Q for hotel workers

[thehippie777]

I was wondering if any of you have as many issues/problems as we seem to have with our electronic key cards?

And, if so does your hotel run VingCard?

It just seems like our doors are picky, keys get erased so say...etc

[smileyeagle1021]

I have no clue what key system we use... but yes I know what you mean.... oh and my guests piss me off to no end about this... if they are having an extended stay (longer than 3 days, that's the longest I've seen keys consistently work) I tell them that the keys will last the longest if it is kept in a card slot in a wallet... if it's in your pocket the magnetic strip will get scratched and it will lose its coding, but without fail they will come up and bitch that we programed their key wrong... without fail I will bring up the last program for that room and find that it was programmed correctly and without fail I will look at the key and see scratches on the mag stripe... but it's our fault for programming it wrong

eta- yes, your cell phone can erase the key... I know you think I'm full of shit, but I have tested it with both my phone and my coworkers phones, for some reason the signal will screw up the programming on the key... oh and no this isn't us seeing what we want to believe, want to guess what warning Nissan has for their keyless entry systems in the owners manual.... go on guess... yup, it warns to keep your at least an inch away from your cell phone because the cell phone could interfere with the programming of your key.

[alogram]

i don't know what system we have either, but we don't have too many problems with it...just the cell phone issues, and dumbasses who can't read and try to get in the wrong room.

At least I haven't heard "YOU DESTROY THAT KEY, IT HAS MY CREDIT CARD AND ADDRESS INFO ON IT!!!!!!"

I never got that one......even if it did, which it DOES NOT, how the heck would anyone who found it get the info off it?

The mind boggles...

[simpleyme]

my poor DH was staying at a hotel and his key card would not work and he really had to use the bathroom but without a key card you could not even get into a bathroom in the place

he gets in line and has to wait behind some moron who is demanding a discount on his room the reason? the man is super important and has just closed an 8 million dollar deal
my DH thought the guy was a completes ass , so the reason you should get it cheap is you are rich? now had he just lost an 8 million dollar deal DH might have garnered some sympathy

[clowninasack]

i don't know what system we have either, but we don't have too many problems with it...just the cell phone issues, and dumbasses who can't read and try to get in the wrong room.

At least I haven't heard "YOU DESTROY THAT KEY, IT HAS MY CREDIT CARD AND ADDRESS INFO ON IT!!!!!!"

I never got that one......even if it did, which it DOES NOT, how the heck would anyone who found it get the info off it?

The mind boggles...

Hotel cards usually use the same format as a credit card so you can use a special reader to read the info off of it. Apparrently a lot of criminals copy CC info to hotel cards, that way if they get caught with the card on them, it just looks like a hotel card.

[smileyeagle1021]

Hotel cards usually use the same format as a credit card so you can use a special reader to read the info off of it. Apparrently a lot of criminals copy CC info to hotel cards, that way if they get caught with the card on them, it just looks like a hotel card.

which is why many hotels are switching to a thicker card so it isn't as easy to run through a CC reader.

Oh and the crazies who think we put the CC info on it... our key encoder isn't even connected to the computer system, we have to program everything into the encoder manually, and it's enough of a pain just to get it to recognize room number and check out date... why the hell would I want to take the time to program in a 16 digit credit card number, expiration date, and security code (don't remember the exact name of the code, but I remember there is one on the card that proves the card was swiped).

[Evil Queen]

I was wondering if any of you have as many issues/problems as we seem to have with our electronic key cards?

And, if so does your hotel run VingCard?

It just seems like our doors are picky, keys get erased so say...etc

I don't know what our system uses either but I know the machine we use is called a TESA machine. Our doors are magnet-based (so, when the power goes out, you can still use your keycards) and, rather unfortunately, our keycards are rather sensitive. I just tell people not to put the cards next to their cell phones (the battery will wipe the keys blank) and their wallets since some credit cards do the same thing.

At least I haven't heard "YOU DESTROY THAT KEY, IT HAS MY CREDIT CARD AND ADDRESS INFO ON IT!!!!!!"

I never got that one......even if it did, which it DOES NOT, how the heck would anyone who found it get the info off it?

The mind boggles...

I actually did get that one. Once. I asked the person why they think that and they said it's because the key machine is hooked up to the computer, which has the credit card machine. I informed them that, no, it wasn't. It had a port on teh back for such an option and I showed it to the person.

They insisted I destroy the card. I insisted they bugger off and erased the card (which I didn't have to since it would have expired in an hour) and dropped it back into my keycard stack.

I told my boss about it and he said people were just nuts.

[smileyeagle1021]

TESA machine.


They insisted I destroy the card. I insisted they bugger off and erased the card (which I didn't have to since it would have expired in an hour) and dropped it back into my keycard stack.

I told my boss about it and he said people were just nuts.

to the tesa machine *hiss* that's the evil company that provided the keys for the USU dorms

to the nut jobs... what I've normally done is (important to note, our name badges are magnetic) to open up the top couple of buttons of my shirt and run the key over the backside of my name badge where the magnets are, and tell the guest they are more than free to try the key on the lock if they don't think that actually erased it... most just leave it that and say I've done enough to prove that none of their information is still on the card.

[Chromatix]

It probably isn't the battery that erases the stripe. It's much more likely to be the near-field emissions of the antenna.

[thehippie777]

I was told that credit cards put next to key cards can erase them sometimes. Cell phones I knew about. It seems like more then often it's a guest error, but man do they get annoyed. I have stayed at quite a few hotels and I have never had an issue with the card key (unless they weren't programmed which has happened once, the desk clerk literally took the keys from the pile and put them in the packet).

I had a repeat couple stay at the hotel of and on for 2 years and they would claim that no matter what I said, their credit card info was on the card. It was highly annoying. They insisted that I erase the cards, but when I did alls I could think is, "You have no idea how any of this works and you are all of a sudden trusting me that I erased these cards?"

But, I am happy to know it's not just our hotel's keys, which guests like to say it is only ever our hotel. liars

[Evil Queen]

I expect all words to come out of the guests mouth to be a lie. Even if I like them a lot (and they're regulars). Eventually, it'll bite you in the ass in the end.