Take Today’s Rates Or March On Out Of Here

A guest comes into our hotel on the evening of March 12, and I recognize his name right away. I checked him in for a two-night stay from March 9 to March 11. I didn’t have any issues with him. He was just a normal guy, save for the way he spoke quickly and didn’t enunciate clearly, which was frustrating because I had to keep asking him to repeat himself.

He wants a room for another two nights. Okay, no problem.

Guest: “Oh, and can you price match my last stay so I’m paying the same amount for this one?”

I am taken aback. We don’t price-match previous stays. That’s just such an outlandish idea. It makes zero sense. We have people with special negotiated rates because they stay so often, but we have never price-matched previous stays.

Me: “Uh, no, our rates change from night to night. I can’t change the price to match the one you previously got on another day.”

Guest: “Well, the lady who checked me in last time said that they’d be able to price-match that rate for my future stays.”

Me: “I was that lady who checked you in last time. And I did not say that.”

Guest: “Well, I spoke to the manager the next morning, and they told me that I could keep that rate for future stays since I stay here so often.”

To be clear, this guy has stayed at the hotel ONCE — only from March 9 to March 11. There is no other record of him ever staying here before that. And there is no negotiated rate for him because he doesn’t stay here often.

Me: “There is no negotiated rate listed for you. Since you have AAA, I can add that to your reservation, but nothing else. The price would be $73 plus tax per night, which would come out to about $78.38 total per night.”

I can’t remember the exact number now.

(AAA is the American Automobile Association; they provide insurance, roadside assistance, and other benefits to their members.)

Guest: “Well, last time, the rate was $72 per night with tax included in it.”

Me: “No, that would not be correct.”

Guest: “Yes, it was $72 with all taxes included.”

As if I couldn’t look up his last folio and see what the rate was! A pro tip: don’t try to scam someone who has hard evidence contrary to your lies.

I look up his last folio, print it out, and highlight the room rate for each night plus the applicable taxes under each. I explain it to him very clearly, saying that the rate was $72.90 before the taxes, which are listed below the room charge.

And the guest still has the gall to tell me that the $72.90 is with taxes included. I point at the tax lines and say no.

Guest: *Mumbling* “Well then, somebody lied to me.”

Me: “I can give you the AAA rate, and that’s it. Take it or leave it.”

And he took it. And I put him in a room that was right across from the elevator AND the ice machine. Good luck getting any sleep, a**hole.

I warned my coworker about him and put it in my recap email, as well, so that everyone would be aware in case he tried that on someone else.

Don’t try to scam the person who checked you in last time. You’re likely to fail and get yourself put somewhere that’s not exactly desirable.