Protea Hotels
Exploitation of customer in desperate circumstance

I broke down on the N1 en route to Jhb late Sun afternoon. Roadside assistance was unable to repair the vehicle and towed me to Bloemfontein. While they attempted the repair, I searched online for O/N accom in Bloem should I need it, but was in a very remote area with v poor internet access, & google search & Safarinow both continually timed out. I don't know Bloem at all but reckoned there would be a Protea or City Lodge, so rather than relying on search i went to these web pages. City Lodge could not load, so I tried Protea, as a trusted brand. I phoned and a room was available. I just about died when she told me the rate -R1499 - for a single bed. I accept that there are cheaper options - there is a Sun 1 next door that is R430 per room. But stuck on the N1 with limited connectivity I had no means to search for alternatives, and I trusted Protea. The final straw was when I discovered this was a room-only rate. For R1500 they couldn't throw in breakfast?! I feel very exploited as a customer & will never use Protea again. Had I been a corporate or agent I'd have been offered a good rate for loyalty, but as a lone customer in need I paid full rack rate, which I can ill afford.

Company: Protea Hotels
Country: South Africa
City: Bloemfontein

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