That's a fight you're going to lose

[Mriswith]

I work evenings and overnights at a hotel. I just had a guest book a room through a well-known 3rd-party travel agency, under a "No Change/No Cancel" prepaid policy, arriving this evening. Our check time is listed as 3pm. The guest arrived to check in at 5:30am. When I told the guest that there are no rooms available at this moment, and that the earliest we might be able to get them in is around 1am, I heard this:

"What? But I reserved the room! You've already charged my card! I fly out in 6 hours! You need to give me my room, or refund my money!"

I remind the guest that the room is booked for this EVENING, and the "No Change/No Cancel" policy, the guest angrily leaves stating their intention to dispute the charge. Yeah, I don't think that's going to work too well for them.


As I was writing this I fielded 2 separate calls from the previously mentioned travel agency attempting to cancel for the guest. As well as the guest themselves, who came back in while on the phone with the agent. My response to all requests were the same. "You'll have to speak with the manager to get authorization to cancel. He'll be here in 5 hours." The guest is still in the parking lot, harassing those poor agents.

Why, why, WHY do people not read?

[Blue Ginger]

This person (and people like this) is a moron. It is not that hard to book a room at a hotel, etc, and arrive at stupid o'clock. All you need to do is let them know your expected arrival time and check that it is ok before confirming the booking.

Smart people do what I did many years ago. I was getting the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead (in Wales) then a bus to Liverpool. The bus was to take 2 hours and would get me there anywhere from 2am to 3am, depending on the Irish Sea crossing and how many stops the bus had to make along the way. I booked my YHA Liverpool bed through the Dublin YHA desk. They knew all about the bus/ferry/bus trips, so they included all that info on my booking. The lovely people at the Liverpool desk didn't work at stupid o'clock but they had a security guard overnight. My booking was confirmed and passed to the security guard. Security guard was then able to do the quick overnight check in because he was expecting me and the staff had filled in most of the paperwork.

If I just booked it and provided no info about the late check in, he would not have been allowed to let me in. And I would have been stuck in the pissing rain in a brand new place with no clue what to do next. This was back in 2007, so way before smart phones and easy googling on the go.

When I was a travel booker for a previous job, we had to add flight details if the staff member was going to be checking in after 8pm. I actually started adding the details for earlier check ins if the hotel was in smaller cities/towns, especially for the mining towns and places in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.

It is just smart to add the info so the hotel knows when you are going to be arriving so they don't sell your room to someone else.

[Deserted]

I've mentioned it before (somewhere) but a couple years ago I had a booking at a motel where I noted I'd arrive around 2-3am. I showed up somewhat later, around 5-6am. I had been no-showed the previous evening (I believe 10pm was their no-show time) because the person who took my booking "forgot" to note the late arrival time.

I was too tired to be angry, and the girl at the check-in was very cool about the whole thing and checked me in, and even let me skip the usual check-out time, as long as I was gone by the time she got off, 1 or 3pm. (It helped that they were nowhere near full.)

Unrelated side note: the server reports that this is my 1000th post here. Yay?

[Slave to the Phone]

One of the many life skills my folks taught me was to always be nice to the person you are asking to help you. Abusing a normal person will make them internally say "Oh, HELL no! I am only going to do what I absolutely have to do and that is it!" Politely asking and then listening to the answers makes such a difference.

From what I have heard, late night hotel workers hear even more abuse than I do, and I'm a food stamp worker!

[Mr Hero]

I had this situation come up at my hotel. Never fails that every year on a night that we're completely sold out, some idiot who thinks they're beating the system books a room for the day after, then expects to have the room available at 3 in the morning. I take great pleasure telling the 3rd party agent that we would not cancel because the guest did show up, but way earlier than the allowed checkin time.

From what I have heard, late night hotel workers hear even more abuse than I do, and I'm a food stamp worker!

Not really. Maybe every once in a while, but it happens rarely for me.

[earl colby pottinger]

Amazing

I just got back from Cuba, because we got an early flight in (6:38 AM), Cuba customs and the bus ride = we arrived at the resort before 1:00 PM.

Our rooms would not be ready till 3:00 PM, but we were checked in and told the buffet by the pool was open for refreshments. Also the bars were open to us.

So we sat by the pool watching women and men in little bits of cloth (and boy some wore very little indeed) with free food and drinks.

Only a fool or a SC would put up a fuss.

[Buzzard]

Only a fool or a SC would put up a fuss.

You just HAD to say it... In 3... 2...

[Mental_Mouse]

You just HAD to say it... In 3... 2...

... "How DARE all those people run around naked like that!"

[Evannah]

Sometimes customers DO read, but they think what they're reading doesn't apply to them. I'm so glad I don't work in retail or with customers anymore.