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"In October, the F.C.C. fined Marriott $600,000 for preventing customers from using their own Wi-Fi devices at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center
by notthemessiah 12y ago
"In October, the F.C.C. fined Marriott $600,000 for preventing customers from using their own Wi-Fi devices at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville. The commission said the hotel was charging people attending and exhibiting at a conference $250 to $1,000 per device to connect to the hotel-operated Wi-Fi service. Previously, the F.C.C. prohibited Boston’s Logan International Airport from blocking Wi-Fi networks set up by airline clubs."
It's pretty heavily implied by the article that this it intended to prevent circumvention of exorbitant rates.
- eli 12y agoAnd also that it's intended for conference exhibitors, where exorbitant rates for every little additional thing in a booth is part of the deal. A $100 wastepaper basket, for example. Now, if it were up to me they would just price the booths at a fair price per square foot rather than try to make a profit on "extras."
- vinceguidry 12y agoYou tend to find this kind of pricing structure in industries where consumers don't want to pay fair up-front prices. Transportation, Keurigs, video games, phone apps, to some extent wireless cell service. You're forced to provide basic access to your service at rates that don't allow you to make a real profit. So you try to make it up in extras. Customers mumble and grouse, try to get by on the minimum level of service, but it's really their fault. You don't have to pay the exorbitant extras, when I fly, I find the lowest fare I can find and limit myself to a small bag with the bare essentials. I do my homework. I don't mind it at all because I'm getting a service I want at a lower price, that I might not have been able to afford otherwise. Capitalism is wonderful.