I work in a hotel. The other day, a girl stayed here, smoked in a nonsmoking room, and left a bunch of drug baggies in the toilet. Obviously, her card declined for the smoking fee because they always do.

She came by the next day, and the first thing I noticed about her was the terrible wig she was wearing. It was so bad it was distracting. It was like the Rachel haircut from “Friends,” but completely straight and black and purple.

But that’s not the point. She said she’d left a very expensive wig in her room. We didn’t find it, so she asked to check herself, she asked for them to go check again, and then she asked me to check. Eventually, I did, and there was no wig.

After that, we figured we were done with her because, after the condition she’d left her room in, she was on the do-not-rent list. Then, today as the head housekeeper was checking to see what rooms were done, she was surprised to find someone in a room that had been checked out of hours before. That someone was none other than the woman with the wig. She claimed to be there because her friends were staying at the hotel, though she didn’t say why she was occupying a vacant room.

For some reason, she was not smart enough to leave immediately when the head housekeeper found her, because she was still up there. The boss told her off and got her out of the room.

Back at the desk, he checked the cameras to see where she went after he kicked her out and saw her walk a couple of doors down the hall to another room. He went to kick her out of there, too. While he was on his way to the room, I watched on the camera as she went back to the first room he’d bounced her from — and apparently hadn’t completely closed the door of — and then go back to the new room.

I couldn’t hear them, but apparently, as he threw her out, she accused him of being the rudest person she’d ever met, as well as a pedophile. Then, she told him to go back to his country, so he’s now got three punches on his “Go Back To Your Country” card, which is fun. His country is New Jersey, by the way.

I was working as a receptionist and office admin for a company in London. It was my first proper job, so I wasn’t as witty or quick with my replies as I am now. It’s coming to the end of the day and my boss — the Head of IT and Office Manager — has just left for the day and this call comes in. It’s a condescending sounding guy from an IT sales company asking to speak to my boss.

Me: “He has just left for the day.”

Caller: *A bit irritate* “Well, I know [Boss], and I could just call his mobile, so just put me through to him.”

Me: “I can’t do that. He is no longer on the premises. If you have his mobile, then feel free to call him directly. Otherwise, I’m happy to take a message and ask him to call you back tomorrow.”

Caller: *Getting pissed* “I don’t want to leave a message with a woman; you wouldn’t understand the technical wording. So, don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. Put me through to a man now!”

This is the point where I should have said, “Yeah, no. Bye,” or just hung up, but being young and having no confidence, I kind of froze, said, “Yeah,” and passed the phone to my colleague, who told the guy to sod off.

There is a happy ending, though. We told our boss the next day, and he rang the guy and essentially slaughtered him verbally down the phone while we got to listen. One of the best bosses I’ve had!

I’m working the desk at a hotel and a mom brings her hysterically crying ten- to twelve-year-old daughter to the desk.

Mom: “Tell her what you did.”

Daughter: *Between sobs* “I jumped up in the hallway and slapped the exit sign and it fell down.”

Mom: “My daughter’s going to pay to replace it. I want her to learn from her actions and take responsibility for it.”

I know it’s in our hotel nature to say it’s okay or no problem, but I know this is important to her mom.

Me: *To the daughter* “Thank you for coming and telling me what you did. Why did you choose do that?”

Daughter: “I thought it would be fun. I never thought it would fall off!”

Me: “Will you ever do that again?”

Daughter: “No, never. I’m so sorry.”

Me: “Let’s go check out the sign. If there is a fire, then guests may not be able to see where the exit was without it, and it could be very dangerous.”

The three of us go to the hallway. Upon inspecting the sign, it isn’t broken at all. I am able to put it back up and it works perfectly.

Me: “Luckily, there was no damage, so there is no cost you have to pay to replace it. I’m proud of you for taking responsibility for what you did.”

Mom: “I’m proud of you, too.”

We often deal with such negativity and naughty adults and children on the job. I was so happy that a child owned up to her mistake — with a firm nudge from mom — and that there was no harm to the hotel.

This story is part of our end-of-year Feel Good roundup for 2021!

Read the next Feel Good 2021 story!

Read the Feel Good 2021 roundup!

I work front desk at a relatively big apartment complex which has some owners and companies doing [Online Vacation Rental Company] rentals in some of the units.

A lot of the property owners hate these units, as a lot of them are not vetted properly and just book a room to party for a night and trash the place; it’s cheaper to do so compared to a hotel room. Luckily, my job does not require me to provide any service to [Rental Company] guests, as we’re only paid to look after the building and the tenants.

One day, there’s this group of six to ten women who have booked a two-bedroom apartment for a hen’s night. They come into the lobby.

Guest #1: “Hi there, we are checking in. Here are the papers.”

Me: “Hi there, I assume you’re a [Rental Company] apartment? In that case, we don’t handle keys or the check in process for your apartment.”

Guest #2: “It says here that we need to collect keys from you.”

Me: *Reading the instructions* “Hi there. It says here that you go pick up keys from the locker down the street.”

Guest #2: “Oh, my God. Why is check-in at this place so difficult?”

Me: “Unfortunately, this place is not a hotel, so we do not handle [Rental Company] guests.”

The guests groans and eventually leave to get their keys.

Later that night, one of the women phones the intercom.

Guest #3: “Excuse me, bucket of ice to our room, please. Thanks.” *Hangs up*

Me: *Calling back* “Hi there. We do not provide that service here. If you require ice, look in the freezer in your fridge or go to the convenience shop across the road.”

Guest #3: “There is not enough ice here. Can you go fetch us some from the shop, then? Thanks.”

Me: “No, I cannot. As I said, we do not provide these services.”

Guest #3: “Well, that’s a rude shock. Can you go get us extra towels for the room ASAP?”

Me: “Please ask your [Rental Company] host.”

Guest #3: “Do you do anything? Do you even know the Wi-Fi password?”

Me: “Please ask your [Rental Company] host.”

Guest #3: “Honestly shocking service.  We’ll never be staying here again and will be leaving you a really bad review.”

Me: “As I mentioned before, this place is not a hotel. You have booked an [Rental Company] apartment, so anything you require should be communicated to your host.”

Guest #3: “TERRIBLE SERVICE!”

I work at the front desk in a hotel, and I answer the phone.

Guest: “Do you have a shuttle from the airport?”

Me: “No, ma’am.”

Guest: “So, you mean to tell me I have to find my own way there? That’s ridiculous!”

Me: “I do apologize, ma’am. Our shuttle only goes into the historic district.”

Guest: “Okay, well, I’ll be waiting for it to pick me up at the airport.”

Me: “Ma’am, it only travels to the historic district. It’s $6 per person, and it’s for the day, round-trip, as many times as you like.”

Guest: “Okay, so he can come get me. I’ll pay the $6.”

Me: “The driver cannot and will not do that; the shuttle runs on a strict schedule and he is only authorized one route. The airport is twenty minutes from us. You can get a taxi, [Ride Share #1], or [Ride Share #2].”

She was not happy about that.