You want me to leave because of poison gas?!

[Skarredmind]

So yeah... I've been on a bit of a hiatus. I considered the fact that I spent most of my time on here while I was at work on a work computer. My management are all kick ass people, know that I do stuff like post on this page because venting here is better than venting on an SC. Still though, I figured I'd take a break. I am back now though I have a laptop that I can bring to work with me and log in through an unsecured internet server, so Yay!

A few weeks back we had a problem with Carbon Monoxide being vented into the property. The first guests to be effected were evacuated to the hospital, which lead to the fire department being called, and things went downhill from there.

A few tidbits from the night.

-About 15 minutes after the FD started ordering people to evacuate, someone calls me at the front desk.
Confused guest - "There is a crazy guy running up and down the halls here, banging on doors and telling people to evacuate."
Me - "Uh... is he wearing a FD or police uniform?"
CG - "Well he's got on a mask... and one of those coats... and a helmet."
Me - "He's with the Fire Department... I'd listen to what he says..."

-About 20 minutes into the evacuation. Mr. Clueless comes down.

MC - "Well! Where can we go that's safe!"
Me - "The Food and Beverage manager has opened the restaurant dining area for guests, and you are, of course welcome to stay here in the lobby."
MC - "How do I know that its safe HERE, if its not in my room."
Me - "The FD cleared this area, and has designated it as a place for people to wait until the all clear."
MC - "How can THEY tell its safe?!"
Me - "Uh... they have CO monitors that check the concentrations of it... they said its all clear here."
MC - "Yeah, right."
Me - "No, seriously. But anyway, do you think *I'd* be sitting here if there was any danger? I mean I like my job and they pay me decently... but not nearly enough to DIE at my post."
MC - "...oh."

-About an hour into the evacuation. Coach Angrypants comes to discuss the terrible customer service.

CA - "My youth sports team has games in the morning! When are we getting back into our rooms?!"
Me - "Yes, sir, I am sorry about the issue. I don't have any information on when guests will be allow..."
CA - "THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH! My players need sleep!"
Me - "I understand, but the Fire Depart..."
*At this point I am watching CA puff himself up like he's looking for a fight and just wants to yell at someone... you know how you can sometimes *SEE them building up that head of steam?
CA - "This is absolutely unacceptable! I demand you let us back into our rooms!"
Me - "Uhh... that's not my call the FD is going to determ..." (Seriously guy? How well will your players play if they're dead from CO poisoning?)
CA - "This is the most important blargedy blarg blarg!"
Local Police Officer walks over and gives him that stiff fingered tap on the shoulder... you know, the one you can still feel 5 minutes later.
LPO - "Are you looking for information sir?"
CA - Turns angrily, sees the uniform and deflates dejectedly, "Um... yeah."
LPO - "Why don't we discuss this outside, and let this gentleman get back to work."
*I have to say at this point, that I *LOVE* my local Police, whenever I need them they are all over this place like white on rice. Usually they respond in under 5 minutes too. I made sure to thank him when he came by later in the evening... he apparently made the "confrontation" visible enough that no one else tried the, let's bully the Night Auditor until he lets us back into our poison gas rooms.

-But... I need my stuff in my room! Miss Needs her Stuff tried contacting me about 3 different ways fishing for a different answer.... Needless to say, asking in person, asking over the phone, and sending me a e-mail (which was the funniest of the three) all netted the same response.

MNS - "Hi... when we were evacuated I didn't have time to pack my things."
Me - "Sounds smart, I'd have escaped as fast as I could in a safe manner too."
MNS - "Yeah but all my stuff is in my room... can I go get it?"
Me - "No I am sorry, no one is allowed in the evacuated areas until they are cleared by the Fire Department."
MNS - "Well can't I just go get my stuff quickly?"
Me - "Until the FD gives the all clear no one is allowed in the evacuated areas."
MNS - "Well can't *SOMEONE* go get my stuff?"
Me - "No. No one is allowed in there."
MNS - "So you won't go get my stuff for me?"
Me - "No. The FD is not allowing ANYONE on the floor."
MNS - "But I want my stuff!"
Me - "I am sorry about that, but this show is the FD's now, I can't override them."
MNS - "Can the FD get my stuff?"
Me - :Facepalm: "I don't think so ma'am, but if you want to ask, you'd have to ask one of them.
MNS - "They already said no."
Me - :boggle: "Well... uh... you have your answer then."
MNS - "Oh."

*I love my job, they pay decently... but seriously lady I am not going to risk my life because you want your underwear and favorite pair of flip-flops. You're gonna need to wait like everyone else.

-And the aftermath. Miss EmergencyPlanner had some issues the following morning.

EP - "I have a complaint."
Me - "I'm sorry, what can I do for you?"
EP - "I think the way you chose to evacuate the hotel was very unprofessional!"
Me - :boggle: "Uh... what?"
EP - "You people should have pulled the fire alarm insteady of banging on people's doors! Then everyone would have evacuated safely and calmly!"
Me - "A-ha... well that wouldn't have worked. For starters our fire control system is tied into a local alert center, a second call would have gone out to the FD now reporting a fire onsite in addition to the CO issues. Secondly, the whole building was never evacuated, just two floors... pulling the alarm would have woken up and evacuated floors that weren't involved in the evacuation. Thirdly, *I* didn't evacuate *ANYONE* the Fire Department headed that whole thing up, if you really want to complain then I can get you the Fire Chief's phone number... but I really have to think that were our positions switched, I'd *MUCH* rather be woken up by someone banging on the door, than the *OTHER* alternative to staying in a room filled with poison gas."
EP - :catbuttface:

* OK I'll admit, I did lose my cool a hair on this one... I wasn't screaming, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the idiocy... I think she *MIGHT* have been fishing for a free room... but since we were already comping all the rooms... it was just unnecessary.

-I'm angry! I DEMAND A FREE ROOM and I won't take YES for an answer.

Angry - "That's was OUTRAGEOUS LAST NIGHT! I will NOT pay for my room."
Me - "Completely understandable, I'll wave the fees for you.
A - "I can't believe you people! You want to charge me and I didn't even get to SLEEP in my room!"
Me - "I'm sorry about that sir, I've already waived your room fee for last night."
A - "Are you the manager? I demand to speak with a manager! This is ridiculous!"
Me - "Uh... no, I am not a manager, but I've already waived the room fee for last night."
A - "Where is the manager?! I will go over your head to get a refund!"
Me - :boggle: "Uh... I've already refunded you... but there is no manager in at the moment. I'd be happy to..."
A -"HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THERE ISN'T A MANAGER ON?! YOU'RE *ALL OVER* the NEWS" *Apparently "all over the news means that it was a 2 minute blurb on the only local tv station*
Me - "I don't know sir, I've already contacted them and they are aware of the situation." *Actually they were all out of town for a special training event that weekend, and the'd been in REGULAR contact with me.
A - "I demand a phone number for your manager RIGHT NOW! We are going to fix this refund thing NOW!"
Me - "Sir... the. room. has. already. been. refunded. Here is my manager's card though, his extension is on the back."
A - "I don't want his extension! I want his personal cellphone number!"
Me - "No."
A - "WHAAAAAT!?!?! How dare you :splutter: rabble rabble rabble!"
Me - "I am sorry sir, but the number I already gave you is the one you can contact him at. I've been in regular contact with him since the problems last night, and will be happy to pass on a message and your number so he can contact you"
A - ANGRILY writes his number down "He BETTER CALL ME before NOON today oh HEADS WILL ROLL!"
Me - I'll be happy to pass that message along as well as soon as I talk to him."
A - STORMS off.

*The best part of this story is that about 15 minutes later, my boss's boss, the director of all of our facilities called for an update. She had been directly involved since the issues started the night before, and had been very supportive. I told her about Mr. Angry, that I refunded the room on his first request (like I'd been doing for everyone who requested it) and told her about him making threats anyway, and that he demanded my boss call him before noon. Her response was, "No. If he contacts you again, you tell him that you gave his information not to your boss but the person at the top of the company (*she really is only behind the owner of the company in leadership on all of this stuff, so the buck wouldn't go higher than her.) and that I said that I would be happy to call him Monday (*it was at this point Saturday morning) but there is a lot of issues going on right now that need to be taken care of before we can deal with him."

I have to say, her response *TOTALLY* made my night.


Phew... sorry that was a long one... what a hell of a night it was though!

[Pixilated]

Sounds like you had quite the night! Kudos to the police for keeping Mr. Angrypants Coach off your back and your management for refusing to automatically fall on their knees in front of every PO'd customer!

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

A - "I can't believe you people! You want to charge me and I didn't even get to SLEEP in my room!"
Me - "I'm sorry about that sir, I've already waived your room fee for last night."
A - "Are you the manager? I demand to speak with a manager! This is ridiculous!"
Me - "Uh... no, I am not a manager, but I've already waived the room fee for last night."
A - "Where is the manager?! I will go over your head to get a refund!"

And there's proof that people just don't listen.

I once had a customer who brought his computer into my store and mentioned that he knew it was out of warranty but that he knew the owner personally and that he would take care of it.

I thought to myself "yeah right" and took in his computer. I then called the boss and found out that indeed this was a good friend of the boss and he authorized me to fix the computer at no charge.

It needed a new video card and would have cost us $20 to put a new one in. So the boss said do it.

Not having a problem with it I did the repair and called the customer to come and pick up his computer. I handed him the invoice for the repair and he went into "flip out city".

Even though the invoice said "$0.00" for the total due, explained that there was no charge and that the invoice was for our records and the warranty on the video card from the manufacturer (they like to have proof of purchase) and that there was no charge.

Must have gone through that explanation a dozen times before the boss came out and asked what the problem was. FINALLY it sank in that there was a zero balance invoice and no charge involved.

The last thing the asshole said as he left was "You should hire people who aren't incompetent idiots and know how to print an invoice properly.

Boss told me to go to have the rest of the day off. He said I looked like I was 30 seconds from a murderous rampage. He was wrong. I was 10 seconds away.

[ADeMartino]

Next time the dude comes in for a repair...."Oh, no, sir, I can't... I'm just an INCOMPETENT IDIOT and couldn't POSSIBLY repair your computer!"

[bhskittykatt]

Ugh...people don't get that you can't magically make poison gas disappear. I remember when I had to put our hotel in lockdown as per police orders - no one could come in and no one could leave the property, and guests were supposed to stay inside - and people expected me to know exactly when they could leave because they had to go to work now, as if I could just magically infer when an emergency situation like that would be resolved. Many guests were understanding, but there were also those who were extremely irate when I didn't have a good answer to their questions.

As for crazed refund guy...he must just like hearing himself shout. He sure wasn't listening to you!

[fireheart]

Ugh...people don't get that you can't magically make poison gas disappear.

They think you can magically fan it away from them like a bad fart

[Trixie]

I always love how people demand the personal number for the manager. Probably got that "advice" from consumer reporter. Because you the higher you need to go to get satisfaction the louder you must yell.

[Rock Lobster]

And when they died from the CO2 they would have complained about that too!

[fireheart]

And when they died from the CO2 they would have complained about that too!

Isn't that Carbon Dioxide? I was always under the impression that Carbon Monoxide was just CO. (mono=one, dio=two)

[ADeMartino]

Isn't that Carbon Dioxide? I was always under the impression that Carbon Monoxide was just CO. (mono=one, dio=two)

Rock Lobster probably meant carbon monoxide (CO). It's a common error.

Although honestly, neither CO or CO2 are good for you - and in a fire there are copious amounts of both. Carbon monoxide (CO), however, remains in the system for quite some time, while carbon dioxide (CO2) begins to dissipate from the system almost immediately - since the respiratory/circulatory systems are built specifically to rid the body of CO2. You can die from either - CO2 'smothers' you by displacing oxygen in the air; CO accumulates in the blood, stays there, and prevents the blood from accepting oxygen from the lungs.

[PepperElf]

Next time the dude comes in for a repair...."Oh, no, sir, I can't... I'm just an INCOMPETENT IDIOT and couldn't POSSIBLY repair your computer!"

Hopefully the boss won't hook his friend up again either. Not if he's going to have such a hissy fit over it.


Seriously, I think some people are so ready to FIGHT for something like that, they don't know (or care perhaps) to calm down... not until their rage is spent. ...which is perhaps why they can't process being told "you've been refunded" etc.

Isn't that Carbon Dioxide? I was always under the impression that Carbon Monoxide was just CO. (mono=one, dio=two)

Yes. Although both have their risks. CO is deadly to breathe in because it binds to the blood more tightly than oxygen. CO2 isn't normally deadly, but it does displace oxygen (heavier). So in a way both can prevent you from getting oxygen in your blood, but with different methods.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Mr. Angrypants Wannarefund was clearly just amped up and looking to yell at someone who couldn't fight back for his inconvenience. That the OP was giving him what he was asking for was irrelevant-- he'd been dragged out of his room in the middle of the night and he wanted to yell at someone for it. The FD were to blame, but he can't yell at them. They're in positions of authority and can have the cops there toot sweet, plus they have easy access to AXES.

The OP on the other hand is some wage drone that isn't allowed to yell back at him and thus an acceptable target.

Good on your Big Boss for backing you up and for the cops backing you up on Coach Grumpypants.

[MoonCat]

God I can't believe what idiots those people were. What is so hard to understand about "carbon monoxide will KILL YOU" and "You are getting a refund" - ?

[Skarredmind]

The poor folks who discovered the CO leak were hospitalized, but have since recovered and are doing good.

I am just glad no one died!

I should probably say that the VAST majority of people were, if not happy, very understanding about the whole thing. I heard several times that night that they'd rather be evacuated than... you know... die... That and a number of people saw that I was doing what I could to make the best of a bad situation, and went out of their way to compliment me (one even gave one of the best compliments... a $5 haha) and thank me for doing what I could to help out. I was basically in, "Do whatever they ask, and try to make them happy mode."

Ugh...people don't get that you can't magically make poison gas disappear. I remember when I had to put our hotel in lockdown as per police orders - no one could come in and no one could leave the property, and guests were supposed to stay inside - and people expected me to know exactly when they could leave because they had to go to work now, as if I could just magically infer when an emergency situation like that would be resolved. Many guests were understanding, but there were also those who were extremely irate when I didn't have a good answer to their questions.

I had the same experience... there were a LOT of people demanding information, and while I ended up being the point man on all of this, there was a whole lot of information that no one was bothering to get to me. The stupid part was that in the restaurant, the manager there had opened the stores so to speak and was giving out free (non-alcoholic) beverages and snacks to people. The FD and police wanted people to congregate there so they could pass on the information, and the people who were in there had more info than I did (since I was glued to the front desk manning the phones and such.) Of course, the ones demanding more info couldn't be assed to be where the police wanted them, so they could share the info, and somehow that was my fault.

I always love how people demand the personal number for the manager. Probably got that "advice" from consumer reporter. Because you the higher you need to go to get satisfaction the louder you must yell.

Yeah I don't get that either... I personally never give out my co-worker's personal information any more than I ABSOLUTELY have to. My boss has business cards at the desk with his full name, so they get that, for me and the other peons I usually give first names only. (We're a small 3 property chain, when you talk to JimBob the Night Auditor there is only one, and everyone will know who you're talking about.) I had someone go ballistic on me the other week because I wouldn't give him my employee number (largely because I don't have one... its not like we're the police with badge numbers), then he demanded my last name, and I told him no, I was the only one on at the time, they would know who I was. My issue with giving out my last name (especially to someone irate and acting irrationally) is that its an unusual name for this area, I am the *ONLY* one in the phone book... that and I've had a customer look me up and call me at home before because they weren't happy with my service. (whole different story, and job, there, but I was not polite with them at all and when they threatened to show up at my house to discuss it I told them that if they did I'd be happy to introduce them to my .357 magnum. (Younger and stupider then, I know) Then, when they tried to get me fired over the "service" and threats I gave them from my house late at night" I denied the whole thing, and suggested that they had the wrong number... the manager was gobsmacked that they had called me at home and the official story was that since I wasn't even at work when the supposed problem happened it *couldn't* have been me LOL)

@Jay2k and Mooncat Yeah... I don't get it either. I think its because they are so keyed up for a fight that when they don't get it they find themselves on auto-pilot, the lights are on, but no one is home. It happened to me a lot when I worked video rentals, the rule there was free rentals don't cost us anything, so be liberal with them if there are complaints. I would head them off at the pass 8 times out of 10... but the other two just couldn't fathom that I apologized and offered a free rental to cover whatever issue they had.

[Seshat]

The poor folks who discovered the CO leak were hospitalized, but have since recovered and are doing good.

Wonderful to hear!

Yeah I don't get that either... I personally never give out my co-worker's personal information any more than I ABSOLUTELY have to. My boss has business cards at the desk with his full name, so they get that, for me and the other peons I usually give first names only. (We're a small 3 property chain, when you talk to JimBob the Night Auditor there is only one, and everyone will know who you're talking about.)

Before I came onto this site, I didn't quite understand the 'not giving a full name' thing. Now, of course, I can.
But even then, I accepted 'If you say it's JimBob from the Springfield store, they'll know who you mean'.

Now, of course, I just ask for some way to record which person I'm dealing with. Usually 'okay, and just for my records, did I hear your name correctly? Kim? Excellent. So Kim from loans, on <date>, and our agreement was <blah>. That's wonderful, Kim, you've been a big help.'
(it also gives 'Kim' a final opportunity to confirm/correct the agreement - and ensures that the recording has what MY understanding of the agreement was.)