#hotel work

Me going feral and moving to Ireland can you imagine

Sorry for the late response! But oh boy do I have a story (and yeah I’m currently looking for a new job because tbh I haven’t been this unhealthy and miserable since I lived in ontario)

SO my manager is on vacation, which honestly she needs it because she’s been running herself ragged, that’s not in itself directly the problem.

But the thing is we have a number of regular guests at my hotel that come in for work that have set negotiated prices they worked out directly with my manager, one guest in particular is a well-known for being particular about details he likes to play mind games with all the staff. He’s more than kind of a Karen to paint a good picture for yall. He’s very particular about his room pricing, because he’s a diamond level wyndham member. Him and my manager had a rate of $80 worked out for his special room even before covid hit, the condition was he would book through us instead of third party with this price so he got a good price and we didn’t have to pay commission on top of it. Seems reasonable enough, we do that with a number of specific guests. Well right before my manager left for her vacation she ordered us to change his rate from $80 to $90 right before his next stay. Didn’t call him to let him know, and didn’t leave us a reason to give him when he would check in. And it’s not like she didn’t know he would put up a fuss, we’ve run into this problem with him before, he always demands to talk one-on-one with the manager whenever details with his reservation are changed, and he’s known for giving staff a hard time in general.

So naturally, my coworker checks him in right before my shift, and he raises a stink over it (this unfortunate coworker is new to front desk and hadn’t had to deal with him before, poor thing) but he has to go eat right after so she only had to deal with hi for about 20 minutes or so. Then comes my shift. I must have spent at least half my shift on-and-off arguing with this guy about the rate change, talking out of my ass on any theory I can come up with on why his rate was changed and apologizing for the situation, and naturally he’s pissed he can’t talk to the manager so he’s taking it out on me.

His usual threat is that he’ll start booking third party again to make us pay commission, but not this time. He threatens to switch hotels for the rest of the season (which is slow season already for us and we’re looking at the reality that people are gunna get laid off again as it is). So I make a judgement call, negotiating with guests is a part of the job, so I change his rate back to $80 because it’ll cost us more in the long run to lose a regular during this season than it will to just give him the price he wants. Plus my attitude is that if my manager wants his rate up so bad she should have AT LEAST left us a verifiable reason or argument in our Communication Book to present to him before she left instead of throwing us to the wolves.  So I write in the communication book what went down, that I changed his rate back, and why I did it. Keep in mind this book is commonly used for passive-aggressive messages,  and dumb page-long rants over minor mistakes between staff which is another reason why I hate it here. So I come into work the next day to see if there’s anything important I need to know about in the communication book for my shift (which is standard practice), and there’s a reply to my note from the morning shift person (who’s never had to check this guy in even once as far as I’m aware). She wrote in the margin beside my note “oHhHH [Mangers Name] iS GUnNa LovE yOU WhEN sHE ComEs bACk aND fINDs ouT YoU DIsobEYED A dIREct oRDEr”

And honestly, with the almost non-stop verbal assualt from guests since covid hit, and my physical and mental health going downhill from the irregular overnight shifts, the stress from financial problems I’ve run into from having my hours cut without warning the past month, it’s like I could almost hear a cracking noise in my brain from that stupid comment. I almost walked out right then and there. So I’ve decided I need to find a new job before I end up strangling a customer or a coworker. It’s cool when you get the random super cool customer that tips you with a joint but it don’t make up for this non-stop crap.

Me: I’m sorry sir, rates are not by brand but by location, time of year, availability and what sort of room you are booking. Our rates tonight with taxes are 110.26 for a king bed before security deposit.

Man: Yes but theirs are 53 tonight!

Me: Yes I can see that it looks like they are 53 tonight before taxes, but that is not our rate. 

Man: But you are the same brand!

Me: Yes sir, we are, but we are not the same property. We are in downtown of a much larger city than their property, and that 53 rate is for their small 1 queen rooms. We do not have single queen rooms here, only kings, 2 queens and a selection of suites. We also have different taxes than them because we are in different states.

Man: This is bullshit! I am calling corporate! [leaves cursing loudly]