Our Rooms Aren’t Cheap But You Sure Are

Our hotel is within ten miles of a [Vehicle Brand] assembly plant, and we get a lot of guests staying with us that are affiliated with the brand, either as direct employees or subcontractors coming in to do work at the plant. The [Brand] rate is $117 plus tax, which is a substantial savings off of our rack rate.

A guy checks in on a Friday night who has a reservation for four nights with the [Brand] rate. We progress through the check-in process we get to the point where he needs to insert his card into the card reader. He freaks out over the amount of his stay (plus incidental hold) showing on the screen.

Guest: “Why is it so much?! I was told that the rate was $117 plus tax for my stay!”

Me: “The total showing is for $117 plus tax per night, plus the incidental hold.”

He starts screaming at me.

Guest: “I was told when I made the reservation that the total would be just $132 for my whole stay!”

Me: “You must have misunderstood the reservation agent, because… do you really think you’d get a room here for four nights for just 132 bucks?”

Guest: “Yes! If I knew I was going to have to pay over $500, I would have made a reservation somewhere else!”

At this point, I was getting tired of him yelling at me.

Me: “If you would prefer to stay somewhere else, I could cancel the check-in process and cancel your reservation, or you can have your card authorized for the full amount and be on your way to your room.”

Guest: “I’m going to call corporate and have you fired!”

Me: “Have at it; I’m not in the wrong here.”

After steaming and stewing for a few more minutes, he finally decides he wants to stay, and we finish the check-in process. As he walks away from the front desk, he says:

Guest: “I’ll be speaking with your manager in the morning!”

Me: “The general manager won’t be in until Monday morning, but our assistant general manager will be here at 9:00 Saturday morning.”

Guest: “I’ll wait to talk to the big boss on Monday.”

As an added “bonus,” he called down about thirty minutes later, saying that when he made his reservation, he requested a smoking room, but he didn’t see an ashtray in his room. I told him that all of our rooms were non-smoking, and if he wanted to smoke, he would need to go outside to do so. I got treated to yet another verbal assault, so I just hung up on him.

Thankfully, I didn’t have any more interactions with him for the rest of the night, and hopefully, I won’t for the remainder of his stay.