So we had a guest stay about a month ago. No notes on the reservation about any problems, and the guest didn't mention anything at the time.
Queue today and she's received her bill in her mail (wtf? Noooo, we don't send them a month after, she'd have received it the day she checked in, if she asked for one, but whatever).
According to the guest, she was charged the wrong rate because she was charged for a third person. Only... a third person was in the room. Bu the guest claims that the third person was a child and we don't charge for children so I did the nice thing and refunded her $22.60. And btw, I fully trust the agent that charged this woman and she'd never have charged for the child so the guest is full of garbage but it meant less problems.
And then this follows...
G - "I want a discount for not only the third guest charge, but also because a light bulb was out in the bathroom for both days of my stay, and because the beds were sagging so bed they almost reached the floor ".
Me - "I'm sorry ma'am, I've already given you the money back for the third guest. You won't be receiving a further discount for it".
G - "Ok, then what about the lightbulb and the beds?"
Me - "It's a lightbulb, did you speak with the front desk? We'd have replaced it"
G - "No one was ever at the desk during the entire time I was there (I call bull on that one but I didn't say anything), but I told someone when I was walking down the hall and it was never replaced. And what about the beds?"
Me - "Can you tell me who you talked to? I know who was working that weekend, and I know the desk was manned the entire weekend."
G- *disgusted sound* "I don't know who I talked to"
Me - "Was it male or female?"
G - "Whatever, it was female. What does that have to do with anything?"
Me - "So I know which agent to speak to. Did you approach the agent about the bed problem?"
G - "No"
Me - "So you don't know who you talked to, and you didn't give us the opportunity to actually fix the problems you had. And you didn't say anything about the bed issue while you were here or we could have moved you. I know the agent that was working during the time you are telling me, and I also know that she would have moved you if at all possible. We have no notes on file about a problem with the room anywhere, and no other reports about problems with the beds".
G - "So you mean to tell me that you won't refund me for the trouble I had and to keep a guest for the future? Not even $25?"
Me - "Ma'am, I'm telling you that you won't receive a refund because we have no record of these issues anywhere, and it was a month ago. If it had been such a big deal at the time, you should have approached us to have it fixed."
G - "I will go to the credit card company to get my money back."
Me - "You are certainly able to do that if you feel the need but at this point, we were not given the opportunity to remedy the situation while you were here so you will not be given money back".
She was NOT pleased and hung up. I'm actually surprised she didn't try to escalate to the GM.
Actually, it was kind of nice. Since I'm the AGM, my GM and I have had lots of conversations about this and I actually handled it myself completely without his assistance. I knew exactly what to say and do. He was listening and said I handled it perfectly.
So other than being an SC, it wasn't so bad. And I may be 37 but I feel mildly proud of myself for handling it. Wow, that sounds arrogant lol. But I've only been a manager about 2 or 3 months.
Queue today and she's received her bill in her mail (wtf? Noooo, we don't send them a month after, she'd have received it the day she checked in, if she asked for one, but whatever).
According to the guest, she was charged the wrong rate because she was charged for a third person. Only... a third person was in the room. Bu the guest claims that the third person was a child and we don't charge for children so I did the nice thing and refunded her $22.60. And btw, I fully trust the agent that charged this woman and she'd never have charged for the child so the guest is full of garbage but it meant less problems.
And then this follows...
G - "I want a discount for not only the third guest charge, but also because a light bulb was out in the bathroom for both days of my stay, and because the beds were sagging so bed they almost reached the floor ".
Me - "I'm sorry ma'am, I've already given you the money back for the third guest. You won't be receiving a further discount for it".
G - "Ok, then what about the lightbulb and the beds?"
Me - "It's a lightbulb, did you speak with the front desk? We'd have replaced it"
G - "No one was ever at the desk during the entire time I was there (I call bull on that one but I didn't say anything), but I told someone when I was walking down the hall and it was never replaced. And what about the beds?"
Me - "Can you tell me who you talked to? I know who was working that weekend, and I know the desk was manned the entire weekend."
G- *disgusted sound* "I don't know who I talked to"
Me - "Was it male or female?"
G - "Whatever, it was female. What does that have to do with anything?"
Me - "So I know which agent to speak to. Did you approach the agent about the bed problem?"
G - "No"
Me - "So you don't know who you talked to, and you didn't give us the opportunity to actually fix the problems you had. And you didn't say anything about the bed issue while you were here or we could have moved you. I know the agent that was working during the time you are telling me, and I also know that she would have moved you if at all possible. We have no notes on file about a problem with the room anywhere, and no other reports about problems with the beds".
G - "So you mean to tell me that you won't refund me for the trouble I had and to keep a guest for the future? Not even $25?"
Me - "Ma'am, I'm telling you that you won't receive a refund because we have no record of these issues anywhere, and it was a month ago. If it had been such a big deal at the time, you should have approached us to have it fixed."
G - "I will go to the credit card company to get my money back."
Me - "You are certainly able to do that if you feel the need but at this point, we were not given the opportunity to remedy the situation while you were here so you will not be given money back".
She was NOT pleased and hung up. I'm actually surprised she didn't try to escalate to the GM.
Actually, it was kind of nice. Since I'm the AGM, my GM and I have had lots of conversations about this and I actually handled it myself completely without his assistance. I knew exactly what to say and do. He was listening and said I handled it perfectly.
So other than being an SC, it wasn't so bad. And I may be 37 but I feel mildly proud of myself for handling it. Wow, that sounds arrogant lol. But I've only been a manager about 2 or 3 months.
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