Hotel guest doesn't know the difference between a request and a guarantee, so when his reservation was just a request, he made a scene because he didn't get what he wanted: 'Anytime he would get wound up again'.

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Jul 15, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

A request is something you ask for as a favor that may or may not be done. A guarantee, on the other hand, is something that is promised to you and needs to be done.

Some guests that front desk employees have to deal with are comparable to little children that just started to attend kindergarten. They need everything to be repeated a thousand times with a calm voice. They don't know the difference between some words, and they throw tantrums when they don't get what they want. So maybe when these employees use gentle parenting to calm them down and educate them is not so bad. 


At a previous job that I had, I remember that our trainer usually told us that we had to educate the customer. As if they were children and we were some kind of teacher. I always hated that because it meant that most customers usually didn't know anything about the way we work and didn't even want to learn beforehand. Which led to uncomfortable situations where they expected to be right or at least get their way just because, and we would have to act like a first-grade teacher that is educating children on the meaning of the word no. 
 

The fact that managers and higher-ups expect things like these to happen and so they train their employees to deal with that just shows the poor perception they have of the clients, that they have to be treated as kids. This Reddit story got me thinking about the two kinds of customers that exist when you, as an employee, say no. On one side, we have the understanding one that says it's fine and moves on. And on the other, we have a childish adult who makes a scene over everything that doesn't go their way. Be more like the first kind. The employees that serve you are going to appreciate it deeply. 

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  • 01
    "Request" is defined most simply as: "the act of asking for something to be given or done, especially as a favor or courtesy" Guests seem to have a hard time differentiating a request from a guarantee. +10 points if the thing they're requesting is highlighted as such in writing, with the added disclaimer that it is "subject to availability." That's exactly what happened in this instance.
    via ScenicDrive-at5
  • 02
    Visual representation of a white building with a sign that says hotel.
    via Steven Van Elk

    Visual representation of a white building with a sign that says hotel. 

  • 03
    Sold out summer weekend; various groups staying over and every bed will have a head in it. One of said groups consisted of sports families, so our Two Queen option was a hot commodity, as were our complimentary cots. This particular family, who I'll call the Times, booked just days prior outside of the already sold out group block. They scooped up one of the last available rooms, and it came in as what's known as a 'flow-through' from a third-
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  • 04
    party (but not prepaid.) In short, this means they booked a requested room type, but that request is, as you guessed it, not a promise. This is outlined on the booking page before you even begin the reservation. Mrs. Time was the first to receive the news that they got a single King. She was disappointed, but she didn't freak out. Mr. Time, meanwhile, took every atom of semi-passionate anger she didn't have and dished it out instead.
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  • 05
    He defaulted to the common argument: "I understand we booked third-party, but this sounds like a problem between you and them--it's not our fault!" I reiterated the fact that we do not control what's on the third- party's site or how they word things, and his neck shot back as his eyes exploded open. He basically did the emote in about four instances as I broke down the fact that a request is well...a request.
    via ScenicDrive-at5
  • 06
    "I have a party of 5, how are supposed to make do with only a single bed?" I continued to calmly explain that we were very much sold out, but if it would help, we could reverse the check-in and they could book elsewhere. I threw out some other hotels in the vicinity, which his wife was calmly paying attention to as he simply shook his head in frustration. Anytime he would get wound up again about how he "couldn't
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  • 07
    believe we think this is acceptable", his wife would try to gentle parent him back down to Earth. It was through Mrs. Time's own admission that they waited until the last minute to book because they weren't really sure if they'd make it. And by the time they knew, they simply took whatever option they saw available. Though she was also confused by the online listing, she at least understood there wasn't anything
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  • 08
    more we could do about it. In the end, they opted to keep their room; guess little Timmy, Tucker and Tom ended up on an air bed or something.
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  • 09
    Visual representation of a hotel suite.
    via Vojtech Bruzek

    Visual representation of a hotel suite. 

  • 10
    ConsistentParking424 Love that you offered to cancel his reservation. He was probably shocked that you did that instead of magically creating a 2 queen bed room for him. Guess the 3 kids were going to be sharing 1 bed, hope they were little kids.
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  • 11
    Proud Mistake_4686 I was at a convention last weekend and stayed at a hotel I booked in FEBRUARY (because I'm not an idiot, and rooms book up early for this) and I booked 3 rooms I asked if we could have the rooms as close as possible to each other. I knew and expected this to be hard for the FD agent to do given sold out status and we ended i up with 2 on the 5th floor and 1 on
    via ScenicDrive-at5
  • 12
    the 3rd. It was the best they could do. Know what I said to FD??? I said thank you so very much! I appreciate the help! (Honestly people, It's not as hard as it looks). But op is right, a request is just that. A request.
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  • 13
    Key Wish_7990 I don't know what they expect you to do in situations like that. You tell him all the 2-queen rooms are occupied, and he says it's unacceptable. So what would be acceptable?
    via ScenicDrive-at5
  • 14
    Araucaria2024 I went away last week and had booked two beds (myself and my teen). Got there and they had allocated us a queen sized bed instead and that all the rooms with two beds were sold out. Shrugged and said 'ok, it's just one night, we'll make it work'. Next thing they had moved us into a suite and the reception sent a bottle of wine to the
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  • 15
    room. Usually being polite and going with the flow works out much better in the long run.
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  • 16
    Active_Air_2311 Just had a similar situation. He kept saying But I requested both rooms on the ground floor right next to each other!!! I paid good money alot of money, I'm not getting what I paid for. Yes, sir, you are getting exactly what you paid for. You are getting the room type you booked and paid for. They are just not in the location you REQUESTED. The room types that you
    via ScenicDrive-at5
  • 17
    booked are not next to each other, there are other room types in between. It is not possible to have them right next to each other. That does not exist.
    via ScenicDrive-at5
  • 18
    pudukai Now Mr Times is gonna tell his 5 cousin followers on Facebook how outrageously he was treated.
    via ScenicDrive-at5

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customer service hotel guest request tales from the front desk
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