tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68766314260159052842024-03-13T11:23:12.127-04:00Life At The Front DeskFrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-64859291849139810092011-09-16T23:54:00.002-04:002011-09-17T00:23:57.279-04:00How to Not Get HiredI would think this is an unstated rule, but apparently not. So I will spell it out.<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">WHEN YOU GO INTO A BUSINESS TO APPLY FOR A JOB, YOU SHOULD NOT BE RUDE/NEEDY/DISTRACTING TO THE EMPLOYEES.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was working a Friday about a month ago when this guy came in to apply for a job. Now, Fridays in August kind of suck. Because <i>everyone</i> has to get married in the summer (so unoriginal), we had 4 wedding groups arriving that day. This day was particularly busy. About the half the arrivals for the day actually checked in before 3pm (check-in time) because wedding guests think they are <i>entitled </i>to check in early. Otherwise, how are they going to get dressed?!? And do their hair?!? I don't know, nor do I care. It's not my problem.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But anyway, back to the guy, who <i>was </i>a problem. My co-worker was checking someone else in when he comes up to me to ask a question. Now, our job application is very standard. I can't even remember what he asked anymore, but it was very self-explanatory. I gave him some perfunctory answer so he moves on to another section and another question. By this time, a line is building up behind him. He, of course, is oblivious to this fact.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So I tell him, trying to be polite, that I have to help the guests and I'll help him when I can. Then I tilt my head to the side, trying to indicate that he should move away.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">He stares at me blankly. I motion with my head again, staring at him and not saying anything. He stands there for another few seconds before moving, and I call out the the next woman standing in line "Hi, how are you?"</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">She approaches me tentatively. "You can help me?" And I realize she heard me tell the man to go away (in essence) and of course she doesn't know what he's here for. I am not pleased. I tell her yes, i can help her, and say the man is here applying for a job and I'll assist him later.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I tell my supervisor (who is in charge on hiring) about him when I bring the application back. Needless to say, he didn't get the job.</div>FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-54357657367946094092011-08-12T21:33:00.002-04:002011-08-12T21:37:33.779-04:00Ma'amThis person is probably the biggest psycho I have met in my short hotel career. This is a very long story, so I'll just hit my favorite highlight right now.
<br />
<br />Me: "Ma'am-"
<br />Guest: "Don't call me that! My name's not 'ma'am'. Is your name 'ma'am'?
<br />Me: No.
<br />
<br />I continued to call her 'ma'am' for the rest of the phone call. I didn't think she'd like my alternative choice any better.
<br />FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-45814932506325212462011-08-01T20:54:00.002-04:002011-08-01T20:59:22.632-04:00Bedding CyclesI don't know what it is with people and the telephone. We get so many weirdos. Case in point:<div><br /></div><div>Caller: I wanted to know the last time your rooms were renovated.</div><div>Me: Five years ago, ma'am. The hotel was completely gutted, everything rebuilt.</div><div>Caller: So the bedding in your rooms is five years old?</div><div>Me: Umm...the age of the bedding would vary by room. Bedding is replaced as needed.</div><div>Caller: But the furniture is five years old.</div><div>Me: Yes.</div><div>Caller: Okay. How long are those bedding cycles?</div><div>Me: (<i>long pause</i>) I don't know. I would have to check with housekeeping.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did she seriously expect me to know the answer to that question?</div>FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-21476700592266395872011-07-21T23:17:00.002-04:002011-07-21T23:26:41.011-04:00Another Telephone Pet PeeveAnswering the telephone at work yields an endless realm of possibilities. Sometimes it's an enjoyable experience - you help people change reservations, choose rooms, correct mistakes. Other times, less so.<div><br /></div><div>Me: Good morning, thank you for calling -----. This is ----- speaking, how may I assist you?</div><div>Caller: Yeah, I wanted to know how far you are from [insert random small town that I've never heard of here].</div><div>Me: Umm...I'm not really sure, to be honest. Where's that located? (caller gives more detail, I still don't know) I'm not familiar with that town, sorry. (I wouldn't mind looking it up, but the computers at work are incredibly slow)</div><div>Caller: Oh, okay. I'll just look it up on the computer.</div><div><br /></div><div>End call. And the reason they didn't just look it up to begin with? Unknown.</div><div><br /></div>FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-23525399316269178312011-07-07T22:03:00.003-04:002011-07-07T22:15:48.701-04:00Dumb Question of the DayThis week has been busy. My hotel is a business hotel, but with this week being considered a "holiday" week and all, we have a lot of leisure travelers. Leisure travelers who miss breakfast (no, you cannot lounge in your room until 11 and then get upset breakfast isn't still being served), call down repeatedly to ask for things, need directions to get everywhere, need suggestions for entertainment...busy times.<br /><br />So today, I was fairly busy at the desk. A guest approaches the side of it and I walk over to him. I wasn't able to pay attention to the entire lobby at that point and there had no idea where he came from. He was holding two Kit-Kats.<br /><br />Him: Are these for sale?<br />I was momentarily stumped by this question. I mean, if he got them from the market, of course they're for sale - they're not free. But I would assume someone would know that and not ask such an asinine question.<br />Me: Excuse me? (at this point, I was hoping he would expand on his question. Alas, he did not.)<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span>Him: Are these for sale?<br />Me: Did you get them from the market?<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></span></span>Him: (looking at <span style="font-style: italic;">me</span> like I'm an idiot) Yes.<br />Me; Then yes, they're for sale. That will be three dollars.<br /><br />Seriously?<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span></span>FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-45244696567742996792011-06-28T21:15:00.003-04:002011-06-28T21:35:43.670-04:00Late Check-OutsAnyone sensing a theme with my blog posts lately? I am. I suppose it's because I usually work mornings and therefore don't really deal much with guests when they're having problems with the internet, AC, internet, door locks, internet, number of towels in the room, and internet. Oh, and did I mention the internet?<div><br /></div><div>But, anyway, late check-outs. These have been occurring more and more frequently lately as people try to stay later to spend more time at the pool. My hotel already has a pretty generous check-out time of 12 PM, so this can be somewhat irritating, especially to the housekeeping staff. Especially when several rooms are in the same area. This means the housekeeper doing that section has to wait for all those people to leave.</div><div><br /></div><div>When people ask for late check-out, I ask them how late they'd like to stay. The response I am <i>not</i> looking for? "Well, what's the latest we can check out?" We can give till 2, but I usually say 1:30. By the time people <i>actually</i> leave, it's 2 anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>I encountered a lovely woman a few weeks ago. Just charming, really. She called down to ask for a late check-out, and I asked her what time she wanted until.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Oh, 2 or 3."</div><div>"2's the latest I can do, ma'am."</div><div><br /></div><div>She heaves a sigh but agrees to 2. At 2:30 I'm checking on those last few check-outs with the head housekeeper, and she tells me the woman is not gone.</div><div><br /></div><div>"What do you mean she's not gone? She's still in the room?" It's confirmed for me that she is nowhere to be found, but all her stuff is still in there.</div><div><br /></div><div>At 2:45, the woman comes wandering into the lobby, dressed in a pool cover-up, telling me her keys aren't working. I ask for her name and pull her up on the computer. The keys wouldn't be working either way, since they expire just after check-out time, but she doesn't know that.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Yes, Ms. ----, let me get you new keys. I see we had you checking out at 2?"</div><div>"Well, I'm a (insert level here) rewards member. I get late check-out."</div><div><i>Deep breath</i>. "Yes ma'am, you do get late check-out. Up to what the hotel can accomodate. Housekeeping has to clean the room."</div><div>"Well, there are lots of people who still have stuff in their rooms!"</div><div><br /></div><div>Completely untrue, irrelevant, and also - a bad argument. If she had told me everyone else checked out, so clean their rooms first, that might make more sense. But telling me everyone else is doing it too? First, I've checked everyone else out, so I know that's not true. Second - are we in kindergarten now? Aren't you too old to compare your obnoxious behavior to other people's?</div><div><br /></div><div>She goes to leave. I still haven't said anything in response to her latest claim, and have no plans to. But she just has to throw out one more remark before she goes.</div><div><br /></div><div>"And we'll leave when we want to!"</div>FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-83778643832000211102011-06-20T21:28:00.003-04:002011-06-28T21:06:50.349-04:00Pre Check-in?I don't understand why people seem to think the check-in process is so arduous. It's not. Here's how it goes - a person comes in, I greet them, get their name, check their rate and the number of nights they're here, swipe their credit card, get them their keys, and they're on their way. If the person doesn't ask ten thousand questions about the hotel and the surrounding area as they check in, this process can take less than a minute. And yet, people seem to think it's so difficult. They also don't seem to understand what "check-in" means. <div><br /></div><div>I was at the desk last week when someone arrives. At 8 AM. We have nothing available, which I tell him and apologize for. I tell him we'll have something around 12 or 1, if he wants to come back later. He doesn't seem thrilled, but what did he expect? It was 8 in the morning. So he's all set to leave and come back later, but first he has one more question for me. "Can I check in now and get my keys later?" </div><div><br /></div><div>Sigh. Why do people always ask this? When you check in to a hotel, it's a type of exchange. You give me payment, I give you keys. I also assign you to a room at check-in. <i>If there are no clean rooms, I cannot check you in</i>.<i> </i>Because where am I going to direct the computer to put you? And no, I cannot check you into a dirty room. </div><div><br /></div><div>I told him no, just as one of the managers was walking by. After he leaves, she tells me I should soften my response and apologize, explain...exactly what I did when he first came in. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are no check-ins without clean rooms. Why is that so difficult to understand?</div>FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-4738614660208596842011-06-10T01:36:00.003-04:002011-06-10T02:08:03.993-04:00Early Check-InEarly check-in is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Don't get me wrong, if I have a room free and you come in early, you can have it. We don't make people wait till 3. But when people make a reservation, my hotel chain gives them to option to check early check-in as a request. This is a <span style="font-style: italic;">request</span>. It's not guaranteed. Additionally, so many people check off this request and then <span style="font-style: italic;">don't come early </span>that it's essentially useless. I usually ignore it unless the person has called in to request early check-in. And then there are the ones who do neither.<br /><br />I checked in a woman last week. Comes up to the front at 11:30am.<br />Woman: Checking in.<br />Me: Your name? (she gives me her name, and I pull up her reservation. The room isn't ready, and since she's part of a wedding group I'm <span style="font-style: italic;">not </span>moving her to a higher floor so the non-wedding guests can be disturbed at 2 in the morning. I look for other rooms on that floor, nothing). I don't have any rooms available just yet. I can check with housekeeping, hopefully I can have something ready in about an hour?<br />Woman: Well, why isn't the room ready <span style="font-style: italic;">now</span>?<br />Me: Umm, check-in's at 3. I have housekeeping working on early check-in rooms (which I did, for people who had <span style="font-style: italic;">requested </span>them), but we don't have you here as requesting an early check-in.<br />Woman: I didn't know I needed to <span style="font-style: italic;">request</span> an early check-in!<br /><br />Well, then how are we supposed to know you're coming early? I'm sorry, my psychic abilities aren't working today, try again tomorrow. Yesterday a woman (who had actually checked off that early check-in request) came in at 8:30am, and my manager fell all over herself apologizing that we didn't have any rooms available because we had sold out the night before. Don't be sorry, it's 8:30 in the morning! Check-out isn't even till noon!<br /><br />I love it when people come in so early (before 12, I would say), and I go: Let me see what I have available. They think I'm talking about reservations, and say: No, I have a reservation. Me: Yes, I see that, but check-in's not till 3. Them: But I requested an early check-in.<br /><br />Early check-in is never, ever, GUARANTEED! Especially if you have a request for connecting or side-by-side rooms. If you call to confirm your connecting request and I say we have one set of rooms in the hotel that can accommodate that, do not traipse in with five suitcases at 11am unless you've called to confirm. Because I can practically promise it won't be ready.<br /><br />And don't even get me started on the people who won't give me the time they want (probably because it's ridiculously early and they know I won't do it), but instead turn it around on me. I originally wrote the below conversation as Joe Smith, but then changed it because it is invariably a woman who does this.<br /><br />Jane: Hi, this is Jane Smith. I'm coming in this Friday, and wanted to request an early check-in.<br />Me: Okay, let me put in that request for you. What time did you want to arrive?<br />Jane: Well, what's the earliest time I can check-in?<br /><br />For those who really want to know, I would consider an early check-in 12pm. Not before.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-29850700940737605822011-05-30T22:13:00.002-04:002011-05-30T22:14:52.984-04:00The Customer Is Not Always Right(an old post that I never finished, so my math is now off. whatever)<br /><br />In fact, the customer is almost always wrong. Particularly when they try to insist they know the hotel better than I do. Look, lady, I may have only worked here three months (almost four now, actually), but I'm here 40 hours a week, as opposed to the two days you spent here last year. That means I've spent about a month of my life in this hotel. Seriously. 40 hours a week times about 16 weeks equals 640 hours. Divide that by 24 and you get ~27 days. Wow, that's depressing.<br /><br />But anyway, this woman comes in for a business meeting being held at our hotel, and asks for a smoking room. I inform her that we don't have smoking rooms, but offer to put her near an exit. Best I can do. Well, she turns into a major bitch. She <span style="font-style: italic;">insists</span> that we have smoking rooms, and says last year when she was here she had a smoking room. I pull up her previous reservation and there's no note about smoking. Plus, we're a completely non-smoking hotel.<br /><br />Despite both myself <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> my coworker saying that we're non-smoking, she says we're wrong. We both repeat that the hotel is completely non-smoking and the fine is $250 for smoking in the room. She says she doesn't care. Then (since her company was paying for the room & tax), when I ask her for a credit card for incidentals, she tries to get out of giving me one. Uh-huh. You tell me you're going to smoke in the room and you think you're not giving me a credit card to charge when you do? No way. She says she's going to talk to the person in charge of her business meeting, since she <span style="font-style: italic;">knows</span> she requested a smoking room for her.<br /><br />When I told the GM about it that afternoon, he tells me that after all that, if she still smokes in the room, we'll throw her out and charge her $250 for <span style="font-style: italic;">each day</span> she smoked. Ha! After being such a bitch, she would deserve it.<br /><br />Ultimately, it didn't come to that. She spoke to the leader of her group, who spoke to our sales team and confirmed the hotel is non-smoking. And then she came by the desk and told me that the smoking hotel she stayed at last year was a different property, not ours (obviously).FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-8847549565588047932011-05-30T22:00:00.002-04:002011-05-30T22:01:50.356-04:00And Counting!54 days of work left to go!!! (yes, I am staring a countdown. I need to get out of this place.)FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-83274290552025014002011-05-21T08:19:00.003-04:002011-05-21T17:29:32.732-04:00Not Hotel-Related, But...Who thinks that a valid excuse for doing poorly on an SAT practice test is: "There were lots of girls in the room and I couldn't concentrate"?<br /><br />Not me!FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-88607871549324245812011-05-01T22:33:00.003-04:002011-05-01T23:00:29.050-04:00I May Sound Like An Ass Here, But...I'm smarter than my boss. She knows it and I know it. And it's not that I can't respect someone who's not as smart as me. Really, it's not. Especially if you consider that lesser intelligence in the context of more experience in this industry than I have. I consider that experience something I can learn from. After all, don't we all have new things we can learn? Of course we do. I love knowledge. The day I stop learning is the day I die. The problem is, she does not feel that way.<br /><br />Each day, the morning shift at a hotel blocks guests into rooms. What this means is that we select a room for a guest based on their requests. Connecting rooms, high floor, first floor, quiet area, smoking (not permitted, so they go near an exit). We go through and block accordingly, based on that day's arrivals. However, for some reason our system was doing something very unfortunate in that it was automatically blocking rooms with no consideration to guest preferences. So my supervisor comes out one morning and asks if we are blocking according to requests. I say, yes, we are, and she asks why the rooms guests are currently in don't match their requests. Wellll, that would be because the system blocks automatically and I haven't gone through to fix it yet.<br /><br />"What do you mean the system blocks automatically? That doesn't make any sense. Someone had to set that up."<br />I pull up the screen to show her, unblocking several rooms and showing her how the system automatically reblocks. Which she ignores<br />"That doesn't make any sense. The system doesn't do that."<br />She goes back into the office, and I ask my coworker what exactly there is to not understand. This isn't brain surgery. Her response: she doesn't want to understand.<br /><br />I received similar responses from both my parents - apparently I am showing up my supervisor with my superior knowledge of the system, and she doesn't like it. But anyway, I go to the help for our system and figure out how to stop the automatic blocking. Then I tell the GM that I've stopped it. He lets my immediate supervisor know this, and she tells him that the morning shift haven't been responding to requests when rooms are blocked, and that's the problem with the blocking, nothing else.<br /><br />I heard about this because someone else was in the back office at the time - I didn't hear it directly. And at first I shrugged it off, but the more I think about it, the more pissed off I am. How dare she tell my GM a flat-out lie about me, especially after I explained the problem to her and she decided she didn't want to understand? So I've decided to talk to him tomorrow. And I don't care if it makes her look bad. I'm not going to be here that much longer anyway!<br /><br />***PS - I know I haven't been posting much lately. Nothing happened at work to make me feel this way, but I become paranoid about being caught. Fellow bloggers, how do you manage to stay anonymous and still tell specific stories about your job?FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-74889423301984362492011-03-29T00:21:00.002-04:002011-03-29T00:37:49.536-04:00Be ProfessionalI rarely write about my co-workers or managers on this blog. This is for two reasons: one, I am worried that one day one of them will stumble upon my blog and recognize descriptions of themselves and two, I likely most of the people I work with. There is one person I am not such a big fan, though. This would be my immediate supervisor, whose title will not be disclosed for reason #1 above.<br /><br />I am normally the kind of person who gets along with everyone, but she irritates me. The reason for this? I <span style="font-style: italic;">hate</span> liars. Hate hate hate. With a passion. In case you cannot tell, I am a very honest (read: blunt) person. And I consider hypocrites to be liars. And she is one of the biggest hypocrites I've ever met. And closed-minded.<br /><br />When you talk to her, it's like there's only one acceptable attitude. One acceptable viewpoint. One acceptable way to do things. Any suggestions are shot down. I was talking about my old hotel the other day and she says, "You aren't there anymore, you're here. We're not them. We do things this way here." And yes, they were a less organized property, but that doesn't mean there's nothing that can be learned from them. <br /><br />And then there's her personality - childish and unprofessional. It's really amazing that she's gotten to this point in her hotel career considering how incredibly petty she is. She is the type of person who holds grudges. And plays favorites. So when her favorite front desk person called out sick and the person who had to cover wasn't happy about it and spoke to the GM, she gave them the cold shoulder, then called them into her office and talked about how she doesn't play favorites. Uh huh. It's like, this is a business. Be professional. If you can't do that, go back to kindergarten and learn how to play nice with other people. It's gotten to the point that I really look forward to the days she's not there.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-36152980462834049972011-03-24T00:42:00.004-04:002011-03-24T01:02:45.354-04:00Why America's Going DownhillYes, I know it's been a while since I've written. I've been pretty busy working 70-hour weeks and trying to choose a law school for next year (actually, I've decided. but for my father's sanity, i am "weighing my options"). But this guy's story just begged to be told.<br /><br />He came in Sunday, and for whatever reason was booked in a suite. Probably because we were sold out this week. He came in Monday to ask about breakfast, but that's a whole different story in itself. So he's in a suite, and at first he tried feeding us this crap about how he "thought all the rooms were like that" and he "didn't realize he was in a suite". Riiight. So he wants a lower rate, but he doesn't want to change rooms. That's not happening. The afternoon shift yesterday tried to get in touch with him all evening, but he wasn't picking up. So guess who gets to deal with this guy when he finally gets all his messages? Me.<br /><br />He called down this morning and said he didn't understand what the messages were saying. I pull up his reservation and recognize the booking - the guy who wants neither to move nor to pay. I tell him we'd be happy to move him into a new room, and he says that's what he wants. But he's running late and wants to know if housekeeping can move his things for him.<br /><br />We're really not supposed to do that. No one from the hotel is supposed to move a guest's belongings because the hotel is liable if something is missing. But we've been trying to resolve this problem for a few days, and we've done it before, so I say yes, and tell him they'll move his belongings as long as everything's packed up.<br /><br />Guest: "So they'll move my stuff for me?"<br />Me: "As long as everything's packed up, yes."<br /><br />I repeated this because it was <span style="font-style: italic;">very</span> important that everything be packed. Housekeeping won't/can't gather up and move toiletries, clothes, etc. Additionally, my tone was totally neutral as I said this. Sometimes I say something to a guest and wish later I'd phrased it a little more decorously. But going over it again, I wouldn't say anything differently. But apparently this struck a nerve.<br /><br />Guest (nastily, in case anyone was thinking otherwise): "You just <span style="font-style: italic;">told </span>me that. You don't have to tell me again. I heard you. And you don't have to be so rude about it."<br />Me (somewhat surprised on the other end): "I said it again because housekeeping can't move your belongings unless everything is packed."<br />Guest: "Then you should have said that instead of being so rude! This is why America's going downhill! Everyone in the service industry is so rude! No one knows good service anymore!"<br /><br />And so on, with several more comments about how rude I was. I think he was hoping for an apology, but I refuse to apologize to such an asshole - especially over nothing. My coworker said I should have told him it was inappropriate to speak to me that way, and I should have, but at that point I was a little stunned. I don't think I've ever dealt with such a nasty, unreasonable guest.<br /><br />And he thinks the service industry is leading America to its downfall? Methinks otherwise.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-65576483999098993872011-01-31T01:00:00.002-05:002011-01-31T01:23:07.762-05:00Private Things Should Be Done In PrivateAt my old hotel, I once read a GSS (guest satisfaction survey) that said our public computer should be in a more private area. It was in a very public space - by the front desk, next to the breakfast area door, so anyone who walked by could see the screen - but who cares? These computers are for essential internet usage: checking email, looking up directions, printing out work documents. They aren't there so people can spend hours on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever other social networking site you use to inform people that you're cleaning the house today. Upon reading this GSS, my manager remarked, "What does he need privacy for? So he can watch porn in the lobby?" Apparently, that's exactly what he needed it for. <br /><br />At my current hotel, we have a business center with two computers, and a wall shielding the space from the rest of the lobby. Last week, my co-worker walked back there and returned to inform me excitedly that a guest was watching porn on one of the computers. Needless to say, I was surprised - though perhaps I shouldn't be, since the only pay movies the guests watch are porn. <br /><br />"How can he even get to that?" I asked. "Isn't it blocked?"<br /><br />Our AGM told us grimly that it should be, and she was calling internet support to find out why it wasn't. And that guest became known as "the guy who watched porn in the business center."<br /><br />Seriously, do your private business in private.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-40907106601524126922011-01-19T23:39:00.004-05:002011-01-20T00:00:13.169-05:00Another Strange Phone CallWhy 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.<br /><br />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."<br /><br />"Excuse me?"<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />That had to be a joke, right?FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-9337254597592833102011-01-10T21:42:00.005-05:002011-01-10T21:57:34.426-05:00A Public Service AnnouncementGreetings, readers. This is a public service announcement brought to you by your friendly FrontDeskGirl. A warning before I start - this has nothing to do with hotels, so if you're not interested, stop reading now.<br /><br />I work at the front desk of a hotel. I also work as an SAT tutor. I don't usually do tutoring on my own; instead, I work for a local learning center. And I have to say, I am horrified at what our schools are producing. And before all of you jump down my throat for saying that, consider this - bright, academically inclined people will do well in any school. It is how our schools teach the not-so-academically inclined children that is the real test of their effectiveness. And from what I see, that isn't very effective at all.<br /><br />I had an 11th grader come in who could barely read. A girl who, when I said the SAT is designed as an objective test, asked me what the word objective meant. Another student who couldn't recognize exponents. One couldn't tell me the difference between "it's" and "its".<br /><br />So, my PSA announcement is this. Parents, make your children READ. Yes, I said make (as in force) them. And I don't care if that stifles their independence or creativity or whatever the fuck child psychologists say it is they need these days. Otherwise, your child will be coming to see someone like me when it's time for the SATs. And no matter how good I am, I can't make up 5 years of vocabulary, reading skills, and grammar knowledge in 5 months. Don't worry about the math for now - a lot of that can be taught. What is hard to teach is reading comprehension and vocabulary - because those are skills your kid should have been building his whole life! It doesn't matter <span style="font-style: italic;">what </span>it is they read - just that they're reading.<br /><br />So make them start. Today. I may start crying if I see many more kids like this.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-91229669827129040722011-01-05T21:56:00.002-05:002011-01-05T23:32:44.770-05:00Complaining and Why You Should Do ItYes, readers, you read the title of this post correctly. People should complain when they are unhappy, and here's why.<br /><br />This morning, a guest came to the front desk wanting to change rooms. When someone wants to change rooms, I will ask if there's a problem with the room, so maintenance can take a look if there is, but otherwise I don't care why. If people want to move, they can move. Whatever.<br /><br />So this guy came to the front and tells us his neighbor must have sleep apnea because he kept him up all night with his snoring. Our walls are not that thin, so this neighbor must have been really loud. I find the guest a new room in a corner, so only one neighbor, and he thanks me. I then took him on the shuttle, and he thanked me again. He seemed somewhat apologetic about wanting to move, but he shouldn't have been. I was happy to move him - because I <span style="font-style: italic;">want </span>the guests to have an enjoyable stay.<br /><br />Look, people, you go and stay at a hotel, eat at a restaurant, really anything in the hospitality industry - the staff there want you to be happy. Do you think I want a guest to leave having had a miserable experience? No. And that is why you should complain - so we can fix it promptly and you can leave happy.<br /><br />There was a woman who came to the front Monday morning with a laundry list of complaints - no refrigerator in the room, the tap water wasn't clear, and a few other things that aren't important enough for me to remember. We look up her bill and I see she was comped Friday night due to the New Year's Eve noise next door. Then the front desk person who comped her Saturday morning came by, and I tell her this woman came to the front to complain.<br /><br />"She came down to complain again?" she said incredulously. "About what?"<br />I shrug. "She said there was no refrigerator in her room."<br />"She never said anything about that to me!"<br /><br />Of course she didn't. Either she was biding her time so she could get more money taken off, or she didn't want to complain. I'm guessing the former is more likely. But had she complained, she would have either been moved, or the issues in her room would have been fixed. Then she wouldn't have had such a bad experience during her 25th* (her words) stay at our hotel.<br /><br />So, please, complain. That's kind of why we're here.<br /><br />*How many times did she <span style="font-style: italic;">actually </span>stay previously? Five.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-71678485464368989542011-01-03T01:09:00.002-05:002011-01-03T01:26:53.472-05:00Employee RateThere are two kinds of people that use the employee/family and friends rate. Some are actual employees. They usually go out of their way to be as little trouble as possible. I once had someone call from the next county over, on a highway that I'm not really familiar with. I got on Google Maps to try and help, and the entire time the woman was asking if I needed to go, very understanding about being put on hold, and just so <span style="font-style: italic;">nice</span>. I marveled at these people, and when they arrived I realized the reason behind it. <br /><br />The second type are the exact opposite. Pain in the ass, no knowledge about hotels (which confuses me), and generally just very time-consuming. I worked New Year's Eve, and for some reason there were a lot of people staying with the employee/friends and family rate. One guy in particular kept me on the phone for 10 minutes asking stupid questions. He called to confirm his reservation, two queen beds, and after I confirmed for him he said he had some questions.<br /><br />Question 1: The parking, is there parking? <br />Me: Yes, there's parking. (He starts to speak and I cut in to add) Free parking.<br />Him: Okay, but does it matter how many cars I have?<br />Me: No, it doesn't.<br />Question #2: Okay, so I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, but the rest of my family is going to stay in the room later. Will I be charged a fee if I don't come check out myself?<br />Me: No, sir. You'll give us a credit card when you check in, and they'll put the bill under your door tonight. You can just leave the keys in the room.<br />Him: So I won't be charged a fee?<br />Me: (<span style="font-style: italic;">Isn't that what I just said?</span>) No, you won't. <br />Him: And I wanted to pay with cash, not a credit card. <br />Me: Okay, well that's fine. You can pay with cash when you check in.<br />Question #3: But how much of a deposit do I have to leave?<br />Me: Fifty dollars.<br />Him: Really? I called before and they told me $250.<br />Me: Umm, no, it's fifty dollars.<br />Him: Really? Then why would they tell me that before? You guys all say different things!<br />Me: Well, if you like you can give us a credit card as a deposit and it'll place a small hold on that, which will be returned to you after you check out.<br />Him: Maybe I'll do that. So it will take a deposit and then I can come get that when I check out?<br />Me: No, it's a hold on your credit card. It'll come off in three to five business days.<br /><br />And so on. He arrived, I checked him in, and he requests to not have neighbors and to be near a door. The second one I could do, the first, denied. Then his wife calls down with a request for a rollaway. We don't have them, so, denied. Then he calls down and the other front desk person picks up, this time to tell him that no, we don't have any rollaways, Nor do we have a room with two queens and a pullout sofa. <br /><br />Then there was the travel agent who called five times, and the various people who tried to throw parties in the hotel. I guess I'll find out today if their attempts were successful.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-25936316662877360852010-12-26T21:02:00.003-05:002010-12-26T21:21:58.677-05:00Hotels and Credit CardsI have missed my little blog. Haven't been working that much lately, so no new stories, but I always have tons of stuff saved up that I never post. This one is about hotels and credit/debit cards.<br /><br />So, let me tell you all how it works. You check into the hotel. I swipe your credit card. And no, I can't use the one on file, because we need to swipe a credit card to show you were actually here in case the charges are disputed. So, anyway, I swipe the CC and a hold is placed on it. The hold will be for the full amount of your stay, plus extra for incidentals (you break something, you buy from the hotel store, you eat in the hotel restaurant). If someone's rate is $150, the hold will probably be a little over $200. This is the way it is. If you don't like it, don't stay in hotels.<br /><br />This is just a hold. The actual amount will not be charged to your account until you check out. This is why you can change credit cards before you leave. Upon check out, the amount will be charged to your credit card and the remainder of the hold released, in three to five business days. Debit cards can take longer.<br /><br />Unfortunately, because people have no money, they often want us to change this. And we can. It's just a pain in the ass. We need a bank fax number to send a letter authorizing the release of the hold. And some banks won't take that, so then we have to call and listen to elevator music for a half hour to get your hold released. It's not a fun process.<br /><br />I once had this woman come to check in. A Hispanic woman. She did speak English, though with a thick accent. I asked for a credit card and she told me her mother, who would be arriving in about an hour, would be paying for her room. Well, that's great, but I need a credit card to check you in. She hands over her credit card, and I TELL HER A HOLD WILL BE PLACED ON IT. She says that's fine.<br /><br />An hour later, I'm taking my break, and my supervisor, who's covering the desk, comes and asks me about this woman. I go back out, and the woman is now there with her husband.<br /><br />"That's her!" she points at me accusingly.<br /><br />It turns out the credit card hold means the woman now has no money to spend on this weekend. I say to her that I did tell her a hold would be placed.<br /><br />"I didn't realize it would be on my credit card!" Her husband chimes in further to back her up, she didn't understand, blah blah blah. "And now what are we supposed to do? We're going to have to go home! We have no money to spend this weekend!"<br /><br />Where else did she think the hold would be? I mean, I'm sorry if she didn't understand me, but I told her something and she said it was fine. When a customer says that yes, it's fine to place a hold, I take it to mean that it actually <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> fine. And if you don't understand what I'm saying, ASK. I'm not a fucking mind reader.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-26795220179281052182010-12-08T17:47:00.003-05:002010-12-08T23:36:33.052-05:00StressedToday at work, we had several groups holding meetings. The largest meeting was run by a pain-in-the-ass, high-maintenance, man. Holy crap, was he annoying.<br /><br />I met him for the first time on Monday, when he wanted to start setting up his stuff in the meeting room immediately after the group that day departed. I said, sure, no problem, that I would call with an estimated time of when banquets would finish cleaning the room, and asked for a phone number. He tried giving me his foreign cell phone to call. <span style="font-style: italic;">Hell no</span>.<br /><br />Then today, he comes down and asks for copies to be made of several sheets of paper. Just one copy, he said. My co-worker goes to the back to make the copies, and comes back with his one. But now he's changed his mind. He needs more than one. Okay, fine. She notices that there are a few back pages, and asks if he wants those copied as well. Yes, he does. Except we don't have a two-sided copier, so it's going to take a little while.<br /><br />She goes into the back to make his copies, and he stands there waiting. After a few minutes he's starting to get antsy, and asks me to go into the back to check on his copies. I go into the back and check, and my co-worker is standing at a desk, putting his papers in order for him. I come out and tell him "it'll be just a few more minutes". So we're standing, waiting, and this guy must be off his meds or something, because he's getting seriously agitated. He says to me, and I quote, "I'm getting really stressed about this. Can I go and check on her myself?"<br /><br />"Umm...no," I say quickly. I give him a brief, fake smile. "We can't let you go in the back office." So we're standing, waiting, and I'm trying to hold back my laughter, and sort of succeeding. The huge smile on my face the entire time he was standing there might have given me away.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-66859473397136982302010-11-16T22:21:00.002-05:002010-11-16T22:40:54.438-05:00Some Things Make Me Very HappyI came home today and my mother asked how work was. My response? "I'm so glad this isn't my career for life."<br /><br />Ultimately, I don't think I'm subservient enough to work in the hospitality industry, at least not in a position where I have to deal directly with customers. When I first started at the hotel, I told them I wanted to eventually work in corporate. Which is true. What I didn't say is that I want to be part of the corporate in-house legal department. Which requires another three years of schooling, which I'm starting in 9 months. They don't need to know that.<br /><br />But anyway, back to today. There was a request in one of the reservations, a woman staying for 9 days, to be on the first floor near the outdoor pool. So I rearrange the room blocking to give her the <span style="font-style: italic;">one </span>room I have there. And then my supervisor writes all over the reservation to tell the guest that no smoking is allowed by the pool courtyard. She's stayed before.<br /><br />So the guest calls later that day, to make sure her request was noted, and she tells me she wants a room with a balcony. Now I'm confused. The hotel doesn't have balconies. I tell her this, and she tells me we do. I go ask the AGM, and it turns out the rooms around the courtyard on the first floor have little patios. Which maybe I would know if I was ever, I don't know, given a tour? So I return to the guest on the phone and tell her that her request was noted and we'll try to give her that room, but it's not guaranteed. Which is what we're supposed to do. I'm never supposed to guarantee a specific room. And here we go.<br /><br />"I want to talk to a manager! I'm spending the better part of 3 weeks (since when does 9 days equal 3 weeks?) there and spending upwards of $3000 (wtf? our hotel is not $300 a night) there and I want that room! Blah blah blah."<br /><br />Fine, I transfer her to the AGM, who then comes out and asks me what I said to her. The other front desk person was there the entire time I was on the phone, and she agreed that I was perfectly polite and didn't say anything out of order. I tell the AGM that I thought we're not supposed to guarantee room types. This is what <span style="font-style: italic;">she's</span> told me in the past. I had early check-ins today and very few rooms ready, and if I had to give that room away, at least the woman wasn't told she was definitely getting that room. Her response: If we had blocked a room for a handicapped person and that was the only room we had when someone came to check-in early, would you give it away?<br /><br />Wow, that is a <span style="font-style: italic;">terrible</span> analogy. A handicapped person is not at all equivalent to someone who wants to break the rules and smoke in the hotel. I am completely disgusted with this woman - she feels the need to complain to my manager and possibly threaten my job because she's addicted to nicotine? All I have to say is, she better not ask me for anything while she's here. I'm not helping her with shit.<br /><br />And that is why I'm glad this isn't my chosen career path.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-81417342716863442342010-11-10T00:55:00.004-05:002010-11-10T01:09:13.332-05:00Stop Calling Here!!!For some reason, whenever I have someone from a certain area of the world stay (think Middle East/India area), they receive lots of phone calls. I don't know if it's because they don't know how to use email or if it's because the person isn't trusted to handle company business without lots of instruction, but whatever it is, it's annoying as hell. All calls to the hotel go through me. We don't have something where it gives you the option to put in an extension first. Everything goes through me.<br /><br />And for those of you who are thinking, well, that's your job, get over it, I might agree - except when people get <span style="font-style: italic;">five phone calls in an hour</span>. Honestly - it's irritating. At a certain point, I pick up the phone and I already know who's on the other end.<br /><br />One person, when calling for this guy (who may or may not have been Indian) asked me when he was checking out. I told him Friday. I probably wasn't supposed to do that. Then he asked what room he's in. "We don't give that information out." <span style="font-style: italic;">Then</span> (this may be one of the best questions I've received since I started working in hotels, and that's saying something) he asked where he was going when he left. Umm, are you kidding? What a stupid question. Do I look like his travel agent? Cue a flat "I don't know" on my end.<br /><br />I was so glad when that guy left. Seriously, stop calling here!!!FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-1737936880377396602010-11-03T23:23:00.003-04:002010-11-03T23:48:24.324-04:00Immediate AssistanceContinuing with my telephone theme...<br /><br />The other day I had a woman call the hotel. I can't remember what she wanted - either she was having an event or she wanted a block of rooms for a wedding. Either way, that goes to our sales manager. I put her through and hung up.<br /><br />Twenty seconds later, the phone rings, the screen showing that the call has been bounced back to me. I pick up the phone and give my greeting again - which takes a really long time, by the way. I'm losing my voice from this job. The woman tells me she didn't pick up. Yes, I can tell.<br /><br />"Okay, then you can leave her a message on her voice mail. Did it not give you the option to do that?" I know that this manager's voice mail fills up quickly.<br />"No, it did. But then it said press zero for immediate assistance."<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Okaay.</span> "Yes, ma'am. It connected you back to me. But she's the only one who <span style="font-style: italic;">can</span> assist you with that. Would you like me to connect you to her voice mail so you can leave a message?"<br />"No." And she hangs up.<br /><br />People are spoiled. Instant gratification - not available here.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876631426015905284.post-46670946389541342632010-11-02T00:51:00.003-04:002010-11-02T01:01:16.107-04:00My Telephone Pet PeeveThere is something people do that I absolutely <span style="font-style: italic;">hate</span>. Seriously, it drives me freakin' insane. Let me tell you about it.<br /><br />A guest in the hotel calls someone outside the hotel, using the hotel phone (which is a complete rip-off, by the way). That person misses the call. They see the missed call on their phone, and for whatever reason, decide to just randomly call back that number and see if it's someone they know. I do not understand this tendency. Especially since I am the one that has to field all these phone calls. For people that do this, let's go over how ridiculous this sounds.<br /><br />"Good morning, thank you for calling -----. This is ---- speaking, how may I help you?"<br />"Yeah, someone just called me from this number."<br />"This is a hotel, ma'am."<br />"What?"<br />"A hotel. The ----. We have over 150 rooms here."<br />"Well, someone just called me from this number."<br />"I don't know who that was, ma'am. We have over 150 rooms here."<br /><br />And so on.<br /><br />When I miss phone calls, I do not call back numbers I don't know. I figure if it was that important, they would leave a message. If I'm job-hunting and think I may have missed a call from a potential employer, I google the number. If it was that employer, I call them. Why do people feel the need to call back every number that calls their phone? It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.FrontDeskGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459714433980819897noreply@blogger.com2