Would You Like to Know What is Written about you on the Net?

We bloggers are sometimes accused of devoting too much time checking who is linking to us or what is being said about us (if and when something comes up, that is). But I think many companies are also at it. At least Marriott is trying:

For example, this spring Marriott International began an ambitious program to reach bloggers. Its efforts included asking bloggers to speak to its corporate communications team, inviting them on press trips and offering them news in advance of print media.

"A lot of business travelers are getting their information from blogs," said John Wolf, a Marriott spokesman. "We wanted to have a better understanding of blogs."

Marriott assigned an employee to monitor the blogosphere and generate daily reports on what bloggers were writing about the company. It also began pitching bloggers on Marriott-themed postings, recently offering bloggers exclusive information about a plan to put airline check-in stations in its lobbies.

But I wonder if this Hotel is aware what its customers are saying (I am not providing links deliberately):

We wish to inform you of a completely unsatisfactory experience we had … in India, during a three-week tour of the country. We made our reservations months in advance paid fully for our room and had a voucher in hand that proof of our reservation. When we arrived at the hotel we were told that our reservation had been canceled. On their own, the hotel had booked us into another hotel … We were lied to about our reservation, treated very shabbily, no apologies were given to us and we were expected to simply go away quietly. Later we learned that it is not unusual for the hotel to double book rooms and then bump people at the hotel's discretion without any advance warning. In fact, we observed another couple getting the same treatment by the hotel staff while our concerns were being dismissed and our luggage had been relegated to the sidewalk outside the hotein an effort to hasten our departure.”

It pays to monitor the web for the feedback!