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Some people think paying for a hotel room means they can say whatever they want to the staff.
That’s what this hotel front desk employee found out during an overnight shift when a guest called to report a problem with the smoke detector in his room.
At first, the problem seemed easy enough to fix. He would simply replace the battery and it should be good.
But sometimes, things don’t work out that easily.
The guest called back a few minutes later, and from there, the situation only went downhill.
Before the night was over, a beeping smoke detector had somehow turned into a lecture about customer service and a threat to get someone fired.
Read on for the full story.
My Customer Service isn’t to Your Satisfaction? By All Means, Please Lecture Me About How I Can Improve.
I work for a smaller national boutique hotel chain in a major city on the west coast of the US. I’ve been a night auditor for about 2 and a half years combined, but have worked all shifts at the FD.
I like to think I have very good customer service, but have been told that I can be a bit curt with problem guests. Not in a explicitly rude way, but in a “you are nothing to me, but a paycheck” way, if that makes sense.
Anyway, I started my night audit shift as usual at 11pm. It’s a practically sold-out night, due to several events in the city, including a major pop star concert.
The night is fairly uneventful, other than about 20 calls asking if we have a room available for under $100. Also they don’t have ID and only carry cash. Typical.
At first, he thought it was a simple fix.
Anyways, around 3:30am, I receive a call from the guest in room 672 (room number is changed, does not even exist at my hotel.). Before he even tells me what is going on, he asks who he is speaking with.
I sometimes forget to give my name when I answer in-house calls, so I usually just identify my self as the front desk. But whatever, I give it to him and ask how I can help.
He informs me that his fire alarm is going off.
I ask some clarifying questions, and find out that it’s just his smoke detector giving low battery. I run a battery up to the room, he hands me the smoke detector, and I replace it. Easy peasy, right? Of course not, that would make sense.
But then, the guy called again.
He calls down again a couple minutes later and tells me that the alarm is still beeping. Not too uncommon since we buy batteries in bulk and occasionally get duds, but I want to make sure it isn’t an issue with the actual sensor.
I ask him if the alarm is beeping in a constant pattern of 3 loud beeps and then a pause, or if it was a slight chirp every 30 seconds or so.
His response? “If you think I can tell the time between these beeps at 3:45 in the morning, then you are very mistaken.”
Okay, show of hands, who thought I expected an exact answer to my question?
Apparently, the guest didn’t like his response.
Regardless, I apologize for the inconvenience, say I understand his frustration, but request that he not be rude when I am simply trying to help him.
Well, apparently that was the incorrect thing to say.
His voice begins to raise, and he says I have no right to call him rude at 3:45 in the morning, as I am paid to assist him.
Well, I don’t stand for people raising their voices with me, so I say I will bring him another battery and hang up. Unfortunately, because the phone and the receiver are both plastic, it always sounds like I’m slamming the phone down.
Here’s where everything go worse.
Regardless, I grab another battery and head up to the room. When I get there, the detector is laying on the floor outside the room. I shrug and replace the battery, and knock on the door, identifying myself as the FD.
He opens the door, grabs the detector, but then comes outside and shuts the door. He then begins to lecture me for about 5 minutes on how abysmal my customer service is and how I must not like my job since he’s going to get me fired.
Oh well, nothing I haven’t heard before, water off the duck’s back, et cetera, et cetera. But one quote that always makes my blood boil is, “You are paid to do what I say. I can say whatever I want to you.”
Yeah, okay. I give my standard response to that sort of thing, “You are entitled to your opinions.” And walk away.
Unfortunately, the guest is there for another three nights.
Also he tried to claim that he could smell Carbon Monoxide (which he said smelled like gasoline) in his room.
Even on low battery, the detector would be going off if that were the case. I also could not smell anything, but even if I could, it still doesn’t make sense. Carbon Monoxide is odorless… that’s why we need sensors.
I sent a brief text to my FOM and typed up a more detailed report on the pass down log, and that’s the end of it… for now. I’m apparently stuck with this guy for another 3 nights, ugh!
Well that’s it. Just another entitled guest who thinks by paying for a room, he also gets to abuse the staff. Sorry buddy, not tonight.
Yikes! Entitled people are always the worst.
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Let’s see if the readers over at Reddit have ever encountered something similar.
Yes, it’s just like that.
For this front desk worker, the problems were always about money.
Here’s someone who treats others how they are treated.
According to this comment, Kevins are worse than Karens.
It’s always interesting when someone demands respect while showing none in return.
The smoke detector issue was annoying, but those things happen. The employee replaced the battery and tried to figure out what was going on.
Instead of working with him, the guest decided to make the situation personal.
That’s usually the point where a simple problem turns into an unnecessary confrontation. And that’s just what we saw here.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a hotel guest who complained about noise from an event, then reported the employee who agreed with him.