Is it really that complicated?

[Mriswith]

Ok, I work the desk at a hotel. We're part of a major chain, and customers can book through the brand website. This happened tonight (friday):

I get to work and notice we have 4 reservations for the same customer. All booked through the website *oh god, I hope I'm wrong*, all with different confirmation numbers *nope, I was right* (different confirmation numbers means they were made individually. One at a time)

I should take this moment to mention that on Fri and Sat we have a 24hr 4pm cancellation policy. After 4pm on Thu, you cannot cancel.

Customer shows up at 11pm for his 1 reservation. Yep, he just kept hitting the button when his computer didn't IMMEDIATELY respond the first time. I explain that we have 4 reservations for him, and that I cannot cancel. He says it's ok because he already cancelled them through Customer Service. Thinking this sounds weird I look at my cancellations for that day and find 4 MORE reservations that customer service had cancelled for him. So that's 8 reservations this guy made, trying to make 1.

I hope he really likes that 1 room, cause he's paying for the other 3.

Sometimes my job makes me feel bad for doing this. Not this time

[DeltaSierra]

That takes FAIL to a whole new level!!!

[dragon_wings]

*blink blink* I think it might be my exhaustion but I seriously think my brain just went splat.

[foxytales]

That's gonna leave a mark! And i sincerely hope you don't have to be the one seeing him at checkout..although I really pity the morning desk personnel...and the MOD...and everyone in earshot...

[ShadowBall]

Geez, I've made reservations online with my shitty dial-up connection and even I can wait long enough for it to go through so I don't get charged eleventy billion times. I can imagine he'll be screaming bloody murder for a refund and about lawsuits and such when he realizes he's paying for four rooms.

[CloserToSane]

Yes it is. I'm a reservations slave supervisor and I see it three or four times a week. Had one this week who forgot he made bookings in June for the wrong dates, then decided he'd cancelled them and afterwards decided he wanted a refund. He stayed the night after the non arrival and had managed to duplicate his booking with both us and a third party.

Or the non arrivals for the 3 rooms under one name with three different cards. and I could go on. What is so hard about just waiting, and if not making a call; so I tell you to wait half an hour more but that's all I can do if you're really quick about calling me.

[barainga]

Some people should never ever be allowed near anything that has a power button... wait. They should never be allowed near anything ever. Unless its the sun. They can get near the sun yeah.. thats okay.

[camjuniper]

Some people should never ever be allowed near anything that has a power button... wait. They should never be allowed near anything ever. Unless its the sun. They can get near the sun yeah.. thats okay.

But then they might sue you for skin cancer . . . unless you mean zooming through space and going fizzle. Then we won't ever have to deal with them.

[dalesys]

But but but but but ...

Monkey Man knows that the harder and faster he pokes, the sooner he gets SATISFACTION!


Or, in a phrase from The Register: He's finding one's love truncheon in a hornet's nest.

[bainsidhe]

If customer service cancelled only 4 reservations, why didn't they cancel the other 3? Makes me wonder if he did a separate reservation spree or they hadn't all processed by the time he called to cancel. I realize the customer had a huge brain fart and that the hotel shouldn't be on the hook for rooms they now can't resell, but I'm curious why customer service didn't do more for him. That's quite a chunk of change, after all.

[Sonoma]

I'm just wondering why he didn't clue into the problem when he started getting all these confirmation e-mails? I booked our recent cruise hotel & excursions online, and every single time I booked something, within the minute, I had an e-mail.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Maybe that guy is like some of our customers...they "don't have time to read confirmation e-mails".

[Mriswith]

He said he got a bunch of emails and called our 800# to cancel the extras. I guess he missed a few.

Also, update: He called customer service the next day to complain. After researching and finding that he did indeed book 8 rooms (and only had 4 cancelled) they decided the best response was to send him a check for the price of the extra 3 rooms. My manager has already informed them that we will not be covering that refund, as the reservations were valid. Don't expect them to force the issue, but we'll see. I'll post more if I hear more

[Ellain]

Moral: Patience is a virtue, and impatience can be costly.

[RealUnimportant]

I know most booking sites have big warnings saying "click ONCE ONLY" or thereabouts... But that of course implies the ability to notice things one isn't planning on looking at.