Writing in anger…
I have learned over the years that especially when at work I should never answer an email when I am angry… I should probably apply that same wisdom to blogging, but the fact is I am ticked off!
Tonight was a very late night to begin with and due to the number of towns I am going to be in tomorrow I needed a head start on the day so I went ahead and made a hotel reservation knowing I would not get into the hotel until pretty late. Well once I got to town I pulled into the hotel went in and told the clerk I had a reservation, he checked me in and went to my comfortable room and settled in. Once I got comfortable I popped open the laptop and logged into my email, I noticed my hotel confirmation in the inbox and didn’t think much about it. Well after reading a couple of other emails I noticed that the reservation I made was at Comfort Suites, I however was checked into a Sleep Inn and Suites. As it happens these two hotels are right next to each other literally sharing the same driveway. I called the front desk at that point because I was a little confused, he had my reservation after all… I asked the clerk if I really had a reservation to which he replied ummm… No, I expressed that I wished he had told me that when I was checking in and explained that I actually had a reservation next door. I assumed this would not be much of a problem as both hotels are part of the Choice Hotels chain which I stay at frequently. I call over to the Comfort Suites and tell them I made a mistake and checked in next door, could you please cancel my reservation, I explained that I knew it was late but at least I am at part of the same hotel family. The clerk replied that she could not do that, I could take my chances calling the Manager in the morning but that I would probably end up paying for the room. I expressed that I was not pleased by that but that I would be there in a few minutes. I took a few moments gathered my things and checked out of the Sleep Inn and Suites. The clerk was very apologetic and explained that since I had stayed at his hotel before he assumed the reservation just didn’t go through. I appreciated his apology and his demeanor went a long way toward making me less irritated. After loading up my car and driving a few hundred feet and hauling my stuff into the new hotel I had pretty good head of steam and I am sure my shaved head was a pleasant shade of red. Here was where the train went off the tracks — while checking in I told the clerk that I felt it would have been basic customer service to cancel the initial reservation since I was at a hotel in the same chain, she just once again explained that she could not do that and then she paused and said “your not going to like this either”. The desk clerk then went on to explain that when she rebooked my room that the rate had gone up, at that point I actually heard a little bell go ding as my blood pressure peaked. I asked why it would be necessary to ‘rebook’ my room since we all knew I had a reservation, and I pointed out that I had even been so kind to include a note with the reservation letting them know I would not be checking in until after midnight. The clerk said that she would leave a note for the manager and that she thought they would be able to fix the rate. At this point I signed my folio, declined to initial by the rate because I felt that was simply ridiculous, went to my room and began to type this post.
When it’s all said and done I would have settled down pretty easily regarding the issue of having to move hotels, (After all I did check into the wrong hotel) but after making me switch hotels and then the way the clerk informed me that my rate had gone up took a moment which could have made me very loyal to the Choice Hotels but instead made me move onto another chain as my primary hotel.
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