related posts:
Loading ...
Have set up #hotelwifishame as a twitter tag – both as a space to document this and also part experiment with BBC World’s Fast Track programme http://bit.ly/tG5Sb
I experience the same at a hotel in UK.
I am actually updating my lists that I publish of hotels that charge for internet. Do you have a list of these hotels? Especially Holiday Inn Express’!
thanks.
Hi,
dont believe this, hotels who do not charge up front you can believe they are charging it in your room rate. I have worked in this industry for 8 yrs and there is no hotel who does not charge you in some way for providing this service.
Paul,
You better believe it. Travelers are now compiling lists of hotels that charge for WiFi and are passing around these lists so that those hotels will be avoided. Therefore the hotels where Swisscom charges for WiFi are at a distinct disadvantage. Today when travelers are very careful with their money, hotels can ill afford to piss them off. Charging 30 EUR per day is outrageous, 5 EUR is acceptable.
Of course hotels work in the price of WiFi in the room rate like they do with water, electricity, upkeep, maid service, etc. But hotels do not charge me extra for maids or water. By the way, there are hotels that have very reasonable room rates, beautiful interiors and good service that do NOT charge for WiFi.
Esme