Bras & panties…

I get to work Monday morning, ready for the week ahead, relaxed after the weekend. I log into the system and check any messages from the weekend. Sure enough there was  a few that I had to deal with including one lady who complained that the washing machine had ruined her load of washing. I thought…hmmm, interesting, I wonder what the problem is?

Around 9:30am I get a call from “Mrs Clysdale”

Mrs Clysdale: Hello, is this the manager!?

FDE: Yes it is, how may I help you?

Mrs Clysdale: Well, YOUR washing machine has destroyed my brand new lingerie, and this stuff is EXPENSIVE!

FDE: I’m so sorry Mrs Clysdale, am I able to take a look at the garments?

Mrs Drysale: Yes, that would be good.

So I start to make my way up to 2C, taking my time as I try to piece together in my mind what I’m going to say. I get in the lift and gingerly press the button for the 2nd floor.

I knock on the door waiting for a response, my heart beating slightly above normal pace. “thump thump, thump thump”.  The door opens and there she is. Her face was  flustered as she had obviously psyched herself up for the confrontation.

“I dunno where you got your washing machine from but the wire from the bras have caught on something and ruined all my lingerie and t-shirts.”

Sure enough there were holes in bras, wire bent, t-shirts stretched. It wasn’t pretty. After racking my brain to what to say and apologising for what had happened I said “Are you able to give me a few minutes to make some calls and see if we can get some compensation?” She agreed. So I left and made some inquiries with the girls in the hotel. “Um, quick question…how do you wash your lingerie?” (every girl looking at me with a bewildered look on their faces) Most of them said in a lingerie bag and that they would NEVER wash their new lingerie without a bag. I also called the place where they got the garments from and asked if they would accept them back, they said they wouldn’t as she didn’t use a lingerie bag.

Armed with this information I set off for 2C. Well it didn’t go down too well. She was getting more fired up as I tried to get her to take some responsibility for the destroyed garments.

After a lot of heated discussion I agreed to compensate her in the way of two free room nights which came up to $500. She looked like she was still hard done by, as she didn’t say thanks, but just kept looking at the destroyed garments. That’s when the husband chirped in and said “hey, thanks, that’s really good… right honey”…no response…

To be fair, I’d be pretty pissed if that happened to me.  I wonder if she’ll start using a lingerie bag from now on?…

A Blast from the Past…literally

This is a story that happened at another hotel that I worked in a few years ago.

It all started with a pleasant afternoon, the sun was shining, everything was going smoothly on the front desk.

Enter lady with her elderly parents. I greet them at the desk they fill the registration form out and I hand them the keys. So good so far. They walk off into the distance of the long hallway to their room.

Five minutes later I hear heavy footsteps and heavy breathing coming towards the desk. Gulp!…I look up and see a horned fire breathing dragon of a lady proceeding to blast me with her fire. After initially not buckling at the knees I hold my composure going back to the training that I had done dealing with people like this. The words that were running through my mind were… ‘this is not a personal attack, this is not a personal attack, sympathise with this lady, do not look directly into her eyes or you’ll be destroyed!’…well maybe not that last one.
What I had gathered amongst all the smoke and fire was that this rant all boiled down to her elderly parents not having an electric blanket on their bed. It’s like a domino effect. When one little thing goes wrong their whole hotel experience goes wrong with one domino falling after another. This one little thing was the electric blanket, so because of this she starting picking at every little thing and I was standing there taking it all! She was in such a rage, then she stormed out without me getting a word in.

Five minutes later she came storming back in…round two I thought. She just blew past me and up to her parents room. Next thing I could hear them coming down the hall, all three of them. I was preparing myself for the final dose of flames, to my surprise she said “now this is the young gentlemen that I’ve just abused…and has handled it quite well”. In a very calming voice. Record scratches! Ahhhh, excuse me I thought, with a puzzled look all over my face.  She went on to say that she’s had a bad day and that she just wants the best for her parents and I’m so so sorry for yelling at you, I can’t believe how you handled it. Then get this…we were all having a laugh about the whole thing at the end of it. I couldn’t believe how one lady could be soooo abusive, then the next minute she was so so sorry.

There is a little lesson in this. Even though she has no right to drop the truck on me like she did you just don’t know people’s situations and never should write them off. Show a little sympathy and things can be sweet!

Sometimes I wish I could just yell back!…

Run…run for your lives!!!

Mr “Hasim” checked in last week, disabled aaaand with attitude. He made his booking then showed up at the hotel. He didn’t let me know that he was disabled, otherwise I would of tried to get him into another room. So I show him to his room. 10 minutes later he rings down to the front desk and says that he can’t use the bath because it was too high and starts ranting to me that he stayed here 10 years ago and all the baths weren’t this height. I arrive at this room with a step to get into the bath. Well I opened the door to his room and it was as if he hadn’t hung the phone up cause he was still ranting on about bath heights and the government…yeah the government. Now we can add strange to the list of descriptive words for Mr Hasim.

Now he’s in the bathroom grabbing the part where the shower hose slides up and down saying “how is this suppose to support a person getting in the bath”…ripping it off as he’s saying it. To my disbelief as I’m watching him, I say “Mr Hasim, I don’t thing that part is suppose to support a person getting in the bath”. He just grunts and carries on with his rant.

Ok…day 1 finished. Little did I know what was in store for us in the next week that Mr Hasim decided to stay with us. You could almost see and hear the storm clouds and lightning gathering around the hotel signifying there was something evil near.

The next day, he went off at the two waitresses because there was no spinach in his eggs benedict, he made dodgy comments to the room attendants, he had a HUGE argument with the girl on the front desk about being able to smoke in his room, even though hotel policy says he can’t. The next day he was due to check out but decided to stay which caused chaos with our bookings because he ABSOLUTELY REFUSED to move from his room. (we couldnt keep him in the same room) The next day he made sexual references to my Manager which just about got him kicked out. We can add creepy to the list. Now I thought he may have had something against woman as at this stage I was getting on with him reasonably well. How wrong I was.

The next day I needed to tell him that we were going to need the room that he was using to shower in. (I had given it to him for free) I knew I was going to cop some flack from him, so I approached the subject with grace and care. Well…I think no matter how I approached it it was going to be bad news. He starts yelling at me like there was no tomorrow. I could see his face getting redder and redder, I thought it was going to explode. He was yelling and yelling and saying that our government was useless at diplomacy and that as a nation we were useless too! I let him have his rant and kept my composure and I got my room back! We can add psycho to the list.

The last day he was here, he made the girl on the desk cry and was refusing to pay for his remaining balance, thankfully she got the cash out of him and that was the last we saw of Mr Hasim. Phew. We can add big meany to the list.

Since then we have learnt that he goes by a few aliases, he’s a fraudster and he’s been evicted out of two hotels within the last year that I know of.

Goodbye Mr Hasim, thanks for the memories…

10 things that REALLY give me satisfaction in hospitality…

1. Telling someone who is inquiring about a reservation that we are fully booked.

2. Getting a handshake from a guest at the end of their stay.

3. Getting a nice tip.

4. When nothing is a problem for a guest.

5. When a guest will take the time to ask you about your day.

6. Knowing in your heart that a guest is wrong and your right.

7. Going above and beyond the call of service and the guest really appreciating it.

8. Selling your last room to make 100% occupancy.

9.  When a guests kid draws you a really cool picture for no reason.

10. Seeing a guest eat “humble pie” after accusing you of stealing their duty free alcohol but then later remembering they stashed it under their bed. So good.

You Know You’ve worked in a Hotel when…

“I am a Front Desk Agent” or a Reservations Liason

I have advanced degrees in Accounting, Public Relations, Marketing, Business, Computer Science, Civil Engineering, and Swahili. I can also read minds.

Of course I have the reservation that you booked six years ago even though you don’t have the confirmation number and you think it was made under a name that starts with “S”.

It is completely my fault that the blizzard shut down the airport and you have to sleep in a warm king-size bed while 5000 of your co-travelers are sleeping in benches at the airport. I am sorry.
It is not a problem for me to give you seven connecting, non-smoking, poolside suites with two king beds in each, four rollaways, 3 cribs, and yes, I can install a wet bar. I know it is my fault that we do not have a helicopter landing pad.

I am a Front Desk Agent. I am expected to speak all languages fluently. It is obvious to me that when you booked your reservation for Friday on the weekend we’re sold out that you really meant Saturday. My company has entrusted me with all financial information and decisions, and yes, I am lying to you when I say we have no more rooms available. It is not a problem for me to quickly construct several more guest rooms. THIS time I will not forget the helicopter landing pad. And it is my fault that everyone wanted to stay here. I should have known you were coming in, even though you had no reservation. After all, you stay at our brand of hotel all the time, 300 nights a year, and this is only the first time you’ve ever been to our city.

I am a front desk agent. I am quite capable of checking three people in, two people out, taking five reservations, answering fifteen incoming calls, delivering six bath towels to room 625, plunging the toilet in room 101, and restocking the supply of pool towels, all at the same time. Yes, I will be glad to call the van driver and tell him to drive over all the cars stuck in traffic because you’ve been waiting at the airport for 15 minutes and you’ve got jet lag.

I am a front desk agent, an operator, a bellhop, houseman, guest service representative, housekeeper, sales coordinator, information specialist, entertainment critic, restaurateur, stock broker, referee, janitor, computer technician, plumber, ice-breaker, postman, babysitter, dispatcher, laundry cleaner, lifeguard, electrician, ambassador, personal fitness trainer, fax expert, human jukebox, domestic abuse counselor, and verbal punching bag. Yes, I know room 112 is not answering their phone. And of course I have their travel itinerary so I know exactly where they went when they left here 9 hours ago, and what their cell phone number is.

I always know where to find the best vegetarian-kosher-Mongolian-barbecue restaurants. I know exactly what to see and do in this city in fifteen minutes without spending any money and without getting caught in traffic. I take personal blame for airline food, traffic jams, rental car flat tires, and the nation’s economy.

I realize that you meant to book your reservation here. People often confuse us with the Galaxy Delight Motel, Antarctica. Of course I can “fit you in” and yes, you may have the special $1 rate because you are affiliated with the Hoboken Accounting and Bagel Club.

I am expected to smile, empathize, sympathize, console, condole, up sell, down sell (and know when to do which), perform, sing, dance, fix the printer, and tell your friends that you’re here. And I know exactly where 613 Possum Trot Lane is in the Way Out There subdivision that they just built last week.

After all, I AM a Front Desk Agent!