Two reasons I hate my job today:

[Parkbandit]

1) Guest stayed for $139.00 but claims he was never told that there was taxes and wants a full refund of the taxes.

2) Guest made a reservation for one of our suites over the internet. It clearly states what the suite consists of. When she gets here, she is unhappy that our suites do not have a door that seperates the bedroom from the rest of the room and demands compensation for that night. She is staying for 3 nights, so we give her the first night free as a goodwill gesture. We don't hear from her again until 7 days later when she calls Guest Assistance and demands that her whole stay be complimentary to offset her inconvenience.

[African American]

Gotta love freeloaders.

[CrystalTears]

AND YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR ONLINE TRAFFIC SCHOOL TEST! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Okay sorry. I need to let that go eventually. :D

What do you mean he wasn't told about taxes? Does he live in this country?

[Alarke]

If you ever have:

A) Rented a hotel room

or

B) Looked at a picture online of a hotel room

or even

C) Live in the United States

You should not be allowed to be as stupid as the two said people. Unless it was teenagers that were simply trying to get as much for free as possible, I really see NO way in arguing the fees. I'd charge her an extra day for being such a stupid person.

[Parkbandit]

Originally posted by Alarke
If you ever have:

A) Rented a hotel room

or

B) Looked at a picture online of a hotel room

or even

C) Live in the United States

You should not be allowed to be as stupid as the two said people. Unless it was teenagers that were simply trying to get as much for free as possible, I really see NO way in arguing the fees. I'd charge her an extra day for being such a stupid person.

It's funny.. it's usually the older people that really should know better that try to scam.

[ElanthianSiren]

World-wisdom, I assume. Older people have already learned the limits of what they think they can get away and thus will continue the behavior. Younger people aren't sure yet. Nip it in the bud!

But hey, I'm not in the hospitalities industry, (I trade stocks and am a biotech hopeful), so I don't even know if you have any legal recourse there? What can you really do?

-Melissa

[Tsa`ah]

Just have to love the mentality of making others pay for your fuck ups ... I feel your pain.

[CrystalTears]

You'd be amazed how much people try to get away with when staying at a hotel. As though for some reason going to a hotel is automatically a reason to rip them off.

My fiance used to work at hotels and he has SO many stories about the way they try to take advantage of the rates and fees.

One time the alarm went off in the hotel at 2am. Being a hotel auditor for a small hotel means that you are THE admin staff. He wasn't really allowed to leave the front desk so that he could take care of matters and would be easy to find. A couple came down later in the day to check out. The woman complained that she is asthmatic and the alarm startled her and almost caused her an asthma attack. Wow, so he's supposed to know this how? He comped their room and apologized for the inconvenience. The next week they received a complaint letter from this woman, bitching about how horrible the stay was, all while requesting ANOTHER comp visit.

Now explain why you would complain about a place, and then request to come back for free. I mean honestly. People can't be that retarded, but they prove me wrong daily.

[Edited on 3/30/2005 by CrystalTears]

[Parkbandit]

Originally posted by ElanthianSiren
World-wisdom, I assume. Older people have already learned the limits of what they think they can get away and thus will continue the behavior. Younger people aren't sure yet. Nip it in the bud!

But hey, I'm not in the hospitalities industry, (I trade stocks and am a biotech hopeful), so I don't even know if you have any legal recourse there? What can you really do?

-Melissa

My legal recourse is to tell them to fuck off. They both signed a registration card stating that they know it's room and tax and that by signing this document you will pay me for this room. Pretty clear cut in my favor.

How I am going to handle this though is to contact the "no taxes" guy and give him $16 off while I politely tell him that every single hotel room in the country charges taxes and that he needs to be aware of this fact the next time he stays in one. $16 simply isn't worth my time to argue with him.

The lady that believes that she should get a free vacation at my expense though will basically get a polite "You got to be fucking kidding me, you stupid, stupid bitch" email. We've already given you one comp night worth $189.. I'm not about to credit you for an additional $380.00. We issued you a comp night the first night because we felt that you were due a goodwill gesture. After that, you had the option of checking out of our hotel and checking into one of 100 hotels in the Tampabay area.. yet you chose to stay. You didn't bring any of this to our attention when you checked out and even if you did, I would have told you to fuck off in a nice way. Instead, you chose to contact Guest Assistance in hopes they would just say "OK, FREE WEEKEND!!!" which thankfully they did not.

[CrystalTears]

Yep. He got that shit all the time.

One time a man and his two preteen daughters went to stay at his hotel. He requested a king room. He asked if they wanted two double beds, and he insisted on a king bed. Ookay.

The next morning he came to check out and complained that he found a porn magazine, that his children may have seen it, would have made an "impression" on them and wanted a refund on the room. My fiance asked for the magazine and he said that he [conveniently] didn't have it with him (yeah, it was in his luggage). So my fiance went on to say that since he didn't have proof of the magazine, and didn't state anything when he discovered it and still stayed in the room for the entire stay, that he would be willing to give a small discount but wouldn't give them the room free.

Fucking Christ. Not only did he get a discounted room on an already cheap room, he walked away with free porn! WTF is his problem? Not that I would judge someone who sleeps in the same bed with his two prepubescent children or anything. :rolleyes:

[Parkbandit]

Like I thought.. the "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU CHARGE TAXES ON HOTEL ROOMS" guy was fucking 70 years old. Dear old fuck.. stop being a retard and buy yourself a clue with your social security check. Thanks. Here's your fucking $16.68 back.. I hope it gets you your fucking meds.

Dumbshit.

[Atlanteax]

Is this why hotel rooms cost so much?

To compensate the hotel for having to comp idiots?

.

I realize the profit strategy is in adding to the price the cost of having a weightroom, pool, etc, provided by the hotel, even if the customer doesn't use them.

.

It seems to me that myself and I would anticipate others, would be more willing to stay at hotels longer or more frequently if prices were generally lower across the board.

No one will ever be able to glue hotel furniture to the ceiling like Ace...

Nobody.

[Parkbandit]

Originally posted by Atlanteax
Is this why hotel rooms cost so much?

To compensate the hotel for having to comp idiots?

.

I realize the profit strategy is in adding to the price the cost of having a weightroom, pool, etc, provided by the hotel, even if the customer doesn't use them.

.

It seems to me that myself and I would anticipate others, would be more willing to stay at hotels longer or more frequently if prices were generally lower across the board.

We take these fucks into account.. so they really don't affect the price of rooms. What affects that is the market conditions, hotel condition and supply and demand. To be honest, these type of FUCKERS make up a very small percent of our business.

They do make my job difficult at times though.. difficult in the not telling them off sense and biting my tongue.

[Atlanteax]

Originally posted by Parkbandit

Originally posted by Atlanteax
Is this why hotel rooms cost so much?

To compensate the hotel for having to comp idiots?

.

I realize the profit strategy is in adding to the price the cost of having a weightroom, pool, etc, provided by the hotel, even if the customer doesn't use them.

.

It seems to me that myself and I would anticipate others, would be more willing to stay at hotels longer or more frequently if prices were generally lower across the board.

We take these fucks into account.. so they really don't affect the price of rooms. What affects that is the market conditions, hotel condition and supply and demand. To be honest, these type of FUCKERS make up a very small percent of our business.

They do make my job difficult at times though.. difficult in the not telling them off sense and biting my tongue.

So, if I know a hotel has had like 20-30% occupancy on average, for a month.

Shouldn't they lower the price of the rooms, to boost it to 50%?

That's one of the main reasons why I'm wondering hotel prices are so high if there are plently of rooms available...

[Parkbandit]

Originally posted by Atlanteax
So, if I know a hotel has had like 20-30% occupancy on average, for a month.

Shouldn't they lower the price of the rooms, to boost it to 50%?

That's one of the main reasons why I'm wondering hotel prices are so high if there are plently of rooms available...

You would have a tough time finding a hotel that has an average occupancy of 20-30% for a month. The hotel is either not charging the proper amount for the rooms, it's a dump and no one wants to stay there or it's in a market where there is no demand.

Most hotels will have a different rate for everyday. Tonight for instance, I have 1 room left and will sell it for $209. This coming Sunday, I will have 40 rooms available and will sell them at $119

It's all about Revpar (revenue per available room) and not about just average rate or occupancy.

[Atlanteax]

Originally posted by Parkbandit

Originally posted by Atlanteax
So, if I know a hotel has had like 20-30% occupancy on average, for a month.

Shouldn't they lower the price of the rooms, to boost it to 50%?

That's one of the main reasons why I'm wondering hotel prices are so high if there are plently of rooms available...

You would have a tough time finding a hotel that has an average occupancy of 20-30% for a month. The hotel is either not charging the proper amount for the rooms, it's a dump and no one wants to stay there or it's in a market where there is no demand.

Most hotels will have a different rate for everyday. Tonight for instance, I have 1 room left and will sell it for $209. This coming Sunday, I will have 40 rooms available and will sell them at $119

It's all about Revpar (revenue per available room) and not about just average rate or occupancy.

Okay that makes more sense...

Pricing fluctates more on a day-to-day basis.

[Alarke]

It's economics... supply and demand, a simple sliding X graph with an equilibrium price. As the demand rises the price fluctuates accordingly. Vice Versa

The goal is to decide the price in which rooms sold * price = greatest profit.

So if they're selling 30% of rooms at 150 bucks it's better than selling 50% of rooms at 75 bucks.

[Blazing247]

It is a fact of life, as anyone who has ever been in Customer Service can tell you, that people who complain get free things. It happens every minute of every day.

Sometimes, the complaints ARE legitimate, however, and the customer has really gotten a raw deal. I've seen some "respected" companies shit on their consumers with frequency because they can. On the flip side, the majority of complaints are exaggerated, and unfortunately, you have to take the side of the customer in most instances or you risk losing your job (company policy).

I was at Outback a few days ago with my girl. A couple next to us ordered two adult entrees, a child menu entree (chicken fingers) for their approximately 5 year old kid, and two frozen drinks with "extra whipped cream".

The food came, the kid didn't want to eat it (because young kids never like anything non junk food related), and their drinks didnt' have enough whipped cream on them. The drinks went back..twice...(for another reason), and then after they finished their meals, they told the waitress they wanted the chicken fingers removed from their bill because their kid didn't like them. Well, what do you think happened? Exactly. They got comped because their kid is a picky eater and they are cheap SOB's who should be fed chicken fingers until they choke to death on honey mustard.

I see this happen on a daily basis, and it makes me sick. Not all people who complain about things are horrible people, but people who complain about things just to skate by make me sick.

[Sylph]

I only complain if its legitimate and NECESSARY...


Unless it causes me some problems I don't give a fuck.

[Apotheosis]

I'm guessing that since ur batting 18/2 good vs. bad reasons to work, you're still doing alright.

[ElanthianSiren]

Originally posted by Parkbandit

Originally posted by ElanthianSiren
World-wisdom, I assume. Older people have already learned the limits of what they think they can get away and thus will continue the behavior. Younger people aren't sure yet. Nip it in the bud!

But hey, I'm not in the hospitalities industry, (I trade stocks and am a biotech hopeful), so I don't even know if you have any legal recourse there? What can you really do?

-Melissa

My legal recourse is to tell them to fuck off. They both signed a registration card stating that they know it's room and tax and that by signing this document you will pay me for this room. Pretty clear cut in my favor.

How I am going to handle this though is to contact the "no taxes" guy and give him $16 off while I politely tell him that every single hotel room in the country charges taxes and that he needs to be aware of this fact the next time he stays in one. $16 simply isn't worth my time to argue with him.

The lady that believes that she should get a free vacation at my expense though will basically get a polite "You got to be fucking kidding me, you stupid, stupid bitch" email. We've already given you one comp night worth $189.. I'm not about to credit you for an additional $380.00. We issued you a comp night the first night because we felt that you were due a goodwill gesture. After that, you had the option of checking out of our hotel and checking into one of 100 hotels in the Tampabay area.. yet you chose to stay. You didn't bring any of this to our attention when you checked out and even if you did, I would have told you to fuck off in a nice way. Instead, you chose to contact Guest Assistance in hopes they would just say "OK, FREE WEEKEND!!!" which thankfully they did not.



Wow... it's crazy the crap people pull on accomidations, I guess. I never thought about it. When I left my ex, I went and stayed in a hotel for a week because I had filed a police report when he got violent that morning, scaring the shit out of me. The hotel staff was awesome; they even left me alone and didn't come in to clean my room because I was freaked out he would find me.

They were given explicit instruction not to tell ANYONE I was there as my dad was coming up to help me move my things. When my dad walked in, they point blank told him there was no one there by that name. He even explained that he was my dad, and they made him show two forms of ID before they would tell him anything. I was always very grateful for the way they acted. It sucks that they get screwed around with so much.

-Melissa