‘Anything of yours belongs to the hotel while you’re on duty’: Entitled Karen throws fit after hotel employee refuses to hand over personal phone charger she insisted she was “allowed” to use

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• Guest Upset She Can't My Personal Property

  A few days ago I was working my shift when this guest walked up to the desk asking if we had a phone charger she could borrow since she forgot to pack hers and it was too late in the day to go buy a new one. I had to tell her that unfortunately the hotel doesn't carry chargers. 

   

  She seemed shocked and asked why. I told her we used to, but the problem was that we'd always end up losing them when guests never returned them. So finally, after replacing who knows how many chargers (both iPhone and Android) the hotel just stopped carrying them. 

   

  She was upset, but then asked, "What about that one?" while pointing to the back desk against the wall where there was a phone charging.

  
   

• My phone to be exact.

  I told her the phone was mine as was the charger and therefore I wasn't going to lend it out. She said that wasn't fair, that she should be allowed to use it. I once again informed her that the charger was mine, not the hotels. She didn't care and actually said that since I worked for the hotel, anything of mine is part of the hotel while I was on duty and I was obligated to let her use my charger. 

   

  I've heard some really weird mental gymnastics from guests in order to justify being given whatever request they're asking for, but THIS one was out there, even for me. I told her that she has no rights to my personal property and she was not going to be given my charger no matter what, and she walked off in a huff.

• What started as a mildly annoying customer interaction fully entered absurd territory. The employee says the guest seemed genuinely convinced that working behind the front desk temporarily erased the concept of personal property altogether, turning a forgotten phone charger into an incredibly heated argument over what hotel staff supposedly “owe” guests.

• I found out later from my FOS that she came down and complained that I refused her request for the use of my charger. Apparently she became upset when told once again that an employee's personal property is just that, their personal property and the hotel would not force us to allow a guest to use it. The rest of the desk staff and myself are taking bets on whether or not she'll try taking this up with corporate.

  -TheNiteOwl38
   

• The story quickly caught attention online, especially among people who have worked customer service jobs and instantly recognized the particular brand of confidence this guest brought into the interaction. Plenty of readers joked that this was classic “Karen logic,” where hearing the word “no” somehow only makes the demands become increasingly more bizarre and aggressive.

• DogsandCatsWorld1000

  I was thinking there is no reason to rent a car. Just use the ones of the hotel's employees while they are at work.

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• brokenman82

  I had a guest ask if there were swim trunks in lost and found the he could borrow

   

   

  
   

• DaneAlaskaCruz

  It would be so hilarious if OP had replied:

  "Anything else you forgot packing that you would like to borrow from me as well? Like underwear or toothbrush??

  Anything for you, my liege!!"

  This is one of the reasons why, when I worked front desk, I would plug my personal phone out of the guest's sight. Then you can definitively say that there are no chargers available.

  S*cks to have to do this. But guests can be crazy with their mental gymnastics.

• sellyourselfshort

  I once had a guest make a complaint about me for not giving them money for the vending machine. Not change, money from my pocket because they had no cash...

• LutschiPutschi

  We constantly had a large box full of mobile phone chargers in our lost-and-found. 90% of them were never claimed. We would give these to guests who had forgotten their own chargers.

  One guest had forgotten his laptop charger. I offered to let him charge his laptop in our office using one of our charging cables. Two hours later, he came to pick it up.

  I wouldn't even give a guest my private lighter.

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• amndka

  I used to offer to charge guests phones at the desk.

  I am not loaning you anything, you want your phone charged? Leave it here and go to the bar for an hour. Some people argued but I was also the night manager so I didn’t have to be nice.

• HonkyKong682

  I found that putting a price on things tends to end the argument and put the ball in the other person's court. Yes, I can rent you my personal charger. $500 cash, up front. You get 400 back if returned working in an hour or I consider it a sale for $500. They won't take the offer, but psychologically that's on them. It ends the my rights and begging arguments. Folks are used to choosing not to pay for something too expensive, but not used to being told no for a favor. You could technically start a business. Heck, your hotel might want to consider lending chargers, they have the customers credit card.

• NYC-WhWmn-ov50

  I would tell her that since slavery is no longer legal and the hotel does not own me, her logic is flawed. Hiwever, if she brings me her wallet and allows me to keep it with all her credit cards and ID as collateral, I would lend her my charger. She gets her wallet back when she gives me my charger back. Oh, she doesnt like that? Weird, I dont like being called a slave to my employer.

• Some customer interactions are annoying, some are exhausting, and then there are the rare encounters that completely redefine a person’s understanding of human confidence. Forgetting a charger is normal. Looking another adult in the eyes and sincerely arguing their personal belongings temporarily belong to the hotel because they’re on shift is truly next-level commitment to entitlement.

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