Regular readers of Consumerist probably know that we do occasionally write about “bad consumers,” those few who bad apples whose behavior makes things harder for the rest of us. But we don’t often see examples of good, sensible consumers actually benefiting from others’ idiotic antics. This is one such story.

Reader Ted writes in with his tale of how he scored an upgrade just by being the hotel guest in line after a particularly loathsome fellow:

I used Priceline to book a hotel in Palm Springs for Carmageddon weekend. My girlfriend & I arrive late on Friday night, and as we head to the front desk to check in, there’s a middle-aged guy with no shirt on talking to the gal who’s working.

He’s being rather rude & condescending. He tosses his keys at her and instructs her to park his car, as she tries to explain that there’s no valet on duty this late, and she’s not authorized to move vehicles. He tries to argue at first, but soon gives up and heads to his room.

We approach the front desk and check in, and as soon as he’s out of earshot, I make a snarky comment about what a jerk he was. The gal has a good laugh with us, and when she hands us our room keys, she tells us that we’ve been upgraded to a bigger room!

The lesson I learned is, never miss an opportunity to connect with a customer support representative. In exchange for a laugh and a friendly smile, you might get more than you paid for!

Have any of you benefited by being the rebound customer — whether at a hotel, a restaurant, a store, wherever — after an unreasonably nasty one?

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