Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Another Strange Phone Call

Why is it that there are so many weirdos who call my hotel? Is it that phone calls give them the safety of anonymity, so they can't see me laughing at them (not that I actually do that in front of guests)? Maybe it was a joke - I hope so, but I doubt it.

So this guy calls today, tells me he's from some travel website I've never heard of. I tried looking it up later and I don't think it was legit, so maybe it was a joke. But anyway, he tells me that he recently stayed and took some pictures for his website. Only problem is, he missed the breakfast area. So he wants me to "take a couple pictures with my cell phone and send them to his phone."

"Excuse me?"

He repeats himself. I briefly consider sending the phone call to my manager, but decide I will assist with this ridiculousness. I tell him no, but there are pictures of the breakfast room on our website that he can use.

Yes, he says, but they don't really reflect the actual lighting, and they make the space look bigger than it is. And a picture taken with a cell phone will give a more accurate rendering? Plus, I've gathered from what he's saying that he thinks the pictures on our site look too good, so he thinks an employee of the hotel will send him pictures to make it look worse? No. At times, I may not like my job, but that doesn't mean I want to lose it. I tell him, sorry, but no. He thanks me and hangs up.

That had to be a joke, right?

2 comments:

  1. The caller was probably a male guest that wanted your cell phone number so he could send you nasty pictures of himself. It's a good thing that you did not indulge him, unless you like that sort of thing.

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  2. yeah, probably a scam trying to get your cell number and use it as spam. If he's from a reputable travel website, they should contact your head office, no self-respecting website would want camera phone pictures of a breakfast area. We should know, our company provides the breakfast equipment to most major hotels in the US and Canada :)

    If he's legit and didn't want to take pictures from your company's corporate site, it's probably because these pictures are owned by the hotel and corporate didn't authorize him to use them. That, and anyone taking pictures of a hotel to post on a travel website need clearance from the manager or head office anyways.

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