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OK, so this lady is a true piece of work... one of our contract holders. We have told this airline repeatedly that our shuttle stops running at 1AM. We have generously added a clause to the contract that we will reimburse taxis after that time (something that no other company has on their contract and very few hotels will do in general). The crew arrives at 2am (note, their reservations said they were arriving at midnight), they call in... I tell them that the shuttle isn't running at this time, please take the first available taxi, we will reimburse for it. The person calling from the airport said there was a long line for taxis, could we call one that would skip the line... I told him that at least during the day taxis would not do that... he told me that was OK, he'd just wait. So the actual guest isn't concerned... his boss on the other hand...
SB- sucky boss
Me-
CD- cab dispatch
Me- (hotel) this is Smiley speaking, how may I help you?
SB- yes, I have a crew waiting at the airport... I was told you had a shuttle... why are you making them take a cab.
Me- yes ma'am, we have a shuttle, but it stops running at 1am... I am more than happy to reimburse a taxi though.
SB- but there is a long wait for a taxi... can't you call the taxi company and see if they will do anything for us.
Me- I doubt they will.
SB- well, shouldn't you guys have a back up plan in case something like this happens?
Me- to be honest, in over a year, this is the first time after 1am that we've had a problem with people having to wait for a taxi.
SB- well, if this hasn't happened in over a year how do you know that the taxi companies won't work with you?
Me- because I used to work at the airport... the taxi companies are ONLY allowed to pick up from the taxi kiosks at doors 5 and 9... I can call and see if they will be willing to reserve a shuttle... but I can't make promises... normally they won't for the airport.
SB- just do it.
Me- ok, please hold *calls cab*
CD- (cab) how may I help you?
Me- I hate to ask this... but this is Smiley at (hotel)... I have some guests stuck at the airport... there is a really long line and they were wondering if they could reserve a taxi.
CD- sorry, we can't reserve pick up at the airport... it's first come first serve out there... what I will do though, we have a driver downtown who is just finished a drop off... I'll have him switch to airport based rather than downtown based... that will at least speed up the line a little bit.
Me- thank you... I know that's not what they want to hear, but I appreciate whatever help you can give.
CD- yeah, anytime. *CD disconnects, Smiley brings SB off of hold*
Me- thank you for holding... I talked to (cab) and they are not able to reserve cabs for pick up at the airport... however they did agree to move one of their cabs from downtown to the airport to help speed up the line some... it's not much but with the rules that they're constrained by it's about the best we can ask for.
SB- thanks for nothing... trust me, this will be reported to corporate.
Me- as is your right... as it is though that there is nothing else I can do for these guests until they get a cab, is there any other reservations I may assist with?
SB- no... expect a call from corporate though *click*
and as an interesting side note... the guests ended up getting here in less than half an hour since they called, barely longer than if we were running our own shuttle, were very nice and in a good mood... oh and the boss also mentioned something about minimum turn around time... their flight out isn't until 1pm and it's an 8hour turnaround minimum... so... really, give it them an hour to get back to the airport and through security (since they can skip the line, shouldn't even take that long)... it could take them up to 2 hours to get a cab and still get their turnaround time.
SB- sucky boss
Me-
CD- cab dispatch
Me- (hotel) this is Smiley speaking, how may I help you?
SB- yes, I have a crew waiting at the airport... I was told you had a shuttle... why are you making them take a cab.
Me- yes ma'am, we have a shuttle, but it stops running at 1am... I am more than happy to reimburse a taxi though.
SB- but there is a long wait for a taxi... can't you call the taxi company and see if they will do anything for us.
Me- I doubt they will.
SB- well, shouldn't you guys have a back up plan in case something like this happens?
Me- to be honest, in over a year, this is the first time after 1am that we've had a problem with people having to wait for a taxi.
SB- well, if this hasn't happened in over a year how do you know that the taxi companies won't work with you?
Me- because I used to work at the airport... the taxi companies are ONLY allowed to pick up from the taxi kiosks at doors 5 and 9... I can call and see if they will be willing to reserve a shuttle... but I can't make promises... normally they won't for the airport.
SB- just do it.
Me- ok, please hold *calls cab*
CD- (cab) how may I help you?
Me- I hate to ask this... but this is Smiley at (hotel)... I have some guests stuck at the airport... there is a really long line and they were wondering if they could reserve a taxi.
CD- sorry, we can't reserve pick up at the airport... it's first come first serve out there... what I will do though, we have a driver downtown who is just finished a drop off... I'll have him switch to airport based rather than downtown based... that will at least speed up the line a little bit.
Me- thank you... I know that's not what they want to hear, but I appreciate whatever help you can give.
CD- yeah, anytime. *CD disconnects, Smiley brings SB off of hold*
Me- thank you for holding... I talked to (cab) and they are not able to reserve cabs for pick up at the airport... however they did agree to move one of their cabs from downtown to the airport to help speed up the line some... it's not much but with the rules that they're constrained by it's about the best we can ask for.
SB- thanks for nothing... trust me, this will be reported to corporate.
Me- as is your right... as it is though that there is nothing else I can do for these guests until they get a cab, is there any other reservations I may assist with?
SB- no... expect a call from corporate though *click*
and as an interesting side note... the guests ended up getting here in less than half an hour since they called, barely longer than if we were running our own shuttle, were very nice and in a good mood... oh and the boss also mentioned something about minimum turn around time... their flight out isn't until 1pm and it's an 8hour turnaround minimum... so... really, give it them an hour to get back to the airport and through security (since they can skip the line, shouldn't even take that long)... it could take them up to 2 hours to get a cab and still get their turnaround time.
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