Here's the deal: when someone RETURNS to your hotel because they had such a wonderful experience the first time they were there, the checkout conversation should NOT go like this:
GUEST: I'm thinking a discount is in order here. The bathroom door does not close, the stopper in the tub doesn't work, we couldn't figure out how to turn on the shower, and there was no hot water for any of us. It was more like camping than a $140 motel room.
CLERK (Cheerily): That's what we tell people about the boathouses -- just like camping!
GUEST (Repeating): There was NO HOT WATER.
MANAGER: There's a sign in the bathroom that tells you how to turn on the shower.
GUEST: Actually, there isn't.
MANAGER: And the hot water is in the middle. If you couldn't figure out the shower or tub, you should have called us to help you.
GUEST (Smoldering, and just thinking, not out loud): It was 7:30 a.m. and I didn't have any clothes on. (Out loud): It really was just not an acceptable accomodation.
MANAGER: You know, people have complained about the hot water before. But when we've gone down to check afterward, there's always hot water.
GUEST (Thinking): Yeah, half an hour after they've left. Maybe. What do you think it means if people "have complained before?" (Out loud): Silence.
CLERK: Do you want to keep it on your Mastercard?
GUEST: Will there be a discount?
MANAGER (Snarling from back office): Just give her 10%.
Note that Guest did not mention that the previous night she had called from about an hour away to ask whether dinner reservations would be necessary for the hotel's excellent Italian restuarant on a Friday night, had been assured that her family would be able to walk right in, and had then waited half an hour for a table and half an hour for service.
It is possible under these circumstances to ensure that Guest will still pursue her plan of bringing her group of women friends to fill the hotel, its bar and dining rooms for a week-end, thereby adding muchos dolares to the hotel's coffers. The appropriate response to a dissatisfied returning guest is "I am SO sorry. What a disappointment. Why don't we just call this one gratis?"
Oops. Well, there are only a million other hotels around Lake Michigan. Guess we'll be checking out of a different one next time.
6 comments:
Sounds like it might be a good idea to check out a different hotel. I thought the customer was always supposed to be right.
Sorry you had a bad experience. Why can't they realize that bad word of mouth can beat out advertising. Especially in the internet age. A few well placed blogs and the whole country knows you ain't the place to stay.
Jackie
I think I might ask that desk clerk for an opinion. "So what do you think? Since I won't be bringing my friends here for a weekend like I planned, why don't you recommend someplace where the staff cares about return business?"
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jMoranCoyle/MyWay
Yikes!!!
V
Grrrr! Don't you hate shitty service? Having been in service businesses nearly all my working life, I personally get very picky about crappy service. There's rarely a satisfactory way to get the point across to the idiots. If they cared about your return custom, they wouldn't have been so negligent in the first place... Lisa :-] http://journals.aol.com/mlraminiak/ComingtotermswithMiddleAge/
I'd write a letter of complaint to the hotel/inn manager and see what happens. Did you happen to get the desk clerk's name? It is such a shame when customer service isn't even remotely attached to that type of business. Clearly, management and ownership don't really care about being successful over the long-term.
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