Disappointing Guests, Leave Us Disappointed

(Previous post deleted in error. This new post is a version with a bit more clarity.)

We recently had guests that made a booking at Hotel Be. In this low season we offer our two suites at a promotional offer of pay three nights at the regular rate, the fourth night is free. The guests had contacted my staff by phone and were quoted this offer, and followed it up with an email stating the same. Then I received an email from them asking about The One Hotel which I stated had the same promotion. In their email to me they reminded they were on their honeymoon (we had already offered free massages for them) and they want to know our best deal on The One Hotel because, quote, they were "young and brash." I really do not know the relevance of this comment as our rates are our rates, our promotions are our promotions and we do not have a "young and brash" special. As it turned out, they ended up calling my staff and asking to book our deluxe room in Hotel Be, our least expensive room and not part of the pay three nights get one night free promotion. It has never been and probably will never be part of that promotion. Why? At more than 50% less than a suite it is already a great value and since there is only one of these rooms available to book, we do not feel the need to discount it. In my staff's email reply to the guest he correct quoted the rate, with no mention of any free night since it was not part of the promotion.

When the guest arrived and were explained this, they blew up at my staff and for more than thirty minutes finally wore him down so he said he would give them the free night for the deluxe room. Since I was traveling, he wrote and told me about this and I thought, "Why?" We never told them they would get a free night (it is clear in black and white in our reply to them) so why do we need to be badgered by young and brash people to give them an non-existent discount, because they were unable to read a simple email? So, I told them that it was not possible and told them if they could not accept this they were welcome to stay at another hotel, which is what they chose to do. I took no pleasure in doing this, however, I felt that it would be wrong to let this guest get away with this non-existent discount when other guests could not get the same deal. Why, just because they argue incessantly until we agree? How would you feel if you booked a room with us only to learn that another guest belittled and harangued us into a cheaper deal? I don't think you would appreciate it, or feel like you were treated fairly. That is not what we will do.

I believe in fairness, and this was not fair to any of our previous guests or future guests. Why are we fair? We will always, and I mean always, quote you our very best existing deals when you make your reservation request. For instance, last minute bookings (within 10 days of arrival) are discounted when rooms are available. When I receive last minute bookings like this I was quote the discounted rate. Sure, I could quote the regular rate which is still a good value and maybe the guest accepts it and we make a little more revenue but I do not do that. I think it is only fair to be honest and open, offering the best deals that we have at the time and let the guest make their choice.

In the case of this guest, the best analogy I can give is if you have a store coupon for "Buy 3 large bottles of Coke and get the fourth free" and then the customer comes in with the coupon and says the want to buy three small bottles of Coke and get the fourth one free. Well, that is not the promotion, that is not the offer available so why exactly would you expect that? It is never easy to lose a customer, however, I will say that maybe we are just not the right place for everyone. And we are so grateful, and so blessed, that 99.5% of our guests are truly wonderful. That means so very, very much to us and for us to be belittled and pushed around by the rare difficult guest then we have to do what we have to do. Maybe they got up on the wrong side of the bed, but most likely they are the type of customer (since they felt the need to be described as young and brash) that feel like they can pushover any business because they are desperate for customers. Sorry, that is not us. We LOVE our customers, we RESPECT our customers and we appreciate the overwhelming support we receive from them.

PS - After the guest left our hotel they wrote to me to say that our staff stole their mosquito repellent and sunscreen. I know my staff. I know Cambodians. A Cambodian has as much need for sunscreen that a vegetarian has for a slice of prime rib. Of course the items had been left behind because they failed to pack them and the guests came and collected them. Honestly, these guests are the epitome of why we appreciate the 99.5% of our guests that are wonderful.