Comic Transcript
CUSTOMER: Why are travel services overcharging me when I use my Mac???
ALEX: … I don’t know?
CUSTOMER: Ubersoft is Apple’s chief rival. You must be behind this conspiracy.
ALEX: Maybe, but we don’t provide support for conspiracies.
CUSTOMER: Apple does. For $500 a year I get comprehensive support for any conspiracies involving my Mac, iPhone, or apps sold on iTunes.
ALEX: I think I’m starting to understand why these travel services are overcharging you.
Today’s comic is based on an article a reader sent in. Apparently Orbitz is actually doing this to Mac users. If I understand the article correctly (it was emailed to me, so I don’t know the link) if you’re browsing the Orbitz site on a Mac, the search results it returns are for hotels that are at least 30% more expensive than if you are using a Windows PC.
I don’t condone this at all–it’s the kind of thing that should get a company run out of town, in my opinion–but when I was trying to think of a way to turn this into a gag the first punchline that sprang to mind was the assumption, correct or not, that Mac users willingly overpay for their services. Hence the punchline. But punchline aside, Orbitz (and possibly other companies) are dealing with their customers deceptively and should be solidly punished for it.
