Dear Hospitality Industry

[Big_Simmo]

I hope you die a slow horrible painful death

If anybody ever thinks about working for a hotel, restaurant, pub, club or anything that is classed as hospitality go get your head examined as you must be damn crazy or just retarded.

I seriously need a new career, front office manager of a 4.5 star hotel, then FOM of a 5 star over in cairns, then back to perth for a 4 star, then road accident so no workies for 21 months, now night manager for a 3.5 star hotel...you think I would of learnt but noooooooo, stupid ####ing hotels

god people shit me

ok thats the end of my rant

[Cameron P]

what were your issues in your jobs? not every job in that industry in shit lol i know quite a few people who really like there careers!

[minux]

So you call them stupid bloody motels...yet all I see is a whinging employee

You only have yourself to blame....

[Big_Simmo]

Ive always loved my career within hotels, they have taken me places and given me great experiences.
But there is no reason why some bastard from melbourne should take a swing at me because I would not refund his room bond because he pretty much trashed it. Abusive wanker that he was.

that was the last straw, I dont get paid to be abused because they have had a bad day, or a crap flight, or want to argue the fact the company is only paying for the room only and nothing else and im certainly not paid to be swung at, that is where i draw the line.

[someguy360]

I work in the IT sector of the hospitality industry (installing and maintaining Point of Sale systems to restaurants and hotels)

Yes it is a bitch, I have to agree with you there.....dealing with people all day every day is just the 7th layer of hell

(plus bad hours, working in the middle of the night isn't fun)

[Cameron P]

other people in different industrys have to work with customers.. like myself... and some can get abusive aswell.

my gf works in kmart and a pair of shoes had a price tag of $5, somone obviously put the wrong tag on, and my gf told the guy they actually cost $29 and the guy yelled at her and also told the manager he will be waiting for him after work etc etc

not just the hospitality industry lol

[Astranomical]

Its funny...up until today (I quit) I was a computer technician...now most people in IT, including techs, go on about how much they hate customers, how dumb they are, etc. Now...while you get the odd ######## every now and then, most of our customers were actually really quite decent people, for the most part I really enjoyed working with them and in fact I actually became friends with a couple of them.

My boss, on the other hand.....now thats a completely different story.....(and the reason I quit)

[minux]

Ive always loved my career within hotels, they have taken me places and given me great experiences.
But there is no reason why some bastard from melbourne should take a swing at me because I would not refund his room bond because he pretty much trashed it. Abusive wanker that he was.

that was the last straw, I dont get paid to be abused because they have had a bad day, or a crap flight, or want to argue the fact the company is only paying for the room only and nothing else and im certainly not paid to be swung at, that is where i draw the line.

Ahh so it is not the hospitality industry but some random wanker....

Why not start a thread saying random wankers shit you lol?

[Darren_L]

Ive always loved my career within hotels, they have taken me places and given me great experiences.
But there is no reason why some bastard from melbourne should take a swing at me because I would not refund his room bond because he pretty much trashed it. Abusive wanker that he was.

that was the last straw, I dont get paid to be abused because they have had a bad day, or a crap flight, or want to argue the fact the company is only paying for the room only and nothing else and im certainly not paid to be swung at, that is where i draw the line.

it sucks, but get used of it mate. Every job I've had, I've had to put up with it.
Sure you don't have to stand for physical abuse, but virtually any industry where you deal with customers you are going to get verbally abused. Unfortunately people having a bad day like to take things out on service providers.

you'll either have to toughen up or find a job where you don't deal with the public, which kind of narrows down your career prospects

[ClairBear]

that was the last straw, I dont get paid to be abused because they have had a bad day, or a crap flight, or want to argue the fact the company is only paying for the room only and nothing else and im certainly not paid to be swung at, that is where i draw the line.

Water off a ducks back to me. We get abused, threatened, hit, items thrown around the room etc. on a daily basis. 10 mins before I locked the doors on Friday I had a moron in reception screaming obscenities at me and a couple of the staff, in front of his 6 year old daughter who sat there reading her book, obviously used to Daddy going off. Just another day in the office for us.

If you can't deal with human temperaments you need to find yourself a job where you work alone and deal with no one lol.

[Calaber]

It seems to be a sad fact of life these days that anybody in a service industry of any type will be expected to cop abuse from the morons of society. Doesn't matter if you are a shop assistant, cleaner, social worker, nurse, cop, whatever. Society seems to think that you are there to be abused or to wear the frustration of people who have a gripe, real or imaginary.

My only objection is that the law refuses the right to belt them when they abuse you, although I'm sure the more experienced amongst you have your own ways of getting back at these idiots.

[Banicks]

6 years in a IT customer service role. I'm at a point now where I shout as much abuse back at the people shouting at me. They usually crap themselves and shut-up them, not expecting me to bite back.

Of course I wouldn't recommend this approach if you value your job, I don't anymore so I just lay in where it's due.

[Jonno]

Yep iv had boiling hot coffee thrown at me etc

One day my manager had enough.. Someone threw a burger at him
He caught it and threw it back and hit him in the back of
The head. Bloke ran off haha

[Darren_L]

My only objection is that the law refuses the right to belt them when they abuse you, although I'm sure the more experienced amongst you have your own ways of getting back at these idiots.

I just ended up getting a job where it's usually in the people's best interest to remain polite or they end up with a bunch of infringement notices
but seriously, over the years I've just learnt how to deal with these people, without sinking to their level or stressing myself out (in most cases anyway). Even in my current job, I like to carry out my job as diplomatically as possible. I prefer to avoid ugly confrontations where possible.

Throughout my various careers, I've done a few conflict resolution courses. And they are really worthwhile. Best bit of advice they gave me is when people want to have a rant, let them have their rant, without interrupting them. Typically a rant will only last for a couple of minutes before they run out of steam. However if you interrupt them, it all starts over again. And in most cases I've found it really does help diffuse a hostile situation. After that you decide what other methods you will use to arrive at some sort of solution. And for those customers who are being completely unreasonable with their demands, put it back to them. Ask them 'so what would you like me to do to help you' ? Often that will put them on the spot and they will then be forced to think about what they are demanding and realise how unrealistic they are being.

and there are various methods of dealing with conflict, dependant upon the situation. Whatever you do though, NEVER lose your cool. You can be assertive without losing your cool. If you feel you are going to lose it, excuse yourself and remove yourself from the situation, either find someone else to take over or at the very least take a few minutes to calm down before returning to the customer. Chances are during that period the customer has also had time to cool off.

Big Simmo, maybe you could ask your employer to put you through one of these courses. As far as I am concerned they should be mandatory for anyone dealing with the public.

[Low_VX_Taxi]

I hope you die a slow horrible painful death

If anybody ever thinks about working for a hotel, restaurant, pub, club or anything that is classed as hospitality go get your head examined as you must be damn crazy or just retarded.

I seriously need a new career, front office manager of a 4.5 star hotel, then FOM of a 5 star over in cairns, then back to perth for a 4 star, then road accident so no workies for 21 months, now night manager for a 3.5 star hotel...you think I would of learnt but noooooooo, stupid ####ing hotels

god people shit me

ok thats the end of my rant

Yep know your pain, people mistake paying for accomodation as paying for you to take their crap and use majic to fix their #### ups......

I thought it would be better as you get up the ranks higher (you know "shit rolls down hill") but unfortunately it only gets worse the higher you get.......

although I'm sure the more experienced amongst you have your own ways of getting back at these idiots.

My favourite was to be nice, no matter how rude obnoxious or abusive just be polite nice and calm, its incredible how much it pisses people off when they cant get a rise out of you and the people who have a genuine complain apreciate you being polite and not simply being dismissive or defensive

[JMP]

I think the last couple of posts are pretty spot on. I used to work in office and shop fit outs and was the guy that would go out to fix others stuff ups and settle irate customers so I used to cop my fair bit of crap but as the others said, I would let them have their rant and then do my job. If they wanted to keep going on and on I would just politely tell them I understand they're anger but it's not with me but my boss and I'm there to fix things and if they wanted to keep digging at me I was quite happy to take my tools and go. I can only remember 1 customer that I didn't have a joke with at the end of the day and I found out later my boss set me up by telling them to get fu..ed before sending me out to see them. I had a good laugh with my boss over that and asked him to pre warn me before doing that again. I do understand it gets to you after a while though but honestly if it does it's time to move on.

[jules]

I dont get paid to.. argue the fact the company is only paying for the room only and nothing else

you should stay in the industry then. this is how my hotel stays go:
"the room is paid for sir, but we just need an imprint of your personal credit card"
"why? the company will pay any incidentals"
"are you sure? i only have authorisation to charge the room"
"can i see the booking? look there it is - authorisation to charge incidentals to the company card"
"oh. i still require a personal credit card sir - it's policy"

you can't argue with morons.

[fuzzy2308]

Water off a ducks back to me. We get abused, threatened, hit, items thrown around the room etc. on a daily basis. 10 mins before I locked the doors on Friday I had a moron in reception screaming obscenities at me and a couple of the staff, in front of his 6 year old daughter who sat there reading her book, obviously used to Daddy going off. Just another day in the office for us.

If you can't deal with human temperaments you need to find yourself a job where you work alone and deal with no one lol.

do you work at centrelink or something lol

[Kunu]

lolol you should try working in a security screening point at the airport then come whinge hahahaha i tell ya some of the stuff we put up with is outrageous..like hello (i dont set the rules) im just made to enforce them..i used to deal with idiots everyday at work!! I kicked someone out of the screening point and refused them entry because of their foul mouthed abuse

[Low_VX_Taxi]

you should stay in the industry then. this is how my hotel stays go:
"the room is paid for sir, but we just need an imprint of your personal credit card"
"why? the company will pay any incidentals"
"are you sure? i only have authorisation to charge the room"
"can i see the booking? look there it is - authorisation to charge incidentals to the company card"
"oh. i still require a personal credit card sir - it's policy"

you can't argue with morons.

Authorisation for incidentals (restaurant, mini bar inhouse movies etc) to a company card is fine but a personal card is still generally required for security.

The main reason for this is companies will often dispute charges for damages etc claiming its the responsiblity of their employee (especially if its booked under the employee's name so in order to save the he said she said bullshit I always took the persons personal credit card for security and the company card for incidentals (based on the specifications in the "charge back authority").

Also some companies "chargeback" authorities have limitations, usually simple restrictions such as accomodation only or restaurant but no alcohol charges etc but some companies place restrictions such as damages or breakages are to be covered by by the employee, this is rare but some companies include this to protect themselves.

However most corporates we had stay used their own corporate amex which made it easy

[Big_Simmo]

95% of people that come through with chargebacks are generally room only in this hotel, therefore I must get a copy of their credit card so if they go stupid we can get back the $ needed to fix everything.

Just need to breathe and remember that people in general are stupid

im guessing having no sleep for almost 4 days then trying to work kinda slows my mind a little, still over working in a hotel with people thinking that they are king dick, I hate to burst your bubble but the old saying of 'the customer is always right' is a huge load of bollocks, the customer wouldnt know what they wanted let alone needed if it was shoved in their face.

I need to get anther 50k in equity then grab a loan n start my own business so if anyone ever says they wish to speak too the owner i can say 'certainly ill just go get him' walk out the back office, put my jacket on and walk back out

used to love doing that if someone was whinging on the desk too me then asking to see the manager because they never bothered to look at my name badge.

[minux]

^^^I Can see you operating a successful business...

[albert5268]

I work in the IT sector of the hospitality industry (installing and maintaining Point of Sale systems to restaurants and hotels)

Yes it is a bitch, I have to agree with you there.....dealing with people all day every day is just the 7th layer of hell

(plus bad hours, working in the middle of the night isn't fun)

H&L ? Bluize?

[jules]

The main reason for this is companies will often dispute charges for damages etc claiming its the responsiblity of their employee (especially if its booked under the employee's name so in order to save the he said she said bullshit I always took the persons personal credit card for security and the company card for incidentals (based on the specifications in the "charge back authority").

that's ridiculous. company credit cards are used to purchase all sorts of stuff. do car hire companies require a personal credit card as well? it's only hotels. last time that happened, my boss who is blunt as a hammer said "you can charge to the company card, if you don't want to, i'll take you off our preferred list of hotels" (we travel a lot). they accepted the company card - douches.

[Low_VX_Taxi]

that's ridiculous. company credit cards are used to purchase all sorts of stuff. do car hire companies require a personal credit card as well? it's only hotels. last time that happened, my boss who is blunt as a hammer said "you can charge to the company card, if you don't want to, i'll take you off our preferred list of hotels" (we travel a lot). they accepted the company card - douches.

Why is it ridiculous? I have had half a dozen situations where the employers (attempt to) claim credit card fraud after their employee has trashed a room or run up a massive tab in the bar (or in one very funny instance "in room adult movies totaling $900") and its charged back to the "company card".

Thats why we have "Chargeback Authorities (as mentioned in my post), which specify what can and cant be charged to the credit card in question and the rights and responsibilities for both the hotel and the company making the booking.

Some employers do specify that its fine for the company card to be used as security for incidentals or damages but most don't want to be responsible if their employee does something stupid like run up a big bar tab or trash their hotel room etc... so in this instance a personal card is taken for incidentals outside of what is specified in the charge back authority (So if the charge back only specifies "Room Only" anything else will be the responsibility of the employee.

Simply: If we get a charge back authority that "Room, incidentals, breakages etc" are to be charged back to the corporate card we don't have a need for a personal card, if it specifies "Room Only" or "Room and Restaurant only" then a personal card is required for security.

As for the "Car hire" companies comment, its a different industry so apples and oranges really.... Its like saying Mcdonalds don't require a booking but restaurants do..... But I would assume the employer who is hiring the car signs paperwork which would contain information similar to a chargeback authority making them liable for damages and authorising charging their credit card....

(we travel a lot)

Perhaps your company should consider a Chargeback authority to avoid any miscommunication and speed up your booking/check in procedure?