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  • Microwave Mayhem

    I've dealt with a lot of things in this job that has resulted in me getting screamed in the face. I've dealt with people who don't know how security deposits work, I've dealt with people who refuse to let us take their credit card details and more. But I think I've reached my limit with last night.

    I just clocked in and I get a phone call. It's from one of the guests staying in the rooms. They are staying for 4 nights over the weekend from Friday. He goes off at me as to why there is no microwave in the room.

    I've had people ask about microwaves in the past and according to my supervisor it's a potential smoke hazard (don't get me started). We have a microwave in the staff kitchen and if people want stuff heated up they can bring food down and get it zapped. We cannot plug it out and put it in one of the rooms though.

    The guest had brought a cooler of pre-made meals and he assumed our place had microwaves. I tell the guy this and he just keeps raving on and on about how other places do it and why it's too much trouble to stick it in his room. I keep trying to convince him to bring his food down but he says that he doesn't want to (more like too lazy) to get dressed, bring the food down, have it zapped and walk back to his room. I told him to hold while I got my supervisor.

    My supervisor basically repeated the policies to me and I did so again to the guest. Here's where he really lost it. He started to pepper swears into his tirade and complained that he has never been to a motel / hotel with a microwave and that our place was BS. He hung up.

    An hour later, he called back and he went on a 10 minute tirade with me, calling the room a prison cell with no window (there is one window that faces the carpark), can't smoke (because he doesn't want to walk down to the smoking area), and lambasted me about the security deposit. By this time I was so done that I froze up in fear and could barely squeeze out an answer.

    I was getting very close to snarking the guy and insulting him for his laziness. I was tempted to say 'How about you get your lazy-ass up and bring your food down?' or 'If you don't like it, get out'. I wanted to say that it was his responsibility to know beforehand what facilities our rooms had, but I felt that would have made things worse.

    I had to hold it together because two guests came in during the tirade and I had to check them in. I spent the rest of the night trying to meditate and get the bubble of stress and exasperation out of my body. I'm okay now, since I had the night to sleep it off.

    The thing is, our motel is more of an overnight sort of place. We provide the basics like a fridge, kettle and toaster. Plus there's an ironing board and iron. People do tend to stay longer periods during busy periods, but that's usually because they're either working or on holiday and so are out of the rooms most of the time. To be honest though, I haven't stayed at too many hotels or holiday apartments so the microwave thing depends on the place's policy. But in all, take your losses in stride or get out.

  • #2
    I haven't travelled in years, and thus haven't stayed at hotels/motels in equally that long, but I do remember enjoying the treat of EATING OUT when I did used to travel. I couldn't tell you whether the damn rooms had a microwave or not.

    Too bad you couldn't repeat back to him that old bromide about "When you assume" something ...
    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
    ~ Mr Hero

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    • #3
      I've stayed in some seriously high-class places, and even they only had minifridges and kettles... Microwaves? Hell no!

      Oh, there's occasionally an iron or trouser press - I've heard they can be used to make bacon?
      This was one of those times where my mouth says "have a nice day" but my brain says "go step on a Lego". - RegisterAce
      I can't make something magically appear to fulfill all your hopes and dreams. Believe me, if I could I'd be the first person I'd help. - Trixie

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      • #4
        Even the convention hotels I've stayed in over the past few years didn't have microwaves. The cheap motels me and my dad stayed in for vacations when I was a kid sure didn't.

        Oh, and if we were looking for a specific amenity, you bet your ass we tried to find out beforehand. Nowadays, I even call hotels just to make sure the TVs in the rooms have an accessible HDMI port for me to plug my laptop into.
        Supporting the idiots charged with protecting your personal information.

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        • #5
          Was this guy's room infested with Gremlins...?

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          • #6
            I've stayed in lots of motels over the years, and I do recall a handful that had microwaves. They might be more common in certain parts of the country.

            Thinking about it, the places that had microwaves might also have been described as "kitchenettes". Don't quite recall.

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            • #7
              My preferred hotel chain for travel USUALLY has a fridge and a microwave in the room. Most importantly, I check before I book.
              Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
              Save the Ales!
              Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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              • #8
                "As you are not satisfied with the amenities we can provide, you are welcome to check out at any time. Now I need to end this call as I have other duties that I must attend to*."



                *And can actually do something about
                When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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                • #9
                  I honestly don't recall staying at a hotel/motel in the last 20-odd years that DIDN'T have a microwave. I thought that was just a common thing.

                  That said, I wouldn't have been all that upset about it if there hadn't been a microwave. In virtually every case, there would be at least two or three restaurants I could order from that would deliver.

                  I get, though, that some people want to save as much money as possible while traveling, and a cooler full of microwave meals is certainly less expensive than restaurant food. In some cases there are dietary restrictions to consider. Even if I were one of these people, I'd have no problem trucking downstairs to get my food nuked; I'd be grateful to the staff for even suggesting it if the room didn't include a microwave.

                  But then, I'm pretty sure I'm not normally a giant raging asshole.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth CyberLurch View Post
                    I honestly don't recall staying at a hotel/motel in the last 20-odd years that DIDN'T have a microwave. I thought that was just a common thing.
                    The upper scale chains typically don't.
                    Middle and lower tier chains like Tom Bodett's, the one which shares a name with a film format and the one with the bear in pajamas typically have microwaves in the rooms or the breakfast area. And then there are the extended stay with small kitchens.
                    It is not unusual for a restaurant portion to be too big to eat at one sitting, so Mrs. TGK & I often travel with microwave containers to finish that meal later.
                    I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                    Who is John Galt?
                    -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                    • #11
                      Quoth taxguykarl View Post
                      It is not unusual for a restaurant portion to be too big to eat at one sitting...
                      Are you sure you're from Chicagoland? Because that's something I pretty much never heard a Midwesterner say, despite spending most of my first 21 years in IL.
                      “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                      One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                      The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Nunavut Pants View Post
                        Are you sure you're from Chicagoland? Because that's something I pretty much never heard a Midwesterner say, despite spending most of my first 21 years in IL.
                        That is not a rare complaint from Mrs. TGK, while she was born in Illinois she lived a sizable part of her adult life in California.
                        I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                        Who is John Galt?
                        -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                        • #13
                          Hahaha!!! Me too... Born in Champoo-Bana, spent time in Chicagoland, now live in Silicon Valley...
                          “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                          One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                          The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I guess it would make sense for the upper-scale hotels to not have microwaves. I think the expectation would be that the guests dine out or (the hotel hopes) order room service.

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                            • #15
                              Yeah, the higher tier hotels tend to charge for, or flat out not offer, services that a lot of midgrade "everyman" places give away free. They expect a clientele that is not sensitive to being nickel and dimed, that's not interested in the gauche pastries of a free "continental breakfast" but doesn't blink at plunking down 10 bucks for a "gourmet" muffin, and who'd rather order someone to bring them food than to push a few buttons on a...microwave. How dreadful!
                              Supporting the idiots charged with protecting your personal information.

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