You raised your prices? How DARE you! (longish)

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

A few summers ago I spent a brief while handling reservations and bookings at a resort type place. It was pretty uninteresting work, but of course I got my share of SCs....

It's all about the rate

At our particular resort we required at least a one week stay (and also offered 10 day, two week and full month packages), in our advertising this fact is clearly indicated, but the owner also chose to break down each package to show the daily rate you get for each deal. Bascially you get a slightly lower per night rate if you say, stay for two weeks instead of one, etc.

Despite the fact the ads CLEARLY STATE we require a ONE WEEK minimum stay, that didn't stop pretty much anyone from calling and trying to book one, two or three nights on a regular basis to try and get that lower rate in our ads. Some even accused us of false advertising...surprise surprise.

The price should NOT go up!

I took a call one day that went like this.....

M: Thank for you calling ABC resorts, how may I help you?
SC: Yeah I need to book a room for three weeks, I'll be down there on business.
M: Ok, the total cost for that will be $Xxxx.x
SC: Oh no it won't.
M: What do you mean?
SC: *I* am a preferred customer. *I* get a special rate, I am good friends with the owner and he promised me a special rate every time I stay there.
(Such an original way of attempting to get a discount...)
M: Sir we have no preferred customers club and the owner has not indicated to me that anyone in particular gets a special rate.
SC: Well, *I* do, so tell me the new rate, WITH MY DISCOUNT.
M: Sir you don't get a discount, the rate is the rate. Now would you still like to book?
SC: *CLICK*

Ok whatever....but then:

I get a call about 10 minutes later from the owner as it turns out this guy actually DOES know our owner and was promised a special rate whenever he stayed with us. I was new on the job at this point and the owner had mentioned none of this to me. (in fact there was a lot he neglected to mention, my training was laughable) As the owner recalled the SC (who had not stayed with us in awhile) usually got a 10% discount when he stayed with us and asked me to look over the old records to confirm.

So I pull up SCs old records and sure enough he was getting a lower rate that did work out to 10% off the standard rate at that time so it appears the owner was right, he was entitled to 10% off.

A few minutes after speaking with the owner, SC calls back and books his unit, with his discount. I am reasonably certain I mentioned the new rate to the SC at this time but he was obviously doing something else while talking to me because he sounded very distracted.

But I get the booking in the system and all is well...until he comes to check in.

M: Ok, so your remaining balance is $xxx.xx, did you want me to charge it to the card already on file?
SC: Wait, if that's the remaining balance and my deposit was $250, that would mean the total rate is $xxxx.xx??
M: That is correct.
SC: Not it's not, there must be some mistake, that's too high. I have NEVER been charged that much to stay here.
M: Well that is the standard rate minus your 10% discount, which is what you usually get.
SC: No no no no no! It's not a 10% discount, it's a FLAT RATE! The owner said I could stay here whenever I wanted and the three week rate would always be $xxxx.xx! Never a PENNY more!
M: I did speak to the owner about this sir and he recalled offering you a 10% discount on the standard rate. I even reveiwed some of your prior invoices to confirm that. Let me pull one up here. You stayed here on date X, the normal rate was $xxxxx.xx and you paid $xxxx.xx.
SC: YES! Exactly, that's what I ALWAYS PAY. That's the amount I am ALWAYS charged when I stay here.
M: Well it's the amount you were charged for a number of visits and this time you are still getting your 10%, but because our standard rate has gone up, the total will end being more than you used to pay.
SC: WHAT?! That's ludicrous. You can't raise prices on me! I have a SWORN PROMISE from your owner that whenever I stay here I get rate X, not a percentage, rate X to the penny. Now make it happen!
M: We can raise prices anytime we want to sir. I did speak to the owner about this, he said as he recalled it was 10% off the standard rate and the information I reviewed confirmed that.
SC: Well then he's WRONG. Who do you think would know better what the agreement was, the person taking the money or the person PAYING IT! I keep track of EVERY DIME that comes out of my wallet, I think I should know what rate I should be getting.
M: Well the only rate I can offer you, as per the OWNER is 10% off standard, that would be $xxxx.xx
SC: You can't raise prices on ME!! I will not tolerate this! ....(now on his phone) I'm calling Mr. Smith (the owner) right now!
(a few moments pass...)
SC: Damn it, he's not answering....
M: Yes he's out of town for the day.
SC: Shit. Ok, Look just give me the room code so I can start unpacking my stuff and don't charge me anything until I authorize you to. I need to speak to your boss first before that happens.
M: Excuse me sir?
SC: I said let me go up to the room now and unload my stuff, I'll have to get the rate straightened out later.
M: I am sorry sir, I cannot release a room to you without a full upfront payment.
SC: OH YES YOU CAN! Do you know who I am???? I am a CLOSE, PERSONAL friend of Mr. Smith and if you don't let me into that room I wll see to it you are fired by the end of the day!!
M: Sir if the owner approves it I will gladly give you the lower rate but at the moment he's unavailable and we will have to wait until we can contact him to straighten this out and for me to RELEASE the room to you.
SC: And what am I supposed to do in the mean time?
M: You'll have to find somewhere to wait.
SC: FUCK YOU! You know what? I'm not waiting, I'm going to go stay somewhere else tonight and speak with Mr. Smith tomorrow. By the time I am done with him I will have MY RATE, COMPENSATION for whatever I spend staying at a hotel tonight and YOUR JOB!!! Better start filling out those unemployment papers huh?
M: Sir I'm going to ask you to leave. NOW.
SC: Fine, but you better enjoy your last day at work because I guarantee you pal, you are finished here. FINISHED! (Storms out door).

I find out later from the Owner this SC was not a "close personal friend" of his, he was just a customer who had been loyal to us for a long time and had been given a special rate because of it. The owner also admitted he's had problems with SC before but tried to treat him well to keep him spending money with us.

And because of that....the dickhead SC did get his special discounted rate after all, but it was made very clear to him and noted on his account that this is a ONE TIME EXCEPTION and from this point forward it's 10% or nothing.

Thankfully a couple of weeks after this debacle, I found a MUCH better job, with a boss who actually had a spine.

[Evil Queen]

Funny, I think I know who the SC is! I get this asshat that always calls me to make a reservation. He starts out with "I need a room for tonight, non-smoking, on the ground floor." So I tell him our current rate and he always answers with "No it's not."
"Excuse me?"
"That's not my rate! My rate is blah! It's always blah! My name is Stupid Asshat!"
A search through the database reveals that he does get that rate but come on; you expect me to know who you are by voice? F you!

[smileyeagle1021]

Funny, I think I know who the SC is! I get this asshat that always calls me to make a reservation. He starts out with "I need a room for tonight, non-smiking, on the ground floor." So I tell him our current rate and he always answers with "No it's not."
"Excuse me?"
"That's not my rate! My rate is blah! It's always blah! My name is Stupid Asshat!"
A search through the database reveals that he does get that rate but come on; you expect me to know who you are by voice? F you!

and let me guess, God help you if you don't have a ground floor non(i'm assuming you meant)smoking (what exactly is smiking anyway? )

[Evil Queen]

uh.. .smiking is where you smite the smokers? Yes, I meant non-smoking, thanks for catching that.

The guy would get all pissy if I told him there were no ground floors available. Once he actually told me I should move someone else! (the last person to check in is a lady that I know; she insists on a certain room on the ground floor because that room has a tub she can easily get in and out of and she'd had the reservation for two weeks at the time)
I told him I couldn't do that, since they had the reservation first and he said he would go elsewhere. I told him, fine, and hung up.

[bainsidhe]

Hmm, I don't know about you, but if a SC came to me as the owner and declared that I WILL do this and I WILL do that, I'd tell him how I WILL show him the door. Bye

[Samaliel]

Plus 50 points to the SC for actually knowing the owner. Minus eleventy gazillions to the infiniteth power points for being a total ass-tard.

@ EvilQueen > So you still didn't achieve psychic powers ? You're not trying very hard, are you ?

[Evil Queen]

@ EvilQueen > So you still didn't achieve psychic powers ? You're not trying very hard, are you ?

I don't get paid enough to be psychic.

[SuperB]

I don't get paid enough to be psychic.

I actually told a customer that I was unable to read minds.

[Evil Queen]

I actually told a customer that I was unable to read minds.

That sounds like fun, how well did it go over?

[Kalga]

Wanna bet it involved the customer yelling at them for not being psychic?

[SuperB]

That sounds like fun, how well did it go over?

With a very sarcastic, "...well.... I don't expect you to read minds!" yet her behavior clearly said otherwise.

[allniter]

The guy would get all pissy if I told him there were no ground floors available. Once he actually told me I should move someone else!
I told him I couldn't do that, since they had the reservation first and he said he would go elsewhere. I told him, fine, and hung up.

Best thing to do is to place a conference call with you, the SC and the original customer who booked the room. Let them know that the SC was demanding he/she give up their room to accomodate him. If the person says yes, then fine, if they say "fuck you asshole SC" then the customer can do whatever they want, including swearing at other guests.

[Bramblerose]

I told him I couldn't do that, since they had the reservation first and he said he would go elsewhere. I told him, fine, and hung up.

So what would happen if you said "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers"?

You know, when I came back from camp, DH chose to stay overnight in the town w/the airport. When the first motel didn't have a ground floor room for my gimpy knee, he quietly left the lobby and went to the next motel. I gather this is novel behavior.

[Imogene]

I actually told a customer that I was unable to read minds.

I've scared my roommate by knowing what she's looking for and where it is before she actually says what it is she's looking for.
We're still in the 'moving in' phase, and she has a job, whereas I'm still a bit... unemployed right now, so I've been trying to get our living room area set up, including moving her boxes around, and I just happen to look into the open boxes, and know bits and pieces of what she has in them. So, the next day, when she's looking for her cotton balls, with nail polish remover in her hands, and has been complaining about how her toe hurts, which is polished, I put all fifty pieces together, and even though she hasn't said, "I'm looking for the cotton balls, where'd you put them?" I can say, "The box with the cotton balls is over there next to the TV."
And then she says, "Stop reading my mind."

[smileyeagle1021]

I've scared my roommate by knowing what she's looking for and where it is before she actually says what it is she's looking for.
We're still in the 'moving in' phase, and she has a job, whereas I'm still a bit... unemployed right now, so I've been trying to get our living room area set up, including moving her boxes around, and I just happen to look into the open boxes, and know bits and pieces of what she has in them. So, the next day, when she's looking for her cotton balls, with nail polish remover in her hands, and has been complaining about how her toe hurts, which is polished, I put all fifty pieces together, and even though she hasn't said, "I'm looking for the cotton balls, where'd you put them?" I can say, "The box with the cotton balls is over there next to the TV."
And then she says, "Stop reading my mind."

i've done similar to that with my roommate, he was walking out the door to go to work saying "i wish there was..." then I cut him off, "but E, there is a quicker way for you to get to work, rather than taking the 39 to trax, just take 200 straight up state into downtown, it will drop you off right in front of where you work"
then he says, "oh that's a good idea..."
me "don't worry, it's still running every 15 minutes when you get off work"

so juwl can do cotton balls and I can do bus directions... last night I had someone where the only clues they gave me were that they needed to go west... and I somehow figured out that they needed to get off at the next stop and take the 35 bus... yeah, I should get a job with the transit authority... i'd do a better job than the people they have right now that do trip planning assistance.