I spoke to both David & Michael this morning. Both have expressed their sincere apologies and were very professional in the discussion. I can tell you the following things:
*There was an error in the computer system with my room block that was booked prior to the dates being announced for this year. When they fixed this, it did force some of the double rooms to be canceled. I cannot relocate the bands because of the proximity to the hotel, etc. It did not cause all of the bumps though.
*Some of the bumps happen ever year. All hotels do overbook to a certain extent due to the attrition numbers. Is that right? That's not for me to answer. Last year, they had 15 rooms cancel over the last few months leading up to the festival. If they had not booked the additional, they would have lost quite a bit of money (and in turn, that affects my budget). This year, they have had hardly any cancellations. I believe everyone can see examples of this because people are booking rooms at different hotels and canceling them for whatever reason (not referring to the Artmore, but other hotels). There have been numerous threads confirming this.
*The Artmore decided to be proactive this year in regards to these bumps instead of waiting till the last minute. Regardless of how I feel about the bumps, I do feel this is the right thing to do. It gives people the chance to make alternative plans instead of scrambling at the last minute. Instead of putting people miles away as they have done in the past, they have secured rooms at the Residence Inn at rates anywhere from $20-$50 less than what they are charging the regular public that booked their first.
*Once again, I do not like what happened anymore than you do. However, I do feel that the Artmore has stepped up, admitted things up front, and did their very best to rectify the situation.
*I did express my concerns over 2010. I have been given assurances that my room block is already in the system now (as opposed to what happened this year). The number of available rooms will increase because we are the only ones that will be allowed to book the hotel starting on the Saturday. I know that the Artmore is taking this situation very seriously and I do believe they will everything under control for next year.
*There was an error in the computer system with my room block that was booked prior to the dates being announced for this year. When they fixed this, it did force some of the double rooms to be canceled. I cannot relocate the bands because of the proximity to the hotel, etc. It did not cause all of the bumps though.
*Some of the bumps happen ever year. All hotels do overbook to a certain extent due to the attrition numbers. Is that right? That's not for me to answer. Last year, they had 15 rooms cancel over the last few months leading up to the festival. If they had not booked the additional, they would have lost quite a bit of money (and in turn, that affects my budget). This year, they have had hardly any cancellations. I believe everyone can see examples of this because people are booking rooms at different hotels and canceling them for whatever reason (not referring to the Artmore, but other hotels). There have been numerous threads confirming this.
*The Artmore decided to be proactive this year in regards to these bumps instead of waiting till the last minute. Regardless of how I feel about the bumps, I do feel this is the right thing to do. It gives people the chance to make alternative plans instead of scrambling at the last minute. Instead of putting people miles away as they have done in the past, they have secured rooms at the Residence Inn at rates anywhere from $20-$50 less than what they are charging the regular public that booked their first.
*Once again, I do not like what happened anymore than you do. However, I do feel that the Artmore has stepped up, admitted things up front, and did their very best to rectify the situation.
*I did express my concerns over 2010. I have been given assurances that my room block is already in the system now (as opposed to what happened this year). The number of available rooms will increase because we are the only ones that will be allowed to book the hotel starting on the Saturday. I know that the Artmore is taking this situation very seriously and I do believe they will everything under control for next year.
