5 Bizarre Types of Guest Complaints in a Hotel That’ll Make You Speechless
Not all hoteliers will have a smooth working day! Customer complaints are almost inevitable.
In training, hoteliers are taught to follow SOPs and methods to deal with guest complaints in hotels.
Speak calmly, show step by step, explain clearly, so on and so forth.
They are also usually more than happy to help the guests as best as they can to find the best solution and solve the problem.
But what do you do when hotel guests have the most bizarre complaints that you are not prepared for?
We reveal 5 bizarre types of guest complains in a hotel that will leave you speechless.
These bizarre accounts are excerpts from our Hotel Tales series now available for purchase in paperback and e-books. Follow our social media account to learn more on great deals and offers
COMPLAINT #1 : FAULTY SAFE AND MALFUNCTION MICROWAVE
There was a guest complaint about a faulty safe and a digital malfunctioned microwave.
As the staff informed the Head of Security, he called the maintenance to unlock the safe and called for a new microwave to replace the old unit.
The new unit of microwave arrived. HoS then taught the guest how to use the microwave. “Sir, please watch me”. Teaching the guest to press 30 seconds to warm the bread. The old microwave was then wheeled away.
The SAFE was now unlocked. They found 6 tasty looking buns, and couldn’t find any passport and money. The guest pointed to the bun which came out from the safe ..”Is no good” … and “Not Hot”.
Realising this.. now the maintenance staff knew what the problem was – they called for the maintenance staff, and immediately, the passport and money was returned.
A case of guest malfunctioned perhaps? 😊
COMPLAINT #2 : NO SUCH PERSON?!
A visitor came to look for a guest by the name of Siti Aishah. The front office searched thoroughly for the guest name in the registration system, but could not find any name that matches.
“There’s no such person sir.. Perhaps I spelled the name wrongly, can you write it down please?”
The visitor wrote it down. The front office searched again. Unfortunately, there was no such person again. “So sorry sir, but there’s really no one here by this name”
He became annoyed “How can a 5-star hotel not be able to locate a guest”. But the front office confirmed again, there was no such person.
“She is here.. definitely. This is ridiculous!”
“How can a prestigious hotel like Shangri-La not able to locate a guest?” he shouted and slammed the counter top.
Front office personnel remained calm, leaned forward with replied softly…
“Sir, this is Hilton”
COMPLAINT #3 : “I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER”
This was back in 1990s. An angry guest stormed through the glass doors of a 5-star hotel. “I want to see the Manager”, creating a commotion at the lobby.
Manager came forward. “How can I help you sir?”
Apparently, the American guest was stopped by the police for not wearing a safety belt in his rented car.
He complained about police having double standards – and that they did not stopped locals, except foreigners like him.
Hotel Manager on duty probed further to assist, “Let me see what we can do..what’s your room number Mister…?”
Guest replied, “I’m not staying here”
So weird.. the Hotel Manager thought to himself “Then why are you complaining to me….”.
Of course, he still managed to politely reply, “Sir, I’m so sorry, but we can only act on behalf of our OWN hotel guest”
Clearly, the American guest stormed out again, cursing the hotel for its’ lousy customer service.
COMPLAINT #4 : “I WANT A ROOM WITH BALCONY!”
A beefy man checked in to the hotel. Throwing his credit card and tossed it into the front desk counter.
“I want a room with balcony!!”
Now, this was tricky.. the hotel with 700 rooms offered many forms of comfort and amenities. But the hotel was never built with balconies attached to the rooms.
The front office staff tried to convey this message. However, the guest obviously could not accept this explanation.
“I need the room with balcony!”
“I’ve stayed here before”
“Don’t try to tell me lies”
A Duty Manager came to the rescue, calmed him down. Finally, the guest agreed to check-in, but still insist the hotel staff were lying till the day he check-out.
The Manager was puzzled.. what benefit would it give to hide a balcony from the guest?
COMPLAINT #5 : LEAKING PIPES
A hotel guest complained that a pipe had burst in their bathroom.
The Maintenance supervisor quickly rushed over to check. After examining, the bathroom was indeed flooded. He went to get a vacuum immediately to help clear up the flooded bathroom.
He returned with the vacuum, but was refused entry. She gave an excuse that her son is sleeping.
She continued to complain about every single thing. It also turn out that she was a difficult guest.
The supervisor decided to check the pipes while they were out. There was no burst pipe nor clogged drain.
The supervisor realised that the ‘leaking pipes’ were due to the guest’s son playing in the bath tub, splashing and shooting water out of the bathroom.
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