I’m a manager in a hotel with a bar. It’s my first day back at work after a bereavement, so I’m not in the best frame of mind.

A group of business guests who checked in earlier return to the hotel.

Guests: “Can we order drinks in the bar?”

Me: “Unfortunately, the bar has closed already, so I can’t serve you.”

They were told the closing time when I checked them into the hotel, too.

One woman, who is clearly hammered, goes off and starts berating me until I cry. I start to walk away and allow the other manager to take over the conversation.

Guest #1: *Mockingly* “Are you crying? What a baby!”

Manager: “Ma’am, my coworker just returned from bereavement leave.”

Guest #1: “Good!”

Well, that’s it. I am ready to go nuclear, but I don’t.

The next morning when I am back on duty, I phone the group’s company and explain calmly what happened last night.

Me: “It was completely unacceptable. It’s a poor reflection on your company when your staff behaves like that.”

The next week, they are back and they come to check in, only this time, they aren’t allowed to use their meal vouchers for alcohol as they could before.

Guest #2: “Why can’t we use our vouchers for alcohol anymore?”

Me: *Politely* “I suggest you ask your colleague [Guest #1] why that might be.”

Guest #1: *Shrugging* “I have no idea!”

I recounted the full tale of her behaviour, what she had said, etc., to the rest of the group of colleagues, who were understandably horrified. [Guest #1] stood there looking like she wanted a hole to open up and swallow her whole.

I never saw her again after that.

I work in a hotel. It is the busy season in our area, and we typically run 100% full every night. We pre-block rooms based on special requests like the ground floor, adjoining rooms, mountain view, etc.

A man comes to check in and gets irate very quickly due to that his two requests, non-smoking and ground floor, were not met. It’s a reservation from the corporate reservation system, so the mistake is NOT ours.

As I’m trying to juggle existing blocked reservations to try to accommodate him, he is screaming, flailing his arms, and actually accusing me personally of lying to him. This is a pain point for me.

Me: “Sir, I don’t know how you conduct yourself at your work, but I don’t lie! I am trying to fix the problem from the corporate side, but it is difficult to concentrate with you yelling.”

He quieted. I fixed it. The entire rest of the week, he’d drop by the desk to say hi and ask for recommendations for activities and restaurants.

People on vacation are often out of their element, or hungry, or they’ve been spending a long time in a car with annoying loved ones. I was a good clerk, but you don’t EVER accuse me of lying.

I am visiting Texas and staying at a nice hotel. I’m brown and I’m an IT executive.

I order takeout from a local BBQ place, and I am going back to my hotel with my food in a large paper bag with the name of the restaurant written in large letters on the side.

There is a group of people outside the hotel, and as I approach the hotel entrance, this woman rushes over and grabs my bag of food. I yank it back.

Woman: “I’ve been waiting for this!”

It hits me that she thinks I’m her food delivery driver here with her food.

Me: *Politely* “I’m not your delivery driver, ma’am.”

Woman: *Looking confused* “Are sure? You look like one.”

At this point, I just want her to let go of my bag. A few of her guy friends come over and tell me to stop giving her a hard time and to hand over her food. I spell it out for them.

Me: “I am not your food delivery driver. This is my food. I’m a guest at this hotel.”

I yank the bag away from her, and as I enter the hotel, I see her pulling out her phone.

Woman: “I’m calling [Delivery Service] and telling them what an a**hole you are… and I want my money back!”

Go right ahead, lady. Go right ahead.

In hindsight, I was actually not upset over the whole thing but simply amused by it. Sometimes, you just have to laugh your way through an uncomfortable situation.

I’m about an hour into my shift at a hotel when I get a call from a room.

Guest: “Is your Wi-Fi working?”

Me: “Yes.”

After a pause, he hangs up without saying anything.

A few minutes later, a man comes to the front desk with a laptop, and I figure it’s the guy who called earlier.

Guest: “Are you sure the Wi-Fi is working?”

Me: “It is. In fact, I’m using it right now.”

Guest: “Can you check my laptop to make sure?”

I’m hesitant to do that because I’m not tech support, and we do have a technical support number for guests to call. I hand him the number.

Guest: “Just check my laptop to make sure I’m connected.”

I look at the screen and it’s on his bookmarks. It’s a lot of adult sites from what I can tell by briefly skimming it.

Me: “Did you press ‘agree’ on our Wi-Fi connection page?”

Guest: “What?”

I show him how to do that, and he’s connected. He returns to his room.

A few minutes later, he calls back.

Guest: “Why is the Wi-Fi still not working?”

Me: “Sir, load our website.”

Guest: “It connected just fine. But I’m still having trouble loading my personal sites.”

I take that to mean adult sites, and our Wi-Fi won’t load those, but I don’t say that. Sometimes people ask me candidly why they can’t connect to those sorts of sites and I just give a generic answer about how our Wi-Fi filters out certain sites for security reasons and they can call technical support for more information if they wish.

This guy, however, is being rather cagey about it and probably isn’t aware I saw his bookmarks, and I’m not about to step on that landmine, so I again refer him to our technical support number.

Guest: “Why can’t you help me?”

Me: “Sir, if you can load our website, you are, in fact, connected.”

He comes back down a few minutes later.

Guest: “I called technical support, and they referred me back to you without helping me!”

That’s not true because they’ll call us if it’s a hardware issue on our end and it isn’t that he just can’t load his adult content over our network.

He then demands a refund, which I refuse because our Wi-Fi IS demonstrably working and he has been in the room for hours. He asks what I can do for him since he probably won’t get any sleep tonight and will probably have to sleep in his car because apparently all his money is tied up in our hotel.

Me: “I’ll let the managers know about your issue, but for the reason I cited, I cannot give you a refund.”

He looks at me for a moment.

Guest: “We’ll see.”

Then, he left. That was a little ominous. It was not exactly a threat, either, but something I will definitely write in our logbook.

I work night audit for a hotel chain. We are sold out one night; I’m waiting on three people to arrive, and they’ve all called to say they are coming.

We have a plastic key container, and as people check in, we take the room keys from there.

A guest shows up wanting to check into a room. I know he’s not one of the three people I’m waiting for.

Me: *Politely* “I’m sorry, sir, but we’re sold out tonight.”

The guest then goes into the diatribe.

Guest: “I’m a [Guest Rewards Program] member! You are obligated to keep a room on standby just in case a member needs a room!”

Me: “Mr. [Guest], I can’t sell you what I don’t have.”

The guest then looks up, sees the key holder, and has the unmitigated gall and audacity to say:

Guest: “Since those people haven’t arrived yet, you can just give me their room, and they can find another place since I’m already here.”

Me: “Mr. [Guest], that’s not going to happen. They’ve made reservations already; you haven’t.”

Guest: “I’ve never been treated like this! [Rewards Program] members should come before others all the d*** time!“

Me: “Have a good night, Mr. [Guest]!”

I think that is the end, but nah. I get a call from the [Rewards Program] desk, asking for me specifically.

Instead of asking me what’s going on or trying to hear my side, the [Rewards Program] employee begins to attempt to chastise me about how important the program members are and how I need to go above and beyond, no matter the situation. I stayed quiet during her entire speech and then asked a question.

Me: “Ma’am, are you done?”

Employee: “I beg your pardon?”

Me: “My question was pretty clear. Are… you… done?”

I hear silence.

Me: “Good. Did Mr. [Guest] tell you that he didn’t have a reservation at this property and that he was told that we were sold out? Of course, he didn’t. Because if he had, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Did Mr. [Guest] tell you that he wanted me to cancel the reservation of one of the incoming guests so he could have a room? Of course, he didn’t. Because if he had, you and I wouldn’t be having this pointless conversation. We are still sold out, and he is not getting a room here. But instead of asking me what the issue was, you chose to try to scold a grown man like a child. So, with all of this being said, is there anything else that I can help you with? No? Then enjoy your evening.”

Click.

I felt pretty d*** good after that!