Believe it or not, this unfortunate customer service experience is actually pretty inspiring to me (and anyone) who strives to deliver the best. There's just not as much competition to succeed as we might think. Read on.....
Me: Ring, ring, ring (for two days). No answer from hotel main phone number.
Me: Click, click, click (for two days). Cannot find your reservation online and Error 404 on website.
Me: Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh (for two days). Emails returned as "undeliverable" and online forms broken.
Me: Let's try this: Ring, ring - hello, group sales? Can you connect me to your main hotel reservations? Nobody over there is reachable and the website is malfunctioning everywhere.
Group Sales: You're right! That's weird! We can't reach them either. Let me try someone's cell phone. (Pause) Yes, I got someone. Let me connect you now.
Me: Hello, I need to adjust my reservation; I'm arriving one day later than I originally booked. I haven't been able to reach you for two days to adjust the reservation or use the website.
Hotel: NOPE! It's after the deadline. Your reservation is NOW NON- REFUNDABLE and NON-CHANGEABLE.
Me: Yes, but...
Hotel: SORRY. That's the POLICY. Everything here is working fine. NO CHANGES.
Me: Your own people said...
Hotel: NOT GONNA HAPPEN. GOTTA GO. (Click)
Me: To anyone worried that it will be difficult to succeed in challenging markets, give this hotel a call. Then you'll realize JUST HOW EASY it is to RISE TO THE TOP!
You just need to be reachable, be kind, and be flexible.
Am I Upset? Not really. There are other hotels and my credit card company has my back. Fascinated, however, at how commonly people take things for granted when they are "busy" to be their own worst enemy...
As Seinfeld once said:
If every instinct you have has been wrong, then doing the opposite would have to be right.