You be the judge... Who acted in suckily?

[Antisocial_Worker]

This happened tonight, and I'm convinced we were in the right.

The hotel sold out tonight, which is not unusual in the summer. In fact, it's unusual if we don't sell out on a weekend night in July.

The problem began not long after a family checked into their room. A downpour began outside -- we've been having those a lot lately, and we've discovered because of that, that we have some problems with water getting into the building. It so happened this family had checked into a top floor room that has had problems in the past with a leak squarely over one of the beds. We thought we'd fixed it. We learned otherwise.

The father came downstairs, extremely irate. He told us we would comp him the night. It was (any number of expletives) to expect him to pay for the night in a leaky room. (Expletive) (Censored) (Beep) (Boop) (Expletive).

I told my boss, who thankfully happened to be there. She spoke to the guest. (Expletive) (Bleep) (Boop) (Beep). After another little fit, he asked her how he was even to know that the room was safe. How did he know the roof wasn't on the verge of falling in on him?

So my boss ordered him to leave. We certainly couldn't have a guest staying in a room if he didn't feel safe.

"You're throwing me and my family out into the rain?" He seemed shocked, or else looking for something else to get offended about.

No, we weren't throwing him out into the rain. We were going to find him a place to stay, and we did. While my boss was on the phone making arrangements, I ran some blankets up to a room that had asked for extras, and ran into the guest in the hall. I told him we were looking for a room for him in another property. Apparently he thought we'd find him one in our hotel, even though we were sold out.

"You have to find me a room! There are laws about this kind of thing! You have to pay for my room! You have to let me stay!"

I said, "We are going to find a room for you, sir, but it's not going to be in this building."

"You're throwing us out into the rain?!"

I told him again that we were going to find him a room and walked away from him, leaving him sputtering in the hallway.

Not long after that exchange, the guest and his family lined up at the front desk, where we told him where his room was waiting, and where we refunded his money.

"Are you going to pay for my room at the Whoopsie-doo Inn?"

My boss replied, "No."

"On Monday you're paying for that room!" he screeched and then stormed out.

---

Was the guest an SC? It's perfectly understandable that a person would not want a leaky room, but there is no need to be an asshole about it, in my opinion. Further, we'd done our part by finding him a room and reversing the charges on his credit card, but he obviously wasn't happy with the way things turned out. Seems he wanted not only his money back, but a free night's stay -- and that's where my boss drew the line. We'd fulfilled our obligation by finding him lodging.

I'd like opinions on this, because I can feel in my marrow that our fax machine is going to spit out a complaint to corporate just as cheerful as you please sometime in the next couple of days.

Edit: The title was supposed to be "Who acted suckily?"

[Legal Eagle]

to be fair to the guest he had through no fault of his own been given a room which was obviously unfit for use. whilst the faxct that the reppairs done to tha room weren't successful was an accident the fault still lies with the hotel. he could sue, he could conceivably get the cost of gas between the 2 hotels and the difference in price. anything more would be at the judges discretion and be very unlikly.

[thelong1]

Its hard to be nice to an asshole who has a valid point in their argument. I think that its unfortunate that he had a leak in his room, but for that type of problem you don't really know its a problem until there is a complaint. I think that he overreacted and was out of line in his attitude and his treatment of the staff. I do think the hotel did the right thing in refunding his money and finding alternate accomodations for him. If there were available rooms in your hotel I would hope that perhaps he would have been comped, as that would have been the right think to do in the name of customer service. As you were fully booked and that he was an complete ass, I think that you did the right thing.

[Antisocial_Worker]

to be fair to the guest he had through no fault of his own been given a room which was obviously unfit for use. whilst the faxct that the reppairs done to tha room weren't successful was an accident the fault still lies with the hotel. he could sue, he could conceivably get the cost of gas between the 2 hotels and the difference in price. anything more would be at the judges discretion and be very unlikly.

That would be less than $3.00. The hotel we sent him to was another property we own on the other side of the interstate. It's not even a mile away, and the difference in price between the two rates was about $.04.

[Mixed Bag]

Are you trying to hide something by not telling us WHICH place was 4 cents more? :D

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

That would be less than $3.00. The hotel we sent him to was another property we own on the other side of the interstate. It's not even a mile away, and the difference in price between the two rates was about $.04.

Ok, you refunded him the money he spent on the room, made arraingements to get him into another hotel of similar rates (and as close by as can be reasonably expected).

If he came down the next morning after getting rained on in the night then I could see comping him or paying for the first night in the other hotel, but I don't see a comp if this happened shortly after they got the room.

I'm guessing the typical NC hot hazy and humid day with the standard short (but violent) thunderstorm with a buttload of rain right? I lived in Jacksonville for 4 years when my dad was stationed at Camp Lejune so I'm familiar with the weather patterns.

Honestly I feel that you did all that you could and could reasonably be expected to do. His night wasn't ruined (as no night was spent there) so there was no need to comp him, you foud him another room in another hotel, and refunded his money. He was the SC in this story.

Mongo

[pbmods]

You did great. In fact, you gave that SC *way* more than he deserved.

If the SC had only been polite to you, I'm sure you might have been more inclined to help.

*sigh* they never learn....

Why was it so important that the customer get something for free? I swear; I'd like to find the person who invented customer entitlement and do horrible things to his liver in front of his children and/or/equals dogs.

[Hotelboy]

If it were the middle of the night, and they were already asleep, I could understand his annoyance. But I think you said this was just after check-in, so I'll assume evening. In which case, they're getting zip, nadda, zilch, as far as sympathy from me.

Shit happens. There isn't some magical schedule in "The Back" that lets you know when things will breakdown and need fixing. Stuff breaks, you tell us about it, we make it right, then you expect compensation for your "Trauma"?!?

"How 'bout NO"

hauntedheadnc = 1
sucky customer = Jacksh**

[Becks]

The customer, while having a valid complaint, was an ass about the whole thing.

You say that you thought that the problem had been fixed, and so rented out the room. It's not your fault that it didn't work out.

Re-reading your post as I reply, I see that you mentioned that your manager "ordered the man out" before you mentioned that a search was on to find Mr. Asshat a new room, at another place. That couldn't have helped the situation...

[BunnyJas]

I think I'd be annoyed with a leak in my room, but I don't think I'd come down to the front desk yelling expletives at the employees. It just puts people on the defensive and they are less willing to help you. They just want to get rid of you as evidenced by your manager's behavior. I think that your hotel did all they could given the circumstances- gave him his money back and booked a room for him on another property since you were full. While the customer had a valid complaint, it seems he was trying to milk it for all it was worth so he could get something for free.

[Broomjockey]

The customer, while having a valid complaint, was an ass about the whole thing.

You say that you thought that the problem had been fixed, and so rented out the room. It's not your fault that it didn't work out.

Re-reading your post as I reply, I see that you mentioned that your manager "ordered the man out" before you mentioned that a search was on to find Mr. Asshat a new room, at another place. That couldn't have helped the situation...

Of course the manager was in the right to order him out after that first barrage of explitives. Honestly, after that, the manager could have simply refunded his money and told him to leave without even finding him other accomadations.
If the jackass did try to sue, the invoice from the repair of the roof shows good faith that the repairs were competent, its not like you perfectly knowing threw him in a leaky room.

[chainedbarista]

i agree with what's been said here; there was a problem, you found a solution to it, he got another room. the fact that he had to move doesn't give him the right to act childish and abusive; it's summer, hotels fill up fast, a fact whether he likes it or not.

it could have went with just a refund and NO room reserved, which after the string of abuses, is more that what he deserved.

ingrates...

[JustaCashier]

I dunno. I think people here are being a little hard on this Customer. He obviously is conducting training for future SC's, and of course the tirade and expletives were an important part of it! :p

[batmoody]

I don't understand why customers think that by cussing and throwing a fit, they are going to get some kind of deal. If they are understanding about it, I would be much more willing to make them happy. I would want them to return. But to scream and act like a spoiled child? I dont want you back here. I will only do what is required by policy, and show you the door.
:wave:

[Moirae]

I worked in hotels at the front desk for four years. Just a word of advice the next time something like this happens... DO NOT SPEAK TO THE GUEST ABOUT THE ISSUE IN THE HALLWAY WHERE OTHER GUESTS CAN HEAR IT.

Honestly, if he had started a fight, the other guests would have heard it and you'd have had alot more complaints. Not to mention, he could have attacked you and you're alone instead of with your boss and a desk between you. What if he had beat you up and then taken off?

Next time, for your own safety, your job, and the hotels well being, simply tell him that you can't speak to him about this here, and if he wants to speak about it more, he's welcome to come down to the desk and speak to the manager some more concerning the problem.

As well, it depends on the state and province whether you would have had to pay for his room at the other hotel. The room at your hotel is defective, so he may actually have been right in that claim.

I would have to agree that he was totally wrong in the way he was acting. It was completely uncalled for.

[Moirae]

I don't understand why customers think that by cussing and throwing a fit, they are going to get some kind of deal. If they are understanding about it, I would be much more willing to make them happy. I would want them to return. But to scream and act like a spoiled child? I dont want you back here. I will only do what is required by policy, and show you the door.
:wave:
Actually, I know exactly what they're trying to do having worked in hotels for so many years. They're trying to make a scene for other guests to see so that they'll get a free room. It's all about money, and free is better than paying for it.

[Antisocial_Worker]

I wrote this last night when I was dead tired, so let me clarify a little, just to make sure the whole story is told correctly.

The problem began not long after a family checked into their room. A downpour began outside -- we've been having those a lot lately, and we've discovered because of that, that we have some problems with water getting into the building. It so happened this family had checked into a top floor room that has had problems in the past with a leak squarely over one of the beds. We thought we'd fixed it. We learned otherwise.

We've been having a lot of rain lately, and every time it rained we wrung our hands and waited anxiously for the guests in that room to complain. As more and more rainshowers came and went, with no complaints from that room's occupants, we gew more and more convinced that we finally had fixed the problem once and for all.

This family hadn't been in their room for an hour before this occurred. They had unfortunately already gone to bed.

I told my boss, who thankfully happened to be there. She spoke to the guest. After another little fit, he asked her how he was even to know that the room was safe. How did he know the roof wasn't on the verge of falling in on him?

This was the point that she told him we would be finding him another room at another property. Do not tell us that you feel unsafe in your room unless you really, truly do, because that's the point that it's time for you to leave. She didn't order him to leave, but she did tell him that we'd be finding him another room somwhere else and that he would not have the choice to stay in the room at our hotel. Complaints about guests not feeling safe in the room are the hardest to deal with, and that being the case, this is how we deal with them now -- if you feel unsafe, you will be going someplace where you do feel safe.

"You have to find me a room! There are laws about this kind of thing! You have to pay for my room! You have to let me stay!"

He seemed upset that he couldn't stay here in our property. Understandable, but if he wanted to stay, and if he in reality wasn't worried that the roof would cave in, he shouldn't have said so. He left us no choice.

Not long after that exchange, the guest and his family lined up at the front desk, where we told him where his room was waiting, and where we refunded his money.

"Are you going to pay for my room at the Whoopsie-doo Inn?"

My boss replied, "No."

"On Monday you're paying for that room!" he screeched and then stormed out.

Under the terms a guest agrees to when they sign the registration, I'm not sure we were even obligated to find him other lodging. If you have a problem and stay with us, we're obligated to fix it, but if your stay is terminated either by us or by you, that's when our responsibility ends. Removing you from the property in effect removes the problem.

In removing him from the property however, it was only fair to refund his money. There have been many a time though that a guest was disruptive enough to require removal, and in cases like that we do not refund the money.

By the way, I have received confirmation that the guest was in fact an SC. We sent him to another one of our properties here in town, but didnt' tell him it belonged to us. This morning when he checked out he cussed out the clerk over there and also told her, bizarrely, that everyone over here is a drunk.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

While this guy has a valid complaint (after all, who wants to sleep in a hotel room where water is leaking through the ceiling?), he was an asshole about it.

It's not as if you put him in that room just to get him wet and make him mad.

I have to say your manager screwed up by ordering him to leave right away. That just escalated things. I would've stayed as calm as possible, and explained that we would find him a room at a different hotel for no extra charge, and if he kept cussing and swearing, then I'd order him out. Then, at least you tired to fix the situation but he still wouldn't be satisfied.

[kerrisan]

I don't think anybody was at 'fault," persay. But I do think the man shouldn't have to pay for the night he spent in that leaky room. I do not think you guys should have to pay for his stay at "Whoopsie-doo" Inn! :wtf:

[One-Fang]

He didn't spend a night in the leaky room.

In the name of 'customer service' and 'goodwill', if I owned a hotel I'd pay for the room for a guest in that situation. Provided they didn't do what this guy did. If he'd have simply pointed it out and asked what we were going to do, I'd comp him a night somewhere (cheapest room available, or else he could pay if he wanted similar standard). But once he starts cussing up a storm like that and making accusations about putting guests in unsafe rooms, he'd be SOL.

So I think you guys did what you had to. Refund him his room, since he didn't get to spend the night in it, and kick him out. That you found him lodgings elsewhere was a bonus and should have been appreciated.

[Jester]

This whole situation, among others, simply illustrates the basic reality that being polite and nice and understanding will get you things, and being a donkey's bunghole will get you nowhere fast.

My parents raised us to be polite, and while there are people who think I am an asshole, when dealing with people I don't know, I make a point of being polite. Because of this, I have had hotel rooms comped/discounted if there was a problem, with a smile from the staff. I have gotten discounted/free drinks/food at various establishments, again, just for being polite and courteous and nice about things. Hell, I have even gotten out of some situations where I probably should have been arrested or thrown out of some place just by, once again, being calm and nice and polite.

Contrast this with the asshole mentality. What makes these people think that berating and humiliating other people will make them want to do ANYTHING for them, let alone go beyond the very minimum that they HAVE to do? While I have seen people (like myself) behave themselves OUT of being arrested, I have seen asshats misbehave themselves INTO getting arrested in a situation that probably originally would not have warranted such things.

When dealing with cops and judges, I have a four word vocabulary. "Yes, sir." "No, sir." (Or ma'am, as the case may be.) When dealing with staff anywhere, a smile and patience and politeness has gotten me everything I wanted and a whole heck of a lot more.

Why do bartenders buy me drinks when I am at their bar? Because I don't expect them, demand them, or act as if I am entitled to them. (And I tip well, too.)

This is a concept SC's, the people who give this site our stories, will never ever get.

Thank you for your time, and have a very pleasant evening. :)

[NightWolf]

Sorry to say, But I think One-fang has it right. Thats what I would do.

At the hotel where I worked, if they overbooked, they payed for the guests to stay somewhere else. If there were issues with a customers room and the hotel was full, the hotel paid to get them to another hotel and usually gave them something in return to keep them coming back to us. We also had a driver who would take them to another hotel if needed.

Now if a customer acted like a total jac@$%#$, it might be tougher to get this sort of thing.

But...I say the situation was 50/50. No one deserves to be talked to like he did to you, but I think somethings MAY, and I stress may because I wasn't there, have been dealth with a bit more diplomatic.

[Tanasi]

Since the vast majority of my customers are hotels, I'm indirectly in the hotel business so my opinion is similar to others: I would have walked him to the other hotel and comped the room right up to the point of the cussing and then he would have had the option to leave or go to jail and would have told him so inorder for him to see what his attitude cost him. A lot of times these SCs don't know why we become hostile and if you explain it's because of their attitude and actions they might (however unlikely) learn something.

HH out of curiousity do you get much Bristol race business now that the interstate between Ashville and Johnson City is finished?

[Antisocial_Worker]

HH out of curiousity do you get much Bristol race business now that the interstate between Ashville and Johnson City is finished?

Not that I've noticed. Seems we're getting the same mix we always get of Midwesterners at the midpoint of their escape to the beach, and people from the beach escaping the heat up here in the mountains.

While the finer points of exactly what happened with this guest and who was in the wrong might still be up for some debate, I did want to reiterate that the fact is cemented that the guest was an SC. He proved it when he launched a fit at the clerk at our other hotel in the morning, and when he said we were all drunks over here.

Now it's my turn to use the smiley: :wtf: Drunks?