This is an actual screenshot from a well-known hotel booking site. Do you think this is a bug? And if so, why?
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Meta
Greetings,
Here’s what I’m thinking:
1) Bug – Because the company probably don’t want to make a discounted sale for one night?
2) Bug – Because the second night is shown as sold out when it isn’t?
3) Bug – Because if no first/second night is available as well, the room should be put on sale at the full price?
4) Bug – Sell at the discounted rate but remove the error message?
I’m struggling for ideas why it may not be a bug though
. I think my brain is fried after a tough month. Help anyone?
Vern
Probable specification error: if there is no way to sell the room for two nights it is probably better to sell it for one night than not at all.
However it may be that there are no cleaning staff on a Sunday morning so the room cannot be prepared for the next booking. If the room must be sold for two nights and therefore cannot be sold it should not be available.
Bug – I’ve come across it several times before on that site (which is usually the one I go to when I need a room, as it has the best search functionality and results) – if it does pop up, I tend to go to the hotel direct, as they usually offer the same price as shown through that site… and usually find that there is a room available for that one night, but at a slightly higher cost.
Suspect it is caused by an initial posting being made offering the discount at a two-night minmum, but when one of the nights is fully booked out, the website doesn’t auto-amend to take it into account.
Go old skool and give them a call – see if they can book it to you for that price… what do you have to lose, besides the cost of the call? (…and let us know what happens!)
The 2 night message doesn’t say anything about the dates having to be consecutive. Have you tried booking another single night on the same order?
My message should have had a smiley added.
A plainly silly suggestion that seems to follow logically from the information on their screen.
@Michael – You can tell that you’re a developer
@Wednesday – I think the date probably gives away the city. Are you going to that one?
In the end I found another hotel with a cheaper rate.
If the code does not do what you want then you need to report it.
When it doesn’t do what you asked for you raise a Problem Report.
If the code meets the specification then you can raise a Change Request.
Then all the PRs and CRs are reviewed and prioritised. Those with a big enough return on investment will happen. But you need a business case for any IT resource to be deployed on your behalf.
Of course if it is really a bug and you tell us first then it might just vanish before the paperwork arrives.
And you might even get a reminder that you reported the problem three months ago and the fix has been waiting for UAT sign-off since the 20th of April.
Definitely a bug, whether the bug us in the spec or the code is neither here nor there. If the rate requires a 2 night stay then it ain’t available on that Saturday.