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A lesson
learned
My wife and I stayed at a Happy Holiday type Inn, and returned to our
room at Midnight and found the room not made up. We called for
bathroom supplies and the security man brought them promptly. We
were there for four nights because of a funeral.
The next morning I noticed the guaranty. "If you are not
completely satisfied call and we will make it right or your night is
free". We were paying $250 a night so I decided to call them and
ask that the guaranty be applied. I expected to get 1/2 night off
because they had been so prompt at delivering the supplies the previous
evening. But it was impossible to make it right, because they did
not send a maid to make up the room that night, which was the preferred
solution. I was a little peeved that the room had not been cleaned.
If it was $89 I would have been less peeved.
So I called the front desk and found out how not to administer a
guaranty.
The young lady immediately asked if I had the "Do Not Disturb" sign on
the door. Since I had personally removed it when we left the room,
I knew full well we did not. But the Front Desk Clerk had begun
the process of transferring responsibility to me, the customer, and
relieving the Inn of its responsibility. She told me she would
call me back. This was a mistake. The front desk staff
should be empowered to make a decision - they are smart, competent and
know the business.
I get a call back telling me that the "Do Not Disturb" sign was on my
door and this is the reason the room was not made up. This call
came in minutes. She was incorrect because I had taken the sign
and personally slid it under the door. And, as we left that
morning and I went for the car, my wife had gone to the desk and asked
them to make the room up. Where do you go from here. The
clerk offered 50% off, which I had originally thought was appropriate.
But not now. It is not nice to be called a person who does not
tell the truth.
My wife got on the phone and told the Front Desk Clerk what she
knew about the situation and the Front Desk Clerk told us she
would call back. I went to get the car. When I came back in
I checked out and found the hotel had taken a full night deduction.
I didn't thank them because I was truly miffed but thankful for the
learning experience.
I hope you can learn from my experience. If you guaranty, you
guaranty. Empower your staff to decide. Make it easy to make
your customer happy. Keep good records (the Inn would have been
happy to give a 50% deduction at the outset and I would have been happy
to accept it, and the Front Desk Clerk should have had information about
the security trip and the housekeeper should have made notes in the
computer, and the Front Desk Clerk who fielded my wife's request should
have made notes).
In coffee the margins are such that the records need not be cumbersome.
On beans it is good to know what people buy. And you need to keep
a record of how much they bought, so keeping both in the same place is
easy. But guaranty your product and then be easy. Make it
easy for the staff and the customer to call you on the guaranty.
If someone is asking about the guaranty you have a problem and it is
best handled fast and easy.
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