Who Brought the Tractor Trailer in the Building and Didn't Tell Me?

My night is going smooth for about the first hour when I get a phone call. It's now about 12:30 in the morning.

Me: Front Desk, may I help you?
Room: Hi.
Me: Hi.
Room: I'm having trouble sleeping.
Me: I'm sorry, is there a problem with noise?
Room: Yes, there is.
Me: Which direction is it coming from and I'll call that room and ask them to quiet down.
Room: Actually, see, the bed in our room is against the wall to where the ice-maker is. It sounds like a tractor-trailer is in our bedroom.
Me: I'm sorry ma'am. We've never had that complaint before.

Yes, that's right. Three rooms that abut this room with the ice-maker on three different floors. And not one of them has ever complained about the noise from the ice-maker.

Room: Would it be possible to be moved? We'd like the kind of room we already have (a suite).
Me: I'm sorry m'am, we're sold out tonight. I can put in a request to move you in the morning.

So that's the way it goes for about a half-hour when she calls again.

Me: Front desk, may I help you?
Room: Sorry to bother you again, but I really can't sleep.
Me: Well, I had the houseman go check the ice-maker. It's working fine. You shouldn't be hearing it continuously, especially by now when everyone has stopped getting ice.
Room: Well, I can't sleep.

I know what's coming next.

Me: Well, ma'am I'll take $100 off your room rate for tonight and we'll move you down the hall for your stay tomorrow night.
Room: That would be fine, I guess.

So I do that. I decrease her rate. The bosses like that better than when we invoke the guarantee. The problem is, there's no tracking that goes on when people scam a lower rate as opposed to people invoking the room guarantee.

How do I know she is scamming? Two reasons. One is that I have slept in the same room she is in. I am the world's lightest sleeper. If the ice-maker was that bad, I would have been one of the first people telling my GM about it.

Second, I put all the notes in for her to be moved. I went home and came in the next night for my shift. She hadn't moved!

Now, I only lowered her rate for the one night, not for her whole stay.

So the next morning she calls down at 6 AM. I slid her bill under the door earlier.

Room: I talked with someone the other night about a problem with my room and was told I would get $100 off of my room rate.
Me: Ye, ma'am that was me.
Room: Oh.
Me: If you look at your bill, ma'am, I lowered the rate for the night you complained. You were supposed to move yesterday.
Room: I decided it would be too much trouble.
Me: Well, ma'am the rate was only lowered for one night. You chose to stay in the room where you said you couldn't sleep an additional night. If we rented it to anyone else they would have paid the full rate for it.
Room: Well...

Yeah, she dropped it when it was put to her that way. I have a feeling, though, we'll be seeing a refund processed through corporate.

And You Deserve This Because????

There's a way Groups are generally handled at hotels. Usually it's 10 or more rooms and a certain number of nights. Less rooms will also fall under the Group heading if they are staying for a long period of time. These groups sign a contract agreeing to a rate for a certain number of nights, so everything is outlined up front. Usually for a reduced rate if they are staying for long periods of time, we only do maid service once a week to keep the costs down. With the construction we have had going on locally, we have had quite a number of construction and contracting groups going in and out lately.

One particular group came in without a contract and just wanted rooms at the rate we were giving to other contractors who had come in with contracts. They got it and their period staying here started in May. It appeared at the time that they were staying for about two weeks, which put them well before our busy season, which kicked into high gear Memorial Day weekend. However, because they just came in and sort of plopped themselves down here, nothing was outlined from the beginning.

Members of the group would leave and come back, making reservations and checking in under others, leaving us to hold rooms for them when they didn't need any more. It was a real nightmare just from that point of view. There were other issues as well - one guy wanted to go in the waterpark in his underwear. He did this every day - I think it was a source of amusement to him to unnerve the attendants there by doing this. They would come down at exactly 6 AM to the hot breakfast, take a "TO GO" bag with them to the job, and come back just before breakfast ended at 10 AM to eat again. Corporate was screaming at us about the food bill, and I don't know what they expected us to do to lower it.

It started going downhill when their reservations began overlapping into our busy season. We had people who had reservations for this time and we couldn't kick them out, especially when they were paying over $100 more for the same rooms! So, what happened was on the weekends when we were sold out we bought rooms at another hotel and had the people from this group move over to the other hotel. Now, we paid for the rooms for that night and didn't bill them AT ALL for any rooms, plus they were free to come on over here and eat their breakfast.

The day before they were to move to the other hotel, letters were slid under their door explaining that there were other reservations for their room made before they extended their stays and we would be moving them for the weekend and they could move back on Monday afternoon. Well, one of the group members took exception to that and said he wasn't moving. He didn't pack up any of his stuff and basically was refusing to move.

Our GM and another manager went into his room on the day he was to move and packed up his stuff. They didn't take it out of his room, they merely packed it and made it so his key wouldn't work, so he was escorted to the room and told to move his stuff out and next door to the place we had arranged for them.

You know he didn't go quietly. He made as much noise about this as he could and really caused a scene at the front desk. I wasn't here, but I heard about it.

And that wasn't the end of the story.

This person happens to be a member of the brand's frequent stay program, so he wrote a letter to the brand offices complaining about being shipped off to a "basement room" and having his stuff "packed up and removed from his room" as well as "being treated rudely".

Okay, HE was the one who came here without a reservation and continually extended his stay, which was at a reduced rate, until he was in our busy season, and still expected to be getting the reduced rate. HE was the one who carried on at the front desk. HE was the one who refused to pack up his things when we told him he had to move for people who had made reservations for that weekend before HIS GROUP decided to extend their stay.

And to top it off, HE'S not even paying for his room - his company is! And the night he is complaining about, no one was paying for it!

But "the customer is always right" so one night got credited back to his company.

And what does this teach this rude man? That if he carries on long enough, he can be as rude, belligerent, and obnoxious as he wants and people will kow-tow to him.

I Am A Front Desk Clerk

I have advanced degrees in accounting, public relations, marketing, business, computer sciences, civil engineering and Swahili.

Of course I have the reservation you made six years ago, even though you do not have a confirmation number and think it was under a name that starts with an "S."

It isn't a problem for me to get two connecting, non-smoking, pool side, downstairs outside suites (with two king size beds in each), four rollaways, and yes, I would be happy to install a wet bar in each room and stock them at no charge. Of course it is my fault we don't have a helicopter-landing pad.

I am a front desk clerk - I am expected to speak all languages. It is obvious to me that when you booked your room for Friday, that you really meant Saturday. My computer has entrusted me with all our financial information and decisions. Of course I remember that when you were here four years ago we accidentally charged you for a 72 cent long distance call you hadn't made and will make sure it doesn't happen again.

I understand that MacGillegetty's Widget Manufacturing Corp. is a vast empire that can make or break our hotel. Yes I am lying when I tell you we have no more rooms available. It's not a problem for me to quickly build two more so we can accommodate you and this time I will include a helipad.

I am a front desk clerk - I am quite capable of checking three people in, two people out, taking five reservations, answering twelve telephone calls and unplugging the toilet in 420, all at the same time.

I also know where the best vegetarian, kosher, Mongolian BBQ restaurants are. I also know exactly what to see and do in this city in less than fifteen minutes and at no cost.

I take personal blame for airline delays, traffic jams, rental car flat tires and the national debt. I should have realized that you meant to make your reservation here and not the "Galaxy Delight Motel" down the street and that you are entitled to the special five dollar discount because you're a member of the Accounting and Bagel Club of North America. Yes I will be happy to cash your Japanese travelers checque for 10,000 yen into Canadian currency. Even though it is Sunday morning, I am constantly aware of the exchange rate for all the world's currencies, after all, I am a front desk clerk.

We are expected to smile, empathize, sympathize, console, upsell, downsell, (and know the difference), perform, sing, dance and fix the computer (all at the same time).

I am a front desk, I can do all things(and look busy when the boss is nearby).