FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I made reservations for the Embassy Suites — reportedly 6 miles from the track — in August, and added an additional day later on in the winter. $290 a night adds up to more then I’m spending to fly out from New York, but the breakfast is complimentary, so I’ve got that going for me … Or not. Got a call today from Alisha, saying a computer snafu had resulted in overbookings. (“Not a human error, I assure you,” as if HOW it happened would make it less irksome.) The alternative offer was a room at a regular Hilton 40 miles away, with one night complimentary. The fact that I was borrowing a bike in Oakland, (from my former LRRS teammate at New Hampshire International Speedway) riding down with him and his wife and staying with them at the hotel didn’t matter … “Sir, if I could build 12 more rooms for you, I would.” “Well, tell one of the other 12 people to bug out — I’m flying in from across the country to stay with my friends, not at a town 40 miles away.” “Um, I meant 12 floors, sirs, not just 12 rooms. Again, I apologize.” “Look, it’s just me, and it sounded like a big room. Do you have anything smaller?” “No sir … everything was overbooked.” “OK, when do you need my answer?” “Today.” “WHAT? You had 10 months to figure out you were overbooked, and now, less than a month from the event, I have to give you an answer before the end of the day?” “Well, you’re ahead of time, right? Could you call me back by 7:00 AM PST?” (I promised to call back before the end of the day, and that I’d hold her over the coals to get a few extra days comp’ed at another time, at a hotel on the east coast. Alisha was amenable to that, and to be fair, she was very sweet and apologetic on the phone. And though I’m married, I’m really too much of a flirt to be quite as sarcastic as I’m portraying here, but the gist is correct.) It turns out I was wrong … my buddy, trying to be a smart husband, upgraded to what is even a fancier place right nearby (Portolo Plaza) to keep his wife happy. His marital wisdom was paying a huge dividends now. But the Hilton was still 40 miles away. And Alisha’s local info wasn’t too confidence inspiring: When I asked what the drive in was like, she said asked me to hold, and when she came back said “Well, they’re telling me it’s hard to be sure, ‘cos it’s never been as big race as this, but it’ll probably take you 45 minutes to an hour.” “Well, THAT’s good to know,” I said, tongue firmly planted in my cheek. It’s projected to be one of the biggest events at the track in years, and yet I’ll average 40-50 mph on the main road coming in? Guess all those reports I’ve read about the traffic for the WSB events were exaggerated. At 4:40 I left a message on Alisha’s voicemail. I got it again at 4:50, and 5:05, so I punched “O”, and learned that “the whole department upstairs has gone home for the day. But they aren’t the reservations department, sir; that’s offsite. She does group planning.” Cue the lightbulb over my head. 12 rooms, huh? Problems come up. We understand that. But no one likes feeling that they’ve been lied to. I’m cc’ing Hilton corporate on this, hoping for an explanation that doesn’t sound like snake oil, maybe a certificate for a free week anywhere in the world … or, hopefully, the two nights they originally booked for me almost a year ago. I’m telling YOU because I know your website gets thousands of hits from racers and industry folks every day, and if you posted this the word would get out pretty fast for people to confirm their reservations. B.J. Worsham Old Westbury, New York PS: “No, the breakfast over there is not complimentary, but you could park here, eat the breakfast, and ride the shuttle in.” (See, I told you she was amenable and fair. 😉