Front desk employee tries to resolve a wrong reservation date for a hotel guest, but everyone is useless: ‘I told him that he was the most useless person I've ever spoken to, and that I hoped he had the day he deserved’

María Cetra • Writer

Sep 2, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

Sometimes doing a nice thing takes more effort, but it's the right thing to do.

As someone who has worked in customer service, helping out a customer can actually be very difficult. This may be because other employees don't want to help you out or because managers don't want to pitch in. Whatever the case is, going the extra mile sometimes feels like having to scale Everest instead of just helping out somebody who needs it. That doesn't mean that employees shouldn't help out when a customer needs it. It just means that sometimes it is hard to say yes to helping out because of the burden that it will imply on you.

In the story in r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk, we get a look at all the bureaucracy that comes into place when you just want to help out a customer. This is especially noticeable when you need the assistance from other employees in different areas or companies, and there you realize how useless everyone else is. Nobody really cares about the problem that your customer is having, and it doesn't matter enough to them to actually do something about it. So, if you can, you will have to take the matter into your own hands if you want to accomplish something.

Having to do everything by yourself to get what you want is actually good advice for a lot of jobs and instances in life. Getting the help of others can be a blessing or the worst thing. There's no in between. That's why, no matter the situation, no matter who you are helping, or what you want to get, solve it on your own. It's way better that you make a bigger effort than having to ask for help from people who don't care enough to even listen to what you are asking for. Great customer service or your life depends on you and just you. After all, if this story taught us something is that the only way to solve something is to get in charge of the situation and handle it on your own.

A very nice lady came in, wanting to check in on her reservation. The problem is, she made it for the 30th, not the 29th, and I didn't have her room type available for check in right now. So, because she booked through Licepine, I told her she needed to contact them to get both the date and the room type changed so I could check her in. The Licepine agent calls me and asks if I can process a cancellation with no penalty, to which I say no, because all we want is a date and room type change, also

Front desk employee helping the customer with the wrong reservation date. Representative only. — *Front desk employee helping the customer with the wrong reservation date.*
*_{Representative only.}*

there's that. This dude says that they are unable to make changes to a reservation on their end, that it's up to me to make those changes. I told him that he knows very well that I can't make any changes to third party reservations, they have to be done on his end. We go round and round, and I finally told him that this was bulls, I want a supervisor. He says he'll have one call me, which actually happens. But the supervisor is just as useless. I told him that it was bulls, that he was the most

deserved before hanging up. This poor lady has her baby with her, and my audit is at least two hours away, so I made the executive decision to put her in a room type I do have that's the same cost, and I'll just check her in via the virtual card after audit, and waive the early check-in fee. She started bawling and gave me the biggest hug.

*A hotel room with a bed and decorations.*

Izwe If this sub has taught me anything, it's to never use a third-party to book a hotel, even if going direct costs a little bit more.

SkwrlTail Yeah, even they can't make changes anymore. Too many people pulling stunts for cheaper rooms and so forth. In order to change a reservation, the OTAs now have to cancel the reservation, then re-book it. And of course they need the hotel's permission to do so, so that's a mess.

DogsandCatsWorld 1000 And once again it is proven that when customers are nice, service people really will go out of their way to help them. I'm sure you made that women's week by helping her and her baby. Thank you.

eaterofacultist I had a similar situation tonight. Guy comes in, reservation is for Sunday, and we are already sold out. Guy proceeds to explain that he has 11 businesses, some of which are hotels and we shouldn't have made the reservation for the 30th if we couldn't check him in at midnight. I tell him that's not at all how it works. Meanwhile, another guest is getting disgruntled because he wants to buy some stuff, and is tired of this guy's bulls They proceed to square up and yell at each oth

defender tells the guy he is a Marine, and the guy with 11 hotel type businesses says he is a navy seal. If he is a navy seal I'm an astronaut. The other guy did actually look like a marine, though. So I tell them both to shut up, I ring the marine up. The other guy delays by buying a drink. off I swear it was like he thought this meant he won. He of course promises to see me at 3 pm, which... is highly unlikely, as I will be in bed

playing on my steam deck and hoping my wife doesn't notice and tell me to get some sleep. I end up explaining this to the young lady who takes over for me at 7, and wish her luck.

Ali_in_wonderland02 Third parties are the worst.

awhq I worked for a third party a million years ago. Our office was in a downtown area. One day, I was in our elevator lobby when a guy got out of the elevator. He was deaf and he handed me a note saying he needed some help with a reservation. Believe it or not, our customer service didn't have any accommodation for deaf people and the only way to get customer service was to call in. But this guy lived in our city so he just decided to come by to get help. I spent a few minutes understanding wha

service people (yes, it was onsite at that time). When I explained there was a customer in our elevator lobby who was deaf and needed help with his reservation... Before I could explain the problem he was having, the customer service rep went off on me saying "How do you know he's not faking and he's up to no good? Why would he come to our office????!!!!" Like, did you miss the part where he's deaf and we have no way to help deaf people over the phone? We didn't even have a customer chat or a pl

HawkeyeFLA One of my credit cards gives me a $300 annual hotel credit. But it's via their portal, which I believe uses Schmuckspedia on the back end. I won't say "terrified" but I'm absolutely hesitant to use it. I spent enough time fixing Schmuckspedia's mistakes when I worked for the Rodent for 8 years.

ericzku The thing is, the rate on the 30th (Sunday) is almost certainly going to be different than the rate on the 29th (Saturday), and usually the date they actually booked is cheaper. Those 3rd-party bookings are not changeable and nonrefundable. DON'T try to change it. The way I handle this situation is to tell them I can sell them a room for the 29th at the rate I have available, and it is a totally separate transaction from anything they booked for other dates.

The reservation for the 30th is her problem to deal with, not yours. She can call them & try to cancel it, the OTA may call you to get a refund, approve it or deny it as you wish. But don't make her "mistake" into your problem.

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Front desk employee tries to resolve a wrong reservation date for a hotel guest, but everyone is useless: ‘I told him that he was the most useless person I've ever spoken to, and that I hoped he had the day he deserved’

Sometimes doing a nice thing takes more effort, but it's the right thing to do.

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