Third Party Trouble

For those of you not in the business, a third party website is a website such as Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, etc that hotels use to help sell rooms.  Each website has different rules regarding booking rooms, such as non-refundable reservations and non-guaranteed room types.  I'd say about a quarter of our hotel is occupied by these guests on any given night.  Now on to the story...

I was working the morning shift a few days ago when a man walks in around 11:30am and asks if it's too early to check it.  I check the system to see if there's anything available and apologize, saying it is too early since we were sold out the night before.  I asked him for his name to confirm the reservation and a cell phone number so we can call him when a room becomes available.  He happily gives me the information and I confirm the number of nights and room type. 

Me: "Mr. Smith (not his real name), we have you here for two nights in a king bed on a high floor, correct?"
Mr. Smith: "Yes, but I requested a room with two beds.  My wife and kids are coming in later."
Me:  "I'm sorry Mr. Smith but we're sold out tonight.  Unfortunately we won't be able to change the room type for you.  Since we don't have a room ready for you now, would you like to leave your luggage with us?"
Mr. Smith:  "No thanks.  I'll come back later."

He walked out of the hotel and I went back to doing some work.  Around 2:30pm, I got a call from someone at a third party website asking me to help them cancel a reservation.  I get the confirmation number from her and it happens to be for Mr. Smith's reservation.

Third Party Website: "The guest is on the other line and he said he is sick and will be unable to make his trip to New York.  Can you cancel his reservation?"  
Me: "I was actually the agent at the front desk when Mr. Smith tried to check in earlier in the day.  He was unhappy with the fact that we couldn't change the reservation to a room with two beds in it.  Unfortunately we cannot cancel this reservation without penalty because it's a reservation for today."
TPW: "Well, we have the guest saying that he is sick and needs to cancel it."
Me: "Regardless of whether the guest is actually sick or not, the reservation is for today AND the guest already tried to check in.  You know our policy.  We already authorized the credit card. He is more than welcome to stay here, but either way, we will be charging Mr. Smith for the stay."
TPW: "Thanks for being helpful."  
Click.

And now for some friendly advice:  Unless there's a significant price difference, don't book hotels and flights through third party websites.  Desk agents generally treat them very differently than if you book through the hotel or airline.  We give preferential treatment to our own guests, so join the rewards club for whatever company you're going with.  Hilton and Marriott both have very good ones.  And lastly, don't try to play games with the front desk.  You will usually get caught and we'll treat you much worse when we do catch you.

Crash!

It's been a rather quiet 10 months since my last post.  There have been some great guests, but no great stories to tell you.  Until recently.  Here is one of my favorite moments in New York.

I was behind the desk one morning checking a guest out of the hotel.  He was a foreign guest heading to the airport after a business trip to New York, looking forward to the weekend.  He asked me if I could help him flag down a taxi to take him to the airport, which I had no problem doing.  I grabbed his luggage and walked outside with him as a taxi came flying down out street.  I threw my hand out to get his attention.  The driver saw me as he was about to pass the hotel and slammed on the brakes, coming to a screeching stop two doors down. 

The next thing I know, I hear a loud crash.  I look up to where the taxi stopped and I see he came to a stop by rear-ending a police car.  The officer gets out of the driver's seat, massaging her neck, and goes to look at the damage.  What happens next is the crazy part.  The taxi driver gets out of his car and starts to yell at the police officer for "being in his way"!!

She doesn't seem to be fazed by the yelling.  While the taxi driver was going off on her, she just pulled out her ticket book to write him a ticket.  Once he saw this happening, he got even madder and yelled louder, saying it wasn't his fault and whatnot.  She wasn't having any of it.  She just ignored everything he was saying and wrote the ticket and slipped it under his windshield wiper.

As she turned to walk away, he completely lost it and spit on her.  I don't mean a playful 'thbbt' kind of spit.  I mean he hocked a loogey and let it loose.  It must have been a big one because she reacted instantly.  Within 5 seconds, she had him flipped on the hood of his taxi with his hands cuffed behind his back!  A few minutes later, backup was there along with a tow truck to impound the taxi.  It was awesome.  

Now, I know that women are treated differently in different countries.  Some respect women and their rights.  Some force them to hide their faces.  Some don't let them have rights.  It doesn't matter where you come from...once you come to America you forfeit the ability to treat women (and people) with anything other than respect.