Entitled hotel guest demands immediate service despite clerk having to leave desk to help another guest, leading to a dispute in the lobby: ‘What is your problem?’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jul 8, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

When you are a kid, you constantly get told by your parents that 'patience is a virtue'. And even though you have no idea what that phrase means, you slowly learn what patience really is and how to use it. The problem is, that more often than not, the adults who constantly preach patience, have none of their own to show for. 

Like the hotel guest in this Reddit story, who could not patiently wait even 3 minutes for the clerk to return to their desk after assisting another guest. Why would you wait patiently if you can repeatedly call the front desk even when you see there is no one there? And why would you act understandably when the clerk eventually returns from their 3-minute departure, when you can yell at them for wasting your precious time? It's not like we're all humans or something…

Scroll down to read the full story. After that, click here for a story of a roommate who left her apartment after constantly being demanded to clean it.

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  • 01
    "Ma'am, what is your problem?"
    via Canva
  • 02
    Karen repeatedly calls the desk while she's standing there because she wants service NOW.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 03
    Okay. I typically work alone. I come in and the housekeeping team and management are typically there, but after a few hours everyone goes home and I work by myself. If we're super slammed, two people are on a shift. But usually I'm by
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 04
    myself. And that suits me. I like working alone. Get to do things my way and not have to coordinate with anyone else. The part that kinda stinks is when someone needs something and I'm
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 05
    the only one there to do it, so I have to leave the desk. And it's not like I leave the desk for hours. We have a laminated sign we put out directly in the guest's line of sight, and it reads, "I am currently helping
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 06
    another guest. Please help yourself to a cup of coffee or tea, and I will return momentarily." So a guest on the third floor needs a Pack n Play. Usually there's one on each floor. I put out my sign,
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 07
    nobody is in the lobby, and I go up to the third floor. No crib up there, so I go to the second. Still no crib. Apparently housekeeping moved them all to the first floor, so I'll have to go back to the first floor to get
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 08
    one and lug it back to the third floor. I wasn't gone longer than three minutes. As I'm riding the elevator back down, I hear the desk phone ringing and ringing and ringing.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 09
    Sigh. The doors open and Ms. Karen is standing at the desk with her phone in her hand calling the desk phone. She sees me and hangs up. I tell her I'll be with her in a second, and I walk back the hall to get into the office and out to the
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 10
    desk. It takes me literally two seconds. And by the time I'm in the office, the phone starts ringing again. Surely it can't be Karen again, I thought. Nope. I get out to the desk and she has her phone in her hand, once again calling the front desk.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 11
    Now I'm ped. Literally just wait two seconds. I pick up the sign, hold it up and point to it, and I say, "I set out this sign saying that I was busy helping another guest, and that I'd be back momentarily."
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 12
    "I know. I saw it. You shouldn't be leaving the desk. I expect to be checked in when I get here. I shouldn't have to wait." I didn't even respond. I was gone for, at most, three minutes. She was there waiting for less than that. I
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 13
    put her across from the second floor elevator. So freaking annoyed. You're not the only person staying in this hotel. Arguably worse than the people who walk in the doors and immediately shout “HELLO??!!” Like give me half a second to walk to the desk already. Ugh.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 14
    If someone isn't at the desk when you arrive, perhaps you should think "hm. Maybe they're helping another guest and will be back soon" rather than, “Hm. They're obviously neglecting me and are
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 15
    never coming back, and I will immediately take action because I shouldn't be inconvenienced by the absurd amount of seconds it takes them to return."
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 16
    GoldenCrown Moron 4 days ago • I recently had two men pry open the locked glass doors, thankfully without damage, because I had gone to the restroom for about four entire minutes.
    via u/GoldenCrownMoron
  • 17
    Other-Cantaloupe4765 OP 4 days ago Omg! That's just crazy smh. I came back from the bathroom one night and said, "I apologize for the wait, I just had to run to the bathroom real quick." The lady responded with, "omg no, how dare you have to p like an actual human," lol. I wish all guests could understand that.
    via u/Other-Cantaloupe4765
  • 18
    4me2knowit 4 days ago And if you need something at your room you'll understand when I say I can't help you because I can't leave the desk
    via u/4me2knowit
  • 19
    Goodpie2 4 days ago When I get these customers, I always say "Thank you for your patience." 101 Share Other-Cantaloupe4765 OP 4 days ago I like to say "thank you for waiting."
    via u/Goodpie2
  • 20
    drmoocow 4 days ago "May the rest of your stay be as pleasant as you are"
    via u/drmoocow
  • 21
    lilyshay12gold 4 days ago "May you have the day you deserve" I've delivered that line a couple of times.
    via u/lilyshay12gold
  • 22
    chuckinhoutex · 4 days ago • Ma'am, if you feel you shouldn't have to wait, you can, of course take it up with the management who have established this procedure for us to follow, so while I hear what you are saying, you
    via u/chuckinhoutex
  • 23
    should understand that I am exactly one person and I'm doing exactly as I've been instructed. I'd expect, however, that if they were inclined to provide additional staffing in an attempt to prevent anyone from ever having to wait for a moment or two it would most likely result in a rate increase.
    via u/chuckinhoutex
  • 24
    • Deep_Orange_9704 · 4 days ago I would have been like "and now you don't have to check-in cause I'm canceling your reservation free of charge, good luck at the next hotel."
    via u/Deep_Orange_9704

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guests workplace-stories hotel guest employee hotel front desk work reservation tales from the front desk reddit story entitled Reddit weird entitled people
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