The Day That Will Not End
Where to begin…….
My shift turned into hell. The morning (shift A) person never showed up. I wound up calling them @ 9am only to find out he was still sick. I wish he had called me in instead of letting me hang. How sick can one be not to pick up a phone? I don’t mind overtime, but let me know what the hell is going on! (I know I’m whining.)
I called and woke up my GM. I asked if I could call the 2nd shift people (Shift “B”) to come in a little early. He told me to have them come in ASAP.
I called and left voice messages with both the Shift B guys. I know one of them is still sick, but hey, I am getting over time and the owners have been complaining about it.
I don’t mind OT, but I like to know what my status is, where I stand, how to plan my sleep schedule:)
It turns out I was destined for a double shift. I must admit; I have a whole new respect for the morning shift. It was crazy. I think it’s the different pace that through me off.
It’s 10:15am,and while checking out a line of guests, a cab comes in with a couple of arrivals with none other than a dog. First off, our check-in time is 1pm. We have no rooms available; these 2 guests have at least 10 large bags with nowhere to put them. The 2nd big problem is that they had brought a dog with them.
We have a very strict No Pet policy. The arrivals starts begging and offer paying a deposit. I said I couldn’t make an exception to the rule. “It is not about the money, or how sweet your dog is, we have a strict no pet rule and there are no exceptions. The only thing I can do is call and see if there are any local hotels that allow pets.”
The arrivals said that they did not know about our “No Pet” policy. I said we advertise no pets clearly online and post it in our publicity information. Not to mention, they should have asked when the reservation was being booked.
The Arrivals continued to beg while my checkout line continued to lengthen and the phones were ringing non-stop. (A little side note. If you call a place of business, and the phone is not being answered right away, there usually is a good reason, please be patient, the people you are calling are not just sitting around twiddling their thumbs.) The arrivals then insisted to speak to my GM.
I called and woke him up again. He sounded annoyed. (I’m working a double shift, the Shift B folks have not returned my calls yet, and he’s annoyed?) He told me to tell her that we cannot make exceptions due to legal reasons. We advertise “No Pets”. If the dog causes any problems or something happens with another guest involving the dog, we are liable.
The Arrivals continued to beg and offer a deposit. I said “NO!” They insisted to speak to the GM, so I handed over the phone. He told them “NO!”
I proceeded to cancel their reservation and offered to contact other hotels nearby. They were annoyed and booked somewhere else on their own. I called a cab for them.
It continued to stay busy, with small incidents occurring (e.g. a homeless person was trying to rip off one of the maid’s carts by taking towels, shampoo, toothbrushes etc. Our maintenance man got into a confrontation with the guy.)
I finally received a return call from one of the Shift “B” guys @ about 12:30pm. He apologizing for not call earlier but he partied hard and got wasted the night before and had just checked his messages. He was going to jump in the shower and then head on over here. I said thank you because by then I was starting to feel tired.
Later while checking in guests, I get a call from an idiot. A person calling from Arizona asking if I had the phone number for the local DMV. I said I don’t. She asked if I could look it up. (What am I, information?). I said I could not. I currently have guests waiting in front of me wanting to checked in and do not have the time to look up phone numbers for her and that she needs to call information, or look it up on the WEB. She said all I need to do is check a phone book. Once again, I said I have guests waiting to be checked in and that I could not help her. She hung up on me annoyed. Some people are lazy idiots. I am at work very busy (doing hotel work and not 411) and she is casually sitting at home on the phone. She could find our phone number, but not the DMV’s? WTF?
The shift B guy arrived at about 2:15pm and at the same time, the other shift B guy called apologizing for not calling in earlier. He slept in because he was still sick and just checked his messages and would come in ASAP. I said thank you and clocked out.
I went home had dinner and watched TV with my roommate's daughter. I finally fell asleep at 5pm.
11:15pm. I over slept my alarm clock, my roommate woke me up and asked if I needed to be at work?
I ignored hygiene, got dressed and headed back to work and clocked in at 11:38pm. (Thank God I live close.)
I apologized for being late; my 2nd shift guy said understandable considering the time I had put in earlier.
Of course, the complaints continue. A guest who had just checked in, called from their room and complained they had reserved a room with a King sized bed and we gave them a room with 2 queen-sized beds. I checked the reservation and it was booked through an agency electronically. I informed them that the room she is in is what the agency booked with us. The guest insisted on a room with a King sized bed. Annoyed, because once again I had guests waiting to check in and phones ringing, I told her that we have no other rooms. We are sold out, and she needs to check back in the morning to see if something opens up for us to move her to. She said, “I want a room with a King sized bed and that is what was booked and that her husband had a print out of the reservation.” I told her “The hotel is sold out. I have nothing else to give and that if she would like she can check out with out charge, or she can wait till morning to see if a room with a King sized bed opens up.” I also mention that I am currently checking in guests and cannot assist her further. She hung up.
At 1:30am, the problems continue. A person gets off a shuttle van from the airport to check in on a reservation we do not have a record of. She had flown in from Panama and had stayed with us once before. I asked if the reservation was under another name. She said that she was going to share the room and that maybe the other person already checked in. I checked for the name of the other person. There were no reservations indicated for either of these people. I asked if she had a reservation number. She did not.
I called a hotel a couple of blocks away and checked for vacancies. I sent her over. Meanwhile I reserved a room for her on Tuesday, our earliest available room. I gave her a heavy discount because I believe she was telling the truth. (Who flies 7 hours from Panama thinking they have a reservation only to find out they don’t.) I still wondered if she might have accidentally called another hotel. Not to mention that she did not have her reservation number. I informed her to always write it down. I know we offer it every time we make a reservation.
It is 3:58am. I have finished my audit and I am about to make coffee on my trustee Mr. Coffee pod machine and then go for my walk. I pray nothing else goes wrong tonight. Monday and Tuesday are my days off and I plan to get drunk on beer and then fall asleep.
No such luck, old guy comes in and asks me to photocopy 30 something odd store receipts for him. We do photo copy stuff on occasion for guests but god these things were all crumpled up and disorganized. I had to sort them and photo copy them 2 at time. (I had no idea I worked for Kinkos). I charged him for the copies. I guess I shouldn’t complain. He was appreciative of my efforts.
Some guys checked out and I called a cab for them to the airport. I’m glad I had not yet completed my last walk around the hotel. They left their room door wedged open. We have had incidents of this happening and then finding homeless people squatting in the room scaring the maids. This is a problem for an open court type hotel in a small city that caters to the homeless.
It’s 6:12. If nothing else happens, I will be happy:)
My shift turned into hell. The morning (shift A) person never showed up. I wound up calling them @ 9am only to find out he was still sick. I wish he had called me in instead of letting me hang. How sick can one be not to pick up a phone? I don’t mind overtime, but let me know what the hell is going on! (I know I’m whining.)
I called and woke up my GM. I asked if I could call the 2nd shift people (Shift “B”) to come in a little early. He told me to have them come in ASAP.
I called and left voice messages with both the Shift B guys. I know one of them is still sick, but hey, I am getting over time and the owners have been complaining about it.
I don’t mind OT, but I like to know what my status is, where I stand, how to plan my sleep schedule:)
It turns out I was destined for a double shift. I must admit; I have a whole new respect for the morning shift. It was crazy. I think it’s the different pace that through me off.
It’s 10:15am,and while checking out a line of guests, a cab comes in with a couple of arrivals with none other than a dog. First off, our check-in time is 1pm. We have no rooms available; these 2 guests have at least 10 large bags with nowhere to put them. The 2nd big problem is that they had brought a dog with them.
We have a very strict No Pet policy. The arrivals starts begging and offer paying a deposit. I said I couldn’t make an exception to the rule. “It is not about the money, or how sweet your dog is, we have a strict no pet rule and there are no exceptions. The only thing I can do is call and see if there are any local hotels that allow pets.”
The arrivals said that they did not know about our “No Pet” policy. I said we advertise no pets clearly online and post it in our publicity information. Not to mention, they should have asked when the reservation was being booked.
The Arrivals continued to beg while my checkout line continued to lengthen and the phones were ringing non-stop. (A little side note. If you call a place of business, and the phone is not being answered right away, there usually is a good reason, please be patient, the people you are calling are not just sitting around twiddling their thumbs.) The arrivals then insisted to speak to my GM.
I called and woke him up again. He sounded annoyed. (I’m working a double shift, the Shift B folks have not returned my calls yet, and he’s annoyed?) He told me to tell her that we cannot make exceptions due to legal reasons. We advertise “No Pets”. If the dog causes any problems or something happens with another guest involving the dog, we are liable.
The Arrivals continued to beg and offer a deposit. I said “NO!” They insisted to speak to the GM, so I handed over the phone. He told them “NO!”
I proceeded to cancel their reservation and offered to contact other hotels nearby. They were annoyed and booked somewhere else on their own. I called a cab for them.
It continued to stay busy, with small incidents occurring (e.g. a homeless person was trying to rip off one of the maid’s carts by taking towels, shampoo, toothbrushes etc. Our maintenance man got into a confrontation with the guy.)
I finally received a return call from one of the Shift “B” guys @ about 12:30pm. He apologizing for not call earlier but he partied hard and got wasted the night before and had just checked his messages. He was going to jump in the shower and then head on over here. I said thank you because by then I was starting to feel tired.
Later while checking in guests, I get a call from an idiot. A person calling from Arizona asking if I had the phone number for the local DMV. I said I don’t. She asked if I could look it up. (What am I, information?). I said I could not. I currently have guests waiting in front of me wanting to checked in and do not have the time to look up phone numbers for her and that she needs to call information, or look it up on the WEB. She said all I need to do is check a phone book. Once again, I said I have guests waiting to be checked in and that I could not help her. She hung up on me annoyed. Some people are lazy idiots. I am at work very busy (doing hotel work and not 411) and she is casually sitting at home on the phone. She could find our phone number, but not the DMV’s? WTF?
The shift B guy arrived at about 2:15pm and at the same time, the other shift B guy called apologizing for not calling in earlier. He slept in because he was still sick and just checked his messages and would come in ASAP. I said thank you and clocked out.
I went home had dinner and watched TV with my roommate's daughter. I finally fell asleep at 5pm.
11:15pm. I over slept my alarm clock, my roommate woke me up and asked if I needed to be at work?
I ignored hygiene, got dressed and headed back to work and clocked in at 11:38pm. (Thank God I live close.)
I apologized for being late; my 2nd shift guy said understandable considering the time I had put in earlier.
Of course, the complaints continue. A guest who had just checked in, called from their room and complained they had reserved a room with a King sized bed and we gave them a room with 2 queen-sized beds. I checked the reservation and it was booked through an agency electronically. I informed them that the room she is in is what the agency booked with us. The guest insisted on a room with a King sized bed. Annoyed, because once again I had guests waiting to check in and phones ringing, I told her that we have no other rooms. We are sold out, and she needs to check back in the morning to see if something opens up for us to move her to. She said, “I want a room with a King sized bed and that is what was booked and that her husband had a print out of the reservation.” I told her “The hotel is sold out. I have nothing else to give and that if she would like she can check out with out charge, or she can wait till morning to see if a room with a King sized bed opens up.” I also mention that I am currently checking in guests and cannot assist her further. She hung up.
At 1:30am, the problems continue. A person gets off a shuttle van from the airport to check in on a reservation we do not have a record of. She had flown in from Panama and had stayed with us once before. I asked if the reservation was under another name. She said that she was going to share the room and that maybe the other person already checked in. I checked for the name of the other person. There were no reservations indicated for either of these people. I asked if she had a reservation number. She did not.
I called a hotel a couple of blocks away and checked for vacancies. I sent her over. Meanwhile I reserved a room for her on Tuesday, our earliest available room. I gave her a heavy discount because I believe she was telling the truth. (Who flies 7 hours from Panama thinking they have a reservation only to find out they don’t.) I still wondered if she might have accidentally called another hotel. Not to mention that she did not have her reservation number. I informed her to always write it down. I know we offer it every time we make a reservation.
It is 3:58am. I have finished my audit and I am about to make coffee on my trustee Mr. Coffee pod machine and then go for my walk. I pray nothing else goes wrong tonight. Monday and Tuesday are my days off and I plan to get drunk on beer and then fall asleep.
No such luck, old guy comes in and asks me to photocopy 30 something odd store receipts for him. We do photo copy stuff on occasion for guests but god these things were all crumpled up and disorganized. I had to sort them and photo copy them 2 at time. (I had no idea I worked for Kinkos). I charged him for the copies. I guess I shouldn’t complain. He was appreciative of my efforts.
Some guys checked out and I called a cab for them to the airport. I’m glad I had not yet completed my last walk around the hotel. They left their room door wedged open. We have had incidents of this happening and then finding homeless people squatting in the room scaring the maids. This is a problem for an open court type hotel in a small city that caters to the homeless.
It’s 6:12. If nothing else happens, I will be happy:)
posted by Forever Knight at 6:16 AM
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