No Room at the Inn
What a lovely Valentine's Day my wife and I planned (this was seriously romantic to us): She flew to Atlanta, I to DC.
She picked up a new car and drove to get me, arriving at my hotel (or should I say FORMER hotel?) on Feb 13. Lovely.
On Valentine's day she was well rested, but violently ill. Our ETD for Colorado (28 hrs of road time from Warrenton, VA) was 4pm. It wasn't happening. I had arranged the usual 1pm checkout earlier in the day, but called the hotel from the client's shop at about 12:30.
"I'll have to check availability." I was told. "OK," I said, "Would you like my num"... She had hung up on me. I figured that must mean she already had my number. I kept working. I called my wife and checked: still vomiting. Hard to get off the floor much less pack. I called the front desk again at about 1:30. I was transferred to the MOD immediately. "You have to leave." He said. "The room is sold." I explained my wife's condition. I explained in detail that I get his situation, that we would rather stay and pay for another night or could indeed at least try to switch to another hotel, and even simply stay until perhaps 5PM? And also pay?
"If she doesn't get out, I am calling the police." I was tersely told.
"You do that." I said. "Have them meet me there.
I'll be there in fifteen minutes, and you, me, and the cops can pick my wife up off the bathroom floor and we'll see if they actually want to cuff her."
Mind you it was 1:30 PM. This hotel was "oversold". There are at least 200 rooms. There were 7 cars in the lot. I've been on the road long enough to know that there was probably a tour bus or two scheduled for later that night, but nobody explained that to me, nobody apologized, not one employee attempted to make any comforting move whatsoever to a repeat customer traveling with his (suddenly) sick wife and trying to balance a work schedule.
When I arrived at the hotel, I convinced the manager to refund my client's money, and apparently was so thorough in my debrief of the situation that he at one point insisted that my parents were never married.
My wife, for her part, managed to muster an insult she insists was coherent as she left the lobby. I wasn't present, but I wish she wouldn't do that. Insults are a high art form for me as some of you know, and I like to be invited.
When we arrived at the "other" hotel in town (HI Express, Warrenton VA rocks! Ask for Katrina.), we were warmly greeted by "Trina", who promptly sent someone to the grocery for crackers and ginger ale for my ailing wife, put us in a suite with a large bath for her, and brought ice and washcloths for her as if she were family. BRAVO. She recovered over the next 3 hrs and we got out of Dodge.
Yesterday I got the Customer Satisfaction Survey email for my stay... hehehe...
This was seriously among the worst customer service and communication I've ever seen, much less encountered as a customer. Think about that for a minute. One fewer loyalty card...
She picked up a new car and drove to get me, arriving at my hotel (or should I say FORMER hotel?) on Feb 13. Lovely.
On Valentine's day she was well rested, but violently ill. Our ETD for Colorado (28 hrs of road time from Warrenton, VA) was 4pm. It wasn't happening. I had arranged the usual 1pm checkout earlier in the day, but called the hotel from the client's shop at about 12:30.
"I'll have to check availability." I was told. "OK," I said, "Would you like my num
"If she doesn't get out, I am calling the police." I was tersely told.
"You do that." I said. "Have them meet me there.
I'll be there in fifteen minutes, and you, me, and the cops can pick my wife up off the bathroom floor and we'll see if they actually want to cuff her."
Mind you it was 1:30 PM. This hotel was "oversold". There are at least 200 rooms. There were 7 cars in the lot. I've been on the road long enough to know that there was probably a tour bus or two scheduled for later that night, but nobody explained that to me, nobody apologized, not one employee attempted to make any comforting move whatsoever to a repeat customer traveling with his (suddenly) sick wife and trying to balance a work schedule.
When I arrived at the hotel, I convinced the manager to refund my client's money, and apparently was so thorough in my debrief of the situation that he at one point insisted that my parents were never married.
My wife, for her part, managed to muster an insult she insists was coherent as she left the lobby. I wasn't present, but I wish she wouldn't do that. Insults are a high art form for me as some of you know, and I like to be invited.
When we arrived at the "other" hotel in town (HI Express, Warrenton VA rocks! Ask for Katrina.), we were warmly greeted by "Trina", who promptly sent someone to the grocery for crackers and ginger ale for my ailing wife, put us in a suite with a large bath for her, and brought ice and washcloths for her as if she were family. BRAVO. She recovered over the next 3 hrs and we got out of Dodge.
Yesterday I got the Customer Satisfaction Survey email for my stay... hehehe...
This was seriously among the worst customer service and communication I've ever seen, much less encountered as a customer. Think about that for a minute. One fewer loyalty card...
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