(When we take an order for room service, we always close the call by saying, “Your order should be up for you within half an hour.” In this story, the bellman has just come to ask me to call the guest and tell them that the front line in the kitchen is down for some reason and the food is going to take a bit longer. I immediately call the guest. The guest ordered their food about 15 minutes prior to this.)

Me: “Hi. This is [My Name] calling from Room Service. I’m so sorry, but I’ve just been informed that the kitchen is unable to make food at this moment because of a technical difficulty. They’ll hopefully be up and running very soon; would you like to wait a little longer for your order or cancel it?”

Guest: “Well, is there something else I can get? I mean, I’ve been waiting for my food.”

Me: “I’m not sure if they’re able to make anything right now, but I can go ask—”

Guest: *interrupting* “Like maybe a cheese plate?”

Me: “We actually don’t have a cheese plate on our menu here.”

Guest: “Yeah, well, most hotels have them, anyway.”

Me: “I’m afraid we don’t offer a cheese plate, but I’m happy to go ask the kitchen—”

Guest: *interrupting* “Well, I’ve been waiting for my food. You should have called earlier.”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am. I called you the moment I found out. Would you like me to ask the kitchen—”

Guest: “I could have ordered a pizza. But now I’ve been waiting for my food. Maybe if you had a cheese plate… Or isn’t there something else you can get me? I wish you’d called me earlier.”

Me: “As I said, I called as soon as they informed me. But I can ask the kitchen if there’s anything else they can make.”

Guest: “I just wish you’d called me earlier. Isn’t there anything else I can get?”

(Realising I’m not getting through to her, I give up trying to explain that I need to talk to the kitchen.)

Me: “Please hold, ma’am.”

(I go to ask the chef if they can make anything else for her, and they inform me that the line is actually up and running again, and they’re making her food right now.)

Me: “Ma’am, I’ve actually just spoken to the kitchen, and they’re making your food right now, so that will be along for you in about five minutes.”

Guest: “Well, I wish you’d told me earlier, because you said it would be half an hour and it’s been way longer than that now, and I could have ordered a pizza.”

(It has been about twenty-five minutes since she ordered.)

Me: “As I said, ma’am, I called you as soon as I found out. Your food is on its way now. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”

Guest: “Well, it had better be here soon, then, because I’ve been waiting. You should have called me earlier.”

(My manager ended up comping her meal.)

(I work the overnight shift at a hotel. At the very beginning of my shift, I get a call from a room:)

Guest: “I ordered my food at, like, 10:30, and they told me a thirty- to forty-five-minute wait. It’s still not here.”

(It is now 11:30, and I’m a little concerned because the kitchen is supposed to close at eleven.)

Me: “Well, I’m not sure what’s going on, sir, as I just got on shift, but I’ll speak to our suite service and call you right back.”

(As it turned out, the man’s order was taken by the bar, and the bartender got busy and forgot to take his order to the kitchen. The kitchen is now closed, but this is all entirely the hotel’s fault, so we bring the situation to the manager on duty.)

Manager: “Okay, I’ll call him. [Suite Service Worker], would you be willing to make his food?”

Suite Service Worker: “Sure. It might be a bit because I have to turn everything back on, but I’ll do it.”

Manager: “All right.”

(She calls the guest, and after explaining the situation and offering profuse apologies…)

Manager: “Now, this was completely our fault, so I wanted to offer to have your food made now completely on the house. We’ll even take some money off your rate—”

(She pauses, yelling can be heard on the other end of the line, and then she jerks her head back from the phone.)

Manager: “He hung up.”

Suite Service Worker: “Did he say what he wanted us to do?”

Manager: “No… Hang on.”

(She tries twice to call the guy back, but each time, he picks up the phone and immediately slams it back down on the receiver.)

Manager: “Well, I guess we just won’t do anything for him, then! He cussed at me, anyway.”

(So, instead of getting free food and a discounted room, this gentleman decided to throw a hissy fit and get absolutely nothing. Oh, and if he tries to complain, there are notes on his reservation detailing the whole interaction. He’ll still get nothing.)

Related:
It Pays To Be Polite

(I have just arrived to relieve my coworker off her shift. She usually is very cheerful looking, but now looks very frazzled. She spots me and looks relieved.)

Coworker: “Okay, so, this crazy lady — the wife of [Long Term Stay] — has been going off all evening about her husband. Don’t listen; she’s crazy. And don’t transfer her to him; he says he doesn’t want to listen to her.”

(The phone rings.)

Coworker: “Don’t answer that. It’s her.” *leaves without another word*

(I’m completely confused, and I don’t know exactly what’s going on. But I figure I’ve dealt with worse. The phone keeps ringing and ringing, until finally I pick it up.)

Me: “Hello, this is [My Name], front desk of [Hotel]. How may I help you?”

Old Lady: “Who is this?! [My Name]?! Well listen to me, [My Name].” *sneers out my name* “I’ve been talking to that little b**** [Coworker] all evening, and she was very unhelpful, and if my husband has a heart attack, I’M GOING TO SUE. DO YOU HEAR ME?! I’M GOING TO—”

(She rambles on and on about her husband being sick and about suing, practically spitting on the phone. Her words are coming out in a jumbled big mess. She sounds likes she’s having a fit. I’m trying to figure out what’s going on, and can’t. Every time I try to break in, she raises her voice louder.)

Old Lady: “Don’t you try to interrupt me, you worthless w****! You b****!”

(I hung up. We have the right to hang up if the caller is being abusive and not listening. The phone rang and rang and I didn’t pick up. It rang for THREE HOURS straight, and then finally stopped. I made a note of it in the log, and sighed. Turns out the guest’s wife was angry because she and her husband had a big fight, and her husband didn’t want to speak with her, so she was taking it out on the staff here! The GM spoke with her husband, who was a long-term stay, and told him to tell her not to abuse us. I never heard from her again, thank goodness. Last I heard they were getting a divorce. I wish I could describe how much hate her voice had in it.)

(I work at a hotel where we take third-party online reservations. Every now and again, reservations will come in that have requests attached, but we can’t always view the whole request, because of miscommunications between the third-party system and the hotel’s system.)

Guest: “We did put in a request for a baby crib, if you have one, but we figured the message didn’t go through.”

(I check, and start laughing.)

Me: *between laughs* “It did… It just got cut off, so it says, ‘Could you please provide us with a baby.’”

(The guest chuckles.)

Guest: “We already have two; we don’t need any more.”

Me: “I will go get you that crib.”

Guest: “Hopefully without a baby in it!”

(An Indian client came to the spa reception at 9pm and asked to book a massage. I told him that the massages end at an earlier time, apologize, and tell him about availabilities on the next day.)

Customer: “Why is everything closing so early in this country? There’s nothing to do; it’s so boring! I can’t wait to go home to India. You know I think you Swiss people are just lazy and don’t like to work!”