Sutori - Barry's Recent Stories

Best of a bad situation

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 00:05:12 -0800

Last minute travel arrangements, rushed to the airport, had a stop over ... finally arrived just before midnight at the Hilton Garden Inn situated in Carlsbad. I walked up to the counter for my room but was informed (with many apologies) that there had been a water leak and all available rooms were taken. Very sorry but they would have to relocate me to a nearby resort. They had someone there to shuttle me in their van to the resort but before I left they gave me some water and a treat of my choice.

I was surprised when I arrived at this beautiful resort and the rooms were excellent (even better than my room at the Hilton). It was a little inconvenient but I just had to call the next morning and they'd shuttle me back (they had a room for me the next 2 nights at the Hilton).

Well, I was okay with just the relocation but the Hilton didn't stop there. The next evening there was a knock on my hotel door from guest services. "We are really sorry for the inconvenience we caused you. Please accept this basket of fruit ...." It was an excellent basket of fresh strawberries, grapes, orange, apple and banana. To top it all off, they didn't charge me for the night.

1 inconvenience offset by:
         Free water
         Free treat
         Excellent replacement room
         Free basket of fresh fruit
         Free stay
= extremely delighted customer

Great service, sort of

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 17:02:49 -0700

A couple of years ago, we were staying at Cara Suites in Pointe a Pierre, Trinidad. Average rooms but beautiful pool and ocean view. As we were walking out to go shopping I mentioned to my friend that the rooms were nice but my bed was a bit too soft for my liking. The reception overheard and right away said that they could put in a firmer bed. Excellent. We went out and left them to it.

We ended our shopping a little early and returned to the hotel. As we came to our room, we realized why they were so anxious to help. Inside watching T.V. was the person from reception, the cleaning lady, one of the security guards and 5 other workers. They were a bit embarrassed. At least they put in a very comfortable bed.

Royal treatment

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:25:35 -0700

When I was in Japan on vacation a couple of years ago, I was amazed at how much better the service was in Japan than in North America. One in particular stands out, the Royal Park Inn Nagoya. It wasn't that the rooms were any better than anywhere else, but what stood out was the check-in service. I arrived by train at the end of a long day of sight seeing. There were a few people checking in but when I walked up to the counter someone immediately came out of the office to help me. I had reserved online so no need to fill out any information. After asking my name, the clerk provided my key letting me know that it was away from the elevator and in a non-smoking room as I had requested (they actually paid attention to the request). He asked if I needed help with my bags but I said I was okay. He then asked whether I would like to have some complimentary cold beer or tea. I thought a cold beer would be nice. He saw my hands were full with my luggage and suggested they could bring them to my room if I wanted. I arrived at my room and had just put the luggage down when there was a knock at the door. The clerk who had checked me in, was there with a couple of large bottles of cold beer. Most hotels have cold drinks in the little mini bar but it was the personalized service by the person who checked me in that impressed me most. One of the few hotels I can remember from my travels. I'd definitely book that hotel again.

Don't trust the technology?

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 10:59:18 -0700

It had been a busy couple of weeks in preparation for a client presentation. I flew to San Francisco to complete the documentation / presentation with the technical lead on the project. Handlery Union Square hotel was within walking distance of where we were to meet so I stayed there. The hotel seemed nice enough, big room, good chair and desk to work at and very convenient location so I was quite happy with the choice.

I had arrived a little before 9:00 p.m. but proceeded to work until around 12:30. No problem I thought, as I only need to get up at 7:30. I discovered there was something wrong with the alarm clock (one of the buttons wasn't working) so I walked over to phone the front desk for a wake up call. I noticed a sign about their automated wake up call system where I was able to set the time through the phone. Very easy to use, I set the time for 7:30. Time for a good night's sleep before another busy day.

5:15 the phone rings. It was the automated wake up call !!!!!!

I phoned down to the front desk. "I just received a wake up call but it was supposed to be at 7:30". The immediate reply was "I didn't call you and I make all the wake up calls". I proceeded to explain that it was the automated system I set for 7:30, the computerized voice confirmed this but it called me at 5:15. There was no apology, no "I'll get someone to look at" just again "ya because I didn't call you". I was too tired to fight, "can I have a wake-up call for 7:30 please". Okay, I did receive the 7:30 call.

When I was checking out, I told the lady at the front desk what had happened. Her reply was a laughing "Oh, never trust the technology, you should just call down for a wake-up call next time". There was no, "sorry we'll take a look at it", "sorry, I haven't heard of any other problems, l have someone test the system" .... it probably was a simple matter of resetting the clock on the server. So much for good customer experience.