I work at a small hotel in a small town. We get a lot of tourists during the summer but the winter is usually pretty dead, except for hockey teams. I’m still relatively new to the job and this is my first time dealing with a youth hockey team staying in the hotel. There are all the usual expected issues — noise complaints, kids running in the hall and through the lobby, etc. — but in general, they’re a pretty decent group. 

Shortly after my shift begins, one of the parents comes up and asks if they can use our breakfast room to serve their kids dinner. I say sure and let them in. Later, my boss comes in and tells me they aren’t supposed to be in there without an employee because it is a food safety issue. However, he does allow them to finish their meal and the room is well cleaned when they are done. Shortly after, they leave for their game at 8:00 pm.

When they return, the parents come back and ask if they can get into the breakfast room again. I tell them they can’t and explain why. They understand and don’t give me a hard time or anything. Shortly after, they come back and ask if there is any other room they can use, even if there is just an extra room they could rent to keep the kids out of the halls.

I show them our suite and tell them the price. They agree and take the room. One of the other rooms had an issue with the toilet around the same time, so instead of charging them for the suite, I move that room to the suite at no extra cost to the group. 

I finish my shift and all is well with the hockey team.

Then, the next day happens…

Apparently, my system override of the price on the changed room didn’t take, so when my coworker — who is also new-ish and just lost her grandfather so is emotionally vulnerable — checks them out, she charges their card for the full amount of the suite. They also kept the keys to their old room and used it through the rest of the night. By rights, my coworker should charge them for the second room but doesn’t. When they notice the price difference, they come down and berate her while she gives the refund for the full amount of the room. However, our system doesn’t call it a “refund” but a “correction,” and the guest doesn’t believe her when she says it is a refund. So, she goes in and does another transaction on our terminal that actually says it’s a “refund” of the difference in price.

At this point, we have actually paid this woman about $11, so we have to go in and charge her the actual price she should have paid, plus the $11 she was over-refunded by mistake.

Now, here in Canada, refunds can take up to five business days to show up on your statement, but charges show up right away. Now the guest is upset because she’s been charged twice and still hasn’t gotten a refund.

Eventually, my coworker gets so upset and shaken they have to make an emergency call to one of our managers to fix the issue. The issue gets fixed and everything is worked out on our end, but of course, the refunds still don’t show on the guest’s statements. The guest proceeds to spend all afternoon calling the hotel nonstop, to the point where my coworker refuses to answer the phones because she just can’t deal with her. 

By the time I arrive for my shift, my coworker is practically in hysterics because of the way the people who were upgraded to the suite treated her.

Just as she is getting calmed down and ready to leave, the woman walks into the hotel. With me and our head of housekeeping behind the desk with her, she begins to explain the whole process of what she did to the guest, who feels the need to interrupt after every single step is explained.

After almost twenty minutes, we finally get the guest to understand that refunds take time to show up, and they definitely don’t show up immediately on a Saturday.

She’s still upset, and when she leaves, my coworker and the head housekeeper go back to the laundry room while she cries again. While this is happening, the guest’s husband and son come in to use our bathroom. The husband stands in the lobby the whole time, awkwardly listening to my coworker’s tears and complaints about his wife.

Finally, the kid comes out and they leave.

I really hope the refunds show up sooner rather than later because she’s already planning to call the manager on Monday morning to complain.

Guest: “Hello, I’d like to check in.”

Me: “Okay.”

Guest: “Here’s this coupon.”

Me: “We don’t accept that coupon.”

Guest: “The other hotel said that you do.”

Me: “We don’t. The other hotel on [Street] five miles away does.”

Guest: *looking angry* “Well, can I have money for the taxi to take me there?”

Me: “We aren’t responsible for what another hotel says about us.”

Guest: “Yes, you are; hotels are hotels, aren’t they?! You’re all together! Anyway, just give me the money!”

(There is a line forming behind him, so I decide to be nice and give him the taxi fare. I only give him enough for the fare and that’s it.)

Guest: *counting money* “What, no tip?”

We have a “new” guy at my hotel. He’s been here for a few months now, but doesn’t seem to want to learn the job. He still can’t do half the job on his own. He makes stupid mistakes all the time, like putting pets into non-pet-friendly rooms, or giving out corporate rates to individual employees when those rates are exclusive to bookings made by corporate, etc. He calls and texts me and one of my other coworkers all through his shift, because our manager is out on medical leave. We’ve even given him extra days of training and he’s still terrible and slow.

I’m not salaried; I’m hourly and at the same level he is. As I said, it’s been months. I’ve answered every text and phone call and I’ve even come in multiple times during my off time when I was out with my wife and kids to help him, as have two of my other coworkers, all without clocking in.

One day, my oldest is sick and I’m trying to find someone to cover my shift so I don’t have to drive a vomiting and feverish two-year-old to her grandparents. I call our acting manager and [New Guy] is the only one available. I have my coworker call him, I call him, we text. No response. Supposedly, he’s in class all morning, so I expect a delay, but still, a response when he gets a break.

Finally, ten minutes before my shift starts, once I’ve already dropped my daughter off and am at work getting ready to punch in he responds, “Sorry, just getting up. I have plans for tonight.” That is when I decide I am never responding to one of his texts again unless it is a legitimate emergency and the manager or my coworker — acting manager, but also hourly and with no real power — is out of town. Not my job, not my problem. I go above and beyond to help you and you can’t even respond to a text in a timely manner? Screw you.

(I work the night shift alone at the hotel. Shortly after my shift starts, a guest comes up and asks about breakfast the next day. Checking his reservation, I see it’s Room Only, meaning he’s only paying to stay in the hotel and breakfast is not included. I even show him the Room Only rate he reserved through a third-party company.)

Guest: “Why would I have to pay extra for breakfast? My friend, [Friend], is staying here and says he’s getting breakfast for free.”

Me: *checking his friend’s reservation* “Well, your friend has the same rate as you, Room Only, so breakfast isn’t included for him, either.”

Guest: “So he’s just not being charged for it?”

Me: “I don’t know. I only work the night shift; breakfast is not part of my duties.”

Guest: “Well, I am staying in [City] for several months and chose your hotel, and if you won’t accommodate me on this matter, I can just go to a different hotel. There are dozens of them around here.”

(At this point, I give him a look that I hope conveys my thoughts of, “Your little ‘threat’ is not going to make me bend over backward.” The hotel is located in an area that is filled with other hotels, so it really would be simple for him to go to a different hotel. I wouldn’t care.)

Me: “As I said, your rate pays only for the room, and eating breakfast would require the charge to be added to your invoice.”

Guest: “Look, I know you are just doing your job, but…” *repeats his spiel of staying here for months and potential to leave for another hotel*

(I got him to agree to come down in the morning and talk it over with the early shift employees. Had he “threatened” to go to a different hotel one more time, I would’ve told him to please pack his luggage, then, as I would be preparing the invoice for check-out. Would have been in my power, and not have any consequences for me. We were fully-booked that night, after all.)

(A guest comes to check out of the hotel.)

Me: “And how was everything for your stay?”

Guest: “Well, I’m not happy. You know that sign in your bathrooms that says that you won’t change the towels if they’re hung up? Well, both mornings, my towels were replaced by housekeeping, even though I hung them up.”

Me: “I’m sorry for this. I will definitely speak to our housekeeping manager about this.”

Guest: *getting really angry* “You know, this happens in so many hotels, and it’s so bad for the environment. What’s the point in having the sign if you don’t even stick to your guidelines? You’re just hurting the environment like everybody else!”

Me: “Again, I do apologise for this. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Guest: “Could you please print me two copies of my bill?”

Me: *pause* “Wouldn’t you rather I email it to save paper? For the environment?”

Guest: *getting angrier* “NO. I want you to print me the copies now!”