Y'know, part of why I'm a bit cranky is that when I worked in the hotel industry, it was my literal job to help people and solve their problems.
Part of that was answering phone calls! And although we had the option to send calls to central reservations if needed, we only did that when super busy.
Part of that was answering phone calls! And although we had the option to send calls to central reservations if needed, we only did that when super busy.
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Could not find a number that actually let me call the hotel in question not a booking centre that just had access to the same interface I had online.
Many hotels will not allow booking one-night-stays during certain periods, especially when there are large events on weekends. This keeps rooms open for two-nighters.
But I had a wedding to attend and a budget 🤷🏻🫤
So, if there's a known event going on, the hotel may appear to be "sold out" on Saturday night but Fri-Sun is bookable.
One issue the industry faces is booking arbitrage and it's very possible you were redirected to a site which claims to be official but is not.
It has been this way for a long time and it irritates me.
The root of the cause is usually a corporate suit that thinks they know that they need everything.
*Infects comments*
I think we're nearing the end of the road there and it may not be pretty.
Anyone call the hotel? The front desk phone rings, we answer, and help.
If the desk agents are busy, it goes to the back office after 15 seconds
If nobody's back there, it bounces back to the desk.
It worked!
We took it upon ourselves to be a resource whenever we could, and so I loathe phone trees and "that's not my department"
No is an answer, but only if I really can't help.
Our manager would create fake reservations just to keep that from happening.
So: *thank you* for all those times you were a kind person and did what you could to help someone, even if "wasn't your department".
Then again I've done my time in customer service & retail and I'm pretty empathetic, so....yea.
There's no phone number to the store
All goes centrally to a call center
Managers cannot even call another store to check inventory unless the know the personal cell phone of someone at the other store
And you and I had similar experiences - except I worked at Apple, Inc.
and BOOM phone call from someone very professional in NY in a tall building
It was like that's the button you push if you want it to do something
I usually just let it go cuz I've learned helplessness
the corporations have won
please tell me you are NOT trying to shove your ideas into my brain without pushback.......
✌️💙
see ? efficient (for them anyway)
Though even if you did they probably have the same system.
There are literally tons of things my international firm made worse that 100% decreased the quality and increased the real price of our services,but they keep the new system
Let's not forget that key resource that provided such an accurate indictment of such intentional tactics: The Incredibles.
"Efficency" = "Not paying those who make other people's lives easier"
making the experience with that company bad
lots of places don't even have phone numbers
buried in small print on different resources
call the IRS??? nearly impossible
I love automation... but I hate when its implementation only cuts costs and diminishes the real value of the service/product.
I'm really happy that this genre lives on by virtue of "this issue isn't my department"ism.
The cheapest support is that which solves the problem quickly and efficiently, and these companies keep cycling between good and bad support as they keep re-learning it the hard way and getting a new manager who doesn't know shit.
I called the CC company, Citi, who said they didn't know anything and to contact Best Buy. Best Buy said to contact Citi.
I gave up and it magically appeared a month later. But this is a villain origin story.
not me not me not me
And that sucks, because it would be so nice to call a company and know you were going to talk to the right person.
He left and was replaced by a couple of MBA-types who immediately started doing awful shit like overbooking by four rooms each night. I quit shortly thereafter.
We need people like him to stick around long enough to prove that old-fashioned business is still the best business. I think we're near a breaking point now (hopefully).
They didn't pay to berate me, they were just employees that thought they were above me.
Little did they know I made more than them
Unfortunately people can be assholes more often then they should.
Let's not be those people ✌️
He tried to pull some shit, but my boss (the CTO) must have given him a call, because he came back apologetic and gave me a gift card to whatburger
the needy few run up the cost and wait times on the rest of us
they should put some skin in the game, charge repeat callers
employees need to triage customers better
I do this myself not bother to look up stuff
The sooner more managers realize their job is to help people help each other in the moment and not pass the buck the better.
Everyone else? Let them eat cake!
My first property used to have a hot tub in the pool area which was removed. We updated the Hilton site with new pictures of the pool area immediately, but third parties did not. So lots of angry guests.
...oh and 3rd party scheduling for hospital systems and sleep tests omfg so bad