Dear Obscenely Rude Customer Whose Goal Last Night Was to Make Me Feel Like Shit,
Hi. Hey, I know we had a bad start, so I'd like to start over. My name is ------. I know you just got into town and I just want to tell you about some things, if that's okay?
I've seen While You Were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock about 15 times with my mom. My favorite color is lemon yellow. I can tell you every bit of trivia from all of the Harry Potter books and movies because I'm such a nerd. I'm addicted to chocolate lava cakes from Domino's. One of my favorite memories of college was watching my cynical best friend Sarah fall in love for the first time. I prefer sunrises over sunsets, I always tip 20%, I have the most ghetto flip-phone on the planet, the first thought I had when I met my boyfriend of 5 years was 'Wow, he's cute and I hope he doesn't think I'm a complete idiot', and I would never never want you to feel unwanted or ignored.
I'm sorry you had to wait a few extra minutes. My co-worker was doing the check-ins and there was only that one guest she was helping (you weren't in the lobby then) so I was free to take that emergency call from the diner beneath the hotel, plus page maintenance about a separate problem, plus look for the diner worker who was just waiting in the lobby because he needed to get into the kitchen to get ice and I needed to locate who had the keys, plus write down a note to my GM regarding that phone call. Once I hung up I even left the room to finish the note--he was stolen from in case you were wondering, and $150 is a big deal for a small business.
Through it all, my co-worker was doing the check-ins and from my peripheral vision it seemed like there were only two people in her line (you were the second person) and I was almost done with the phone call, the page, and the note. In all, you must have only waited 4 minutes at most.
Confession time: I did hear you ask if I was open. But you said it in a low hiss--low enough that I could have not heard it, and in such a bitchy way I didn't want to help you, and you said it far away enough from my desk that you weren't demanding immediate attention. I had just hung up and was finishing the last sentence of the note, which is why I went into the back office for those 45 seconds just to make you understand that no, I wasn't open because I was really busy and my co-worker was checking people in.
You later accused me of not making eye contact. Of course I didn't. I was busy juggling a call, a page, and a note in a 4 minute or less time frame and my co-worker didn't need help. If you went to a bank and one teller is open and the other teller is not near the computer and is on the phone and not making eye contact, she or he is busy and will help you when they're ready. It's common sense, and I bet in your job that you too understand what teamwork is and how if one person is doing A and you need to do B, and both are important, so you shouldn't drop things to do A as well.
I must ask you, if I had called you over to my desk while I was still on the phone and paging maintenance, would you have been upset if I had you stand there and wait for me? Or would it have been better if you just went to my co-worker who was finishing up with a guest?
From what I overheard, you felt that someone cut in front of you in line which is another reason you were pissed. This is partly my co-worker's fault. She should have seen you and told that man that you were next. And really, it was your fault for not standing in line and instead standing to the side.
Honestly though, you couldn't have waited more than 4 minutes at most. 4 minutes can be important, but sometimes when you're about to be a two-day guest in someone's house or apartment or hotel or store or whatever, starting off your impression of you as being unreasonable and unlikable doesn't really help you.
Or maybe it does. You were so mean to me and bitter and questioning my work ethic that my boss came out and lowered your rate and got your son a birthday cake. You got treated special because you were a bitch. Because in the customer service industry in a bad economy, we can't afford bad press.
So, being a bitch and making a fellow human being feel like crap got you free things. I guess you win. But I wonder, do you think that your behavior and being rewarded for it is ethical? How would your mother think of you and the way you treated me? Because your husband looked embarrassed about your behavior, as did your grown children.
I couldn't sleep very well last night because I was thinking about you. I was thinking about how you berated me, and how you're right, I messed up. Those 4 minutes (or less) were more important to be spent on you than management emergencies and I should have called the diner back and waited on maintenance for a tiny bit longer. And I'm sorry. I really am. I want your stay to be happy. I mean that.
Because I'm one of those people who does care. But I just want you to know that every time those of us who do care gets wounded by customers like you, we close up a little bit more. I was less vivacious for the guest after you. And I was while I tried to get back into my friendly groove, the last hour and a half of my shift I just couldn't give 100%. Maybe that's my problem. But I can't help but wonder if maybe the people who don't care used to, and it's because of customers like you that they just....don't anymore.
So again, I am sorry. I'm sorry you waited. And I'm sorry that my two apologizes when you explained to me the situations didn't help, and I'm sorry my cheerful demeanor didn't help, and the free things didn't help. And I'm sorry that you felt the need to send my death glares in the lobby all day, which would ruin my happiness because I was trying so hard to be nice--because I really am nice. Finally you did smile at me, but maybe you just forgot who I was.
Anyway, I am sorry. And just...well, I guess I just hope that you remember me. Because someone else will mess up a little bit and make you wait those extra 4 minutes and you'll get frustrated and bitchy and make them feel like absolute shit and want to quit their jobs. If I may ask anything of you, please just remember that he or she simply made a mistake. He or she still has a birthday just like you, has a favorite food just like you, has probably seen the same movie a dozen times with their best friend just like you, and work long hours just like you, and is a human being just trying to make it in the world just like you.
Have a good stay at the hotel.
I mean that.
Sincerely,
--------
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