DEALING WITH GUEST COMPLAINTS

1. DEALING WITH GUEST COMPLAINTS

2. Guest complaints can be classified into 4 kinds : complaint about equipment , complaint about service attitude , complaint about hotel service quality , and complaint about unexpected events . • The epuipment can include air-conditioner , illumination , water supply , power supply , furniture , elevator and so on . Dealing with these complaints , the best way for the receptionists in the front office is first to investigate on the spot , then to take measures according to the concrete situation . After that , the receptionist should telephone the guest to make sure if the guest is satisfied .

3. The complaints about service attitude generally focus on the following : rude language , irresponsible reply , icy manner , indifferent manner , or over-enthusiasm and so on . Because the service and guests are the groups with respective characters , the complaints happen very easily . Such cases include that attendant dose not follow the principle of “ first come , first served” in serving the guest , distributes the wrong room , not delivering the mails to guests in time , not carrying the luggage for guests , and not giving morning call on time , etc . All these will lead to guest complaints about the hotel service quality , particularly during the busy time . So the best way to reduce complaints is to reinforce the training on service clerks . It’s necessary to train them in establishing a correct attitude to the guest , enriching their knowledge and improving their skills in guest relations .

4. Such cases as the hotel cannot help guest buy air ticket or train ticket, the flight is not on time because of the weather, or the rooms is sold out, all belong to unexpected events, about which guests may complain. It’s difficult for the hotel to handle such complaints, but guests hope that the hotel can help them to solve the problems. The receptionists should try their best to help solve the problems. If they cannot, they should explain it clearly to the guests. Most guests can understand completely, as long as the servers are showing good sense. • Therefore, the methods on handling those complaints should be like this: the runners of the hotels should do research on the customers’ basic demands, and find out the aspects that are likely to lead to guest complaints. Only by analyzing the common problems carefully, and taking measures in advance, can the hotel ensure high quality service and reduce guests complains.

5. The three basic rules, which the receptionists of front office should obey which coping with guest complaints, are: • Help guests to solve problems sincerely. • Do not dispute with guests. • Do not damage the hotel’s interest. • See the following example: • G: Excuse me, I… I have… • Excuse me, I… I… have… • Excuse me… • A: What! (Interrupted in a sudden) • G: Excuse me, I have a complaint, I’ve been standing here for 5 minutes, trying to get someone to talk to me about my bill. I can’t get anyone to even listen. What kind of hotel you’re running here, anyway? That! You ruin my day. I don’t have to put up with this. I demand some satisfaction and If I don’t get it, I’m never gonna stay in this hotel again and I’m gonna tell all friends what a rotten operation you’re got going here. All right, which one of you is next?

6. Whether it’s a small country inn or a large high-rise hotel , lodging properties across the country take pride in basically the same thing ----giving quality service to each and every guest . However, no matter how an operation is run , at home point , a guest will relate some disappointment or will have a problem with someone or something . When this happens at the front desk, one of the most critical parts of your job comes into play ---handling guest complaints . Most people don’t enjoy making complaints . Being on the receiving end is no fun either . But handling complaints correctly produces a smoother , more efficient operation for the entire property . It’s an important part of your hotel’s marketing efforts , because it affents repeat business and positive word of mouth advertising . It contributes significantly to the satisfaction of your guests , and it is a good way to make your job a lot easier and more satisfying

7. This part on the front office will show you ways to deal successfully with many types of complaints. We will demonstrate techniques, which will help you resolve the vast majority of complaints, both to your guest’s and to your hotel’s satisfaction. We’ll explore the unusual situation where the guest’s reason for complaining is not readily apparent. Finally we’ll show you how being calm and rational yourself can diffuse a potentially serious situation involving emirate guest.

8. Hospitality involves serving a constantly changing, always diverse group of people with varying needs and expectations. While a property must do its very best to fulfill the needs and expectations of every guest, it’s not possible to please everyone all of the time. So even though your primary to handle the guest who is displeased. You find the reasons for complaints are as varied as the guests themselves. • A room is ready for a guest who wants to check in. Air-conditioners, showers or televisions don’t work, or duty room service trays are left in the hallways. Guests might complain about waiting in line, broken vending machines, or even the weather. As you can see, problems that provoke complaints are often beyond the control of the front office. Nevertheless, the front office is normally where the guest will go to complain, either in person or over the telephone.

9. “Front office people are really seen as an extension of management, and for most people are really their only exposure to the hotel and hotel management. They’ve dealt with front office. They have relationship there. They’ve been helped in the past when they checked in. They’ve confident that office, the front office, can help them, so they return to the front office if they have problems.” • As we said earlier, it’s no gun receiving complaints, and it may be natural to react negatively to them. Negative reaction can include: taking down to the guest , being defensive , blaming another employee or department , blaming the guest and arguing back .

10. A: Front desk. • G: I am in room 105 and the heat doesn’t seem to be working. • A: Oh, don’t worry about it, dear. Someone will take care of it. There is no need to be alarmed. Have a pleasant day. • Don’t talk down to the guest. It’s totally inappropriate in an industry which prides itself on hospitality. Some guest finds it difficult to complaint. You shouldn’t do anything to make them wish they hadn’t done so.

11. Situation 1 • A: Yes. • G: Yeah, my room isn’t cleaned yet today. • A: Well, I wasn’t supposed to clean it. • Situation 2 • A: Yes. • G: Someone left this luggage in my room. • A: Oh, it’s not my luggage. • G: What?

12. Situation 3 • A: Yes. • G: There is no hot water in my room. • A: But I don’t use it at all. It’s not my fault. • Don’t take complaints personally. After all, the guest is doing the hotel a service by pointing out the problem. It’s one way a property can get the feedback it needs to be even better. So don’t take it as a personal attack on you. • G: Excuse me, I am in room 102. it’s 5:30. No one comes to clean my room. • A: What! Just a second. Yeah, housekeeping? Hey, I got a guest in room 102, her room hasn’t been make up yet. What’s matter with your guys? Yeah, we’ll get out of it, do it now! • G: It’s great. • Don’t blame another employee or department. Notifying the department which can solve the problem is an important part in handing a guest complaint. However blaming that department, especially in front of the guest, is counter-productive and can create a poor image for the hotel.

13. A: Good morning, checking out today. • G: Yes. And I want to let you know about a couple of problems in my room. The shower had dripped last night. It kept me awake for a quite while. • A: Oh, well, you should’ve said something earlier. • G: That’s just part of it. When I wanted to take shower this morning, there was hardly any water pressure. • A: Well, no one else complains about it. • G: Well, I just want to bring these to your attention. • A: You know, I’ve worked here for two years. No one ever had problems with the water pressure. • Don’t blame the guest and don’t argue back. When you’re confronted with complaint, it matters very little whether the guest is right or wrong. After all, the guest is always the guest. The most important consideration is that your guest has a problem and that problem, if all possible, should be corrected to the guest’s satisfaction.

14. “A guest’s complaining about problems, you have the advantage. First of all, solving problems, so this doesn’t happen to another guest, and zlso you have an opportunity to turn that guest into satisfied customers before they they leave the the hotel.” • To deal effectively with complaints, you need to be part psychologist, part troubleshooter and good listener. Remember you’re not only handling a problem but more importantly a person. So look at from the guest’s perspective, think how you would feel and how you would want to be treated, if you had problem in an unfamiliar place far from home.

15. Here’re some basic techniques you can use for handling complaints in the positive manner. Listen with concern and give guest your undivided attention, stay clam, apologize for the guest’s problem and empathize, ask questions and be prepared to take notes when necessary, offer solutions, act on the problem and monitor progress and follow up. • A: Hello. May I help you? • G: Yes, I have called twice about this and now I’m coming to talk about it in person. I checked in a couple of hours ago and the air-conditioning won’t come on. I don’t like to make a fuss, but it’s the hottest night of the year over there. • A: Very sorry. Let me see what I can do about it. What’s your room number? • G: 209. • A: Miss Tailor? • G: That’s right.

16. A: I’m really sorry about the inconvenience, Miss Tailor. I know how frustrated you can get when the air-conditioning doesn’t work, especially on the night like tonight. A maintenance person is on a call right now. So we can do one of the two things. Maintenance can be in your room in the next 20 minutes. Or if you like, you can have another room right now, just down the hall. • G: Oh, I really don’t want to more right now. But if it’s in 20 minutes like you say, that will be all right. • A: Oh. I’ll give maintenance another call and we’ll have taken care of it. Again I apologize for the problem. • G: That’s fine. Thanks for the help. • A: You are welcome. Maintenance? • Notice how our front office professional use the techniques for handling the complaints that we list a moment ago. She listened with the concern, giving the guest an undivided attention and remained calm throughout. She maintained eye contact, refused to be interrupted and treated the guest with respect.

17. A: I am very sorry for the inconvenience, Miss Tailor. • She apologized to the guest for the problem. The situation we’ve shown here clearly calls for an apology, but even in that incident where you disagree with guests, you can still tell them that you’re sorry they feel bad and that may go a long way towards making them feel better. • A: I know how frustrated you can get when the air-conditioning dosen’t work, especially on the night like tonight. • Being sorry, let the guest know you feel, showing empathy, tells the guest you know how she feels. When the guest has a problem and wants it corrected quickly, finding someone who understands is important.

18. A: What’s your room number? • G: 209 • A: Miss Tailor? • G: That’s right. • Ask questions and be prepared to take notes, in case the problem is a complicated one. • A: Maintenance can be in your room in the next 20 minutes. Or if you like, you can have another room right now, just down the hall. • Offer solutions, tell the guest what you can do and if possible, offer several options. Don’t make promise you can’t fulfill or which exceeds your authority. But if it’s possible, involve the guest in the satisfied with the solution. Then act on the problem. Follow your property’s procedures and do exactly what you told the guest you would do. Here is one more little thing you can do to make the guest feel better. Monitor the progress being made toward solving the problem and make sure it’s taken care of.

19. Situation 1 • M: Hi, this is Randian, maintenance. I’ve thought you want to know the air-conditioning was on in 209. Everything’s all set. • A: Great. Really thank you. • A: You’re welcome. • Situation 2 • G: Hello. • A: Yes, the air-conditioning was working just five now. • G: Oh, thank you for checking up on it. I appreciate it. • A: You’re welcome, Miss Tailor, have a pleasant evening. • G: Good night. • A: Good night.

20. Once the problem has been corrected, follow up. If you feel sure you won’t be disturbing the guest, check back to make sure everything is ok. You guests will appreciate this extra care and attention, and because of your efforts, they will probably forget any negative feelings they bad earlier. • All concern expressed by your guest are important and almost all complaints are concerned with real problems, problems you should know about, so they can be corrected, Most of the time, you will be able to idengtify the problems and quickly act on it. But on rare occasions, the guest’s reason for complaining is not readily apparent. It may have nothing to do with the hotel or it may involve the sensitive issue of money. In these situations, cutting through to the heart of the matter can help you pinpoint the problem and respond accordingly.

21. Hotels and motels are part of the travel and tourism industry. Travel sometimes means a long tiring day for your guests and can often lead to frustration. Irritated guests tend to overreact to small disturbances and may even erupt when no hotel problems exists. When this happens, guests may take out the frustration on the first person who will listen. • G: I had a rotten day and now I am going to unload it all on you. • If you think the guest is taking out a bit frustration on you, do some of the things we’ve talked about earlier, show understanding and some empathy. • Front office people made good targets for guests who are frustrated by problems either inside or outside the hotel. With a frustrated guest, be empathetic, reassure that their worries are over and most important, and show them that you care.

22. A: Mr. Douglass, your reservation signed and if you fill out the registered card, you’ll be all set. • C: I want you to know that we are important clients of this hotel and I have spent six months planning this convention and I don’t want any kinds of problems. I just want to stand for it. • Sometimes no matter what you do, how smoothly thing is going, someone will give you a hard time. They may be trying to make impression either on you or someone else. • G: I’m in a perfect situation here, to show my boss just how aggressive I can be. • When the guest complains to make impression, if possible, go ahead and help them feel important. • A: I understand, Mr. Douglass. Everything would be just as you specified. Please let me know if there anything more we can do to help your meetings go smoothly. • G: That would be fine. Thank you.

23. By helping guests, you make feel good about themselves and the hotel and they should walk away satisfied. • Although the guest may try to focus on a particular problem, the real issue here is compensation. Indeed, the problem may not be so important to the guest if he or she can get a refund or reduced rate. • This brings us to one more point in handling complaints, when to involve your supervisor. Occasionally, you may feel you’ve done everything you can to resolve a complaint, or you may find yourself in a situation that calls for more authority, such as compensation. If you think you should involve your supervisor, move the guest away from other front office activity. Excuse yourself to explain the situation to your supervisor. Return and introduce the guest, once again briefly explain the situation and your supervisor can take over.

24. The techniques for handling guest complaints that we presented coupled with your own property’s procedures, should be enough to handle most dissatisfied guest you’ll encounter at the front office. But occasionally, you’ll be confronted with more serious situation, one involving the irate guests. • “In order for you to deal with an irate guest, first thing you have to do is being in a calm rational state yourself and work towards getting the guest in a similar calm rational state. And only when you have two calm rational people together, can you get the complaint resolved in a positive way.” • Most irate guests who exhibit the anger are looking to venture displeasure and dominate the encounter. There are basically three ways the employee could react to an irate guest: responding submissively, becoming angered in return and diffusing the situation by staying calm and rational. Therefore, we will focus on the way an angry guest response to a front office employee who reacts each of these three ways.

25. A: Yes, Sir. May I help you? • G: My name is Davis. Room202. I’m supposed to check in the room202. • A: I’m sorry, sir. Housekeeping hasn’t made up your room yet. It should be ready in just… (Interrupted) • G: What in the world is the matter with your people? I have been told three times that would just be a few minutes more. Look, I’m sick and tired of waiting. • A: I apologize, sir. I really am very sorry. • G: Look, I’ve got dinner engaged in an hour and I want to check in my room right now. • A: Well, I really am very sorry, sir. I just don’t know what to say. • G: Say all you can do is to apologize. Look, forget. I want bellman to bring me my luggage. I’m going to go to another hotel. • A: Oh, I’m really sorry to hear that, sir.

26. In this scene, the guest is able to dominate the encounter and lashes out the submissive front office employee. The more the guest lashes out, the more the employee keeps taking it. Most importantly, nothing is solved and the guest ends up totally frustrated and walks out, never to return again. But what if the employee becomes angered in return? • A: Yes, sir. May I help you? • G: My name is Davis. Room202. I’m supposed to check in room202. • A: I’m sorry, sir. Housekeeping hasn’t made up your room yet. But it should be ready in just … (Interrupted) • G: What in the world is the matter with your people? I have been told three times that it would just be a few minutes more. Look, I’m sick and tired of it.

27. A: Well, I don’t know anything about that. I just come on duty. • G: Well, you’d better find out and I’m tired of waiting and I won’t wait any more. • A: Hey, don’t yell at me. I’m not responsible for cleaning your room. • G: What! You can’t talk to me like that. • A: Well, you can’t talk to me that way either. • G: This is an outrage. I want to speak with your manager. • A: You want to talk with my manager. I’ll forget it. • G: Forget it? I want the bellman to bring my luggage. I’m going go another hotel.

28. Responding with anger to an irate guest is like fighting fire with fire. Both the front office employee and the guest will try to dominate and the winner is whoever can yell the loudest. But there is no real winner here. The guest just had a very negative experience, so is our front office person, and the hotel has lost the guest. With an irate guest, you should remain calm and rational, which will encourage guest to do likewise. Asking clear and simple questions will compel the guest to respond in a rational way and will diffuse a potentially serious situation.

29. A: Yes, sir. May I help you? • G: My name is Davis. Room202. Suppose to check in room202. • A: I’m sorry, sir. Housekeeping hasn’t made up your room yet. It should be ready in just … (Interrupted) • G: What in the world is the matter with your people? I have been told three times that would just be a few more minutes. I’m sick and tired of it. • A: I’m very sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Davis. What time did you arrive? • G: Ah, half past 3. • A: And how long were you told it would be? • G: Well, he said something about the delay. But I didn’t think it would be this long. • A: Occasionally, we do running into delay like this check-in. But I know how frustrated it can be to wait. • G: Oh, that’s fine. But when can I get my room?

30. A: Well, we can do a couple of different things. I’ll call housekeeping and we can get you into room within the next 20 minutes. Oh, if you like, I can put you in our governor’s room on the third floor right now. It’s the deluxe room, but we won’t charge any more than we would for room202. • G: Sounds nice. But the rest of my group is on the second floor. If you’re sure it’s only 20 minutes, I’d rather be near them. • A: I’ll see to it personally, sir. Again I’m sorry about the delay, but I appreciate your patience. • G: It’s ok. I’ll be in the lounge. • A: Very good, we’ll come to get you just as soon as it’s ready. • G: All right. Thank you. • A: Thank you, Mr. Davis.

31. “Once you calm them down and they’re answering your questions rationally, that’s when you can get something productively done in terms of getting their complaints resolved in a positive way for the guest and a positive way for the hotel.” • In addition to remaining rational, notice how our front office professional used the positive techniques we talk about earlier. She remained calm and listened carefully to the guest. She apologizes and shows empathy. And she offers the solutions, thereby involving the guest in the decision. Now she is acting on the problems and a little later on she will monitor the progress and follow up. Consider using the same techniques when you work at the front desk.

32. In addition, be careful not to take the complaints personally, talk down to the guest, argue back or blame the guest or another department for the problem. Ask questions and in more complicated situations, be prepared to take notes. If necessary, move the guest away from other guests and employees of the front desk and call in your supervisor. Be aware that occasionally the guest’s reason for complaining may not be readily apparent. In these situations you’ll need to cut through to the heart of the matter and quickly resolve the problem. And when dealing with an irate guest, stay calm and rational to help defuse the situation and correct the problem to the guest’s satisfaction. • As we’ve said before, no matter how well your property is run, at some point a guest is going to complain about someone or something. Effectively handling the complaints will help the front office run much smoother and make your job more satisfied. Handling guest complaints is a challenge, but it’s important to your success as a front office professional and it’s critical to an efficient quality lodging operation.

33. 2.5 SKILLS FOR ROOM SELLING • In this presentation on the front office we will show you the importance of effective selling to your guest, to your property and to you. You will learn the importance of knowing the product and the guest, so that you can best match your guest’s needs with your finer accommodations. We’ll explore some assumptions that may hinder your ability to be an effective member of your sales team. And we’ll show you techniques to control encounters and ask for the sale. Finally, we’ll demonstrate three methods for up-selling rooms and explain how you can promote all the facilities of your property through suggestive selling. • The main function of front office is to sell rooms because the guest rooms are the biggest products in hotel, which is the important source of revenue.

34. According to the arrangement, the guest rooms can be divided into the following types: single room, double room, twin room, triple room, suite (junior suite, duplex suite, deluxe suite, and presidential suit). According to the location, the rooms can be classified into the following kinds: inside room, outside room, corner room, adjoining room and connecting room. • The task of selling rooms includes: accept the reservation, receive guests without reservation, make check-in procedure, arrange the guest room and confirm room rate. The business income from guest rooms depends on the price and the numbers of the rooms on sale. It’s one of the most important criteria to evaluate the management ability and operation situation in front office, as well as the achievements of a receptionist. So the selling techniques are the fundamental skills for a successful receptionist to grasp. We can sell guest rooms by the following 5 steps: grasp charac-teristics, introduce rooms, negotiate price, show guest room, make a deal. • In order to make guests live more happily and comfortably,