Top Tales From the Front Desk This Week (March 22, 2023)

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Mar 22, 2023 8:00 AM EDT

Does anyone have it harder than the front desk agent in this age of horrific Karens, annoying teenagers, and entitled folks? One has to wonder if these front desk agents are the biggest heroes of all these days… especially if you look at this collection of tales from the front desk. Keep scrolling below for these five epic stories of noisy guests, rude Karens, and troublesome OTAs. For more stories like this, here's one about a local Karen and Kevin at a motel.

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  • 01
    Building - Top Tales From the Front Desk
    via visualsofdana
  • 02

    #1: This epic saga in which an entitled family didn't get the room they wanted

    Font - "Why don't you start acting like a human and give us a room." It's not my fault you don't want the room you booked through the OTA. I can't do when you book through a third party like an idiot \\_()_/¯ Long A family comes in late that night. Probably around 11:30pm. Mom, dad, and two young kids- probably around the age of five or six. Nothing out of the ordinary. They booked a prepaid nonrefundable reservation through a third party. Ugh. Whatever. Checked 'em in and they went up to their
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 03
    Font - Twenty minutes later, they all come back down with their and say that that's not the type of room they booked. They booked a room with two queen beds. I said sorry, that's what came through on the reservation, and I can't change anything on a PPNF reservation. They'd have to take it up with the company they booked it through. The lady said she needed two beds. "I'm supposed to have two beds. TWO. There are four people here. Use your common sense. Why would you put four people in a room th
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 04
    Font - "Ma'am, that's not how it works. I didn't make your reservation, I didn't pick the room type, and I can't change anything. You booked through a third party, so you need to fix this with the third party." "This isn't MY fault!! I need two beds!!! How are we all supposed to sleep in a room with only one bed?" "Well it certainly isn't my fault. And the room does have two beds. A queen bed and a pullout sofa bed."
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 05
    Font - "That doesn't count! We need two beds! How do you suggest we all sleep in a room with one bed and a sofa bed? Hm?" "That's up to you. I can even get you a rollaway bed if you want it." "That's not what I reserved!" "You'd have to take that up with the OTA."
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 06
    Font - Lady. There are seriously two beds in the room. Have the kids sleep on the sofa bed. They're kids! They don't care where they sleep, and little kids love being able to sleep in places other than their own bed. It's an adventure for them. I can't even count the number of kids who come in excited to sleep on the window seat Imao.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 07
    Font - Of course, the woman was pissed at me. Because why not. Why not yell at the FDA for a up that they didn't make. The man showed me the confirmation email they got for the room, and it confirmed that they booked a suite. Surprise, surprise. Man calls the OTA rep and talks for a solid half hour before coming back over to the desk and telling me that the third party upgraded them from a double queen room to a suite without notice. Nah. I don't know what bulls they're tellin ya, but your confi
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 08
    Font - More talking on the phone. Kids are asleep in the lobby chairs (but nooo they can't sleep anywhere other than an actual bed!). Mom is huffing and rolling her eyes and pacing. Dude is on the phone trying to get the room changed. OTA has already called me twice and asked me to change the room type even though I literally can't. What's up with OTAs always asking me to do THEIR job smdh. You made the reservation, you fix it. I can't do anything from here.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 09
    Font - Third party doesn't want to do anything. They're getting more money from a suite than from a double room, and apparently don't want to give it up. I'd already told the man that his best bet was to make a reservation on the spot and deal with the third party later on. I was on audit shift, so I was just chilling and doing my work while these people sat in my lobby. Hey, not my problem. At one point, I heard the lady say that she was never using that OTA again- she was using [another OTA] i
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 10
    Font - It's been over an hour. I don't care. It's not like I have to waste my time sitting on the phone trying to fix a mistake I didn't make. It's their time, not mine. The man is still on the phone, but the lady storms up to the desk and says, "we have been sitting here for over an hour. My kids are exhausted. Mistakes get made, things get messed up sometimes, but sooner or later you'll have to act like a human. So why don't you start acting like a human and give us a room."
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 11
    Font - "Ma'am. I'm sorry you're so upset about this. I can give you a rollaway bed, and that's it. If you don't want it, you're welcome to leave and find another place to stay." And they took the rollaway bed. I brought it up to their room and they had me push it inside. Whatever. Their kids were sleeping. The room was dark. And this lady starts telling me that she doesn't want to leave a bad review because I was so polite, but she would if my manager didn't discount the price or refund her.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 12
    Font - leave a bad review then, idgaf. All that and still she doesn't understand how an OTA works. I'm shocked at the amount of people who use OTAs without knowing how they work. EDIT: Wow, this has drawn in a lot of OTA bootlickers. Didn't know so many of you lurked here waiting to kiss OTA whenever someone mentions them. If you want to defend an OTA, go get a job at a hotel and learn how they work.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 13
    Font - EDIT2: My head hurts and I can't deal with all the ignorant f who act like I can just break the contract between a franchise owner and a third party company. I'm a front desk agent. Neither I nor my managers have control over this, and telling me that we do doesn't make it true. If you don't work at a hotel, then shut the up with your uneducated opinions. Don't make accusations about things you clearly don't understand. And to those who are telling me to quit, yeah, not everyone is an ent
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 14

    #2: This guest who tried to scam the FDA and the FDA saw right through him

    Font - "But the last time I was here, the lady at the front desk told me-"Sir, I was the lady who checked you in during your last stay, and I said no such thing. Medium Life pro-tip here: don't try to scam the person who checked you in last time. I'm going to call this guy Ben. Ben came in last night, and I recognized his name right away. I'd checked him in for a two night stay on 3/9 to 3/11. I hadn't had any issues with him. Just a normal guy, save for the way he spoke quickly and didn't enunc
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 15
    Font - He wanted a room for another two nights. Okay, no problem. Ben: "Oh, and can you price match my last stay so I'm paying the same amount for this one?" I was taken aback lol. We don't price match previous stays. That's just such an outlandish idea. It makes zero sense. We have people with special negotiated rates because they stay so often, but we have never price matched previous stays.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 16
    Font - Me: Uh, no, our rates change from night to night, I can't change the price to match the one you previously got on another day. Ben: Well, the lady who checked me in last time said that they'd be able to price match that rate for my future stays. Me: I was that lady who checked you in last time. And I did not say that.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 17
    Font - Ben: Well, I spoke to the manager the next morning, and they told me that I could keep that rate for future stays since I stay here so often. To be clear, this guy had stayed at the hotel ONCE. Only on 3/9 to 3/11. There was no other record of him ever staying here before that. And there was no negotiated rate for him because he didn't stay there often.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 18
    Font - Me: There is no negotiated rate listed for you. Since you have triple A, I can add that to your reservation, but nothing else. The price would be $73 plus tax per night, which would come out to about $78.38 total per night (can't remember the exact number). Ben: Well last time, the rate was $72 per night with tax included in it.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 19
    Font - Me: No, that would not be correct. Ben: Yes, it was $72 with all taxes included. As if I couldn't look up his last folio and see what the rate was Imao. Another pro-tip here: don't try to scam someone who has hard evidence contrary to your lies.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 20
    Font - I looked up his last folio, printed it out, and highlighted the room rate for each night plus the applicable taxes under each. I explained it to him very clearly, saying that the rate was $72.90 before the taxes, which were listed below the room charge. And Ben still had the gall to tell me that the $72.90 was with taxes included. I pointed at the tax lines and said no.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 21
    Font - Ben, mumbling: well then somebody lied to me. Me: I can give you the triple A rate and that's it. Take it or leave it. And he took it. And I put him in a room that was right across from the elevator AND the ice machine. Good luck getting any sleep, shole. I warned my coworker about him and put it in my recap email as well so that everyone would be aware in case he tried that on someone else.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 22
    Font - Don't try to scam the person who checked you in last time. You're likely to fail and get yourself put somewhere that's not exactly desirable. I think that people try to lie and scam me because I look young and inexperienced. I'm neither of those things, so people generally aren't prepared for me to see through their bull and refuse to give in as soon as they mention management.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 23
    Font - It's quite satisfying to see their face drop when they realize I'm not an idiot. People seem to take us for idiots often, and they're surprised when we aren't. Surprise motherf you're paying tonight's rate just like everyone else.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 24

    #3: This FDA who keeps getting bullied by the breakfast team

    Font - I'm sick of my breakfast team Short Long story short my property has two elderly ladies that do breakfast. Guests love them because they see the "southern hospitality" side. As for myself and the other auditors, we loathe them.
    via u/DankeVunterSlaush
  • 25
    Font - Me and the other auditors have been stepping in more with breakfast as lifting appliances and other heavy objects is difficult for them, however that has turned out to be a mistake. Most days I get yelled at by them at least once, but usually two or three times before 6AM. They've chewed me out in front of guests while gesturing wildly in attempts to pull me away from the desk to see what's so urgent. It's usually something like they forgot the code to the lock on the freezer.
    via u/DankeVunterSlaush
  • 26
    Font - Sometimes I do mess up, I'll forget to pull one the trash from one of the cans or forget to plug a machine in every now and then. But often that's not the case. Ive been scolded for a chair not being pushed in and leaving trash on the tables in the middle of talking to the guest who was just sitting there before they came in. I've been yelled at and told that I have the order of the coffee urns wrong more times than I can count because they've decided on a different order for that morning
    via u/DankeVunterSlaush
  • 27
    Font - The same goes for all the breakfast paraphernalia, like the plates, ketchup, utensils, etc. I know for a fact that I set out everything in the exact same way every morning, because I've been using a picture reference to match it up with how they do it, and yet I still get ripped a new one. I've been told to "do your job and quit sleeping in the back office" when I'm wrapping up the audit because I put the carts away and they couldn't be bothered to pull them from the closet.
    via u/DankeVunterSlaush
  • 28
    Font - I'm to the point now where I've begun throwing it back at them and telling them that breakfast is not my responsibility and if they have a problem with how it's set up, I'm more than happy to let them do it.
    via u/DankeVunterSlaush
  • 29

    #4: This FDA who kept getting rejected due to "lack of experience"

    Font - THIS is why I couldn't get hired at your property?! Short I've finally landed a NA swing shift gig in my hometown after months of one-off interviews with various GMs in the area. (It was worse than Tinder dating, people!!) I was working night audit at a very nice hotel on a prestigious college campus (the brand markets itself as "COLLEGE!") but had to move back to my small hometown for reasons.
    via u/AfghaniMoon
  • 30
    Font - I was turned away from the biggest property/highest paying gig in town because the GM was OBSESSED with the fact I had no experience with OnQ. (My previous experience is with Opera) I told this old fossil GM that I'm a fast learner, and would even be willing to study the user manual at home in my off time to get up to speed. He just couldn't see past this glaring omission in my experience.
    via u/AfghaniMoon
  • 31
    Font - Cut to now: just wrapped up my first week at my new hotel (different property, but same name on the sign). This hotel uses OnQ. WTF was that old windbag going on about?! By my third shift, I was running night audit by myself using OnQ. Zero issue. Why was this GM (who probably went to grade school with Christopher Columbus) going on and on about how I needed experience with the OnQ system in order to work for the "Brand"?
    via u/AfghaniMoon
  • 32

    #5: And finally, this FDA who clearly isn't the biggest fan of younger people

    Font - The Party Is Now Over, Again Long I would like to reassure my wonderful readers that I do not like getting angry. If I am angry, it means that all other methods have failed. I really don't like it. Tonight gentle readers, we shall speak of the Kids These Days, and their lack of respect for authority, and so forth. While this may sound like the grumblings of a cranky older person for whom dietary fiber is a concern, I would like to reassure everyone that I have an Emotional Support Unicorn
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 33
    Font - Our story begins a few nights ago. This would in point of fact be the same night that I received two calls from Online Travel Agencies, causing me much frustration and rolling of eyes. Gentle readers, I actually had three such OTA calls that night. Ugh. They want to know if a Mutual Guest can check in early? I'll need to check the availability, but yeah, we're only half full, it shouldn't be an issue to accomodate. How early are we talking - Six am!? Okay, yeah, so that's not an early che
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 34
    Font - The guests arrive at eight am, well after I've gone, but apparently there was either a miscommunication or a deliberate as they claim misunderstanding, they weren't told there would be an early check-in fee. The guests are college age. Teenagers. If you're guessing they were here to party, you get a gold star. What I've been able to determine is that it was ostensibly an academic trip of some sort. Three day seminars and training courses are common over at the University this time of year
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 35
    Font - In fairness, it wasn't a big party. No drunken bacchanalia, no blaring music, no wafting fumes. But eight people in a room playing dominos and trying to talk over one another gets loud. Very loud. Do you have any idea how loud you have to be for the floor above you to complain? The room above them came down to complain to my coworker. Said coworker is... kind of useless. If it interferes with her TimeFacing with her boyfriend, she's not interested. So she didn't do anything. Just hoped it
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 36
    Font - So it came to pass that the guest above came down to the desk again, quite rightfully angry that the noise had not abated. Profuse apologies are offered, and I go up to confront the group. I knock and there is a bunch of "Shh! Shh!". They're clearly hoping I'll go away if there's no noise. This is not the case. I knock again, louder. The person opening the door is informed that they are being much too loud, and that if I have to come back, I will be very upset. Spoilers: I would later be
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 37
    Font - The morning comes, and the occupants - all eight of them in a two-bed room - descend upon the breakfast bar. They accomplish the impossible and completely wipe it out by themselves. I've had entire sports teams that would at least leave something. Oh wait, they did leave something - a huge pile of trash on the tables. With the trash can less than five feet away. Lovely. The next night I am puttering my way through the night's activities when the gentleman from the night before comes down
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 38
    Font - I go up to the second floor. Sure enough, they're being loud again. Angry Skwrl pounds on the door. Professional Tip: If you ever want to pond on a door really loudly, hammer on the upper corner on the latch sie of the door. This will rattle the door and make it sound like a truck full of angry gorillas is demanding entrance. There is a repeat of the "Shh! Shh!" and everyone hoping I will go away. I pound again, pausing half a beat between each slam to drive home my considerable displeasu
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 39
    Font - "Explain to me why I shouldn't throw you all out into the rain right this instant. I told you to be quiet and you chose to ignore that warning." My tone is the growl of an idling chainsaw. My gaze pure murder. I am Wrath incarnate. The kid realizes he is in Big Trouble, and that not only has he crossed a line, said line is way, way back there... "Oh... Um... We-we weren't being that loud..." "Calling me a liar is not going to make me happier. I could hear you all the way down the hallway.
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 40
    Font - I cut him off, "NO. No apologies. No promises. You've shown me that your apologies are worthless and that you can't keep your promises. You had your chance. This ends now. The party is over. There WILL be quiet. Because if I hear anything from this room at all I will be throwing you all out into the rain. Is. That. Understood." He nods quickly. "We'll go ahead and leave." I nod in return, "Next time, listen. Good night."
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 41
    Font - I return to the desk, putting The Darkness back into it's closet and stapling the Customer Service Mask back together. Lean against Buttercup for support while the anger fades. About five minutes later, six of the kids scamper their way out the side door and off into the storm. Peace returned to the land of Lacking Tea. All quiet save for the pattering of rain outside.
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 42
    Font - Folks may wonder why I didn't just kick them out. Mainly because my manager doesn't like to kick people out unless it's something actually criminal or the like. Heck, I don't like doing so if I can help it. I almost did. Meh. Take a minute to say goodbye to Buttercup, and have a wonderful and quiet night. Teal Deer; noisy college kids invoke Angry Skwrl.
    via u/SkwrlTail

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