"Show it to me again," said Komala Seekhao, the general manager at the San Rafael hotel.

Komala and Justin Yannett, the hotel's FOM and revenue manager, watched the 1 minute 45second YouTube video in which Ian, a desk agent at their hotel, politely, but increasingly adamantly, refuses to agree that a guest of the hotel had earned loyalty points in the hotel's frequent traveler program, despite having stayed in the hotel for five nights.

The video ended with the male guest facing his camera and saying:

Worst hotel ever. So when we checked out, we were told that we didn't earn any loyalty points for our fivenight stay. What the ... ? Why didn't they tell us that when we checked in? I think we got cheated, and that the people who run this hotel are all crooks!

"But how could he think they got cheated?" said Komala, "if he booked with us, then he would get the points."

"Well, that's just the thing," replied Justin, "he didn't book the room with us. He booked the room on ReserveIt.com. And all of our desk agents know that guests don't earn our frequent traveler program points if they don't book directly with us."

"So, Ian did the right thing," said Komala.

"Well, I guess so," said Justin, "but I'm not sure the three million viewers of this video since yesterday would agree with that."

Answer the following questions:

1. Unlike airlines, which award frequent flier miles even when tickets are purchased through a travel agent or a thirdparty booking site, most major hotel chains grant loyalty points only to guests who book directly with the hotel (either online or by phone). Do you think that is a good, or bad, booking policy for branded hotels? Explain your answer.
2. Regardless of your answer to the above question, what is the immediate challenge facing Komala and Justin?
3. What would you advise Komala and Justin to do now in response to this guest's posted video?
4. Write a sample comment that you would leave on this customer's you tube video and any actions you would take to address the issue