Unregistered
09-08-2008, 01:39 AM
I work at a hotel and our policy is that guests must check out by 11am. A few minutes before 11, I printed out a list of guests who were scheduled to check out but who hadn't left yet and I started calling their rooms. Usually, nobody answers because they're already gone and they didn't check out at the front desk. After I called the rooms, at around 11:15am or so, I started going around to the rooms and knocking on their doors. If nobody answers, then I unlock the door and look inside to see if there is any luggage or anything that would suggest that the guest is going to need the room for an additional night. If the room is vacant and dirty, I put it on the housekeepers' lists so that someone will clean it.
At this one particular room (I'll call it Room 666), when I knocked, there was no answer. When I tried to unlock the door, it was bolted from the inside. I went back down to the desk and called the room again. There was still no answer. It was almost noon by this time and so I extended Room 666's stay for one more night in the computer and authorized their credit card for one more night's stay (the card wasn't charged but a hold was put on it to ensure that there were sufficient funds available if we need to charge the card later). 666 is a jacuzzi suite, so between the room charges and tax, the hold was for about $200. Later, I went back upstairs and knocked on 666's door again and this time, a petite black woman answered (she was puffy-eyed and looked a little disheveled like I had just woken her up). I politely explained to her that the hotel's checkout time was at 11am and I asked if she wanted to stay another night. She said that she would be leaving in a few minutes and asked if the breakfast bar was still open. I told her that the breakfast bar was closed but there was some coffee and tea available in the lobby. I went back up to the front desk. A little while later, I saw her and a man (who I later found out was her husband) leaving through the back door on the hotel's security camera. I checked them out of the computer and put their room on the housekeepers' list. I could have charged her $50 for staying past the checkout time, but I didn’t.
A couple of hours later, the woman's husband called demanding to know why a hold had been placed on their card (apparently, it was a debit card) and I explained that because a.) they had stayed past the checkout time and b.) they wouldn't answer their phone or their door, I extended their stay for one night in the computer. I also told him that the hold would expire in 24 hours and that the card had not been charged. He kept repeating: "You're not listening to me! You're not listening to me!" and claiming that the card had been charged. I kept trying to tell him that the card had not been charged, but he was talking over me the whole time and he wouldn't listen to me. Finally, after about 20 minutes of this, he hung up. I should have hung up on him after about 5 minutes.
About an hour later, he and his wife pulled up in front of the hotel and could tell by the way that he stomped into the lobby that he was pissed. I tried to explain to him again why the hold had been placed on his card but he still wouldn't listen to me. He was also a lot larger that I am and he kept trying to loom over me and intimidate me with his size. He demanded that I give him my first and last name and the first and last name of the girl who checked him in. I gave him our first names and told him that for security reasons, I couldn't give out our last names. He started asking for other personal information (our phone numbers, etc.) and again, I told him that I couldn't give him this information. This really set him off and he got louder and louder and angrier and angrier. (To his wife's credit, she just sat silently on the sofa in our lobby and looked really embarrassed by her husband's behavior….) Then, he started trying to play the race card (because the clerk and I who checked him in were white girls) until my manager (who is a Hispanic man) showed up. When he finally had to deal with a male employee who was as big as he was, he lowered his voice and started acting a lot more polite. My manger told him exactly what I had been telling him all day – that the card hadn't been charged and that this situation was basically his own fault for not contacting the front desk about whether he was going to check out or not. The man then started demanding freebees ("I want a refund for my stay last night!" "This refund had better be taken out of their (meaning the other clerk and I) paychecks!" "I want to be refunded for the money I spent on gas driving down here!" and so on). My manager turned him down on everything and offered to fax a form over to the bank to have the hold removed ASAP. My manager went back into his office to find the forms. Then the man asked me for the 800 number to corporate headquarters so that he could complain. He called them and started telling all sorts of lies about how unfairly he was being treated, how rude everyone was and he made sure to mention my name and the other clerk's name several times. He also lied and said I had given him the wrong number to call and that the hotel had committed identity theft by falsely charging his card (as I tried to explain to him over and over again, the card was never charged). My manager came back from his office to report that the hold had been removed and so the man and his wife finally left.
This whole situation could have been avoided if they checked out when they were supposed to. Even if they had answered the phone or the door the first time, then none of this would have happened.
At this one particular room (I'll call it Room 666), when I knocked, there was no answer. When I tried to unlock the door, it was bolted from the inside. I went back down to the desk and called the room again. There was still no answer. It was almost noon by this time and so I extended Room 666's stay for one more night in the computer and authorized their credit card for one more night's stay (the card wasn't charged but a hold was put on it to ensure that there were sufficient funds available if we need to charge the card later). 666 is a jacuzzi suite, so between the room charges and tax, the hold was for about $200. Later, I went back upstairs and knocked on 666's door again and this time, a petite black woman answered (she was puffy-eyed and looked a little disheveled like I had just woken her up). I politely explained to her that the hotel's checkout time was at 11am and I asked if she wanted to stay another night. She said that she would be leaving in a few minutes and asked if the breakfast bar was still open. I told her that the breakfast bar was closed but there was some coffee and tea available in the lobby. I went back up to the front desk. A little while later, I saw her and a man (who I later found out was her husband) leaving through the back door on the hotel's security camera. I checked them out of the computer and put their room on the housekeepers' list. I could have charged her $50 for staying past the checkout time, but I didn’t.
A couple of hours later, the woman's husband called demanding to know why a hold had been placed on their card (apparently, it was a debit card) and I explained that because a.) they had stayed past the checkout time and b.) they wouldn't answer their phone or their door, I extended their stay for one night in the computer. I also told him that the hold would expire in 24 hours and that the card had not been charged. He kept repeating: "You're not listening to me! You're not listening to me!" and claiming that the card had been charged. I kept trying to tell him that the card had not been charged, but he was talking over me the whole time and he wouldn't listen to me. Finally, after about 20 minutes of this, he hung up. I should have hung up on him after about 5 minutes.
About an hour later, he and his wife pulled up in front of the hotel and could tell by the way that he stomped into the lobby that he was pissed. I tried to explain to him again why the hold had been placed on his card but he still wouldn't listen to me. He was also a lot larger that I am and he kept trying to loom over me and intimidate me with his size. He demanded that I give him my first and last name and the first and last name of the girl who checked him in. I gave him our first names and told him that for security reasons, I couldn't give out our last names. He started asking for other personal information (our phone numbers, etc.) and again, I told him that I couldn't give him this information. This really set him off and he got louder and louder and angrier and angrier. (To his wife's credit, she just sat silently on the sofa in our lobby and looked really embarrassed by her husband's behavior….) Then, he started trying to play the race card (because the clerk and I who checked him in were white girls) until my manager (who is a Hispanic man) showed up. When he finally had to deal with a male employee who was as big as he was, he lowered his voice and started acting a lot more polite. My manger told him exactly what I had been telling him all day – that the card hadn't been charged and that this situation was basically his own fault for not contacting the front desk about whether he was going to check out or not. The man then started demanding freebees ("I want a refund for my stay last night!" "This refund had better be taken out of their (meaning the other clerk and I) paychecks!" "I want to be refunded for the money I spent on gas driving down here!" and so on). My manager turned him down on everything and offered to fax a form over to the bank to have the hold removed ASAP. My manager went back into his office to find the forms. Then the man asked me for the 800 number to corporate headquarters so that he could complain. He called them and started telling all sorts of lies about how unfairly he was being treated, how rude everyone was and he made sure to mention my name and the other clerk's name several times. He also lied and said I had given him the wrong number to call and that the hotel had committed identity theft by falsely charging his card (as I tried to explain to him over and over again, the card was never charged). My manager came back from his office to report that the hold had been removed and so the man and his wife finally left.
This whole situation could have been avoided if they checked out when they were supposed to. Even if they had answered the phone or the door the first time, then none of this would have happened.