I wat to know what you all think - a hotel question

[CloserToSane]

No, they're probably dealing with enough suck and I understand that these things happen. Hairspray has set our alarms off before (a large amount) so I know it's not always their fault.

[SpyOne]

Really depends on the circumstances.


If there really had been a fire, or if the alarm was caused by some kind of "act of god" or other thing totally beyond the hotel's control, then I'd just file that under "stuff happens".

If it was somehow the hotel's fault that the alarm went off, if it was due to a fault with the alarm or something, then I would think I deserve a discount.

It's like if I were disturbed by someone running down the halls screaming in the middle of the night:
If it is a hotel guest, then the hotel is really not at fault if its customers are jerks. Unless he keeps doing it and they do nothing to stop him, as they can reasonably be expected to do something about the jerk.
But if it is the front desk clerk who's doing it, then it is an agent of the company disturbing the restful sleep I paid for, and so it is the company's fault that I didn't get full value for my purchase.


So it really depends on why the alarm went off, and why the building needed to be evacuated.

[thehippie777]

Recently we had a 5 year old at 1am pull a fire alarm while the adults were outside smoking. Should the hotel be liable when grown people can't watch their own children, and have them up at 1am???? Heck no. If it wasn't the fault of the hotel's system, no one no matter who they are should demand a refund just because there are inconsiderate guests who performed an illegal act.

Trust me, I as a hotel worker was so very angry that I had to deal with that crap that I wanted a bonus or a raise...but guess what?

[friendofjimmyk]

A friend of mine had a fire alarm (one that's inside the room only, not linked to the entire hotel) going off throughout the night. They couldn't determine the reason, so they finally moved her to another room. This was after it had gone off three or four times already. Her new room caught fire (the AC unit apparently overheated, through no fault of hers). She was thoroughly disgusted by that point, demanded a refund, and went to stay at another hotel. Depends on the situation I guess.

I can see getting a discount or a refund in this situation.

But if the alarm goes off and it was a false alarm or nothing came of it - or even if something DID come of it - like a real fire, I'd just be glad that the fire alarm woke my ass up and I got out.

I think, in the event of a real fire, that the hotel would pony up something anyway. In the event of a non-fire - they shouldn't have too.

[iradney]

I think in the case of children pulling the alarms, and you know FOR A FACT that a kid did it, then apply a fire alarm tax to their parent's rooms. Or a surcharge, similar to what you would charge a smoker smoking in a non-smoking room.

[Getoutofmylobby]

Yeah, this is just another case of a customer digging for a discount.

We had to evacuate the building once when some lady lit a number of potpourri candles in her room and one smoke alarm made all of them go off. Every emergency department you can think of showed up, fire, police, ambulance, Geek Squad, SWAT Team and it was like an hour before we could go back in. Not a single person complained even after they found out the dumbass reason why an hour of their lives was wasted.

Actually, it was during this experience when i overheard some dumbass mention to her family "I can't believe Bin Laden would hit the ___ in St Louis!" And nobody laughed, leading me to believe she was serious.

[KhirasHY]

OK,

You are staying at a hotel.

The fire alarm goes off in the middle of the night. There was not an actual fire, but the building needs to be evacuated, etc.

Do you think you deserve a discount?

Just looking for some opinions.

I, being capable of human "thought", know I don't deserve a discount.

Guests, being incapable of anything more complicated than playing in the toilet, will never understand that.

[Seshat]

If I were silly enough to run a hotel (I'm not a 'people person', so it's not the right industry for me), I think I'd also have cameras pointing to the fire alarms. I'd want to be able to determine whether a prankster was setting them off, and if so, who.

And I'd try to have a clause in the contract for the room that went something like this:

Guests who knowingly disturb the peace of other guests will be charged a fee of up to (blah dollars).

And perhaps another:

Guests may be compensated for any disturbance at the owner's discretion.


Then I'd fine guests who pulled fire alarms, or otherwise provably screwed up the peaceful sleep of the other guests. And I'd use that fine to reward any guests who didn't raise an unholy fuss demanding their money back.

The ones who did would get nothing. Their share would be split among the staff they ranted at and the staff who dealt with the guest who created the disturbance in the first place.

[digilight]

On the opposite side of the coin. What happens if the fire alarm goes off and there really is a fire that renders the hotel unocupiable for the remainder of the night. Do the current guests get refunds, or assistance getting placed at another local hotel, or at least enough xanax to unwind after a scare like that.

Again I'm just curious (yeah I know what that did to the cat too). But hopefully this is nothing that any of our hospitality employees have ever had to deal with.

I do remember years ago the whole family was eating at this semi nice place (at the top of a local hotel 18 floors up). The fire alarm went off and people just stood around like tards at a LSD convention. We ended up having to hike down 18 flights of stairs (before the bill was paid) and my grandfather went back up to the place after the all clear was given to pay the bill. I don't know if they gave him a discount or anything. I do know that most people just took off and saved the 20 bucks a person.