alarm clock drama

[thehippie777]

no introduction

Me: Front Desk
SC: I have a strange quesiton to ask.
Me: Okay
SC: What time is it?
Me: 1135pm
SC: Oh, cuz my alarm clock reads 1235am
Me: Oh no. Well, sometimes people like to change the clocks to their home's local time (true story). Well I can see if I have one down here to help walk you through fixing that (briefly on hold, no alarm clocks here at desk). Well, I don't seem to have one down here but there should be a switch on the clock on the back that changes it for daylight savings time.
SC: (struggles saying she sees nothing then spots it) Oh DST, okay. (flips it) Okay that just changed it to 136am!!!!!! eleventy!!!
Me: (honestly, dear readers, I had to teach myself how to work all of the alarm clocks we have ever had...what is with the business travelers with their advanced degrees???) Well, man...hmm... I can't visualize a way to walk ya through it and I have no clock to look at to do so.... The best thing I can ask is if I can have someone come up there & fix it really quick?
SC: NO NO NO NO That just won't do. I am ready for bed.
Me: Well, we could also hand you a set correctly one through the door (they have battery memory)?
SC: NOOO I am ready for bed, that won't work either. I have a wakeup call set for 6am (I looked over and saw it), but could I also get one for 6:05am?
Me: Okay yep see the 6am one. I can write down the other one but I have to let you know I can't garantee the second one.
SC: What? Why not?
Me: Well, I can only program in one wakeup call, and have to do the other one manually after the first one.
SC: Well, I am just afraid I won't wake up!!!! (Okay why is it always our fault that people can't be mature adults and get up with the really loud-ass phone is ringing like crazy???) How come you can't just set a second wakeup??
Me: Well, I wrote you down. But, our system only allows us to set one wakeup call at a time. So when it comes to 6:05 I have to be there to put it in manually, and we can't garantee it because the computer does all of the rest & we might get busy during the call time.
SC: (getting super pissed at me) Well, I just don't get it.
Me: (trying to be helpful) Well do you own a cell phone?
SC: well, yeah....
Me: Most of them have alarm clocks if you wanted to set one of there to be sure?
SC: I have it plugged in! It was dead! That won't work.
Me: (?????? Wanting to clarify with I mentioned it. And even when my phone is plugged in the alarm clock friggn works!) Well, I use my cell for my alarm and that works well for me, so that is why I thought of it.
SC: WHATEVER.
Me: (need to get this PITA call over with already!) Okay well the 2nd call is written down to be put in for ya.
SC: .....okay....bye!


That crap took WAY too long.

[smileyeagle1021]

first off... this is why I love our phone system... I can program up to 3 times per room... and ours will actually recall the guest twice (in 5 minute intervals) if the first wake up call isn't answered (obviously the 2nd redial won't happen if they pick up on the first redial).

2nd, how fricken hard is it to set an alarm clock?

[thehippie777]

Yeah I wish we could program one. Our phone system, however, also redials if the phone isn't picked up after like 3 tries. Some people, however, pick up the phone & put it down in their sleep. NOT OUR FAULT.


It is apparently sooo difficult to set a alarm clock...with instructions on it.... Serious, the instructions are on the top which is how I figured it all out. SCs don't ready, so there goes that hope.

[wolfie]

Considering it's pretty much the same controls used to set the time as are used to set the alarm, how the @#$%^ did he expect to set the alarm if he couldn't figure out to set the clock?

Assuming he could set the alarm but not the clock, if the clock is an hour ahead of actual time, why not just set the alarm an hour later than his desired time? From 23:35 to 06:05 is 6 hours and 30 minutes, so if the clock says 00:35, just set the alarm to 07:05, which is 6 hours and 30 minutes ahead.

Are there enough hotel rooms in North America to make it worthwhile to make a "designed for hotels" alarm clock? Have the time setting controls locked out, and some sort of setup where you can pick the time zone you want it to display as.

[Fro]

My cell phone is seriously the best alarm clock I have ever used. It's just so shrill and I never have to set it since it sets itself. That and I can never seem to find it when the alarm goes off. Now if my bed wasn't so cozy, I'd probably be able to get up on time >.<

Alarm clocks aren't that hard to program and they're all pretty much the same. A drunk monkey with half a brain could probably do it for him....

[wynjara]

I swear that, my most recent hotel stay not included, hotel alarm clocks generally seem to have been created by drunken physics majors. I have only once in my life successfully understood a hotel clock- with or without directions.
Then again, I'm sure that says something pathetic about me...

[thehippie777]

Well, with the diretions included, these hotel clocks we use are pretty much written for anyone who can read English at least at he 2nd grade level.