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Shame on Motel 6 for not being transparent. But as a counter-point to how much hotels will cooprate with agencies, most hotels will also cooprate with their gu

Shame on Motel 6 for not being transparent. But as a counter-point to how much hotels will cooprate with agencies, most hotels will also cooprate with their guests. You would be surprised what you can "get away with" if you're polite to front-desk staff. I've never given my license plate to hotels despite it being on many forms - I always just ask if I can leave it blank - sometimes they say it's their policy to ask for it, and I always ask if I can leave it blank, and a smile later and it's still blank. (Similarly, you can almost always get a suite upgrade by being nice to the front desk agent checking you in and by slipping a $20 when you first walk up. This also works for rental cars - I got a $30/day mustang once by giving the guy a $20. Saved like $1,000.) People with questionable immigration status may not be quite so daring or wish to raise suspicion by asking for exceptions, but it also kinda goes without saying that leaving any sort of paper-trail if you're proverbially on the lam is probably best avoided. edit: I realize this isn't about license-plates and neglecting to give an ID to a hotel may be harder, but my point is that you may be surprised at how lenient most policies are.

eli 9y ago
Sending ICE a list of people with "Latino sounding" names is a much bigger problem than just a lack of transparency
- ryanianian 9y ago
  You're right - shame on Motel 6 for being dirtbags and for not being transparent about being dirtbags.
- gnu8 9y ago
  I wonder if there would be a way to DoS them by sending phony lists with tens of thousands of machine generated latino sounding names.
  - talmand 9y ago
    I'm sure there would be if you're willing to be on the hook for a series of potential felonies.
  - TallGuyShort 9y ago
    Just this morning there was a discussion on HN about how the only way to deal with the mountain of laws that don't make sense anymore is to selectively stop enforcing them. I can guarantee you've inadvertently violated the letter of some law somewhere several times today, despite being (I assume) a generally good person. So ask yourself: how much are you willing to piss off a three-lettered agency regardless of the legality of that specific action?
    - whatshisface 9y ago
      In one HN thread I've seen one person is talking about the benefits of tipping officials, and another commenting on how we've all broken laws anyways and that prosecution is mainly based on not "pissing off" the government. When did my country become third-world?
      - a3n 9y ago
        We're all third world. The saying about individuals probably applies to governments and corporations: Power (or money) doesn't change you, it just reveals who you are.
      - TallGuyShort 9y ago
        Someone bribing a hotel clerk and Attorney General being in the news for talking about enforcing a law that hasn't been enforced in a while is a very far cry from the way police pull you over for arbitrary reasons and routinely expect bribes in some other countries. They can technically be phrased in similar ways, but the US is hardly on par with, say, Zimbabwe in terms of corruption. My point is that the federal government can really screw people over when it chooses to. I'd still choose to live here than in most third-world countries, though.
kcorbitt 9y ago
> (Similarly, you can almost always get a suite upgrade by being nice to the front desk agent checking you in and by slipping a $20 when you first walk up. This also works for rental cars - I got a $30/day mustang once by giving the guy a $20. Saved like $1,000.) Apologies if this comes across as apoplectic, but isn't that straight-up corruption? It's not as bad as similar behavior by a government official, of course, but it's still a principle-agent problem when an employee uses their position to enrich themselves instead of doing the job they're paid to do. It's one thing when a clerk upgrades you as a nice gesture, but by involving cash I feel like you're crossing a line.
- ryanianian 9y ago
  > but isn't that straight-up corruption? My understanding is that check-in agents are given pretty wide liberties and that doing this sort of thing isn't really against the rules - I even do this with clerks whose nametags say "Manager". Employees are encouraged to give above-average service to customers who will bring long-term value to the business, and a customer who treats the employees well with token-but-meaningful tips is a good customer. I tend to strongly prefer return-visits to companies whose employees have done such things for me. The trick doesn't always work - if no rooms are available or if they suspect they'll probably be able to sell the room at full-rate they don't oblige. This said, every agent has graciously apologized and returned the "tip" (=bribe) or given well above the $ worth of other kickbacks (restaurant vouchers, free wifi upgrades, etc.). For the company it makes sense : it doesn't cost much more for a guest to stay in a suite versus a regular room, and the extra wear on a "luxury" car doesn't cost that much more than the wear on an "economy" car. May as well give it to a customer who's showing appreciation and will likely be extremely happy with their service and probably come back.
- drunken-serval 9y ago
  > isn't that straight-up corruption? Some companies will also give you these things if you complain enough or yell at the staff until they give in. There's plenty of people who get free upgrades and products simply by yelling at people until they are given free things to go away.

eli 9y ago

Sending ICE a list of people with "Latino sounding" names is a much bigger problem than just a lack of transparency

ryanianian 9y ago
You're right - shame on Motel 6 for being dirtbags and for not being transparent about being dirtbags.
gnu8 9y ago
I wonder if there would be a way to DoS them by sending phony lists with tens of thousands of machine generated latino sounding names.
- talmand 9y ago
  I'm sure there would be if you're willing to be on the hook for a series of potential felonies.
- TallGuyShort 9y ago
  Just this morning there was a discussion on HN about how the only way to deal with the mountain of laws that don't make sense anymore is to selectively stop enforcing them. I can guarantee you've inadvertently violated the letter of some law somewhere several times today, despite being (I assume) a generally good person. So ask yourself: how much are you willing to piss off a three-lettered agency regardless of the legality of that specific action?
  - whatshisface 9y ago
    In one HN thread I've seen one person is talking about the benefits of tipping officials, and another commenting on how we've all broken laws anyways and that prosecution is mainly based on not "pissing off" the government. When did my country become third-world?
    - a3n 9y ago
      We're all third world. The saying about individuals probably applies to governments and corporations: Power (or money) doesn't change you, it just reveals who you are.
    - TallGuyShort 9y ago
      Someone bribing a hotel clerk and Attorney General being in the news for talking about enforcing a law that hasn't been enforced in a while is a very far cry from the way police pull you over for arbitrary reasons and routinely expect bribes in some other countries. They can technically be phrased in similar ways, but the US is hardly on par with, say, Zimbabwe in terms of corruption. My point is that the federal government can really screw people over when it chooses to. I'd still choose to live here than in most third-world countries, though.

kcorbitt 9y ago

> (Similarly, you can almost always get a suite upgrade by being nice to the front desk agent checking you in and by slipping a $20 when you first walk up. This also works for rental cars - I got a $30/day mustang once by giving the guy a $20. Saved like $1,000.) Apologies if this comes across as apoplectic, but isn't that straight-up corruption? It's not as bad as similar behavior by a government official, of course, but it's still a principle-agent problem when an employee uses their position to enrich themselves instead of doing the job they're paid to do. It's one thing when a clerk upgrades you as a nice gesture, but by involving cash I feel like you're crossing a line.

ryanianian 9y ago
> but isn't that straight-up corruption? My understanding is that check-in agents are given pretty wide liberties and that doing this sort of thing isn't really against the rules - I even do this with clerks whose nametags say "Manager". Employees are encouraged to give above-average service to customers who will bring long-term value to the business, and a customer who treats the employees well with token-but-meaningful tips is a good customer. I tend to strongly prefer return-visits to companies whose employees have done such things for me. The trick doesn't always work - if no rooms are available or if they suspect they'll probably be able to sell the room at full-rate they don't oblige. This said, every agent has graciously apologized and returned the "tip" (=bribe) or given well above the $ worth of other kickbacks (restaurant vouchers, free wifi upgrades, etc.). For the company it makes sense : it doesn't cost much more for a guest to stay in a suite versus a regular room, and the extra wear on a "luxury" car doesn't cost that much more than the wear on an "economy" car. May as well give it to a customer who's showing appreciation and will likely be extremely happy with their service and probably come back.
drunken-serval 9y ago
> isn't that straight-up corruption? Some companies will also give you these things if you complain enough or yell at the staff until they give in. There's plenty of people who get free upgrades and products simply by yelling at people until they are given free things to go away.