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I think I talked to a Planet Feedback letter writer last night. This guy reeked of the guy trying to use the expired California Pizza Kitchen coupon who moved on to telling senior management that he knows more to running a business than they do (with a focus on delight the customer at all costs).
This guy calls in and lets me know that he made a reservation for himself coming in in October (free due to his play in the past) and he'd like to book 2 additional rooms for some friends coming from a foreign country and he wanted a discount since they were traveling with him.
PERFECT! We actually have a special discounted rate for just such a situation. As I'm starting to get the basic information he starts to get PUSHY! prattling on about how he is a VERY regular customer and that's why we give him free rooms (not really, it's cause he played a JUST ENOUGH in the past to barely qualify for free rooms sometimes). It's like pulling teeth to find out what he needs for his friends.
It turns out he wants to REALLY wow them. He wanted me to quote the discounted rates for our "chic upgraded designer award winning rooms" (really are cute, and have ipod docks, and two flat-screen televisions were the first of a trend and featured in several magazines). He wanted two of these rooms (one king and one two queens) for his friends but as connecting rooms (cool idea it mimics one of my favorite suites at this property).
I am getting ready to quote the rate and to discount it I've entered a "discount code" for this special "friends and family rate". As I'm doing this he is going on about how we should wow his friends and create loyal customers out of them too. He tells me he has a "discount code" he wants me to use (it's the exact one I already entered). I made the mistake in telling him that I already had entered that code because it is THE code to use in this situation (I haven't quoted the rates yet). I quote the rates for the first room and they are $2xx, $2xx, $1xx. He flips his shit one me. He tells me that the promotional material he received said the discount code provided him with additional rooms for $2x each.
Oh yes, I am familiar with these promotional materials. They trumpet "discount code" "additional rooms discounted AS LOW AS $2x". I politely explain that the flyers says AS LOW AS versus AT and that these discounted room rates are based on occupancy and availability. FYI your more likely to see the $2x rate at our lowest end property, in a slow time of year, in the middle of the week (I didn't tell him this part).
After I explain why the rates are $2xx (for the weekend nights, in an upgraded room, during a busy time, at one of our mid-level properties) he goes back to the wow the customer spiel. He starts getting HUFFY and PUSHY and telling me that I should lower the rates because he is coming in October and that must be the end of the season for us and this economy we must be super slow and hurting for guests.
FAIL! As nicely as I can I tell him "actually October is the middle of convention season when rates are traditionally higher and also happens to be one of the busiest months for Las Vegas tourists because of having some of the most mild weather of the year and the rate I quoted was a discount of over $5x a night" (Vegas isn't really a summer tourism town due to the oppressive heat, some of the lowest rates are in August and the middle two weeks of December).
He asks to speak to a manager and I'm more than happy to transfer him to a supervisor. She quotes him the exact same rates (we can't adjust rates for hagglers) and he doesn't book but says he might call back latter.
Cheap bastard, wants to impress his friends with something far above average but wants to pay $2x for it.
Being the bitch I am while he is talking to a supervisor. I take a look at his reservation history. He has only stayed with us three times in his life (good, but not the "I'm a super frequent customer that deserves special treatment" he was preaching). Each time he was here he complained about small things to the front desk in an attempt to get moved to an upgraded room (and each time, way to go front desk, they give him the choice of moving standard rooms for free, or upgrading at $2x per night vs $3x per night).
If he was a bit nicer and would let me control the call I would have tried to work something out with the tools I have (possibly encouraging him to book his friends a standard room and upgrade at the front desk upon check in for the $3x fee versus the about $1xx a night premium to guarantee that room type over the phone). But Gord help us if the upgraded room type was sold out by the time he got to the front desk.
I love when customers teach me (a degree in business, and working on a 2nd in hospitality, with ALL my job experience in hospitality and customer service) about how the hospitality business really works
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This guy calls in and lets me know that he made a reservation for himself coming in in October (free due to his play in the past) and he'd like to book 2 additional rooms for some friends coming from a foreign country and he wanted a discount since they were traveling with him.
PERFECT! We actually have a special discounted rate for just such a situation. As I'm starting to get the basic information he starts to get PUSHY! prattling on about how he is a VERY regular customer and that's why we give him free rooms (not really, it's cause he played a JUST ENOUGH in the past to barely qualify for free rooms sometimes). It's like pulling teeth to find out what he needs for his friends.
It turns out he wants to REALLY wow them. He wanted me to quote the discounted rates for our "chic upgraded designer award winning rooms" (really are cute, and have ipod docks, and two flat-screen televisions were the first of a trend and featured in several magazines). He wanted two of these rooms (one king and one two queens) for his friends but as connecting rooms (cool idea it mimics one of my favorite suites at this property).
I am getting ready to quote the rate and to discount it I've entered a "discount code" for this special "friends and family rate". As I'm doing this he is going on about how we should wow his friends and create loyal customers out of them too. He tells me he has a "discount code" he wants me to use (it's the exact one I already entered). I made the mistake in telling him that I already had entered that code because it is THE code to use in this situation (I haven't quoted the rates yet). I quote the rates for the first room and they are $2xx, $2xx, $1xx. He flips his shit one me. He tells me that the promotional material he received said the discount code provided him with additional rooms for $2x each.
Oh yes, I am familiar with these promotional materials. They trumpet "discount code" "additional rooms discounted AS LOW AS $2x". I politely explain that the flyers says AS LOW AS versus AT and that these discounted room rates are based on occupancy and availability. FYI your more likely to see the $2x rate at our lowest end property, in a slow time of year, in the middle of the week (I didn't tell him this part).
After I explain why the rates are $2xx (for the weekend nights, in an upgraded room, during a busy time, at one of our mid-level properties) he goes back to the wow the customer spiel. He starts getting HUFFY and PUSHY and telling me that I should lower the rates because he is coming in October and that must be the end of the season for us and this economy we must be super slow and hurting for guests.
FAIL! As nicely as I can I tell him "actually October is the middle of convention season when rates are traditionally higher and also happens to be one of the busiest months for Las Vegas tourists because of having some of the most mild weather of the year and the rate I quoted was a discount of over $5x a night" (Vegas isn't really a summer tourism town due to the oppressive heat, some of the lowest rates are in August and the middle two weeks of December).
He asks to speak to a manager and I'm more than happy to transfer him to a supervisor. She quotes him the exact same rates (we can't adjust rates for hagglers) and he doesn't book but says he might call back latter.
Cheap bastard, wants to impress his friends with something far above average but wants to pay $2x for it.
Being the bitch I am while he is talking to a supervisor. I take a look at his reservation history. He has only stayed with us three times in his life (good, but not the "I'm a super frequent customer that deserves special treatment" he was preaching). Each time he was here he complained about small things to the front desk in an attempt to get moved to an upgraded room (and each time, way to go front desk, they give him the choice of moving standard rooms for free, or upgrading at $2x per night vs $3x per night).
If he was a bit nicer and would let me control the call I would have tried to work something out with the tools I have (possibly encouraging him to book his friends a standard room and upgrade at the front desk upon check in for the $3x fee versus the about $1xx a night premium to guarantee that room type over the phone). But Gord help us if the upgraded room type was sold out by the time he got to the front desk.
I love when customers teach me (a degree in business, and working on a 2nd in hospitality, with ALL my job experience in hospitality and customer service) about how the hospitality business really works
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They are $3 with 10x odds offered. I love betting minimum pass with full odds there and playing (and often winning) for hours. while I watch the lowliest of gamblers (they have the cheapest craps downtown) make the not so great bets all day long
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