• New York Times , Tuesday, November 4, 2008 10:45 AM

Yesterday, we wrote about some boneheaded airline employees who had not gotten the memo about everyone in the enterprise needing to be on the same page as a "brand ambassador." Seems like it's a contagion in travel and hospitality sector.

Joe Sharkey's "On the Road" column this morning tells the story of an attorney for a prominent Memphis law firm, a duly vetted and fully vested member of the Hilton HHonors program, who tried to move a reservation back one day. He was told that although rooms were available, well, basically it was going to be too much hassle.

A couple of Alice-in-Hiltonland dialogues with a reservations clerk and an HHonors rep ensued, but the bottom line is that Hilton lost a good customer. And how sweet it must have felt to say, "And, furthermore, I'm canceling all future reservations for my entire 21-person firm."

Read the whole story at New York Times »