When Making a Reservation Make Sure...

[KuariKaydrith]

...you have the correct date!

Just had somebody come to check in for tonight, but we didn't have their name in the system for tonight.

Dude seemed a bit put out. "But we booked yesterday! This is bullshit. Here, I'll show you the reservation on my phone."

The first thing I saw was the check-in date. For next weekend.

As it was through a 3rd party-site I couldn't do anything for him, even though he complained that he and his girlfriend just drove in from out around the bay. If he had booked through our website or by phone, I could have done something for him easily. But such is life when dealing with 3rd party booking sites. The most I could have done was a free upgrade for the same day - we can't change dates on those bookings as it screws with everything.

So he leaves a bit upset because there is nothing I can do for him.

About 20 minutes later there is an email from the 3rd party site for tonight. Same guy, but the room type he wanted is completely sold out. I told him that before he left earlier. I know he is going to complain so I'm making sure that I leave extensive notes to cover my ass. I just know the dude is going to attempt to blame me for his own stupidity. Happens entirely too often in the hotel industry.

[Kristev]

What an absolute mess. He gets the day wrong and yet you're the one who screwed up? Shameful.

[EricKei]

Well, the cursetomer surely can't blame themselves for their own mistake, now can they?

[Nunavut Pants]

I went to a doctor's appointment this past Friday.

The doctor wasn't in. Kinda lousy of him to do that, right?

Except, yeah--my appointment is THIS COMING Friday.... Oops.

[Racket_Man]

my version is missing hotel room numbers and apt numbers

[RealUnimportant]

Was it here I saw a story "yeah, I tried to book for X but there were no vacancies, so I booked for Y but I still wanna stay here on X"?

[KuariKaydrith]

Was it here I saw a story "yeah, I tried to book for X but there were no vacancies, so I booked for Y but I still wanna stay here on X"?

Either here or on Not Always. I've honestly had that happen on a busy night - we were completely booked up, and the would-be guest said he booked for Y because there was no availability on X. That should have been his first clue.

[earl colby pottinger]

Question

Either here or on Not Always. I've honestly had that happen on a busy night - we were completely booked up, and the would-be guest said he booked for Y because there was no availability on X. That should have been his first clue.

Are those third party booking sites fully refundable if you cancel a booking, or do they keep a small amount to insure they are always making some money?

[KuariKaydrith]

It depends on when the guest cancels. We allow people to cancel up to 24 hours before the 3pm check-in time, but third-party sites are all different. I do believe most of them will allow a cancelation up to 48 hours prior to check-in, but it is up to the guest to read that particular fine print. We will also allow last minute cancellations of direct reservations under certain circumstances, such as illness, family emergency, and similar. We don't advertise it because it would get taken completely taken advantage of, and it very much is up to the discretion of the person taking that cancellation call, so long as it is well-documented in the reservations notes.

[taxguykarl]

I had a couple make an appointment through my mega-tax chain's website. They arrived a week early. Good thing it was a slow day.

[Pixelated]

This reminds me a bit of a story I saw on another site: groom shows up to get the wedding guests registered in the hotel but ... wait ... there's no reservations.

The employee does some digging (might have been more than one employee with a shovel, I don't remember) and what they find is ... the reservations had been made for a date a few months ago.

The wedding had been postponed for whatever reason and the groom had just ... never bothered to update the hotel. Or the caterer. Or the hall. Or ... well, anybody.

Meanwhile the bride and bridesmaids and friends and assorted guests have gone to the hall to decorate it ...

So the employee is commiserating (and I'm sure very sincerely, because this was the ultimate nightmare) while the groom is staring off into the void, contemplating his imminent extremely painful death.

It was unquestionably entirely his fault but he acknowledged that, didn't abuse the employee(s), and when he realized what he'd be facing once his screw-up became known ... well, it was pretty much impossible to not feel at least a bit sorry for him.

[Sparklyturtle]

We did that once - drove up from California to our favorite hotel on the Oregon coast, only to find we were a day early, and they had nowhere they could put us. The hotel's desk clerk was able to find us a room at another hotel, for which we thanked her profusely. This is why you should always be nice to receptionists, wait staff, and hotel clerks - speaking for myself, I find myself a lot more willing to go the extra mile for someone who's been polite. The place they sent us was nice, except that the piano in the restaurant was so loud we had to shout to be heard. Good food, though.