'You trippin bro...': Guest ignores hotel policy, demanding nonexistent membership points from fed up employee

Author image for Sienna Varady
Sienna Varady
Feb 29, 2024 7:00 AM EST

It's just not possible to reason with some folks. Certain conversations might be beneficial to have because they might result in a productive dialogue, however, others might not. But are arguments and conflicts in the customer service sector worth engaging in? Or are we fighting an unwinnable war?

The story that follows tells the tale of a hotel front desk employee. The Original Poster (OP) is rarely surprised by privileged clientele because of his vast experience as a customer care representative. However, when a particularly entitled guest arrived at the hotel and insisted on receiving hotel membership reward points despite having made her reservation through a third party, OP realized he was in for a wild ride. According to the terms of the contract, she was not eligible to receive membership reward points for her reservation. And despite OP's repeated attempts to reason with the entitled guest, the guest would not listen...

Without giving too much away, make sure to read the story below to learn the specifics of what transpired and how OP dealt with the entitled customer! When you're finished, don't forget to read the account of the man who, following a long-running neighborly conflict, leaves his noisy neighbor with a farewell gift!

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  • 01
    "I am listening to you, but are you listening to me?!"
    via Canva
  • 02
    "I called YOUR number to make this reservation, and I should get the points for it!" Ma'am, obviously you did not.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 03
    Third party bookings are the worst. They s ka ka, and, most of the time, so do the guests who use them. Of course we're always nice and friendly to people who book through OTAs, but the majority of the time, those guests have nof king clue how they work. Which is dumb. I don't expect you to know all the details
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 04
    about OTAS, but if you're signing a contract and sending someone your credit card information, you should probably have a basic understanding of w f you're signing and who tf you're sending your money to. Anyway, Brenda comes in and says she has a reservation for that night. I find it
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 05
    and it's a Prepaid Nonrefundable Reservation through Prickline. Okay, whatever, I start checking her in. She asks if her [Hotel Brand Membership] rewards points would be automatically added to her [Membership Account]. I explained that guests don't receive points when they book through an OTA- only when
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 06
    they book directly. After all, why would we reward a guest for using another business? My favorite phrase when people book OTA is, "you're our guest but you're not our customer." She immediately gets defensive and says, "well I didn't BOOK with an OTA, I booked by calling YOUR HOTEL."
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 07
    "I can see here that you did book with Prickline, a-" "I DID NOT. I think you're lying so you don't have to give me my points." Omg Brenda. You absolute p. s wizard. First of all, I have nothing to do with points. Those are handled by the corporate people making ten times as
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 08
    much money as I am. Second of all, why would I lie to avoid giving you points anyway?? It's not like I lose points when you gain them. I literally do not care, dude. "Okay. I can see the entire reservation. history, and it was made on Prickline. Sometimes third parties will deliberately
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 09
    trick you into thinking you're booking directly, but-" And then Brenda shoves her phone up to the glass and says, "what, so you're gonna lie and tell me this text message ISN'T from your hotel? Hm?" It was a reminder message sent to her phone from our Brand's automated
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 10
    system. "That's a reminder message regarding your stay- that's not a confirmation of your reservation." "Well THIS is the number I called, and I spoke to someone AT THIS HOTEL, and THEY made the reservation for me!!" "We don't make prepaid nonrefundable reservations over the phone. We don't
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 11
    make those at all. We don't have that option available. This type of reservation always comes from an OTA." Brenda just said fine, whatever, don't give me the points then. Fine! I won't give you the points! You know, the points that I don't have the means or authority to distribute anyway.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 12
    Those points. I'm not giving you the points that I couldn't give you in the first place. Brenda. I finished her check-in and off she went. Didn't see her again the rest of the night. Preemptive edit: I often get people in this sub who get sn ty and say "you should've just stopped talking, that long
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 13
    of a pointless conversation is just a waste of time and energy." So let me just remind you that this interaction took less than two minutes. Less than two minutes between us before I handed her the keys. Just so y'all know before spamming me with comments about all that time I wasted in the course of *checks notes* two minutes.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 14
    1554-0 thedudeabidesOG · 13 hr. ago "Hi, BrenDUH. Can I have your confirmation number?it should be in your email.” Then watch her pull it up and ask who sent the email. Watch her squirm.
    via u/thedudeabidesOG
  • 15
    IcefireZeus 12 hr. ago Ahhhh I have this mini argument with people about once a week. There's this one guy who comes every few weeks or so, who almost always books through suxpedia. And every time he asks of his rewards was connected. And almost every time we tell him he
    via u/IcefireZeus
  • 16
    can't get points because he booked through suxpedia. Last time he came, he snapped at me before storming off to his room "you're the ONLY HOTEL WHO DOES THIS. Every other hotel lets me get points!" And all I could think is "I guess every other hotel is just attaching it knowing you're not getting points, or lying to you
    via u/IcefireZeus
  • 17
    then." But I didn't say it. Corporate has it set up in our system to automatically mark them "ineligible" for points on third party stays, so he's definitely not getting points for those stays. Whatever. Actually now that I'm talking about it, I don't think I've seen him since that little outburst of his, maybe he's embarrassed.
    via u/IcefireZeus
  • 18
    Other-Cantaloupe4765 OP. 12 hr. ago Here's to hoping he doesn't come back! And yes, this happens way too often. People get so p sy about it insisting that they didn't do something and it's like... bro I have the entirety of the reservation history, change
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 19
    history, and routing history sitting right in front of me. Don't tell me what you didn't do because I can see right there in black and white that you absolutely did do it. Smh. People.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 20
    IcefireZeus 12 hr. ago I've had one who was so adamant that they didn't book third party, and pulled up the link they used to get the phone number to call... I pointed out that it was not [brand].com, but some weird link that was
    via u/IcefireZeus
  • 21
    designed to look like it. She then showed me the number she had called, and I turned my computer with the brand phone number pulled up. They weren't the same. She still didn't believe me.
    via u/IcefireZeus
  • 22
    rudbek-of-rudbek. 11 hr. ago When you see someone is going to be a p ck I would've just said, "loyalty points are handled after checkout at the corporate level. On your next statement if you find they haven't been applied appropriately please call the corporate number and they can assist you." It is a true statement and takes the blame off you and shuts her down all at once
    via u/rudbek--rudbek
  • 23
    MazdaValiant · 14 hr. ago . And this is one of many reasons I never have used an OTA and never will.
    via u/MazdaValiant
  • 24
    RocMills 14 hr. ago I only use them, in the earliest of planning stages, to see what's in the area and to get a general idea of what kind of price range I can expect. When it's time to book, I call the hotel.
    via u/RocMills
  • 25
    ITrCool 14 hr. ago This is why I will NEVER book through OTA's at all. Direct-booking all the way for me. I don't care if it's Disney, cruise ships, airlines, travel overseas, or hotel rooms. Forget third parties. Just way too many things that can go wrong there. Too many headaches, all to potentially (but not always) save maybe a few bucks at best.
    via u/ITrCool
  • 26
    LucasPisaCielo 10 hr. ago The hotel I usually use is 40% cheaper while using 3rd party booking sites. The rooms are not as good, but other than that I haven't had any issues. It helps that the staff knows me by now.
    via u/LucasPisaCielo
  • 27
    A savings of $250 is not a few bucks in my case. I'd like to book directly, but sometimes it's worth it to do it through a 3rd party site or travel agency.
    via u/LucasPisaCielo

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customer service feud antiwork workplace-stories hotel work stories drama tales from the front desk reddit story entitled customers workplace Reddit karen entitled people karen customer
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