Two weeks after you check-out you're going to complain? Yeah...no.

[KuariKaydrith]

I swear that I'm just going to have to start a Hotel Chronicles topic...they're starting to come in fast and furious these days!

Today I received a call from a guest who stayed with us about two weeks ago as she wanted to be emailed her invoice. No problem. I get that sent off right away.

Within an hour she calls back and she's asking why she was charged X amount after being quoted Y amount. No big usually because some of my co-workers don't quote rates including tax - X amount was Y amount plus taxes.

Then she starts in about how how dusty the room was and how it smelled like nobody had been in it for months, and basically just fishing for a refund of some sort. Considering that it's our most popular room it is rarely empty for more than three days. AND somebody had only checked out the day before her arrival. I asked her if she told anybody about her concerns either the day of check-in or the day of check-out, and she said no. I told her I would investigate her concerns and get back to her if we deem her complaints to be valid and that we'd call her if that were the case, and that either way there would be notes for other agents to see.

Once she's had a few seconds to think that over she demands to speak to a manager. "Ma'am, you're speaking to the assistant general manager right now." She didn't like that at all and threatened to write bad reviews so I told her to go ahead and do whatever she felt was necessary as we'd refute them all with the facts. She hung up.

A brand new employee who just started today got to witness this entire exchange and when the call was done she asked, "Does this happen a lot?"

I explained to her that it's like any other job where you deal with the public - you will always get entitlement whores and that I'm one of the few management types that won't play their games. And that if she receives any complaints all she has to do is get their name and contact info and management will reach out to the person after we've investigated the complaint. And if it's me that deals with it, unless it's absolutely valid, they won't get a refund of any amount.

[Kristev]

I'd love to read more hotel stories, but I'm sorry you're having to deal with cursestomers to get them.

[Sparklyturtle]

I'd also love to read more hotel stories. A couple of years ago I booked a non-smoking room in a hotel in Chico, California, and when I got there the room absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke. So, I called the front desk. The young man told me there was no way he could move me as they didn't have any vacancies, which I understood as the area was within 15 miles of the big fire that had destroyed the town of Paradise CA, and the time was within two months of it happening. I told him, "I figured that, I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't the one smoking in the room so I wouldn't be charged for it." He assured me I wouldn't be, and I wasn't. I had booked the room way before the fire, which is probably the only reason why they had a room for me. My sister told me she'd read in the paper that local hotels, motels, and etc of that type were relaxing some of their rules due to the fire, e.g. the place I was at was usually a "No Pets" establishment, but there were plenty of dogs in the hotel and the room at the end of the hallway next to the steps had a cat that would sit in the window. I understood that things were bad for everyone right then, so I didn't want to make any waves I didn't have to.