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A friend of mine had an interesting day today and told me about it. I thought her story was so cool that I had to give her recognition here. I got her permission to share her words about what happened here:
So, today I was scheduled to do outbound revenue calls. Only one agent per day is assigned to do these calls, and sometimes, when we are busy, they fall by the wayside entirely. But, today was my day, and after lunch calls had subsided enough for me to start working on it.
When I do these calls, I pull up all the reservations I have to call back for the day, just to make sure everything is booked correctly, and to see if any special occasion is bringing the guest in. I pulled up one reservation, and in the notes it said, "Husband was recently killed. Please discover & delight" I looked at the face of the reservation and saw it was booked at the government rate, and my curiosity got the best of me.
So, I Googled the guest's name. Sure enough, one of the first things that came up, was her husband's obituary. Born February 26, 1987, died October 1, 2011. He was killed in the line of duty while serving in Afghanistan.
So, choking back tears, I went to a lead and told her that I'd really like to do something for this guest - flowers, amenities, something. So she proposed the idea of spa services. We went up to the spa to pick up a menu of services and a "comp slip" which is what we use when the department wants to pay for something for a guest, and went back to the office.
I called the number on the reservation, because it was tied to another which I assumed was a friend who had booked the room. Turns out, it was the phone number of the mother-in-law, whose son had been killed. We talked for a while and I asked what services the wife might like and she said, "Do you have any prenatal spa services? Shes a few months pregnant..."
I know she probably heard me choke back tears really hard at that point, and I even muted myself for a minute to regain my composure, but I told her that yes, we do have prenatal services, and that we would be more than happy to give her that service, on us, just to make her feel special, and give her the opportunity to relax. She was SO sweet and SO appreciative...
Then, we got the idea to do a gift basket as well...something for her to walk in to see when she checks in. So, we went to our Celebrity Services department, who set up a gift basket with all sorts of mom-to-be goodies, and a brand new, super plush, fancy bathrobe. They are also going to give her Celebrity check-in, and upgrade her to the Presidential Suite (which normally goes for 3k-4k PER NIGHT)
I wrote her a probably too-longwinded card and took it up to be placed in the gift basket, too. I didn't directly reference why we were doing all this for her, just that we hope that she enjoys her stay, and gets the opportunity to rest, relax and renew.
I'm still all weepy. I can't even imagine. Thats why I love my job. They really empower us to do things when the situation calls for it, and I knew I had the full support of my manager and leads and all the other departments we worked with. All the girls in Celebrity Service were on the verge of tears when I explained the story. I made this big tough guy in my department cry. I told him the whole story cause he saw my face was all red and my eyes were puffy
I just...gah...There was a reason I was doing Revenue calls today...and a reason I went to the middle of the list first...and a reason I read those notes...and a reason I GOOGLED (I never Google guests cause well...kinda creepy).
I just really hope that any little thing that we did makes her smile, and helps keep her mind off of LIFE for just one moment. And knowing how young he was, tells me how young SHE must be too. And it just kills me. 24. I just keep going back to that...24 years old.
When I do these calls, I pull up all the reservations I have to call back for the day, just to make sure everything is booked correctly, and to see if any special occasion is bringing the guest in. I pulled up one reservation, and in the notes it said, "Husband was recently killed. Please discover & delight" I looked at the face of the reservation and saw it was booked at the government rate, and my curiosity got the best of me.
So, I Googled the guest's name. Sure enough, one of the first things that came up, was her husband's obituary. Born February 26, 1987, died October 1, 2011. He was killed in the line of duty while serving in Afghanistan.
So, choking back tears, I went to a lead and told her that I'd really like to do something for this guest - flowers, amenities, something. So she proposed the idea of spa services. We went up to the spa to pick up a menu of services and a "comp slip" which is what we use when the department wants to pay for something for a guest, and went back to the office.
I called the number on the reservation, because it was tied to another which I assumed was a friend who had booked the room. Turns out, it was the phone number of the mother-in-law, whose son had been killed. We talked for a while and I asked what services the wife might like and she said, "Do you have any prenatal spa services? Shes a few months pregnant..."
I know she probably heard me choke back tears really hard at that point, and I even muted myself for a minute to regain my composure, but I told her that yes, we do have prenatal services, and that we would be more than happy to give her that service, on us, just to make her feel special, and give her the opportunity to relax. She was SO sweet and SO appreciative...
Then, we got the idea to do a gift basket as well...something for her to walk in to see when she checks in. So, we went to our Celebrity Services department, who set up a gift basket with all sorts of mom-to-be goodies, and a brand new, super plush, fancy bathrobe. They are also going to give her Celebrity check-in, and upgrade her to the Presidential Suite (which normally goes for 3k-4k PER NIGHT)
I wrote her a probably too-longwinded card and took it up to be placed in the gift basket, too. I didn't directly reference why we were doing all this for her, just that we hope that she enjoys her stay, and gets the opportunity to rest, relax and renew.
I'm still all weepy. I can't even imagine. Thats why I love my job. They really empower us to do things when the situation calls for it, and I knew I had the full support of my manager and leads and all the other departments we worked with. All the girls in Celebrity Service were on the verge of tears when I explained the story. I made this big tough guy in my department cry. I told him the whole story cause he saw my face was all red and my eyes were puffy
I just...gah...There was a reason I was doing Revenue calls today...and a reason I went to the middle of the list first...and a reason I read those notes...and a reason I GOOGLED (I never Google guests cause well...kinda creepy).
I just really hope that any little thing that we did makes her smile, and helps keep her mind off of LIFE for just one moment. And knowing how young he was, tells me how young SHE must be too. And it just kills me. 24. I just keep going back to that...24 years old.
to your friend. Much 
) your friend is lovely
. What a beautiful thing to do for someone.
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