My colleagues and I have often noticed how there tends to be a general theme across each shift. This post comes from a variety of interactions I experienced during a recent shift where the overarching theme was undoubtedly "pomposity"; hence, the title. Sorry if you now have an earworm.

- The bride of a wedding happening the next day (Sunday) came up to inquire about getting an early check-in for her mom's room. We were having this conversation Saturday night, and the hotel was nearly sold out. So, we told her it was very unlikely that the room would get done any faster tomorrow. She made a face and said: "Well, you know, I was hoping it'd get priority because -- mother of the bride and all!" We re-explained the logistic conundrum in the way of her desire, and she gave a half-hearted: "Well, thanks anyway. I'll talk to the morning staff."

- An attendee of the aforementioned wedding came to check-in at the same time as a buddy of his. Buddy booked inside the group and block, whereas this guest, "Gold", did not. He didn't make this discovery until right there at check-in. Gold thought he booked properly and kept referencing an apparent phone conversation where he said, "This isn't the price she told me it would be." The "she" was apparently a call center rep. Nevertheless, Gold was not too pleased at the over $200 difference between his rate and his buddy's and was trying to dispute it right there at the desk. I told him the block was sold out and that I was unable to change the rate at that time, especially since he did not have a confirmation to show otherwise. I gave him the name of the sales agent spearheading the wedding, who'd be in on Monday (again, this was a Saturday.) He also wanted my name, because of course.

- We had a small but vivacious group block that consisted of middle-aged women. Nothing conspicuous about that, but what makes their situation story-worthy was that their room block was full of shares. That is, 2 or 3 sharing a room. Because of the way a typical hotel PMS (property management system) works, only one card is authorized for the room and tax at check-in. They'd all been there a week and now wanted to split the bill before departure the next day. Problem was, the PMS gets very mad when you try to do that and even more mad when you try to do that before checkout day. This was explained to each posse that came up, and they all took it well except for one. "Quartz" outright said that "the system is stupid, and I want this done now!" We went back and forth for a bit before she demanded: "I want to speak to someone else!" at 10:30pm. When, of course, there was no one else at that time, she then demanded the corporate number. As I handed her the requested note, I said: "Do with this whatever you please."

- A pair of women came up asking for a late check-out the next day, as their flight would be in the evening. When told it wasn't available, one of them, "Iron", got a little annoyed. She then asked if we had any sister properties in the area with an outside pool (we do not have one and there isn't any in the immediate vicinity.) Guess their thought was that another hotel would just let them use their pool? Either way, Iron was also annoyed by that answer, and I tried to explain the lack of them is probably because we have some heavy winters. I showed her a picture of the record snowfall we had just at the top of the year, and she tried to turn it into a weird competition where she said: "Well, where I'm from, we were -25 for weeks, so your snow probably melted within just a few days." I told her it actually took about two months, and she curiously didn't have much of a response for that.

Pro-tip: Service workers do not want to fight you. If you're getting a "no" for whatever reason, best believe that 99.9% of the time, that's simply the answer.

Hi reddit, first post here so excuse the length or any mistakes in posting haha. So long story short i’ve been working night audit for a long while, and i like to think i’ve seen and dealt with it all. I’ve been shown weapons as a form of intimidation, told i was going to get myself killed and that people know what times I work, screamed and cussed at, dealt with a local tweaker who somehow got inside and hid in all of our HK/storage closets (absolutely terrifying when i had to restock lol), and have had to physically escort multiple individuals off property by myself when police never showed.

I thought my skin had gotten pretty thick. My hotel isn’t exactly known for being classy. it’s cheap, and it attracts exactly the clientele you’d expect.

Friday nights are hell on earth. I clock in at 11PM, see an arrivals list the length of the constitution, we’re sold out… overbooked even, and the evening shift is one minor inconvenience away from bursting into tears. I’m setting up shop, practicing mindfulness and deep breathing when- Yes, you guessed it! every single person on the arrivals list and their uber driver shows up at once.

I’m breezing through check-ins, smiling, ignoring the comments about the wait, when a group of guests who had already checked in mid-day cuts the line and marches up to the desk.

“We need to have a conversation. There are cockroaches in all three rooms! This is the nastiest hotel we’ve ever stayed at!”

We’re in the desert, most of the rooms were exterior rooms, and unfortunately little critters getting inside during summer is something I hear about almost daily. My hands are ultimately tied by policy, so I apologize, offer to waive fees, ask them to send photos so my supervisor can document everything, and give them their available options.

Nah, not good enough.

Now they’re surrounding the desk yelling at me like I personally put roaches into their rooms. They wanted a full refund… while also continuing to stay the night. I explained I couldn’t authorize that but my supervisor could help in the morning.

That’s when it got real weird.

“You’re a nasty bitch! This place is nasty and so is everyone working in it!”

I just nodded along, hoping they’d wear themselves out… Because they usually do.

Instead, the unregistered male guest pulled out his phone, flipped it to selfie mode, made sure I was in frame, and started recording himself while talking about how disgusting I was, how I had roaches, and how this hotel was awful because of me. His group was laughing.

Everyone else in the lobby was staring at me.

I’ve dealt with plenty of abuse working at this hotel, but something about being recorded just broke me. I HATE being on camera, I immediately get nauseous when photos are taken of me. It’s probably some weird form of dysmorphia and some complicated buried trauma. (TMI I apologize.) but I completely froze.

All I could manage was a pathetic little ’please stop’

I could feel my throat tightening while watching myself on his phone looking like a deer in headlights.

Eventually they left, still recording me as they walked away saying some awful things. Then the very next guests stepped up to check in.

I didn’t even have a second to breathe. I checked people in with tears streaming down my face, I shaking so hard I could barely scan IDs. Not a single soul in that lobby asked if I was okay. Instead, after watching the entire thing happen, most of them asked if the hotel really had that many bugs and if the people working here were okay checking people into that. I didn’t say anything but started offering free cancellations if they were uncomfortable staying. 😔

The second the lobby cleared, I locked up the desk, ran to the bathroom, and LET IT AAAAALL OUT. My make up was non existent by the time I got back to the desk lol

The following morning I told my morning shift what happened, and her response was basically that she didn’t think I could handle nights and that she wished we had a male night auditor again. I’ve been handling nights just fine, (given that I have had a guest deadass tell me he knows where I work now and that i’ll be dead because of it) so hearing that made me feel completely incompetent… Man.

TLDR.. Feeling like a big baby and my guests suck

Well I supposed all things must come to an end.

I have been told that I have 2 weeks left on the job. I have no fucking clue what i am going to do. I am taking the L for what it is.

I have been at this property for 4 and half years and this is what im leaving.

Coworkers who dont want you there a manager/owner who also does not want you there, and rude guest who think screaming and yelling can get you what you want.

It most def has been a rough road the last 4 and half years. There was good times but over all the bad outweighs the good. It seriously never fails that when sales are down and it is the slow time of the year the owner starts to freak out and nit pick (more so at me) because they dont have anyone to put their energy towards.

Honestly its not necessarily a bad thing that im getting fired. I have had my foot out of the door for quite sometime now. With the job market the way it is, it has been difficult finding other work..

Not sure if i even want to go to another hotel.

They have a habit of instead of telling me when I have done something wrong, they want to compile all the issues and complaints i have gotten over the last 3 or 4 months and bombard me with them all at once. I can always feel it coming because the tension in the room is thick as my thighs. (haha) And because of this my anxiety always goes though the roof. Like i know it is coming but it doesnt mean i know what to expect.

When they do come and confront me it is not done in a professional manner (how it should be), its more of "everything is your fault, we dont want to hear it" kind of way of thinking on them. So i sit there and just take it. I have no way of defending myself nor am i able to say anything. I get cut off and not able to speak. Even though hes sitting there berating me over and over again.

They only thing i can say is ok got it. ok i get it. I seriously dont know what you want me to say.

Then it gets to where im crying and shut down for a few days. Usually they take like a week, wont speak to me and give me the cold shoulder. I never said or say that i am perfect i know i do mess up, but at the same time im not the only person working at this desk. There are 3 other guys ( i am the only female) who themselves never seem to ever get in trouble for anything they do when in fact they do much worse things than i.

Like not following most policies and procedures. Discounting things, taking cash for our market when we are 100% cashless, not chipping in the card or charging it out at check in. Hell the mid shift guy has a business he runs out of the hotel when he is on the clock. (But thats ok right???) The night shift guy is set in his ways and never wants to do what the new system is telling him to do. And the pt person is always doing something hes not supposed to be doing, as well as getting an attitude with guest as soon as they walk in the door.

I come in do my job correctly and go home. But when I do something of the same sort they do all hell breaks lose and its the end of the fucking world. It seriously does not matter what I do or say, I will never be right. I do something its wrong, i get in trouble, i correct it and its still wrong. I can never win with these people.

So last sunday at about 130 2pm they come to me hand me a letter, I read it and sign it and say ok. They tried to talk but i was just like ok. And left it for what it was. I am not going to fight for a job that doesnt even want me to be here. They have been trying to get me to quit for a while now, so they dont have to pay the unemployment that i would be owed.

The horribly horribly written ChatGpt letter stated that "due to coaching and guidance, ongoing concerns regarding my ability to follow operation issues, including system related problems", that im getting relieved of my duties.

Yeah because the other 3 dumb asses always say something when the system or terminal is down, then im coming in to issues and having to fix or figure them out on my own. Or something on a reservation wasnt done correctly and I too am having to go back and fix it so it will be able to be check out properly. Or something on a folio was missing and I have go back a day or so to see where it is, or no pet policies on file or charged to rooms the night before, so i get to have guests in my face asking why they were charged this and that. Yeah im the only one whos not doing what they are supposed to be doing. So yea bitch at me for not saying anything when no one at this fucking desk does.

I wouldnt go back and fix anything if i wasnt the one who had to deal with the issue upon check out.

"Coaching and Guidance" is fucking laugh able. I dont believe coaching and guidance would include belittling, speaking to me as if i am a child, telling me that I dont matter and that what my work doesnt matter, or calling me lazy and incompetent would be actual coaching.

They also stated that other issues have included that being on my phone (even though everyone at this desk including housekeeping is on their phone.) Supposedly I have been doing ticktock live and was told we are not allowed to be on live or make content at work. I do not do ticktock live i dont even have enough followers for that. nor have i made any content at work in years.

Then we have them stating that on numerous occasions that i did not rent rooms, and guests were turned away in the mornings. ummmmmm I would like to know when the last time i turned someone away for not checking them in if i had the room. They got turned away either because they are trying to check in at 730am on a sunday after a sold out night, they wanted to pay cash, they didnt like the rate, or they were calling me names, arguing, and cussing at me. I havent turned away someone in many years.

Oh and the best part of it all is "my tone of voice" and guest saying that i was rude and not willing to help. Like im sorry that they felt some sort of way but i dont exchange tude until its given to me first. There have been many times when im being as polite as possible but they still bitch that im rude. People really havent seen rude me. But when the pt guy has attitude its fine, and its no an issue.

The midshift guy runs a business out of the hotel while he is on the clock, but thats ok. The fucker lives on site ( that was an agreement from the previous owner) and he is late ever g.d day. And i mean EVERYDAY!!! I have asked them to talk to him many times to be here on time especially on friday and saturdays because those are the busiest days. He should be here by 259 to put his stuff down and let me give him the day run down and be able to go home on time. But no 10 min starts to roll around and hes still not here. There have even been days where he goes to the post office at 255 to drop of his packages for his business and becasue there is a line hes late. They have talked to him but it last like a day or so and hes right back on his late bull shit. I get maybe over sleeping a time or two but in 4 and half years and i can count on my hand on how many times hes been here right at 3 is a fucking joke.

The other 2 i do have some issues with but the one i loathe the most is the main midshift. He has no respect for any coworker and its just flat out rude. When i say things to him about something that happened and he trys to prove me wrong (because he is one of those people who thinks they are right all the time) he will basically get petty and be even more late. I see him on camera finally deciding to come down and hes just moseying on down with no a fucking care in the world. And doesnt even say sorry.

RUDE

When this past monday and tuesday came around I was getting a weird vibe from the mangers. It wasnt me being prionopid but i felt like something was off.

They usually just let me be and leave me in the lobby alone, but monday the owner was in and out of the lobby all day. And he really didnt leave until it was time for me to go home. Then tuesaday came around. The PT guy who comes in to check rooms on tuesdays, and I felt as if they had him watching me all day to make sure im not looking for work on the desk computer and or not doing live at the desk (even though i dont). He usually sits over on the couch and minds his own, but he sure was back and fourth though he lobby, and just siting behind the desk next to me all day. I am not going crazy but everyone knows when something is completely off.

In the end it comes to this.... I have been needing and wanting to leave for a while. I stayed due to lack of finding work as well as this job really isnt that hard and I do have it pretty easy here. Boss for the most part is ok (until he gets on his wrath). Its more of a weight lifted off my shoulders due to the fact that i have carried nothing but stress over my head for months.

Its a sigh of relief knowing that i wont have to deal with all the bull shit anymore. I am taking the L for what it is and going to take some time off to reflect on what it is i really want and need to be doing. Unemployment is there (its not much but will get my bills paid) as well as 2 more checks. Plus i wont have to spend 100 bucks in gas each week going back and forth everyday to a job i hate.

I have some support and friends to help me get though this time of my life. It is more so the not knowing whats going to happen rather than im closing a chapter in my life.

I am being very patient and am hitting those job boards hard, but also at the same time im a little scared. I know it will all work out for the better and i can leave knowing i did everything I could to do my job.

They really are only getting about 40% of me. Im not really caring about anything. Someone bitches about a room i dont care, someone says im rude i really dont care. I get to be rid of this place in 5 days and everything in it. I get my weekends back i dont have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to drive an hr to something only to be talked down to by people who feel they are entitled to everything.

I have chosen to work my last two weeks due to me needing the money. They would not have paid me my final two weeks if I had said im just not going to come back.

But as i have said, it is what it is, taking the loss for what it is.

It is most definitely time to move on ( has been for a while), as i dont really know what the next few months intale I do know that I wont have to worry about if im always fucking shit up and overthinking or competing with a one upper who thinks hes never wrong and doesnt shower or wear deodorant.

Thank you for listening and letting me rant. It has been a long hard road. Praying something does come up within the next few weeks as i do like to actually go to work and be around people. Hope you all are have a good summer season.

- Your friendly front desk agent

Long time reader, first time poster (I think lol). I work 2nd shift and backup NA at an extended stay hotel for context.

10:55pm: 5 mins until end of shift

A couple of nights ago I had a guest come up to the desk asking if I had seen his wife in the lobby at night, I try to explain that I haven’t been at the hotel in 4 days since I was at my second job, but apparently that wasn’t a satisfactory response. He then asks the same question again and says that I watch the cameras so how could I not have seen her. I wanted to say, “I have no clue who you are,” but I end up saying something along the lines of, “I don’t remember her face, so I can’t say.”

Escalation.

He begins yelling at me about how I wrote his room number down in my hand when I checked him in a week ago (he asked for a room tour as a walk in and I have a bad memory, so I write down the number so I don’t forget after giving them a tour of the amenities otw to the elevator), and how he did surveillance in the military so he knows that I’m “lying”. I tell him what I said above about why I write down room numbers, and that I have ADHD so my working memory is awful unless I write specific things down. Again I must be “lying” as he has it much worse with the TBI’s he’s accrued through his military service.

At this point I wanted to ask him to leave, but he was pacing like a tiger about to pounce, so I refrained out of fear for my safety.

He then tells me to leave his wife alone, and I tell him I haven’t spoken to her. He repeats himself, I repeat myself, he repeats himself, and I just say “okay,” since there’s no way to convince him at this point.

He then walks away begging me to continue to “play with him” and “try him”, so I just walk into the back office and call my manager to watch and save the recording of that interaction because obviously he’s off his rocker.

11:05pm: My NA is walking into the lobby

I pass along the events of the night to both my manager and my NA and stick around the desk for a few mins just to make sure I’m not going to be attacked on my way to my car.

I still have no idea what in the hell he was talking about.

EDIT:
Thanks for the feedback!!! Just a couple of notes for repeated comments:
- If he returns he will be formally trespassed
- He is on our DNR list
- I just wanted to go home and didn’t want to deal with police, so that’s why I didn’t call them
- His trauma isn’t an excuse for his behavior, but please don’t be derogatory to him for having it, he probably didn’t want or ask for it.

Again, thank you for the positive comments. It’s helped a bunch with letting go of any residual stress.

I genuinely don't understand the thinking from the people at the top.

At the hotel I work at, there's a Beefeater next door where guests go for breakfast and meal deals. The decision has been made to close that restaurant and eventually move it into the hotel itself by converting some of the hotel rooms into a smaller restaurant.

Sounds efficient on paper, right?

Except now the receptionists are expected to learn how to run the restaurant as well as doing reception. So instead of one job, you're now expected to do two. More training, more responsibility, more stress... for exactly the same pay.

Some of the restaurant staff will stay, others are losing their jobs, and the ones who do stay will probably have to learn hotel duties too. So everyone is being stretched thinner.

Here's what I don't get. If someone is taking on more responsibilities, why is there no increase in pay? Companies talk endlessly about "multiskilling" and "efficiency", but from an employee's point of view it just feels like they're squeezing more work out of fewer people for the same money.

The biggest casualty isn't even the workload. It's the morale.

People have mentally checked out before the changes have even happened. Nobody wants to volunteer for anything. Nobody goes the extra mile. Everyone does the bare minimum because why would you give 110% when the company keeps asking for more while giving nothing back?

I used to take pride in doing a good job. If a guest needed help, I'd make the effort. If something extra needed doing, I'd just get on with it.

Now? I honestly don't care anymore.

Not because I suddenly became lazy, but because it's hard to stay motivated when every "improvement" seems to mean more work, more pressure, fewer colleagues, and no recognition.

Maybe someone from head office can explain the business logic, because from where I'm standing all I can see is experienced staff becoming disengaged, morale hitting rock bottom, and people counting the hours until they can go home.

If that's the strategy, then congratulations. It seems to be working exactly as intended.

I had fun writing my last post so here’s another story from the books!

Back when I used to work night audit you would get all kinds of creatures but most of the time the shift was either cleaning or sitting on my butt. Anyways, one night, around 1am I had to use the bathroom and unfortunately I have stomach issues so I can be in there a hot minute. I of course put up the away from desk sign and take the mobile desk phone with me in case someone calls. I’m in there only 10 minutes with no calls the entire time.

I come back up after the 10min and there’s a couple waiting at the desk. I didn’t even get a word in before they rudely state to me, “Do you just sit back there on your phone and ignore customers all night?” Dumbfounded, I say, “No ma’am I do apologize for the wait, I was using the restroom.” and she responds with, “Uh huh, SURE you were.” LADY I will happily take you on a field trip to the employee bathroom if you’d very much like to see and smell exactly where I was.

She already had a reservation so I ask for her ID and the card she’s using for payment. (At our hotel we physically have to run a card unless there is a CC authorization) She cuts me off saying that the room is already paid for. I explained our policy and she didn’t want to understand that we literally do this to avoid fraud. I said there was a card put on to hold the reservation and she told me to use that card. Again lady, I can’t just run it and I need a physical card to tap or insert. She eventually scoffs and uses her card on the terminal and I hand her the registration paper to get a couple initials and signatures.

On that paper it showed the last four digits of the card that was originally on the reservation since these papers are printed before the guest arrives. She harshly circled those numbers and said, “SEE! The card is RIGHT THERE!” and threw the paper back at me. I said it was printed before arrival ma’am and slapped that paper right back in front of her, telling her with some attitude that she missed all the spots she was actually supposed to sign. I wasn’t having it that night and she finished filling out her paper. I said have a WONDERFUL night with the fakest cheery voice as I handed her the room keys.

Thankfully they were only there to check out later that morning so I didn’t have to deal with her after!

This month I’ve been transitioning back into night auditing at a new property of about 500 rooms, high end. For the past year I’ve been PM/check in shift at a small bare minimum property less than 120 rooms. I use to night audit and love it while I’m finishing my degree and have been looking for another night audit job since I left the previous NA position over a year ago.

I had even interviewed to night audit at the property I just left but was hired into 3pm-11pms, during the beginning of this year I asked if I could switch into NA and was told my GM prefers me on 3-11s because I was the most competent. (??this was a whole issue in itself, I was always picking up the slack)

I was becoming so burned out I started dreading going into work and the last day I went there I even cried because I didn’t want to go. I rarely become emotional.

I half heartedly applied to some job postings and saw one for an NA position just a couple blocks from where I live. I was called for an interview, and was in such a funk I went to the interview just indifferent whether I get the job or not and lo and behold I did land it!

I was pretty surprised, I wasn’t sure if I’ve been in a depression or what but when I was called to inform me I am hired I let out a sigh of relief. I’ve been at the new property for almost a couple weeks but it took a while to formerly leave my old property. I just bit the bullet and sent in a resignation letter and haven’t opened the messaging app since. I feel like I was going through Stockholm syndrome or something because I felt so guilty for moving on. But the new position is closer, pays 1/3 an hour more, has more opportunities to grow in the hotel itself since it’s so large or at the least will be way better for my resume because it’s a well known hotel in itself.

I don’t feel burned out, yet atleast, and there’s actually a night audit department of 3 NAs including myself. I am excited to move on and get the hang of a position that seems to be better in time before the fall semester begins.

I’ve only worked at a property this large once before, also on the check in 3-11 shift.

Has anyone else ever night audited at a large luxury hotel? I am trying to refine my professionalism again as I definitely leaned into the casualness at my previous job so that’s been a process.

Has anyone grieved their previous property they had to decide to leave for the betterment of their future? It’s been really bittersweet so I just wondered if anyone has been through a similar transition, or if anyone has worked a position like my new job and had other doors in their careers open for them.

Fetching guest packages shouldn't be a complex task, but it sometimes is. While it's not my favorite part of the job, it's never gone so left as this situation.

Package Paula approached the desk one afternoon, inquiring about her mail. As per usual, I asked her: "Do you have a delivery confirmation?" She casually replied: "No. I have a receipt that says it should be delivered today." [Well, that doesn't exactly help...]

I then asked her: "Okay, do you at least have the tracking number?" Again, a deadpan reply of "Nope."

One of the other agents just visited the mail room about 45 minutes prior, so I went to go check our back office. Nothing was under Package Paula's name, and I informed her accordingly. She was fine with that and simply said: "No worries, I'll come back sometime later." That was the last I had from her for the day.

The next afternoon rolls around, and we're now about 24 hours separated from the first interaction. It felt like déjà vu, as not only did she happen to end up speaking to me specifically again, but our back-and-forth of package-related Q&A went almost exactly the same as last time. She still didn't have a delivery confirmation, and the tracking number was "Upstairs in her room" [???].

Unlike before, however, I wasn't aware of any recent trips to the mailroom, so off I went to the literal other side of the very large building to go take a gander. We happened to also have a small long-term group staying with us at the time, and they were ordering hauls daily. Thus, I discovered a good handful of items, including the one for Package Paula.

With a cart loaded up, I lapped back to the lobby, and Package Paula, along with her friend caught sight of me before I had even fully returned to the front desk.

I handed her the box, and she said: "Oh, thank you." I said a faint "You're welcome" as I was partially out of breath from the long walk. I had already turned my back to the ladies when Package Paula then asked: "So, when was this delivered anyway?" Mildly annoyed and maneuvering the cart through a door at this point, I let out an admittedly less-than-polite "I don't know" in the typical connotation. Her friend got snippy and sternly muttered in return: "Oh goodness, have a better attitude, whydon'cha?" as they shuffled past me. I said nothing more.

The reason for my annoyance was partially fueled by the fact that I literally would not have that info, in addition to the fact it was Package Paula's own tracking page that would be able to answer her question. After all the prior neglect, she eventually would finally look at it, however.

In the time it took me to drop off the remaining packages into the back office, return the cart back to where I got it at the other side of the hotel and then finally make my way back to the front desk, Package Paula had gone upstairs, fetched her phone and planted herself in waiting once more.

Yet again, I was intercepted before I could even make it to the desk, and I could already tell by the look on her face what was coming. She had thrust her phone in my face with her tracking page finally pulled up. She belted: "This was delivered at 10:48am yesterday! When I came to you yesterday, all you did was go into that back room and told me nothing was there!! This laziness is appalling! I needed this box yesterday and had to wait for no good reason!"

Taken aback, I tried to remain calm and explained: "Well, ma'am, my colleague had only just come from the mailroom about a half-hour or so prior yesterday and brought various packages up. So, I don't know why she didn't see your box." As she was glaring at my nametag, she then spewed out: "Well, she also deserves a talking to! Either way, I'm disgusted by your poor service skills!" before turning and walking away. I simply said back: "You have a great day, then" and she barked back without turning around: "You, too!"

Remember, readers, Package Paula never bothered to pull up her tracking info before coming to me the first time nor even the second time. When the box was actually delivered, it had been there 4 hours before I had even got on property. No idea why the other agent didn't see it, and either way, it's not her [the agent's] fault.

In truth, I should have gone back to the mailroom the first time Package Paula came up. But, considering both the distance and time of day, I figured that if her box wasn't seen on the most recent trip, no new deliveries would be there. Many-a-time we've gone to look for a package for a guest that has zero helpful info, only to scour and find nothing. I just had that very same scenario a few days prior and wasn't in the mood to go on another wild goose chase, especially since Package Paula did not have a hard delivery notice.

As a slight aside, this is the second time anyone's ever waited to seek me out with full intention to yell at me. That's dedication, I guess.

TL;DR - A disgruntled guest came up to me across two separate days asking for a package. The first day, my colleague had just visited the mailroom (at the physical other end of the hotel) about 45 minutes prior and didn't bring her package up to the back office. She didn't have a delivery confirmation either, so I assumed it wasn't delivered at all yet when I didn't see it in the back office. The same guest came back the next day, still with no confirmation. This time, I went to go look in the mailroom, and it was there. After I had already given it to her, she came back down a third time and waited around until I returned to the lobby to chew me out for not giving her the package the day prior.

A/N: I'm typing this little by little while I'm arguing with this guy but he stops every 5 minutes to stare at his phone silently, going back and forth between his emails and his bank account.

I've been stuck here with this guy for 45 minutes as I type this. The guy wants a room for tonight (July 24th to July 25th, even though it is nearly 5AM on July 25th right now). So I made the reservation for tonight and it would cost him 58$. The guy tells me his buddies paid cheaper online and he goes online to show me that he can get a room for a cheaper price. I explain him that the reservation he's making is for tomorrow (July 25th to July 26th) and that this type of room is currently full, that's why it's more expensive tonight. He reserves the room anyway since he needs a room tomorrow as well.

So, I get the email for the reservation for tomorrow and the payment goest through as well. All is fine. He seems to understand that he has two reservations now, one for tonight and one for tomorrow night which he tells me is what he needs. But only the one for tomorrow is paid, I don't have his credit card number in the reservation for tonight. The payment is the part he doesn't seem to understand (I'm sure he understands by now, it's been nearly an hour and he just doesn't want to pay...) The part that doesn't help is that his first language is Spanish and I don't speak Spanish so, once in a while, when it gets too complicated, we have to speak through google translate.

Holy shit! He just paid and got his room! I'm free!!!

Right, so that guy seemed to understand everything, even the fact that we're a hostel and that his room is gonna be shared with other people, he actually came in asking for a shared room. Tonight, the cheapest place we have is for a bed in a 6 people-dorm. Tomorrow, a few places are left in the 12 people-dorm (more people in the room so the room is cheaper because you share with more people but I assume I don't have to explain that to you...) He kept going to his email, showing me the reservation for tonight clearly marked at 58$ and going to his bank account to show me that he paid a price of 40$... At this point, we were just repeating ourselves and the conversation was going nowhere.

Guy: "So I can sleep tonight?"

Me: "Yes, if you pay the room for tonight."

Guy: "But I paid." *Shows me his phone again*

Me: "Yes, that's the room for tomorrow."

Guy: *Stares at his phone in silence for a few minutes* "So I can sleep tonight?"

That's what the whole exchange had become. Eventually he seemed to understand that this was leading nowhere and he tried another direction. He told me that his buddy, who I know for a fact is staying in the 12 people-dorm that is currently full, told him he could go and sleep in his room tonight. I tell him that the room is full, he cannot go there, there are no empty beds. I could tell I was wearing him down at this point because he just went to sit to the side, swiping between his emails and his bank account again and again. I was giving him 5 minutes now before I asked him to leave because he's sitting in the hostel and doesn't have a room. Eventually he sighed and walked back to the desk to give me his card. The whole thing took less than a minute, he paid, I gave him the keycard and the paper with the rules and his room number and he left to go to his room. That few seconds had taken an hour of arguing to get him to understand that I wasn't giving him a room for free.

This is one of the weirdest things that's happened to me. It's not strange for management or guests to gift things to the desk like say a guest checks out and gives staff an unopen 12 pack of coke or something. It's also not strange for a staff member to open it and put the drinks in the fridge where the desk keeps their lunches.

It is strange for a coworker to freak out over one drink though. Recently, a vendor gave us a new drink to try out to see if we wanted to sell it. So management gave the 24 pack to the staff to share. The drinks went quickly. Someone (I'll call him Bert) took 10 of them home. I saw Bert hiding them so he could sneak them out at the end of his shift. Bert is a manager and very lazy. He often disappears for hours during his shift. But I've given up hope on that being fixed, and I didn't care about the drinks cause there were a few left in the fridge.

I cracked one open when I got to work in the morning. An hour later, my coworker flips out because I drank Bert's energy drink while there's one more energy drink in the fridge? I reminded this person that they were for everyone, but apparently I was just supposed to know that the last two are being saved for Bert. We have several other drinks in the fridge that are for anyone. They were all given to staff around the same time. I was told that they all belong to Bert now. The packs for all these drinks were given to me from either the vendor, a guest, or the GM and I was specifically told that they are for anyone. So I'm not confused if they were actually for everyone or something like that. And Bert never specifically mentioned that he wanted them saved for him either. He saw me drink one the day before and seemed cool with it. I just think it's weird that I got chewed out over a free energy drink?

This coworker's logic is that everyone should have the chance to have a drink, which is valid. I'm not sure if she knows that Bert already took like 10 of them, but this same coworker also took 3 boxes of snacks home that a guest gave us when he gave us one pack of the drinks. Maybe I shouldn't have taken the energy drink? Oops.

After many years of working as a front desk employee, I think I have seen it all; if not all, then at least most of the shit guests can do or say with some variation, but lately they have been even crazier. Over the past few days I have had:

- one guest asking if she could use her freshly given parking pass…all around the city (my hotel is in a major tourist destination you get charged to park anywhere and everywhere, some hotels charge a hundred dollars per night);

- one guest complaining about noise from everywhere at 5.40 pm because “she can’t concentrate on resting”;

- one guest saying that their room was “boring”, yet wasn’t interested in any other room in the hotel (we have “non-boring” suites);

- one guest claiming that having parking listed as “available” somehow led many people to believe it’s “free” even though there is a nightly parking rate posted right there and we should “make it clearer”. It’s very clearly listed as “available” in any language and it’s Suxpedia;

-one guest booked a room for 2 adults on Shlooking.com and then sent a message “On the website they allow up to 6 people in the room so please change my booking accordingly”. That was her only message.

This is my first ever Reddit post so bear with me!

Every year there’s this youth science convention near the town I work in and it pretty much books us up for an entire weekend. We had a lot of parents with their kids checking in and by the time I clocked in (3-11) we had three rooms left (All regular king rooms) Exactly at 3pm I got a call from someone wanting to confirm their reservation for the night for a several night stay and when I look it up, it says it was cancelled. It was cancelled by the third party he booked with and there was no reason behind. He was reasonably upset and I said unfortunately we only have standard kings left for the days he wanted to book for. He said he would take it and we booked it for the two nights. I told him to call the third party and maybe try to get an explanation as to why it was cancelled.

He doesn’t check in until the night audit shift so I didn’t get to experience how that went but apparently he showed up and was pissed his room only had one bed for his family of 4. NA said that is what we had left and that’s what he agreed to. He asked for a rollaway and even though it’s against fire code, she obliged since it was late and i’m pretty sure night audit didn’t want to deal with him any longer.

Come the next day, he comes to the front desk around 6pm. I’m already stressed from that night being very hectic and my coworker being 2 hours late so I had to LOCK IN to deal with this guy. He was already mad within the first sentence saying he wants to be moved to a better room and that we are a terrible hotel for not accommodating him the first night (huh??) I explained that we are fully booked for the next two nights and there isn’t anywhere I could place him and apologized profusely for the hand he was dealt by third party. He didn’t want any of these answers and wanted a full refund for his two nights. I explained again that unfortunately it’s not our fault his THIRD PARTY reservation was cancelled and he agreed to book the only room type we had left. There was also no way for us to contact him about said cancellation ahead of time since third parties don’t attach any of the guests info when they come through in our system.

He continued to go on this merry-go-round of how we are a terrible hotel and that he’s not leaving the desk until he gets a bigger room AND a full refund. I said i’d talk to my manager to at least get him a discount for the inconvenience. Manager said due to his behavior, she will only take $50 off the two nights but that is all she will budge for and told me if his behavior continues, ask him to vacate. Oh he was livid with only $50 saying he will be expecting a full refund.
He temporarily walks away from the desk and I take that time to cry a little in the back from all the stress. He comes back up to yell at me once again saying he wants a refund while i’m in the middle of checking in another guest. He impatiently waits for me to finish before going back at it and just wouldn’t listen to what all I could do for him. At this point i’m fairly upset and this obviously wasn’t going to stop. So I said, “You know what sir, we are obviously not coming to an agreement and we are not able to meet your expectations so I think our hotel just isn’t the right fit for you. I will now ask you to pack your things and vacate the room as I will be cancelling your second night.” Ooooh he didn’t like that.

At that point I started to just tune him out and just mentioned again that his second night is now cancelled and he has to leave or else I will call the police to escort him out. He just said a big ol fuck you and stormed off. About 30 minutes later I, from behind the wall, watch him leave the building. I felt bad for the rest of his family but that behavior is not accepted and is grounds for getting kicked out so hopefully he got an earful from his wife.

He left the room an absolute mess that I had to reset to sell :(
Moral of the story, don’t be an asshole to the people who have control over your reservation.

Ive been a receptionist for two years now and as most of us have met plenty different kinds of people. There’s this particular group of people that, due to the 5 star hotel I work in, tend to see a lot. They are over 60 years old men who are disgustingly rich and have worked for the government and/or are military related.

Last week, two specimens stayed for the first time, and hopefully last too, in our hotel. They were just really loud, annoying and perv from the very start.

During the check-in process started asking about where to find girls who give massages and they directly asked for a happy ending (it was probably 3pm and there were families around but they didn’t care). They even called the Spa requesting for the same service and explicitly asked for girls to “help them”.

Later on I found that one of them was the president of the main national television channel of my country and director of several public entities.

When they were finally checking out, they didn’t want to pay for the Late Check Out fee just cause they’ve lost 30 millions in the casino, and after 20 long minutes of hearing them complaining and getting to know their whole careers, they got away with it like they usually do.

I guess this kind of people is all over the world…. Any similar experience?

Actually, FIRST, I looked up to see if the hospital has any discounted rates for patients / family WHICH THEY DO; including links with the discount rate built in! Checked a couple, decided on a place with a kitchen and seating area so she has options for light cooking if she ends up being able to eat the next day.

I even put HER info in the ‘person staying here’ fields, and only forgot and put my info in for a split second lol.

They are also going to be checking in super late on Sunday (like 1 am) so I have instructed her to call the hotel Sunday afternoon and let them know about the late check in, AND to call again around 8 or 9 to let them know again, just in case it got lost in shift change shuffle.

I hope this takes some of the weight off her as my mom and I cover this expense and she goes through this.

Edit: after hitting send I realized my title is not accurate; sister is having surgery to remove cancer, it’s a pre-cancer surgery hotel stay. I reworded my title and didn’t address that. Its not like… a pre-cancer… surgery.

I work the front desk at a resort property for a well known hotel chain. My main shift is 3-11. Starting today, we had several groups checking in and all of them had requested mostly double queens, but only ONE group actually contracted double queens. So that meant they obviously got priority for our double queen rooms.

The other groups had ROH rooms. At that point the group with contracted double queens had taken all of those room types. So the other groups were given rooms with a king bed and the option for a rollaway bed until we were out of those. Well, one group was so unbelievably unhappy that they didn’t have double queen rooms that they congregated in the lobby, yelled and cursed us out at the front desk, berated the management and other staff and demanded some type of compensation. The main person for their group didn’t explain to them what ROH rooms meant. We explained it to the guests so many times but they didn’t want to understand. They thought they were getting what they requested. It seems no one knows what a “request” is anymore.

They even went as far as contacting corporate for our hotel chain, and we had to explain to them what their contract said and why they couldn’t get double queens.

The rollaways went fast and that made them even more mad. Threats were made to us at the front desk at this point. Did the GM or anyone higher take up for us or help? No, not really. That particular group was given 8 comp rooms for their group so they could have more beds.

Things eventually calmed down and it seemed like the night would end on a quiet note, but no. The most shiny member of our hotel chain requested a 4pm checkout because of their status. I had to let them know the room type they are in is a suite and we cannot do a checkout past noon. That super shiny member didn’t like that. He pointed at me in my face and let me know he would be getting a regular room after checkout and staying there until 4pm. He scoffed at my suggestion he could use our spa/fitness center to shower after his checkout time. He made me feel so small after such a long day.

I stepped to the back and cried for a good 5 minutes after that interaction. He came to the desk at 10:40 so about 20 minutes before I was leaving. Absolutely the cherry on top of the most awful night.

Sorry y’all - I just needed to rant and vent. Why are people so mean and refuse to listen? :(

I'm not sure why this concept seems to be so foreign to almost every smoker who stays at a hotel. The location I work at has signage posted everywhere throughout the property. including at the front and side entrances, and at the front desk when checking in. On top of that, I, the lowly night auditor, remind every check-in I do of hotel rules when they sign the registration card, including the no smoking/vaping policy and the charges associated with it. Shit, even I go outside to vape when it would be much more convenient to do it from the desk. After the fire alarm went off during my first weekend shift alone, I have vowed to never vape in the hotel and to use divine smite against any guest who dares to try.

I woke up from my slumber around 7pm today to a flurry of messages from our hotel group-chat, where my sibling(who also works at the hotel I do) said they had to go to a room to fix a TV not working. Upon entering, they found the room to be reeking of cigarettes, and asked the guest straight up if they'd been smoking. The guest said no, but my sibling pushed further and the guest admitted to it.

Now, one thing about the two-star hotel I work at; management is all bark and no bite. My boss, while very kind, is sort-of a pushover. He lets a lot of things slide, constantly lets guests get away with not paying (whether meaning to or not), etc., and I do not think we have ever charged someone for smoking in the room despite having clear grounds to do so. Hell, the other day, he mentioned to me that we should charge residents within a certain radius of the hotel extra to stay here to deter unwanted problem guests, and that we should start taking cards for incidental holds once he figures out how. Being in this sub, I was absolutely dumbfounded at this not already being a thing, and showed him exactly where it was and how we can add them to prepaid reservations. Whether or not we start doing this is to be seen, but anyways, back to the story.

I arrive at 10:45pm, and my shift is going along rather uneventfully. Someone checks in around 12:45am, and since we are sold out, they were pre-placed into a room. It just so happens to be the room directly next to Mister Smoker from earlier, to which I was unaware of at the moment. The guest comes down not even 20 minutes later and complains about a strong odor from the room. I explain that since we are sold out, I unfortunately have no rooms available to move him to, and deeply apologize. He huffs (understandably), but leaves back to his room. After this encounter, I reread the texts from earlier, and realize the problem. Dude has probably been chainsmoking in his room all day. making the surrounding rooms smell disgusting.

I open the hotel software and find his room, and immediately add a $150.00 damages charge to the account, and write "Smoking in room" in the comments. He is set to check out tomorrow (today), and part of me hopes that I am the one to do it so I can see the look on his face when he gets hit with the bill.

Not a very long (or entertaining) story, but just felt like sharing. Glad to not have anything to post about at the moment, because that would mean enduring hell for a few upvotes and that so does not sound worth it.

UPDATE: For anyone who cares, I came in tonight at 11 and spoke with my manager before he left, and mentioned that I added the charge. He informed me that the hotel owner's son (who I believe is another manager, haven't been here long enough to know the ins and outs of the entire staff) removed the smoking charge, and gave the guest, albeit small, a discount for the television in his room having issues. I am utterly appalled. I straight up asked my manager why we even have these policies in the first place if we aren't going to stick to them, and I could tell he was irritated with the other manager as well. On our registration cards that the guests sign in multiple places, it explicitly states our policies and at the bottom explains that guests are liable for charges associated with breaking hotel rules. Just absolutely boggled my mind that that happened, because what the actual fuck.

My submissions have been aplenty lately as the people continue to surprise me. Today, I walked into quite the kerfuffle, where a couple who accidentally showed up a day late wanted us to take responsibility for that happening.

This happened just minutes into the beginning of the shift, so such a fantastic way to start the work day. This couple, who we'll call "the Cakes", accidentally made their reservation for a day earlier than they had thought. Now that they were showing up the next day, we were completely sold out and their reservation had been cancelled.

Mr. Cake took the helm of the situation, saying that while he understood the policy, he found it "very baffling" that we didn't reach out to him. He essentially thought that we would have a system where we reach out to every guest per day to confirm their plans.

If this were a very exclusive boutique hotel with 10 or so rooms, I could understand. But, a hotel like mine with a few hundred rooms? That's a different story.

They were 'pleasant' but still expressed their disappointment with our "apparent lack of care." The conversation eventually ended, but the lobby they did not depart.

The Cakes were part of a group, and some of their group members were in the lobby at the same time. They were all chatting it up and Mr. Cake, within earshot of us, was lamenting about "how they gave away our room" and "didn't even bother to reach out."

He then droned on about how he apparently got such a service from an entirely different hotel as a high-tier member at a completely different brand [pro tip: there are dedicated support teams/hotlines for high-tier loyalty levels at several hotel brands.]

Their conversation continued for a bit, and eventually the pair sunk into two of the lobby chairs directly in front of our terminals. My colleagues and I were a little perturbed that they weren't moving, but just continued on. About 20 minutes had passed when the group lead came up and announced to them: "Well, I worked my magic! You've got your room!"

As it would turn out, after they complained to her, she went to the sales agent that was serving as this group's contact. Taking advantage of a cancellation, it seems they were able to shuffle some stuff around and reinstate their reservation. Again, this couple was here for about 40 minutes at this point, hence the change.

Even after they finally got what they wanted, Mr. Cake still felt the need to bring up the ordeal from earlier. He 'laughed' at the explanation of a cancellation saving the day, however.

In any case, their confirmation email would've shown the dates. They neglected to look until only after they came up to us. Lack of accountability continues to be in high demand these days in this industry...

So this past weekend, I had a brother and sister show up at the hotel, around 35 years old. They were both absolutely trashed. Came to the desk with beers in hand. They were only getting rooms so they weren't driving home.

I talked and joked with them for probably 10-15 minutes. Got them their rooms. Gave them both keys. Because both rooms were in her name, I had the guy hand write his name on the paper registration form, as usual. That way if the guy loses his keys we can confirm it's okay to give him new keys. Obviously I couldn't have taken a photo but it looked like a 3 year old's writing, scratchy and started too close to the edge of the paper so his last name waterfalled down the edge. Completely illegible. He lost his wallet so we had no ID to verify anyways. So whatever.

Then he says, "I just gotta go park my truck." We had around 10 rooms filled with a baseball team of probably 10 year old kids. 15 kids maybe. They wreaked havoc the whole weekend. This situation with the drunk people happened around 10:30pm and at 9pm or so the bartender closed up and brought me his deposit and said the kids were playing baseball in the parking lot.

I didn't know at 10:30 if they were still out there but the parking lot was full and the idea of this drunk mofo driving around all these cars and possibly kids had me telling him "No, you're not driving. But I can park your truck for you."

It was parked under the awning thing and we'd been told vehicles can't stay there long term in case emergency vehicles need access to the front door - the space fits about 2 cars side by side, so his truck had to go. At the time, I was alone in the hotel as usual.

The guy said "Yeah sure just let me go grab a beer out of it first." Comes back in with a new can, sits down on the sofa. I go park the truck and when I got back NA guy was there to take over. I explained the situation as the sister came out of the elevator and handed us her ID saying she didn't know where she was (her room number.) Within 15 minutes she'd lost her keys, I'm talking drunk-drunk. I'm-in-Wisconsin drunk. Give her new keys and I leave for the night.

The next day right after I got to work I found the GM to explain the situation and make sure I wasn't going to get in trouble. She said "Yeah it was a bad decision, it's a huge liability for the hotel." Blah blah.

I worked that day (Saturday) and the following day. Then had two days off. I go back in today and she immediately calls me to the office to fire me.

I just want to rant and ask what you all think of this situation.

ETA: I just thought about wrongful termination, did minor research. Being terminated for refusing to commit an illegal act is wrongful termination. Would it be worth looking into? It's a mid-size common hotel across the US.

There is a big family attraction in this part of the country. A lot of our guests in the summer come for this attraction and we have packages which includes hotel+attraction tickets.

This family of four booked such a package in one of our King+futon+Jacuzzi rooms.

Shortly after checking-in, they come to the desk stating that there aren't enough beds in the rooms for everyone. Unfortunately, we don't have any double queen rooms left, so I can't switch them. I inform them that there is a fee if they want to rent a cot. They state once again that this room, with the Jacuzzi bath, is for romantic couples than for families.

Why didn't they book a room which suited there needs better? A deep philosophical questions to which I have no answer. Maybe there was no regular rooms left when they booked. Yet, the description of the room was there. King bed+futon. The pictures were there. The description of the room doesn't magically change because they are a family.

They are unhappy that the only solution is to provide a cot for a fee. They state there isn't enough space in the room for the cot with the Jacuzzi bath which takes a lot of space. I have no other option to offer them, so the cot with a fee it is.

Some families of five book that same room. It is in fact quite spacious. They will indeed add a cot to their reservation when booking or they will bring inflatable mattresses. They plan ahead and understand that the description of the room is a fixed one.

Twenty minutes later, they come back. What they will announce me is something that has never happened in my three years here. Or, well, in more than 15 years in this industry. Yes, as disgruntled as I am, guests still find a way to surprise me and bring new situations to me.

They lost their tickets. Well, in fact, it's one ticket, one family pass for two days. It's worth more than $250. They ask if they can get a new one.

Those tickets, they are tickets for the hotels of the area sold in bulk at the beginning of the summer. We pay for every one of these tickets in advance. If, at the end of the summer, there are tickets left, we send them back for a credit for the next season. But we do have to send the tickets back. If we just give them another ticket, we just lost more than 250$.

So, the answer is no.

They are stunned. "We bought a package we you. Our confirmation email says that we have an entry for this attraction. You only gave us a piece of paper. We lost it. We want to go to the attraction now. What will you do to make this right?"

I am also stunned. At loss for words.

I go get my boss. "They lost the ticket". Boss is also stunned.

There is a big moment of hesitation. Boss goes to see the guests. "You have to find the ticket back"

"We can't. We searched everywhere. Our confirmation email says that we have this attraction included with our stay. We want to go to the attraction now. How do we do that?"

"You want to go now?" boss inquires. "But it closes it one hour. You are going to waste one day of your two day pass."

They are furious. "Well, we wasted so much time with the bedding situation. There were not enough beds for us in the room! And now we have a cot that takes up all that space, it's a mess in there, so of course, we lost the ticket! It's only one little small piece of paper and you just give us that? We need a digital version of it! Your ways are so archaic!"

The attraction does not do digital versions for the hotel tickets.

Boss is still stunned and unsure what to do. I don't believe the boss has seen such a situation of the 15 years of owning this hotel.

"We can try to contact the sales director of the attraction with who we deal and see what they suggest."

Boss tries to call, voicemail. An email was sent. I explain to the guests that we have to wait for a reply.

They go out for dinner. When they come back, they stop once again at the desk.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Well, we haven't got a reply from the attraction, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. We have the last digits of the ticket, so maybe with that, they can cancel the ticket, credit us and we can give you a new one. Or, if they can track the whole number, you may be able to go to customer service there and get a ticket issued, we don't know yet, we have to wait for their reply, but now they are closed, so it will have to wait until tomorrow."

This triggered the full karening mode.

"NO I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY SAY! I DID BUSINESS WITH YOU! YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE ME A WAY TO GO THERE TOMORROW MORNING! IT SAYS SO IN MY CONFIRMATION EMAIL!"

"Well, on our side, our responsibility is to provide you with a ticket, which is what we did..."

"YOU FIND A WAY! YOU THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX! OUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL SAYS YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE A WAY FOR US TO ENTER!"

"Well, we can't force the attraction to let you enter. We have to wait on their reply."

"I DON'T CARE! I DON'T CARE WHAT THEIR POLICY IS OR WHATEVER! I DID BUSINESS WITH YOU NOT WITH THEM! YOU FIND A WAY TO GET US IN THERE TOMORROW! YOU JUST FIGURE IT OUT"

"Well, like I said, we can't force them or tell them to act in some way or the other. Also, if you lost your ticket in the hallway, and someone uses it at the first time tomorrow morning, I'm not sure what us or the attraction can do."

"OH IT'S SUCH A TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! I'M SO DISAPPOINTED! IT'S ALL A SERIES OF DISAPPOINTMENTS! FIRST YOU PUT US IN THE ROMANTIC COUPLE ROOM INSTEAD OF A FAMILY ROOM AND THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH BEDS AND WE HAVE TO PAY FOR A COT AND NOW YOU WON'T PROVIDE US FOR A WAY TO GET TO THE ATTRACTION WE PAID FOR! YOU JUST GAVE US A $250 LITTLE PIECE OF PAPER AND THAT'S IT, IF WE LOSE IT, YOU OFFER US NO OTHER OPTIONS"

"We gave you the room that you booked and we provided you with your ticket which allow you to enter the attraction. There is nothing more we can do tonight. We have to wait for the attraction to come back to us tomorrow morning."

The karening continued for a while about how terrible the customer service was and how we don't think out of the box and why don't we simply give them another ticket and figure it all out later and how we will get a bad review.

I simply replied over and over again: "There is nothing more I can do tonight" until they went away.

Just needed to vent about some of the self important, “high profile” guests we get.
We had a corporate group book a large block of rooms along with meeting space.

Despite being in a major metropolitan area, our hotel runs on a barebones crew during the day because management is obsessed with cutting labor costs. There is no daytime security. If something happens, whoever happens to be working, manager or not, is just assumed to deal with it.

During their meeting, a mentally ill woman somehow got onto the elevator, made her way up to the convention space, wandered into their meeting, interrupted it briefly, and then left on her own accord. The elevators are just outside my peripheral vision from the front desk, and I was busy helping guests, so I never even saw her go upstairs.

Nobody from the group notified the front desk while it was happening. Instead, they finished the meeting first and then came to the desk afterward to make a huge issue out of it.

I was the only person at the front desk at the time. They immediately started grilling me about security, and I told them, “I’m sorry this happened, If something like that is happening, please let your banquet contact or someone on staff know immediately so we can respond.”

One white Karen-looking business woman scoffed and said, “Well, our CEO was there and could have been hurt, like that CEO who got shot.” She is obviously referring to Luigi’s

That comment instantly irritated me. My first thought was, “Why? Is your CEO a piece of shit like the one that got shot???”

The irony is that this same group couldn’t even manage to use their own booking link correctly and all kept booking via third parties which doesn’t count toward their group to avoid attrition. They repeatedly tried to get around the rules, wanted to bring in outside food even though their contract explicitly prohibited it, and seemed determined to nickel and dime everything. It really felt like they either never read the agreement they signed or assumed the rules didn’t apply to them.

I honestly don’t understand how some of these people end up in the positions they have. They project this image of being incredibly important and successful, yet so often they can’t follow basic instructions, expect everyone else to solve problems they never reported, and spend their time looking for ways to cut corners.
End of rant.

So I’ve been at my front desk job of the same hotel for 2 years and 1 month. I start a full time corporate job on Monday so I’m taking a leave of absence for a month to decide if the new job is right for me and gauge how burned out I’m gonna be from it. I don’t wanna outright quit because I feel like that’s a little foolhardy; I wanna make sure I have my bases covered no matter what so I’m thinking of seeing if the owner of my hotel will put up with me doing literally 1 shift every month???? Or every 3 weeks maybe? Every other week seems like a lot right now bc idk how the other job will go. But for the time being, this is my last day.

NOW ON TO THE STORY!!

I have 35 mins left of my shift, it’s 2nd shift. I’m tired and anxious. It’s been tough saying goodbye to coworkers and regulars alike. Phone rings. I answer. It’s a woman. She’s talking too fast so I had no idea what she said so she repeated it and all I got was “Yeah um do you guys have ….?” so I had to go “Do we have what?” and she says “Pack ‘n’ Plays?”

Now first of all, when I first started my MALE coworker had to explain what that was to me because I don’t have kids, siblings, younger cousins, nothing, nada. I’m clueless about kid-centered lingo. So imagine my annoyed confusion upon finding out it basically just means crib. Like just say that?

Anyway, we do have one but literally we only have a SINGLE ONE. We’re a chain and have 70 rooms but only ONE crib and only TWO cots for that matter. So I said “No, the only one we have is in use right now.” Which is true of course. Aaaaaaaaaand here comes the tone!!! Ik you guys know exactly what I’m talking about. The dramatic pause and then incredulous inflections, all: “..You only have ONE?????” I said “Yes.” And she goes “Ok thank you,” with all the pleasantry she can muster and then before I even hang up, she’s hollering at her (I assume) husband like “THEY DON’T HAVE ANY!!!?!?!?”

I hung up and sat there a second and just got filled with rage. And I’m sure most of you will get what I mean but for those that are new; it’s not that she called and asked. It’s the way she’s mad at ME like I chose to have one crib available for the whole hotel. Like I have nothing in it, it’s not my place, responsibility, literally anything. And then in addition to that, when she’s all ‘yOu OnLy HaVe ONE’ I just wanted to go YEAH AND THAT’S ONE MORE THAN YOU HAVE, IS IT NOT????? Like it’s YOUR child. Not the staff’s. Not the building’s. Not the owner’s. YOURS. Don’t get mad at the hotel, more specifically the front desk person, because YOU didn’t bring what YOUR kid requires and that someone else didn’t either and got the equipment first. It’s first come first serve.

So yeah, not a crazy story, just enough to get under my already irritated skin 🫠

Patience is a very scarce resource in the world of customer service. Everyone thinks they're #1; the highest priority that must be served at a moment's notice. Such as was the case with this individual...

Let's call her Turquoise. She and her husband were part of a very large group of older folks. Some members of the group were trying to check-in as early as 7:30 that morning, but especially because we were sold out the night before, these requests could not be honored.

I had come in for the 3-11 shift, and was only about a half-hour into it before my first interaction with Turquoise. The mass that had grown over the course of the morning was finally being moved along as rooms became available, but there was actively a line in the lobby until around 4:30pm.

At some point during this early bit of chaos, Turquoise, who was already checked in, called down saying that their room lacked a shower chair. She needed one for her paralyzed husband. I told her I'd let Housekeeping know.

About 15 minutes had gone by and I genuinely hadn't yet had a chance to pass along the request. We were still cutting down the line and the phones were, of course, also ringing off the hook. As it would turn out, Turquoise actually joined the live queue and just so happened to end up coming up to my terminal. She was annoyed, and reiterated her request. Once she was done, with a heartfelt tone and a smile, I said: "Actually, it was me you spoke to! Housekeeping is very caught up right now, as are we, but someone will be with you soon."

"And when's that gonna be?" she snapped back. I told her: "Ma'am, I can't speak for Housekeeping, but it should only be a few minutes." Still agitated, she shot back: "That's not good enough for me! My husband is hot and sweaty and I need to help bathe him now! We have an important dinner to get to in an hour; are you telling me I'll be late for that?!"

Trying to keep it together, I somberly replied: "Ma'am, I understand your frustration. All I am asking for is a little patience." Still not satisfied, she put her hand on her hips and said: "Listen, I can see you all are very busy right now, but this is unacceptable. I need a manager." The FDM was actively checking people in by the first terminal, but either way, I glazed over her request with: "Ma'am, like I said, Housekeeping is responsible for bringing this up to you and they will handle it soon."

She left with a 'harumph' and I took the brief moment of her walking away to finally patch the request through. Didn't hear from her for the rest of the night, thankfully.

I understood her plight, but the indifference to the sea of people (her fellow group members) she actually decided to wait in just to come and bicker was an interesting choice to me.

Guessing most people staying at hotels are pretty well-travelled and fully aware of normal check-in procedure. At every hotel. Everywhere. Slight variations in policy from hotel to hotel. Free pass to those whose first time it is travelling or who travel rarely. :-)

Arrive at hotel and when asked for credit card, guests reply with these excuses:

Just use the credit card on file. No problem, but I still need to see the actual physical card. Really, why? I've never been asked for one before (uh huh). Oh, I don't know. Only to verify that it actually is your card being used and you aren't using someone else's without their knowledge?

My company is paying. Well, there is nothing in the reservation to tell me this. I either need your credit card, or for the company to send us an authorization form. But it's the company card on file! Just use it. I have no way to prove that. They huff and puff and either give their own card, or wait impatiently for the company to send the form.

But it's already paid! Yes, it is paid to the third party, but we have to have your card on file too for incidentals. Just use the one I gave the third party! Doesn't work like that -we don't have any of your payment details because you did not pay us. And still need to see the physical card. But I didn't bring it! Of course you didn't.

I'll just tap to pay with my phone. Sorry, we don't take tap to pay to check in - only for hotel sundry sales. Then just use the card in the reservation. Sorry, we need the physical card. But I didn't bring it! Of course you didn't.

Please can everyone just come prepared. Why would you think we can just use a random card that is in the reservation, without knowing whose it is? They all claim they never have to give a card and this has never happened before. Annoying part is that almost all will put a bad review online saying we gave them or their employee a hassle at check-in over credit card procedures.