u/ScenicDrive-at5

Overt criminal activity is not a common sight at my establishment, thankfully. That's what makes this situation all the more obtuse, because every fiber of it is.

A seemingly non-descript middle-aged couple was skulking around a very packed lobby one night. Not only was the hotel sold out, but there was a large event taking place that had many members of the general public also roaming the grounds. Therefore, anyone just meandering through didn't cause any of the staff to raise an eyebrow.

This couple, however, forgot the key detail of subtlety.

They already put a target on their backs by coming up to the Desk and requesting we fetch them a taxi. There aren't any reputable services in the area, so my colleague informed them they'd have to get a rideshare service via their phone. The female, "Opium," immediately protested: "We're old! We don't know how to do any of that nonsense!" Her male companion, "Codeine," grumbled a bit before ushering her away off to the side.

They puttered around for a bit longer before Codeine then made the interesting decision to remove his shoes and then paced some more. At this point, we were watching them extensively.

The pair then found residence on a couch directly in front of the Desk. Along with their little dog, they milled around for a bit. At some point, Codeine produced a bag of chips that he proceeded to eat like a toddler. Seeing this, we were prepared to get firm, but he made quick work of his chips, and they all then departed the lobby.

Consequently , we figured the trash took itself out and hoped they wouldn't re-emerge. They didn't for a while, until a few delivery drivers made some subsequent drop-offs. See, the hotel was sold out primarily as a result of a large sports group staying over, and they were ordering a lot. Thus, paper bags and drink trays aplenty were being deposited left and right throughout the night.

During one such aforementioned rush, Codeine had reappeared amidst the sea of people and quickly scooped up one of the bags. A random guest came up to the Desk moments later looking for her food. Where do you think it went?

Codeine was hiding it in his jacket, and now he and his posse were trying to make a quick exit. My colleague sprinted out the door and saw him awkwardly holding his chest. "That's NOT yours!" she yelled. Codeine got spooked and declared: "Man, I don't even know how that got there!" before dropping the food on the ground and high-tailing it down the drive.

The lady was thankful her food was found but, unsurprisingly, a bit fearful it could've been contaminated at this point. There was nothing else we could offer her, so she simply took it away.

All this time we thought Codeine and Opium had come for the event. As it turns out, we later discovered from the shuttle driver that he had picked them up at the airport. They asked for a ride while he was waiting for some other guests, saying, "We'll get a taxi from your hotel after." He didn't think anything of it, and that's how this whole series of unfortunate events had been set into motion.

Little did he know he'd be an accomplice to grand theft cuisine.

You know the rest, and they think they know it too. Nevertheless, most folks in the industry also know this phrase is incomplete and has been subsequently misconstrued into oblivion. In any case, it never ceases to surprise me just how much some of said customers will try to get away with any and everything.

This tale comes from my last day just before my recent holiday; so, of course, the wolves smelled blood in the air, and boy did they want a piece.

The shift began with Madame Supreme already perched up by the Desk. She had come in the day before and was assisted by me and the same two colleagues who were again with me on this shift. She was speaking to "Cotton," a newbie whom "Moonstone" (my other colleague) and I were training. For whatever reason, 7AM was what the Madame considered to be the ideal time to complain that her daughter apparently got some free snacks, and now she was upset that none were also provided to her directly. Cotton knew nothing of it but was trying to diligently hear her out. At some point, she turned towards Moonstone and me and made a point to get our names.

The Madame was already a pain the day before. She was spearheading an event and had a large group that was staying over. They would be coming on this shift, but when she arrived yesterday with a small cell to set things up, it was already quite the show.

They rolled up with a literal box truck that was filled to the brim. My team and I, along with some sales agents, helped to move cart after cart loaded with stuff to their event space. After that was done, the Madame was hounding about an early check-in. I eventually got her situated with that.

Despite all the service she had received the day before, here she was complaining first thing in the morning. And she'd only get worse as the day progressed. See, her group made up the majority of our check-ins for the day, and like her, they were all rolling in several hours early. The first set had arrived an hour into the shift, and when told we had no rooms ready yet (we were sold out the night before), they were huffing and puffing about it. This trend would continue throughout the day.

About halfway into the day (about noontime), the lobby was buzzing with members of this group. Every time a new set would come in, the Madame would come speed-walking around the corner, phone permanently clutched in hand. She was trying to orchestrate every little thing, and many of her group members were just as pretentious as her.

We kept explaining that Housekeeping was doing the best they could, and we kept being met with snide remarks and vitriol. At one point, the Madame got so frustrated that she and Moonstone got into a bit of a back-and-forth. She declared that we (Moonstone and I) had been "so rude since yesterday!" Moonstone countered that by recounting how much help we provided to her, even on what literally was short notice. Despite this, the Madame pursed her lips and snarled: "But it's how you've been talking. There's so much attitude in your voice! You're not really trying to be helpful!"

Moonstone tactfully countered back with: "Ma'am, we're helping you as best we can. I'm speaking normally; I understand it's not what you want to hear, but we are helping you with what we have."

Eventually, and still several hours early, Housekeeping finally delivered an initial stock of clean rooms, and we began processing the hoard that had been birthed in the lobby. We got some half-hearted thank-you's, but definitely not much acknowledgement from the Madame. That's why she wanted our names earlier; she already was set on complaining about us despite the fact that, fundamentally, we had done nothing wrong to her outside of not bending the knee whenever she wanted.

Such hubris would carry right on over into my next character of the very same day. At some point during the mass check-in we were embroiled in, one of my Housekeeping Supervisors called down to inform me that just a single room that got a late check-out was still in house. At this point, it was now after 2PM, an hour extra than what they had been given. I said I'd look into it when I could.

For the sake of brevity, I'll cut to the chase. This Super Shiny Member and his wife occupied the room until just 20 minutes before check-in time. When I had called the room, the wife answered the phone and said her husband was on a "very important business call," and that's why they were still there. I explained to her why this wasn't okay and that they'd be charged a late check-out penalty.

When they finally did depart the room, the husband saw it fit to come down to the Desk and give me grief for "being a #$(@!(" to his wife.

He insisted he tipped the housekeeper, who was fine with it, and that it was actually all my fault because I lied to him earlier in the day. He claims I told him that we were "completely sold out," and that's why he couldn't get an even later checkout. They took it upon themselves to look online at our availability, and he shoved his phone in my face, saying, "Look—every room type is open! You just don't like me!"

In reality, I said we were "almost sold out." But he didn't accept that and kept insisting it was the other way around. Nevertheless, even if I did grant him that time, they still violated it by 40 minutes.

After a lot of back and forth, he eventually left in a huff, saying, "I'll just leave my review since that's all I can do. But there was NO REASON to treat us like this!"

The thing about both these situations is that everyone involved eventually got what they wanted, just not on their terms. And somehow, they were all mistreated in the process.

TL;DR — Very entitled guests want the world, and when reality didn't align with their preferences, they cried wolf about it.

It's such a simple concept, yet it's always somehow breaking news to customers when they conveniently need to cancel their stay. While I certainly understand how it feels to 'lose' money, that doesn't change the reality that I don't make the rules and therefore often won't stick my neck out to bend them. Thankfully, this ended up going 'above me' anyways.

A lady calls the other day, already sobbing. She has to cancel her reservation which would've begun in about another week. "My dog is injured so I won't be able to make the trip!", she wailed. I told her I was sorry to hear about that and then pulled up her details.

See, she had booked with a group under a group block. The stipulations of that block were that any cancellations after a certain date would result in a one-night penalty. The deposits for this were taken right after that date had passed, which was of course also true for her situation.

When I informed her of all this, she immediately got into a frenzy: "No! No! No! You people cannot be taking my money! I didn't plan for this, it just happened suddenly! Give me your manager right now; I need to sort this out!" I immediately wiped my hands clean of her, but my parting words before doing so were: "I understand your frustration, ma'am. I can transfer you, but I'm just letting you know what the policy is."

A little while later, my manager came out to the desk to look at something else. At the same time, one of the Sales agents, the one responsible for this particular group block, also came out. She came up to me and said: "Wow, thanks so much for that!" in a cheeky voice.

The Sales agent explained how the lady went up, down and around with her. But, the agent kept explaining, essentially, "policy is policy", as sympathetically as she could. The guest refused to listen to reason, even after being told that it was part of the contract signed between the organization running the event and our hotel. "But my dog's operation is going to cost over $7,000! I need my money back now!", she whined. Again, the Sales agent sympathetically said: "I understand that, ma'am. But, unfortunately my hands are tied."

As it would turn out, when this guest was speaking to my manager before that, my manager explained it all just as I and the Sales agent did. So, she heard it from three different people.

In the case of my manager, the guest also chimed into the conversation about how this guest dismissed her saying: "Give me someone higher than you!" (The Sales agent doesn't outrank my manager, she just so happens to be the point of contact for this event.)

Listen, stuff happens. But, sometimes, you have to realize that when you agree to part with some funds, you just have let it go. On that note, her penalty came up to about $200. Not a small amount, but definitely wouldn't put a very big dent in that $7,000 bill...

Man, this is the laugh I needed today. And I sealed it with happily providing my name and position when he demanded it from me. Because, you know, I'm somehow responsible.

An old man calls to a request a shuttle pick-up for a future reservations. However, he mentioned he'd be coming in via the downtown train station. I informed him that we don't make shuttle reservations (you just request it when ready), but either way, our shuttle only goes to the nearby airport.

He immediately got defensive: "I'm on your website right now and it mentions the train station!" I pause for a moment, a little surprised at the speed of his indignation. But, I calmly replied: "Sir, this is the first I'm hearing of this. I'll have to look into it, but in any case, that station is in an entirely different city. We only go to and from the airport."

He quips back: "Listen, I've been to your hotel many times. I'm familiar with how it all works and where everything is." I let out a sigh to the side and said back: "Okay sir, understood. That said, to get from that station to here, you'll have to set-up a ride share." With that, he thanked me and ended the call.

That should've been the end of....oh, it's the same caller ID a few minutes later.

I pick it up again, and returning back to the state of 'old man yelling', he went: "I'm on the webpage right now looking at it! I can tell you where it is!"

See, I had already pulled up that page after I got off the first call. He was insisting that under the category of "Public Transportation" where it mentions the train station, that insinuates our shuttle must go there. I politely pointed out we explicitly mention going to and from the airport and nowhere else. What he's referencing is simply options in the area.

Of course, this is not good enough. He yells back: "Now this is just ridiculous! You mean to tell me that people are just supposed to fend for themselves? This is disingenuous! You're misleading people!"

Again, side sigh uttered, I respond back: "I'm sorry you feel that way, sir." And repeated what the webpage actually says. At that point, he's fed up and demands the corporate number to file a complaint. As I'm pulling that up number, he asked for my info, which I provided in the most gleeful CS voice I could muster. I was quite literally smiling ear-to-ear, as I envisioned how his subsequent phone call would go.

Gg, old man. Gg, indeed.

He remains as one of the most delightful guests I've ever had the privilege of serving. A man with a profession I've dreamt of pursuing; and yet with an attitude that goes completely against it.

Captain Rat was a captain for an airline that my hotel is contracted to house. It's by far our largest client, and that pricks management to bend over backwards to make them happy—a very exploited power imbalance I don't completely understand. Regardless, my experience with Captain Rat is one of the best (worst) examples of how uneven this relationship is.

When he and his crew visited, we were in the thrust of a rodent rodeo. They were unexpectedly plentiful at this time, and pest control was having much difficulty keeping up. Consequently, almost every day for several guest reported various sightings. As you might imagine, this wasn't great. We weren't "drowning" in them, but it was exhausting.

After being on-property for a few hours, Captain Rat called down absolutlely livid. "I just saw a mouse in my room!", he boomed through the receiver. "What the ##$@ is the deal here?!" Efforts to calm him down were quickly extinguished, as he was fit to be upset. After being offered a room move, the only real solution, he immediately protested against it: "You really think that's gonna help?! They have to be in the walls!" After a bit more of a back and forth, he eventually agreed to it, but with the condition that his new keys be brought up to him.

At that moment, neither I nor my fellow agent thought it wise to face him directly. So, he was instructed to come down to the desk. We wanted him in public view, and on camera. He, of course, hated this idea, and tried to fight it, but eventually just hung up the phone.

As we were discussing the situation, he thundered around the corner. Already realizing who he was, I offered the key packet and tried to interface with him, but he immediately attempted to dismiss me. As he snatched the packet away, he then continued marching up to my colleague, a female. Again, very irate, he belted: "So nobody could've brought this up to me?! Nobody?!?!"

She stood her ground, and kept repeating: "Sir, that's just policy." I stepped back in, and he, again, tried to shoot me down: "I ain't talking to you!" And that's when I had enough of it.

"Well I'm talking to YOU!", I snapped. His entire face changed; his eyes shot open and he turned as red as a pepper. "You better check your attitude, pal" he retorted. And I replied: "Sir, as a Captain, I would expect better from you. We're trying to help you and all you're doing is yelling!" He got more defensive: "Help me?! There are RATS in my room! Your hotel must be a dump! I'm taking my crew and we're all leaving tonight!" Absolutlely fed up with this, I firmly said: "Call your company and get it sorted out. You are more than welcome to do so."

He chuffed and started to walk away, but not without making one more snide remark: "I see what you're trying to pull here; taking up for your little girlfriend!"

Surely, this man is the epitome of reasonableness and maturity.

We immediately documented everything in our communication report. The entire ordeal had left us both wiped for the night. As for me, I genuinely didn't care what would happen next. But, I would be surprised by the fallout.

While Captain Rat said nothing more to us that night, he did make sure to pen up a "Crew Rest Report" the next day. It's essentially a complaint form that acts as a surrogate review. This form gets sent off to the airline's corporate department who then opens a case with our hotel management.

The dear Captain got very creative with his description of the events. The one mouse he initially told us he saw, turned into "three vicious rats." Rather than scampering behind the dresser like he told us, these vermin "were rummaging through his food bag" thus requiring him to try and "beat them away with his shoe." They "tried to fight back" but eventually "ran away."

He then described us as being combative, argumentative and rude. He took special aim at describing me as the primary antagonist.

The GM at the time was not happy with this situation and immediately directed my manager to "Make sure the staff is better trained as this cannot be happening." This is despite our report of the events having been sent out before the gracious Captain even got a chance to write his.

Thankfully, when our manager did question us, she accepted what we had to say without any further directives. She was just sorry that it had happened.

To date, this is perhaps the most extreme situation I've had with an employee of this company. Nevertheless, the arrogance and entitlement of some of them is most interesting. Hopefully, this will be the pinnacle of nonsense. Hopefully...

TL;DR — A very rude airline captain flew into a rage after seeing a mouse in his room. While we tried everything we could to help him, he basically blamed us for the situation and didn't want to listen to reason. When I firmly stood up to him, he took that as a challenge and flew off the handle even more. Despite his behaviour being way out of line, the GM basically took his side when he put in a formal complaint via his company. Because, we can't make the big fish too mad.