Customer Service Requires You To Be A Customer

(I am checking a woman out after an extended weekend stay. She has had a meal each night at the restaurant, and a day at the spa. She has elected to pay at the end of her stay.)

Me: “And that will be an additional £188.56 on top of your booking.”

Customer: “What?”

Me: “£188.56.”

Customer: “For what?”

Me: “Your meals and spa day.”

Customer: “Isn’t that meant to be taken off with the deposit.”

Me: “The deposit is deducted from your room charge. These are additional, for your restaurant tab and spa day.”

Customer: “Well, I’m not paying for ‘additional’ things your hotel offers. That’s bad business management. Haven’t you ever heard of ‘customer service’?”

Me: “Yes, madam. It comes just after the part where ‘the customer is expected to pay for services used.’”

(She exploded into a half-hour rant that my manager came in on around halfway, having heard the entire conversation which proceeded it. She eventually paid but said that she would be calling our main office to complain. We heard nothing for a good while until a rumour made its way down to us about a woman who tried to make a complaint, but she was so incoherent the person taking the call was eventually forced to hang up.)