A Case Study in Customer Service Failure (8/11/14)

If I found out that one of my rewards members was spending $45,000.00 at my hotel chain over the course of the year, and contacted my corporate office because there was as glitch in my system that was negatively impacting their experience I think I would try to help them out.

I don’t think I would sit at the opposite end of the customer service 1-800 number and say sir there is nothing we can do to be of service to you. I would probably escalate that phone call to my supervisor, and if my supervisor didn’t want to do something I would contact their boss.

However, if the corporate office of a hotel chain with over 3,000 locations doesn’t care about a $45,000.00 customer they don’t truly care about 99.99% of their customers.

Unfortunately I have already accumulated $3,000.00 worth of reservations and I don’t want to let the miles go to waste because at the very least this hotel chain will be covering my trip to Hawaii in May.

The only bright spot was that a front line employee at the desk of the hotel where I was staying in Manchester, NH was willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to try and find some answers. Sadly 1-800 number customer service lady said, “She was wrong…” and I was S.O.L.. Thank you Charlotte. If only your corporate office cared half as much as you do.

A friend of mine told me that I needed to give this specific hotel chain the opportunity to fix things. This friend’s life revolves around image and branding so I take her opinion to heart. However, I was upset the first time I called them trying resolve an issue, but now I’m pissed and I could careless about letting this company try and make amends for their lack of customer service. In every great story there are heroes and there are villains, and this corporation solidified itself as the villain of my next book. “It’s a great day at….” Well…not really.