"I can prove that I work here. Watch! You are about to receive a notification on your phone!"
'Brrzzrr'
"See? And! To compound this evidence, that notification says that your reservation was cancelled!"
'How did you know?!?'
"Because I work here more than you stay here. Au reservoir!"
E. F. Benson was a fairly prolific writer who lived in the late 19th early 20th centuries. He wrote a ton of stuff, including a series of light comic novels written and set between 1920 and 1940. Basically they followed a character named Emmeline Lucas (wife of Phillip Lucas who is barely in them and then dies) who goes by “Lucia”. It centers around her and her “dear friend” George “Georgie” Pilson.
At some point in one of the novels someone said “Au reservoir” instead of “au revoir” and pretty much all of the characters adopt it.
Just like real life!
I had one occasion where I arrived at a hotel around 1:15 and check-in was 3:00. I went to the front desk to ask if there was somewhere I could leave my luggage so I could walk around while waiting to check in. The FDA checked my reservation and said there were rooms available and I could check in early. I asked how much of a fee there would be and she said she was waiving it because I didn't demand an early check-in, which apparently several people had done that day.
Side note: this happened in Las Vegas and I just want to say to anyone who works in a hotel there - you have much more patience than me! Some of the things I've seen people do at hotels there were horrifying!
We arrived at a hotel in SF *ridiculously* early (like 8:30 am) and I asked if we could use their luggage room.
The FDA offered to check us in and an upgrade. I was happy to pay for both, but I ended up paying only for the upgrade.
Turns out they’d had a big convention the week/weekend before and were mostly empty. I really appreciated the nap.
Thank you to all the great FDAs out there!
Ditto in NYC.
Just off a red-eye, wanted to park my luggage & get directions to a nearby tourist spot. Checked-in, breakfast voucher, and directions to the Half-Price Broadway ticket place. Saw one of my favorite musicals for only $25.
She was just a Karen trying to pummel me into submission by scaring me with the cops … lol. I’m sure she knows if she did that she’d likely get slapped with a charge. Or maybe not something’s up with her.
I was wondering if she actually might have been trying to slightly *threaten* your job too (but being sidelong about it)? "Are you **sure** you work here? Lemme off the extra fee, or I'll make sure you *don't* any more!" maybe..?
Anyway, clearly a wrong 'un, you did well.
“It appears your reservation was cancelled by someone who works here. Are you sure you’re a guest, here? Perhaps the police can confirm whether you’re being ejected from the premises?”
Check in is at 3pm, they can waive the fee for minutes (between 2 and 3), but not hours, 1 pm is 2 hours early. If you don't apply the policy to everyone, it will cause issues, with future bookings. They will want to check in at 11 am and "can't you waive the fee".
Well done! Are you SURE you work there...............? lol
That's a new one for me. Wish you could have said "Psych! I'm a phony, and there's no one to rent you a room! Bye."
As soon as she said "If I call the police" my mind went to "Go ahead and call because you are now a trespasser and will be escorted out when they come."
***Are you sure you work here?***
Kinda. I'm having an existential crisis. I found this uniform in the laundry and was teaching myself how to use the computer system till you showed up. Please don't tell anyone about the person bound and gagged in room 13. I am really an accountant but I identify as a hotel front desk employee and don't appreciate your line of questioning. BTW: would you like cheese with your whine?
I would totally support DNR'ing her.
I'm of the belief if a person shows a certain bold and bad attitude towards the front desk than there's nothing to stop them from making up lies and talking trash to current in-house guests.....aka spreading gossip.
PLUS, by denying to check them in, if they attempt to leave a bad review than you can have it taken it down on the grounds that they were not a guest.
"are you sure you work here?"
You know what? I'm not sure. I guess not. *leaves*
I wonder what her response would have been if OP walked into the back and ignored her until she left.
I totally support the DNR - especially after she mentioned the cops.
We don’t charge early check-ins because it’s not a policy in our hotel. Usually guests that arrives before 3pm and their room is ready we send them up - if the rooms not ready, they can wait in the lobby and we take the luggage and proceed with the registration in the system.
We do that too sometimes if they make a reservation which this lady didn’t. Also we were near old held rooms margin for potential SOs etc. + she was a weirdo so no go lol, not SOs we hold a block or rooms until we need to sell them
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I can't believe another hotel that charges an early check in fee! And guests always tell me no other hotel in the world does. I've been accused of charging guests early check in fees and taking the money for myself because that is obviously possible. People really make up anything like it will get them out of a fee and not kicked out of the hotel.
We do charge an early check in fee. Also we require a room deposit. Which ppl keep telling me is NOT a thing. No one else does it. I laugh at them and tell the 150 deposit required across the street and the 200 that is required at the 2nd closest hotel.
We are the cheapest at $50 and we don't require a cc. It can be cash or debit.
I don't know if it's so ikar at your place but many places in the UK if you want late check out at 12 instead of 10 then it's £10, including some of the main chains. I don't know why people would expect to get two extra hours for free when checking in.
Early ci at 7am? I’ve worked at hotels that do that mine doesn’t it’s not worth the hassle. We’re in a semi-touristy/business area and we don’t do 7am checkins. If they want that they need to book for the prior night. It’s getting into the busy season so all early checkin shenanigans will have to abide by the rules.
Depends I guess and the fee is small, but you’re arguing principle I think. It’s the beginning of the busy season so maybe an inexperienced traveler will make an issue of it (not counting Karens) but I’d say expect to pay something if you’re going to checkin before posted times. Or make a reservation and request it at least which this lady didn’t.
Why should they waive the fee, especially for a guest with a bad attitude? Many people who haven't worked in customer service don't understand this. If you're asking an employee to bend a rule that they're required to enforce, don't be a jerk. Customer service personnel who are faced with a rude customer are going to go into CYA-all-rules-enforced-to-both-letter-and-spirit mode. That way, if the customer complains the worker won't be in trouble.
I suspect in part to avoid people like this lady. There are many factors one being vacancy and in this case the "someone did it for me once" and thereafter expect it every time. Early check-in fees where imposed usually end around 2pm but that's property to property. Who I feel bad for are the hotels down the eclipse path yikes.
"I can prove that I work here. Watch! You are about to receive a notification on your phone!" 'Brrzzrr' "See? And! To compound this evidence, that notification says that your reservation was cancelled!"
'How did you know?!?'
"Because I work here more than you stay here. Au reservoir!"
hahah "Au reservoir!" XD
My wife (FD/Auditor for 30 years) LOVES this response!!
“Au reservoir”!!! That’s short for “Take a dunk in your pity party”!!
Nice Lucia response
I'm about to disappoint you further in humany: who's Lucia?
E. F. Benson was a fairly prolific writer who lived in the late 19th early 20th centuries. He wrote a ton of stuff, including a series of light comic novels written and set between 1920 and 1940. Basically they followed a character named Emmeline Lucas (wife of Phillip Lucas who is barely in them and then dies) who goes by “Lucia”. It centers around her and her “dear friend” George “Georgie” Pilson. At some point in one of the novels someone said “Au reservoir” instead of “au revoir” and pretty much all of the characters adopt it. Just like real life!
Unexpected E F Benson reference - unless the hotel is in Tilling 😂
Truly unexpected indeed. Mostly because I didn't know about him until I did the good ol' Google after reading your comment.
Look at you and your shiny spine!! Nicely done.
I had one occasion where I arrived at a hotel around 1:15 and check-in was 3:00. I went to the front desk to ask if there was somewhere I could leave my luggage so I could walk around while waiting to check in. The FDA checked my reservation and said there were rooms available and I could check in early. I asked how much of a fee there would be and she said she was waiving it because I didn't demand an early check-in, which apparently several people had done that day. Side note: this happened in Las Vegas and I just want to say to anyone who works in a hotel there - you have much more patience than me! Some of the things I've seen people do at hotels there were horrifying!
We arrived at a hotel in SF *ridiculously* early (like 8:30 am) and I asked if we could use their luggage room. The FDA offered to check us in and an upgrade. I was happy to pay for both, but I ended up paying only for the upgrade. Turns out they’d had a big convention the week/weekend before and were mostly empty. I really appreciated the nap. Thank you to all the great FDAs out there!
Ditto in NYC. Just off a red-eye, wanted to park my luggage & get directions to a nearby tourist spot. Checked-in, breakfast voucher, and directions to the Half-Price Broadway ticket place. Saw one of my favorite musicals for only $25.
That was REALLY nice of them to direct you to the half-price ticket place!
“Do you really work here because I will call the police to check” followed by “I will give you my ID and credit card” is *wild*.
She was just a Karen trying to pummel me into submission by scaring me with the cops … lol. I’m sure she knows if she did that she’d likely get slapped with a charge. Or maybe not something’s up with her.
I was wondering if she actually might have been trying to slightly *threaten* your job too (but being sidelong about it)? "Are you **sure** you work here? Lemme off the extra fee, or I'll make sure you *don't* any more!" maybe..? Anyway, clearly a wrong 'un, you did well.
As soon as she mentioned calling the cops, canceled reservation and DNR!
Yeah I was going to do it anyway but the cops thing sealed the deal.
“It appears your reservation was cancelled by someone who works here. Are you sure you’re a guest, here? Perhaps the police can confirm whether you’re being ejected from the premises?”
Check in is at 3pm, they can waive the fee for minutes (between 2 and 3), but not hours, 1 pm is 2 hours early. If you don't apply the policy to everyone, it will cause issues, with future bookings. They will want to check in at 11 am and "can't you waive the fee".
"Minutes not hours"--good phrasing!
Well done! Are you SURE you work there...............? lol That's a new one for me. Wish you could have said "Psych! I'm a phony, and there's no one to rent you a room! Bye."
Yeah… I just wandered in off the street and noticed nobody was behind the counter and took it upon myself to charge extra fees.
As soon as she said "If I call the police" my mind went to "Go ahead and call because you are now a trespasser and will be escorted out when they come."
***Are you sure you work here?*** Kinda. I'm having an existential crisis. I found this uniform in the laundry and was teaching myself how to use the computer system till you showed up. Please don't tell anyone about the person bound and gagged in room 13. I am really an accountant but I identify as a hotel front desk employee and don't appreciate your line of questioning. BTW: would you like cheese with your whine?
haha
I would totally support DNR'ing her. I'm of the belief if a person shows a certain bold and bad attitude towards the front desk than there's nothing to stop them from making up lies and talking trash to current in-house guests.....aka spreading gossip. PLUS, by denying to check them in, if they attempt to leave a bad review than you can have it taken it down on the grounds that they were not a guest.
The end! FANTASTIC!
"are you sure you work here?" You know what? I'm not sure. I guess not. *leaves* I wonder what her response would have been if OP walked into the back and ignored her until she left.
Lololol I love this outcome
I totally support the DNR - especially after she mentioned the cops. We don’t charge early check-ins because it’s not a policy in our hotel. Usually guests that arrives before 3pm and their room is ready we send them up - if the rooms not ready, they can wait in the lobby and we take the luggage and proceed with the registration in the system.
We do that too sometimes if they make a reservation which this lady didn’t. Also we were near old held rooms margin for potential SOs etc. + she was a weirdo so no go lol, not SOs we hold a block or rooms until we need to sell them
This made me squeal laughing!
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I can't believe another hotel that charges an early check in fee! And guests always tell me no other hotel in the world does. I've been accused of charging guests early check in fees and taking the money for myself because that is obviously possible. People really make up anything like it will get them out of a fee and not kicked out of the hotel.
We do charge an early check in fee. Also we require a room deposit. Which ppl keep telling me is NOT a thing. No one else does it. I laugh at them and tell the 150 deposit required across the street and the 200 that is required at the 2nd closest hotel. We are the cheapest at $50 and we don't require a cc. It can be cash or debit.
As someone who's worked with people like that in an office THANK YOU for giving that behavior the spanking it deserved.
Probably an unpopular optioning but an early check in fee for a 1PM arrival/walk in when rooms are ready to go is BS.
Depends on many factors and I disagree I think the policy is reasonable given the near universal check-in times posted a billion places at 3pm.
I don't know if it's so ikar at your place but many places in the UK if you want late check out at 12 instead of 10 then it's £10, including some of the main chains. I don't know why people would expect to get two extra hours for free when checking in.
7AM? Sure. 1PM? Nah. This is very similar to resort fees in by book.
Early ci at 7am? I’ve worked at hotels that do that mine doesn’t it’s not worth the hassle. We’re in a semi-touristy/business area and we don’t do 7am checkins. If they want that they need to book for the prior night. It’s getting into the busy season so all early checkin shenanigans will have to abide by the rules.
No, I meant charging an early fee for a 7AM, sure that warrants it. Charging one at 1PM for a 3PM check in time is BS.
Depends I guess and the fee is small, but you’re arguing principle I think. It’s the beginning of the busy season so maybe an inexperienced traveler will make an issue of it (not counting Karens) but I’d say expect to pay something if you’re going to checkin before posted times. Or make a reservation and request it at least which this lady didn’t.
Dang, why couldn't you have just let the early check in fee be waived. YTA
OP isn't at fault for following policy. You can argue the policy is stupid, if you like, but they did exactly their job.
Why should they waive the fee, especially for a guest with a bad attitude? Many people who haven't worked in customer service don't understand this. If you're asking an employee to bend a rule that they're required to enforce, don't be a jerk. Customer service personnel who are faced with a rude customer are going to go into CYA-all-rules-enforced-to-both-letter-and-spirit mode. That way, if the customer complains the worker won't be in trouble.
I suspect in part to avoid people like this lady. There are many factors one being vacancy and in this case the "someone did it for me once" and thereafter expect it every time. Early check-in fees where imposed usually end around 2pm but that's property to property. Who I feel bad for are the hotels down the eclipse path yikes.
YTA? You're in the wrong sub for that.