#customer-centered

[uxoftravel]

Beating Hotels at Their Own Game

AirBnB is shaking up the hotel industry in more ways than one. I propose that they are actually providing a better travel UX in many ways. Just take these three items:

1) Fewer lines and checkin/checkout procedures

With an AirBnb you typically interact directly with the property owner or manager. They have a very small number of guests to process each day, quite possibly only one. So the line is 1-long. Payment is pre-paid, so you don’t need to pay at the end, or get your receipt. Typically door access is by key code, or you informally leave the keys under the mat. A far cry from formal hotel checkout lines and putting an (old fashioned) paper receipt under your door.

2) Direct communication with guests

What hotel allows you to text the front desk? Which hotel will give you a personal reference for a private driver? What hotel texts you when your laundry is ready and gives tips on how to order food to your room? Both of my recent AirBnBs were quite prompt and chatty. Hotels could learn from this. “Dialing zero” is so old-school.

3) More privacy and room amenities

Most AirBnb’s don’t have daily cleaning - and that’s good - because how can you get an entire room dirty in one day? Cleaning by request, possibly every 3-4 days or even weekly would be fine. Less strangers wandering into the room and moving things around with possibly security risks. It’s also surprising how many “4-5 star” hotels don’t have simple room amenities such as fridges, freezers, free bottled water, and even microwaves. The “star system” needs to be scrapped and replaced with something relevant to typical customers.

[uxoftravel]

Product interfaces make it very clear how customer-centered companies really are, despite what their marketing departments claim. Some of these companies metaphorically have a billboard outside their offices reading “We don’t care what you think, just give us your money.” 

Google has made some dramatic improvements in this regard (after years of interfaces with no support options), and Uber is failing, just like we would expect. 

The last time I tried to contact Uber (while traveling in Peru, logging in via an American account) they responded to my English request in Spanish, and then refused to switch languages even after multiple requests.

In a similar experience, a friend recently had fraudulent activity on her ATT account. Three separate calls to support got redirected to the fraud department with 1.5 hour wait times each time - and this was for reporting fraud! Of course ATT doesn’t provide a way to digitally submit fraud reports to be entered into a queue, because that would open them to legal liability and show that they cared about customer’s time.

Overall product design clearly demonstrates corporate intentions and priorities, and it greatly affects the corporate brand - it’s not just about the logo you choose.