This story just happened and I'm amazed. In fact, it's still happening because the guests haven't come back yet. Let me explain...
Three guests arrived from New Zealand about twenty minutes ago after a long flight. I checked on their reservation to confirm that we have them here, but it was too early to check in. I started tagging their luggage to keep in storage for the day, when one of the guys yelled "OH BUGGER!" We all looked at him, confused as to why he was yelling out. He explained that he had another small satchel that he left in the taxi from the airport.
The guest frantically ran outside to see if the taxi was still here, but it was long gone. They don't sit for very long on rainy days. He came back in looking utterly baffled and broken. He went on to explain that he had his passport, itinerary, and about $3,000 in cash in that bag and that he was part of a tour that was leaving in 2 days to go to Canada (not to mention, he also needed the passport to get home...). "OH! I also have my mobile phone in the bag! Maybe we can try to call it?" He got the number out of his wallet and proceeded to call the cell phone. Unfortunately, there was no answer, which was good and bad. Good because the phone was on and working. Bad because no one found it yet.We proceeded to store the luggage and sent the guests on their way to explore Manhattan.
A few seconds after leaving, the guest ran back in to hand me two $50 bills. "If the taxi driver or anyone comes in with my bag, please make sure to give this to them as a thank you." They went off for some breakfast and I went back to my work.Just a moment ago, the taxi driver showed up. HE ACTUALLY CAME TO RETURN IT! I couldn't believe it. We couldn't believe it. I handed him the money from the guest and thanked him so much for returning the bag and he told me it was interesting. He had two other passengers since our guest, and the first one didn't see it (or didn't say anything about it). The second passenger started digging through the bag when the taxi driver noticed. He took the bag away from the passenger because he remembered our guest with the bag. He came right back here to return it.
He was also smart about the return. He wouldn't just give me the bag because of how valuable the contents are, but he also didn't want to sit and wait for the guests to come back. Finally, he took my business card, gave me his business card, and left the bag on condition that I have the guest call him when he gets the bag. Medallion #4F54 driver, if you read this, you're a good man. Thank you.
Now we're just waiting on the guest to come back so we can tell him the good news.
Have you had a story or situation like this? Did you lose something in a taxi? Were you able to recover it, or is it lost forever? Share your story in the comments, and check back to see what happens with the guest!
UPDATED
Sorry, yesterday got busy and I didn't have time to update the post. The guest came back in a few hours after the bag was dropped off. He was elated to hear that we had it and he was on the verge of tears. He was not expecting to get the bag returned to him and thought he would have to go to the consulate and get a new passport (not to mention, he would have been out a few thousand dollars). He gave me $20 and a big hug, and went on his way to share the good news with his friends.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
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.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A Humbling Experience
Thinking back on my years in the hospitality industry, I don't think I've had a more humbling experience than I did tonight.
When working in the afternoon, my shift ends at 11:00pm. I start closing out the shift around 10:30 so I can leave on time. Around that time, we also get antsy to leave and it's possible we may not be on our best behavior (All of you normal schedule people, think of how you are at 4:30pm when your day ends at 5:00pm). So here's the story...
A gentleman walked in tonight around 10:30pm when I was in the middle of counting the cash drawer. I hate dealing with guests when I have the money out. I don't know who I can trust and who's going to try to rob me. I quickly scoop the money into the drawer so it's out of sight as I hear the sliding doors open. I think to myself that I'll breeze through this check-in so I can get back to counting my money and end this long day.
As he walked up to me, I go through the usual check-in shpiel. "Good evening, checking in?" Instead of answering me, he pushed a paper in my face, pointed to the handwritten confirmation number that I had to decipher, and grunted at me. I immediately got frustrated with him and said "I need your ID and credit card". He looked at me blankly and started motioning with his hands. I had no clue what was going on so I stared back at him and said louder and impatiently "Sir, I can't check you in without your ID and credit card".
As soon as I said it, he pulled his paper back and wrote "I can't hear you I'm deaf". My heart dropped and I felt so bad. I was too annoyed to realize he was using sign language when he was making those hand motions. I didn't realize that maybe he wasn't being obnoxious and snobby, but just couldn't talk. After I got over the initial shock of how stupid I was, I proceeded to mime all the actions I could so he would understand everything around the hotel.
I'll tell you, it's not that simple to come up with a hand motion for "free wireless internet", "vending machines" or "check-out time is 12:00pm" on the spot. Finally, I got everything across to him through miming (and some writing) and walked him to the elevator.
When I got back to the desk two thoughts hit me. First was "wow I need to learn some sign language, just in case this happens again." I've learned to deal with people from other countries whose English is not that great, but they know the key words because they looked up our hotel online and familiarized themselves enough to know what I'm saying. Someone who is deaf may be able to do the same thing, but I can't say the word slowly to them so it registers. I have to either use sign language for those words, or use the method I used tonight.
My second thought was "Holy crap. What if I acted like that towards a guest who could actually hear me. That would be really embarrassing". I realized that even that late at night, I still have to be cheery and welcoming, even if I don't mean it. Good customer service can go a long way, and you never know who will give a good or bad review. You never know what kind of day that person had and just smiling and welcoming someone at the end of a long day might be a big help to them.
As usual, leave comments with your thoughts, stories or experiences!
When working in the afternoon, my shift ends at 11:00pm. I start closing out the shift around 10:30 so I can leave on time. Around that time, we also get antsy to leave and it's possible we may not be on our best behavior (All of you normal schedule people, think of how you are at 4:30pm when your day ends at 5:00pm). So here's the story...
A gentleman walked in tonight around 10:30pm when I was in the middle of counting the cash drawer. I hate dealing with guests when I have the money out. I don't know who I can trust and who's going to try to rob me. I quickly scoop the money into the drawer so it's out of sight as I hear the sliding doors open. I think to myself that I'll breeze through this check-in so I can get back to counting my money and end this long day.
As he walked up to me, I go through the usual check-in shpiel. "Good evening, checking in?" Instead of answering me, he pushed a paper in my face, pointed to the handwritten confirmation number that I had to decipher, and grunted at me. I immediately got frustrated with him and said "I need your ID and credit card". He looked at me blankly and started motioning with his hands. I had no clue what was going on so I stared back at him and said louder and impatiently "Sir, I can't check you in without your ID and credit card".
As soon as I said it, he pulled his paper back and wrote "I can't hear you I'm deaf". My heart dropped and I felt so bad. I was too annoyed to realize he was using sign language when he was making those hand motions. I didn't realize that maybe he wasn't being obnoxious and snobby, but just couldn't talk. After I got over the initial shock of how stupid I was, I proceeded to mime all the actions I could so he would understand everything around the hotel.
I'll tell you, it's not that simple to come up with a hand motion for "free wireless internet", "vending machines" or "check-out time is 12:00pm" on the spot. Finally, I got everything across to him through miming (and some writing) and walked him to the elevator.
When I got back to the desk two thoughts hit me. First was "wow I need to learn some sign language, just in case this happens again." I've learned to deal with people from other countries whose English is not that great, but they know the key words because they looked up our hotel online and familiarized themselves enough to know what I'm saying. Someone who is deaf may be able to do the same thing, but I can't say the word slowly to them so it registers. I have to either use sign language for those words, or use the method I used tonight.
My second thought was "Holy crap. What if I acted like that towards a guest who could actually hear me. That would be really embarrassing". I realized that even that late at night, I still have to be cheery and welcoming, even if I don't mean it. Good customer service can go a long way, and you never know who will give a good or bad review. You never know what kind of day that person had and just smiling and welcoming someone at the end of a long day might be a big help to them.
As usual, leave comments with your thoughts, stories or experiences!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Racism at it's Finest
A black woman walked into the hotel a few days ago and reluctantly comes up to me at the desk:
Woman: I need a room with two doubles starting tonight for a week.
Me: I'm sorry, we're sold out tonight, tomorrow and Thursday.
Woman: Are you sure you looked correctly? Check again.
(I quickly check again)
Me: Yes ma'am, I'm sure. Unfortunately we're sold out those night's.
Woman turns to my black coworker:
Woman: Sir, can you please check for me to make sure he isn't lying to me?
(my jaw drops at this and my coworker does a double take to make sure he heard her correctly)
CW: Sure, give me one second to look that up for you.
Woman: Ok, I need a room tonight for a week with two doubles.
CW: Sorry, we are sold out, just like my coworker told you.
Woman: Ok I just had to be sure I wasn't being played. Thanks for your help (directly to my coworker, not looking at me once).
Let me start off by saying that I've dealt with some minor cases of racism in my years in working in a hotel. I'm an Orthodox Jew and I wear a kippah at work so I get people checking in and the entire time that I'm checking them in, they're staring at my head and not paying attention. I'm fine with that. They're usually from the Midwest or some small town in Europe that hasn't seen too many Jews come through their towns. I've even gotten called things by people coming back into the hotel late at night after drinking for hours. I can deal with that. But to come into the hotel and act like that in the middle of the day in the middle of Manhattan is not so OK. I don't know if it was because I'm white or Jewish, but being rude like that deserves a wake up call. Welcome to New York. It's 2011. Get over it.
Woman: I need a room with two doubles starting tonight for a week.
Me: I'm sorry, we're sold out tonight, tomorrow and Thursday.
Woman: Are you sure you looked correctly? Check again.
(I quickly check again)
Me: Yes ma'am, I'm sure. Unfortunately we're sold out those night's.
Woman turns to my black coworker:
Woman: Sir, can you please check for me to make sure he isn't lying to me?
(my jaw drops at this and my coworker does a double take to make sure he heard her correctly)
CW: Sure, give me one second to look that up for you.
Woman: Ok, I need a room tonight for a week with two doubles.
CW: Sorry, we are sold out, just like my coworker told you.
Woman: Ok I just had to be sure I wasn't being played. Thanks for your help (directly to my coworker, not looking at me once).
Let me start off by saying that I've dealt with some minor cases of racism in my years in working in a hotel. I'm an Orthodox Jew and I wear a kippah at work so I get people checking in and the entire time that I'm checking them in, they're staring at my head and not paying attention. I'm fine with that. They're usually from the Midwest or some small town in Europe that hasn't seen too many Jews come through their towns. I've even gotten called things by people coming back into the hotel late at night after drinking for hours. I can deal with that. But to come into the hotel and act like that in the middle of the day in the middle of Manhattan is not so OK. I don't know if it was because I'm white or Jewish, but being rude like that deserves a wake up call. Welcome to New York. It's 2011. Get over it.
No Soap Radio
Two elephants were in a bathtub and one asked "can you pass the bar of soap?" The other elephant replied "no, we donated it to Africa."
Sorry. That was pretty awful. I just needed something to lead into this story.
About three months ago, I learned that our hotel entered a program to help Clean The World. The way the program works is when cleaning guest rooms everyday, the housekeepers swap out the "old" bars of soap that were used once or twice and replenish it with brand new ones. While most people think this is a waste of perfectly good soap, it's actually not going to waste at all.
After collecting all the used soap, the housekeepers put them in a giant bin, and when filled, it get's shipped out to be sanitized and then distributed to "save the millions of lives lost each year to acute lower-respiratory infection and diarreal illness with the appropriate educational materials to sustain good personal hygiene practices."
I don't really have a story that this is leading into. It's just a post to pass on the news that we're helping out. It made me happy to learn about and it makes the guests happy, or at least content, when they hear what happens with the soap and shampoo after they're removed from the room.
If you're going to a hotel, feel free to ask an employee if their hotel participates in the Clean The World program. It's a great cause and should definitely be looked into by everyone.
UPDATE: The housekeeping manager saw this post and asked me to update this. He just got an email this week with a tally of everything we've donated. to date, we have donated just under 500 each of bars of soap and bottles of shampoo/conditioner. Go team go!
Sorry. That was pretty awful. I just needed something to lead into this story.
About three months ago, I learned that our hotel entered a program to help Clean The World. The way the program works is when cleaning guest rooms everyday, the housekeepers swap out the "old" bars of soap that were used once or twice and replenish it with brand new ones. While most people think this is a waste of perfectly good soap, it's actually not going to waste at all.
After collecting all the used soap, the housekeepers put them in a giant bin, and when filled, it get's shipped out to be sanitized and then distributed to "save the millions of lives lost each year to acute lower-respiratory infection and diarreal illness with the appropriate educational materials to sustain good personal hygiene practices."
I don't really have a story that this is leading into. It's just a post to pass on the news that we're helping out. It made me happy to learn about and it makes the guests happy, or at least content, when they hear what happens with the soap and shampoo after they're removed from the room.
If you're going to a hotel, feel free to ask an employee if their hotel participates in the Clean The World program. It's a great cause and should definitely be looked into by everyone.
UPDATE: The housekeeping manager saw this post and asked me to update this. He just got an email this week with a tally of everything we've donated. to date, we have donated just under 500 each of bars of soap and bottles of shampoo/conditioner. Go team go!
Friday, April 29, 2011
I Have a Few Questions For You...
Quick rant here...
This is one of the scariest moments for a person working at the front desk. You're assigning rooms and you realize you're oversold so you have to move some things around. The phones are ringing like crazy and you don't have enough hold lines to pick up the next call. And then the guests come in. One by one at first, then they start to come in more bunched together. And then they come in groups. And it hits you: TONIGHT WILL BE HELL.
You make your way through the first few guests and get them into their rooms without a problem. The 4th or 5th guest in line checks in with no problems, but then proceeds to ask you questions. Lots and lots of questions. The line gets longer, and there's nothing you can do. It kinda makes me want to interrupt her and ask "DON'T YOU SEE THERE'S A LINE OF PEOPLE BEHIND YOU??? GO TO YOUR ROOM, TAKE A BREATH, AND COME BACK IN A FEW MINUTES! YOU'RE NOT GOING OUT TO EAT DINNER AND SEE A BROADWAY SHOW WITH YOUR LUGGAGE IN HAND ANYWAYS!" But I can't. We all know that. Even though I REALLY REALLY want to.
Luckily we have some solid guests (most of the time) and they understand that people can be difficult. It's nice when they make fun of the annoying guests when they walk away, just to lighten my mood when they see I'm frustrated.
On a complete side note but is strangely connected to the title...I had an undercover cop come in to the hotel today...
Cop: "Good evening, [flashes badge and has a stone cold face] I have a few questions for you."
[My stomach drops and heart stops while thinking: This is my first day back from a two week vacation! I couldn't have done something wrong already!]
Me: "Hi officer, how can I help you?"
Cop: "I'm tracking a bad guy [yes, he called the suspect a 'bad guy'] and I found this key in a stolen vehicle. Does it belong to your hotel?"
[My stomach slowly crawls back up and heart speeds up a bit while I slowly exhale]
Me: "Oh yes, that's ours, but it's a standard Hampton Inn key and there are eight in New York City, so it can belong to any of them."
Cop: "F*ck! This case is going to be harder than I thought! Crap!"
[I stare at him, not knowing what to say...]
Cop: "Is there any way to track the card and see where it came from?"
Me: "I can try to read the card, but if it's past it's checkout date, it will come up as voided and we won't find anything out."
Cop: "Oh what the hell, give it a shot. I found it four days ago. I might as well go home..."
After trying to find information in the card reader, I tell the officer it's voided and there's no way to know which hotel the card is from. He hands me his card with the suspects name written on it, thanks me for my time, and heads out.
Morale of the story: I have to be more careful when I steal cars in the future. Just kidding. I don't carry hotel keys when I steal cars.
Real morale of the story: Don't jump to conclusions when a cop comes up to you saying he wants to ask you a few questions. I think I grew a few gray hairs and lost a few years of my life from that.
Oh, and if you know anyone who stayed at a Hampton Inn in New York City who steals cars, call the NYPD. You would be a big help to the poor cop who came in today, and you'd be doing a big service to the community.
This is one of the scariest moments for a person working at the front desk. You're assigning rooms and you realize you're oversold so you have to move some things around. The phones are ringing like crazy and you don't have enough hold lines to pick up the next call. And then the guests come in. One by one at first, then they start to come in more bunched together. And then they come in groups. And it hits you: TONIGHT WILL BE HELL.
You make your way through the first few guests and get them into their rooms without a problem. The 4th or 5th guest in line checks in with no problems, but then proceeds to ask you questions. Lots and lots of questions. The line gets longer, and there's nothing you can do. It kinda makes me want to interrupt her and ask "DON'T YOU SEE THERE'S A LINE OF PEOPLE BEHIND YOU??? GO TO YOUR ROOM, TAKE A BREATH, AND COME BACK IN A FEW MINUTES! YOU'RE NOT GOING OUT TO EAT DINNER AND SEE A BROADWAY SHOW WITH YOUR LUGGAGE IN HAND ANYWAYS!" But I can't. We all know that. Even though I REALLY REALLY want to.
Luckily we have some solid guests (most of the time) and they understand that people can be difficult. It's nice when they make fun of the annoying guests when they walk away, just to lighten my mood when they see I'm frustrated.
On a complete side note but is strangely connected to the title...I had an undercover cop come in to the hotel today...
Cop: "Good evening, [flashes badge and has a stone cold face] I have a few questions for you."
[My stomach drops and heart stops while thinking: This is my first day back from a two week vacation! I couldn't have done something wrong already!]
Me: "Hi officer, how can I help you?"
Cop: "I'm tracking a bad guy [yes, he called the suspect a 'bad guy'] and I found this key in a stolen vehicle. Does it belong to your hotel?"
[My stomach slowly crawls back up and heart speeds up a bit while I slowly exhale]
Me: "Oh yes, that's ours, but it's a standard Hampton Inn key and there are eight in New York City, so it can belong to any of them."
Cop: "F*ck! This case is going to be harder than I thought! Crap!"
[I stare at him, not knowing what to say...]
Cop: "Is there any way to track the card and see where it came from?"
Me: "I can try to read the card, but if it's past it's checkout date, it will come up as voided and we won't find anything out."
Cop: "Oh what the hell, give it a shot. I found it four days ago. I might as well go home..."
After trying to find information in the card reader, I tell the officer it's voided and there's no way to know which hotel the card is from. He hands me his card with the suspects name written on it, thanks me for my time, and heads out.
Morale of the story: I have to be more careful when I steal cars in the future. Just kidding. I don't carry hotel keys when I steal cars.
Real morale of the story: Don't jump to conclusions when a cop comes up to you saying he wants to ask you a few questions. I think I grew a few gray hairs and lost a few years of my life from that.
Oh, and if you know anyone who stayed at a Hampton Inn in New York City who steals cars, call the NYPD. You would be a big help to the poor cop who came in today, and you'd be doing a big service to the community.
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