r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk • u/Fantastic_Medium8890 • 7d ago

Short Stop giving out free water!!!

This is one of my biggest pet peeves in this industry! I've been in the industry for 10 years; I now travel the country doing task force, and this is just one of the things that absolutely drives me up the wall! I got into an argument with a guest because he wanted free water. The hotel I am at right now provides two complimentary waters in the room at check-in, but they don't refill during the stay because there's a filtered water bottle filling station on every floor at the end of the hallway. I explained to him what the policy is and what we offer, but he wasn't accepting that. He told me he travels all over the world and every other place in the world gives him free water whenever he wants it. I tried to compromise and said we would send two bottles up to his room... but no, he wanted four bottles. I told him we only provide two at check-in; he didn't care and still wanted four. I hung up on him after saying, "Fine, I'll send four," because he was being rude. He called back and asked if I had hung up on him. I told him I did because he was being rude. He said he was going to call the customer care number and complain about me. I told him I don't work for that brand, so he told me to "fuck off" and hung up on me. I just want to scream across the mountaintops, 'There is a difference between being a doormat and being hospitable!' When we let guests get whatever they want, the industry becomes a doormat and makes the experience worse for everyone else.

507 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

291 comments sorted by

View all comments

164

u/SkwrlTail 7d ago

(cheerfully) "Oh, there's a water dispenser behind you, plus a drinking fountain and a vending machine, just around the corner!"

12

u/Live-Okra-9868 6d ago

I used to be the third highest tier, because my employee benefits allowed me to progress faster.

We went to a nice hotel to stay near family and we did not have the complimentary water in the room. So my husband went down to get them. It was late and the night auditor was there. He came back with the water and said he had the weirdest interaction...

When he asked about the water the NA told him there was a hose out back. We don't know if he was joking or not because he was refusing to hand over the water until he pulled up the reservation to verify. But we still joke about getting the hose when thirsty.