sarcastic narcisstic

[HotelMinion]

The one type of customer that really irks me, is the sarcastic narcisstic. The only other one worse than that is the Rager.
Customers, we do NOT have 24 hour mainentenance service. God, I wish they would put that up in a big bold sign acroos the lobby and each room and have a wallpaper of it on our website. YOULL HAVE TO PAY HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS MORE FOR THAT SERVICE. Most understand this, like.....85%.
The rest, well, think every place is a Ritz BECAUSE THEY'RE STAYING THERE.

Okay the proper way of complaining:

"The hot water is not working in my room." "The air conditioner is not working in my room." "The coffee pot is not working in my room." "The iron is not working IN MY ROOM."

You see what all of those have in common? "In my room." "In MY room."

The bad way of complaining:

"So, do you not have any hot water? Do you not have any working TVs? Do you not have any working, etc etc."

Obviously we do, otherwise the phones would be ringing off the hook and a line of angry people would at the desk. ITS YOUR ROOM ITS YOUR ROOM ITS YOUR ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(They of course, know this, hence the sarcasm. At least I'm 99.9% sure they know.)

Rude old fart: a.k.a sarcastic narcisstic
Me: Having a good day until...

ROF: (in a whisper) So... it was a nice COLD shower...
Me: Excuse me??
ROF: (slowlllly but still very softly) I. Said. It. Was. A. Nice. COLD. Shower. Toddddaaaayyyyy.
Me: Oh, you didn't have any hot water? (obvious) I'm sorry about that. I'll tell maintenance.
ROF: (whisper) Do you NOT have any hot water today???
Me: O_o Yes of course we have hot water. I guess it was just your room.
ROF: (mutters under his breath and walks away with evil eye)

UGH! Not a WTF is his problem?! suck, more like sloooowly grinding on your nerves suck.

[South Texan]

ROF: (whisper) Do you NOT have any hot water today???
Me: O_o Yes of course we have hot water. I guess it was just your room.

Or it was the ROF not understanding how to work the faucet. How can hot water not go to just one room, yet go to the rest of the hotel? Don't all the hotel rooms connect to the same plumbing that hooks up to the same hot water heaters?

[ITboykc]

I was once at a hotel where there were valves under the sink that controlled the supply of water to the shower. If you didn't notice those, you were stuck at whatever temperature the shower was when you turned it on at the tap. Perhaps he didn't notice and took it out on you?

[dalesys]

ROF: (slowlllly but still very softly) I. Said. It. Was. A. Nice. COLD. Shower. Toddddaaaayyyyy.

And I'm sure you needed it after that Depends commercial.

[XCashier]

ROF: (in a whisper) So... it was a nice COLD shower...
Me: Excuse me??
ROF: (slowlllly but still very softly) I. Said. It. Was. A. Nice. COLD. Shower. Toddddaaaayyyyy.
Me: Oh, you didn't have any hot water? (obvious) I'm sorry about that. I'll tell maintenance.
ROF: (whisper) Do you NOT have any hot water today???
Me: O_o Yes of course we have hot water. I guess it was just your room.
ROF: (mutters under his breath and walks away with evil eye)

Another variation of passive aggresiveness. I hate that crap. I wish these idiots would just flat-out state the problem, not circumnavigate it.

Okay the proper way of complaining:

"The hot water is not working in my room."

Precisely. State the problem, clearly, and the person in charge is more likely to get it fixed quickly. Hem and haw, make snide remarks, and it's more likely that nothing will get done because the employees just think you're grumbling for no reason.

[Teskeria]

ROF: (in a whisper) So... it was a nice COLD shower...
:

Me: "I'm very glad you enjoyed it. I prefer a hot shower myself, but my Mom likes it so cold it's almost ice. I hope you were able to get it cold enough for your preference'

(and Yeah, my Mom does like cold showers)

[Merriweather]

Me: "I'm very glad you enjoyed it. I prefer a hot shower myself, but my Mom likes it so cold it's almost ice. I hope you were able to get it cold enough for your preference'

(and Yeah, my Mom does like cold showers)

Oh, I like that

I used to have a very good friend who was passive-agressive in the extreme. She would never simply state what was bothering her or what she wanted straight out, she'd hem and haw and make little comments. Sometimes I picked up on them and things got settled, other times they'd go over my head for one reason or another, and she'd stop talking to me (with no explanation of course) for a while. I finally just dropped all contact after a while, I really liked her, but didn't have enough esp for that friendship to work.

[taxguykarl]

My favorite method for dealing with the passive-agressive is to take them literally.

[Alpha Strike]

Me: "I'm very glad you enjoyed it. I prefer a hot shower myself, but my Mom likes it so cold it's almost ice. I hope you were able to get it cold enough for your preference'

My favorite method for dealing with the passive-agressive is to take them literally.

Mine too. That's why I like Teskeria's answer so much - the customer either is "forced" to be an adult or they don't get their problem fixed.

[bainsidhe]

In person I could read body language and would realize what the customer meant. Because in writing the conversation sounded a little awkward and uncomfortable. Was I the only one who thought that?

[Blade_Raver]

No. We have hot water. You can't have any. Not yours.

[Carsomyr]

Sorry, we uninstalled the "hot" button because everyone who used it ended up with third degree burns. However, we'd be glad to re-install it just for you.

[XCashier]

In person I could read body language and would realize what the customer meant. Because in writing the conversation sounded a little awkward and uncomfortable. Was I the only one who thought that?

I can't always read body language or tone of voice, even in person. That's one of the reasons I loathe passive aggressiveness. It's pointless, easy to misinterpret, childish and a time-waster.