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Do you know what 'EMERGENCY CONTACT' means?

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  • Do you know what 'EMERGENCY CONTACT' means?

    So, while the property manager is on vacation I am the emergency contact for the hotel group's properties. One, I live the closest, and two, I was crazy enough to volunteer to do it. It's really not all that bad - our properties are small so it's not like I'm running off my feet or anything. And I get to bill for any time I'm on the phone for those questions or if I have to go to either property after hours.

    However, people seem to not have any idea what actually constitutes an emergency.

    1. Calling at 7:30 am to ask about extending your stay is not an emergency. That is a front desk question that can be asked when the desk person arrives. The guest met the morning desk person outside, wearing no socks, and was visibly intoxicated. Conveniently, there weren't any rooms available by the time the guest and his wife managed to scrounge together the cash to pay for another night, not that we really wanted them to spend another night here anyway. Their room was a state when they cleared out...non-smoking room that reeked of cigarette smoke, complete with cigarette butts on the floor. They're going to be invoiced for that damage - we weren't going to charge the card on file because that belonged to their poor, beleaguered granddaughter who was roped into paying for their room last night.

    2. Calling to ask if there's a microwave available is also not an emergency. That is another front desk question that I could have taken via the front desk phone sitting right beside me instead of it going to my cell phone. At least I was actually on-site for this one, but still. Not an emergency.

    3. Calling to ask me to call a taxi for them. There's a list of local taxi companies beside the phone in your room. Yeah, I didn't call them a taxi - just told them which one I'd pick. Okay, so I didn't give them the name of the company I personally prefer, but that's because I didn't want to subject them to such needy passengers.

    4. Calling to give me shit for our cafe not being open. As if this is somehow my fault, and not due to COVID restrictions. Not a damn emergency, and it left me glad that they called me instead of coming into the lobby so they could try to come over the desk at me. Ugh.

    5. Wanting to know why there's no coffee in the lobby. Because there's coffee available in your room? Trust me, I wish we had coffee available in the lobby because I could use some to help me get through dealing with idiots. With a healthy dash of rum or Kahlua in it.

    I'm sure there will be more of these to come over the next week while the boss is away. Joy.

  • #2
    Quoth KuariKaydrith View Post
    So, while the property manager is on vacation I am the emergency contact for the hotel group's properties. One, I live the closest,
    When I initially read your post, I looked at this and saw "One, I live in the closet," ... which made me wonder a bit about your employer.

    *snip*

    Quoth KuariKaydrith View Post
    5. Wanting to know why there's no coffee in the lobby. Because there's coffee available in your room? Trust me, I wish we had coffee available in the lobby because I could use some to help me get through dealing with idiots. With a healthy dash of rum or Kahlua in it.

    I'm sure there will be more of these to come over the next week while the boss is away. Joy.
    I suspect this is partly why we have to have transparent water bottles at work and must have only water in them. It's not the coffee they worry about; it's what we might be adding TO the coffee. And on some days, I absolutely would be.

    Sometimes people might panic a bit ... I'm thinking of the call about extending the person's stay. "I better call really early so they can fit me back in!" So instead of calling the front desk really early, they call the emergency line.

    The rest of them, though ...

    Keep us updated.
    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
    ~ Mr Hero

    Comment


    • #3
      Will you

      1) Ban them in the future.

      2) Point them to the list of features included in a room rental.

      3) Good handling it.

      4) I did not have to give shit back, instead I handed the phone to my front counter person who happened to be the mother of the company president. And she could give it back a hundred fold.

      5) Lazy, Lazy, Lazy. I don't drink coffee, but the person I travel with while she does not like hotel coffee that much, if it is freshly made and drunk right after she makes it she finds it fine to drink.

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth earl colby pottinger View Post
        1)

        2) Point them to the list of features included in a room rental.
        You're a trusting soul to assume they will actually read it.
        Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
        ~ Mr Hero

        Comment


        • #5
          But

          Quoth Pixelated View Post
          You're a trusting soul to assume they will actually read it.
          I am a computer tech. Most people can read, it is only if it is on a computer screen or a store offers a BOGO buy that I see most people's brain short circuits.

          Comment


          • #6
            Thankfully, the guests from #1 have been ban-inated from all our properties now. Housekeeping also told me that the formerly white towels and bedding from the room might not be salvageable either because apparently there was some sort of makeup explosion in the room...anything white was apparently covered in pink!

            I think #2 may have happened because some hotels in the area do have microwaves they can put in the rooms if guests ask. Despite them being against local fire code. Such is life.

            Personally, I'm kind of glad that our cafe isn't open. Before the shut-down, I had two shifts a week in the cafe and it was deadly boring.

            Now, onto last night's 'emergency' call...

            6. "Is your hotel haunted? I just had an experience..."

            12:30-ish at night, I'm home watching stupid YT videos, when this call comes in. The poor girl at the other end apologizes profusely for asking a silly question, and I tell her it's okay. I further tell her that nobody has confirmed anything, but that I believe that the hotel IS haunted as I've seen and experienced some weird stuff when I've been at work by myself. She was thankful that it wasn't just her, and she apologized again. This kind of call isn't too bad as far as 'emergencies' go, and I chalk it up as confirmation to the hotel likely being haunted.

            I wonder if I will have anymore stories before the end of my shift today...

            Comment


            • #7
              6. "Is your hotel haunted? I just had an experience..."
              "What do you mean, 'You just checked in?' That place has been shut down for decades."
              "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
              "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
              "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
              "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
              "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
              "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
              Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
              "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth EricKei View Post
                "What do you mean, 'You just checked in?' That place has been shut down for decades."
                If I'm on call Halloween night and get a call like this again I'm very tempted to give this answer LOL

                Comment


                • #9
                  Feel free to add "...Ever since the incident."
                  "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                  "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                  "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                  "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                  "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                  "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                  Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                  "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Name

                    Quoth EricKei View Post
                    "What do you mean, 'You just checked in?' That place has been shut down for decades."
                    We forgot to ask the name of your hotel, it would not be "Hotel California" by chance?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth Pixelated View Post
                      When I initially read your post, I looked at this and saw "One, I live in the closet," ... which made me wonder a bit about your employer.
                      HAHAHAHA! Me too, me too! I had to go back and re-read it three or four times before it resolved correctly in my brain!

                      I'm so glad to know I'm not alone in my dementia...
                      “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


                      • #12
                        Quoth Pixelated View Post
                        You're a trusting soul to assume they will actually read it.
                        No kidding When my day job duties included addressing contractor questions prior to their submitting a bid, at least 3/4 of those queries could be legitimately answered by "Page X, paragraph Y" or "Plan sheet A, note B"
                        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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