Travel, Uncategorized

When Social Media Corrects Customer Service

by SymoneFLeave a Comment on When Social Media Corrects Customer Service

I was in New York last week and it was quite a week. However, this post isn’t about what I did but an experience I had with Twitter and the Hilton hotel. I’ve mentioned before how much of a pet peeve bad customer service is for me, and during that week, I got pissed enough to not only tweet about it, but to copy Hilton to my tweet – this is my experience with tweeting about poor customer service and the response I received.

We arrived in New York on a Tuesday afternoon. We got a taxi to our hotel in Westbury (which I was very grateful that I arrived in one piece without any whiplash from the fast driving and fierce breaking). When we arrived there, our check-in was not what I expected for a hotel carrying the Hilton name. We were simply given a sleeve with our room keys and that was it. No “have a good stay”, “the elevator is to your left and you are going to the second floor”, “if there is anything you need please feel free to call us”… nothing. Basically “piss off” but with no words. For me that was strike one. When my husbands family arrived a few hours later, they messaged us asking how the hotel is, and I made it clear that I was not impressed by the customer service so far but it’s not a bad hotel.

The next day (Wednesday) we went down to breakfast and after we ate, the waiter was preparing our bill and my father-in-law pointed out that we had the breakfast package. The waiter then said we need to talk to front desk seeing that we didn’t provide any breakfast vouchers. Strike two. We went to front desk, where we were greeted with an attitude so stink I could only laugh in disbelief at this response.

Clerk: “You didn’t get a voucher? I know I filled them out yesterday and put them aside! I set up your keys (etc)”

Me: “Ok, I’ll go up to our room and check.” (came back down with sleeve and no vouchers)

Clerk: “I know I did those yesterday! *slaps desk, gets more slips and starts filling them out so quickly it almost looks like ink scratched across the paper*

Me:

 

 

 

 

We got our vouchers and were also told that they were for up to two people per room even though, for our room, we booked the breakfast package for three people in our room. I just had enough not to contest and figured things will work out.

We then decided we should probably rent a car for the week. There were seven of us and taxi fare for a week would be pretty ridiculous. So off to front desk I go again (just minutes after sorting the breakfast vouchers) to get numbers for car rental companies. She was pretty ok with that and giving me pen and paper. I found one and after I put down the phone, I realized I forgot to ask their location. Can you believe she told me “the taxi driver should know that”. Really? I just had a enough of the looks and attitude, and figured that there can’t be many locations in this area so it should be fine. Error. We got into the taxi and the guy has attitude with us for not knowing the location of the car rental place but also that the receptionist assumed that he knew the location… again – Really!?

It was only day two and all of this action already?! What happened to friendly service? What happened to making me feel like I need to return to this hotel as well as give it 5 stars?

Day three was what really lead to the tweet. After a long day out, we were in our room relaxing when my sis-in-law started to smell something burning. After 10 minutes she called downstairs. She didn’t get a very friendly greeting and the clerk proceeded to ask her if she knew where the smell was coming from. WHAT!? Was he really asking us to investigate where a burning smell was coming from?! Uh, no! We won’t!! He said he’ll get someone to have a look and give us a call back. Another 10 minutes passed. This time I called. I was greeted with this:

“Uh yea, so are you still smelling it?”

“YES!”

“And you don’t know where it is coming from?”

“NO!”

“OK, I’ll give you a call back when we find out.”

Apparently this was the same clerk that checked us in so I shouldn’t be surprised but, I’m sorry, why does he think it is our job to find out where this smell is coming from? I could only answer with one word answers and it took everything in me to not give this man a piece of my mind. Another 10 minutes… My husband calls. AGAIN, no pleasant greeting, but they found out someone burned popcorn. By this time we were desperate for a little fresh air and my husband asked if there was any way to open the windows to get fresh air, we were advised to put on the A/C because they don’t open. I was simply amazed. After this, I tweeted the following:

Within a few minutes, I was followed by both Hilton and The Hilton Garden City Inn where I was staying. In the morning, I received a direct message asking for my confirmation number, and I happily gave it. Seeing that there were 3 rooms booked under this number I was asked for a first name and room number. Within 10 minutes of giving this information, I received a call from the general manager at the hotel saying she understands I’m not too pleased with the service I’ve been getting and she’d like to know what’s been going. on. I let her know everything. I did not hold back. She expressed that this is not what she expects from staff and she will address all of these issues with staff. I asked for her not to discuss it prior to our departure because from experience, some people are no longer genuine with you and are just pretending to make sure you are happy. I’d prefer to let the rest of the week play out and let her know in a follow up email how everything went. Other arrangements were made and I’d rather not disclose them, but I was very pleased with how she handled everything and she was exactly what I think of when I think of excellent customer service. Also, within 20 minutes, someone was knocking on our door with our new breakfast vouchers for three people. The rest of the week went without a hitch.

Social media now serves as a major outlet for unsatisfied customers to truly be heard and responded to by companies/corporations. If you happen to have a lot of followers/friends and put them on blast, and drive people away from them, that is not good for them. So most of the time, what are they left to do? Respond and make sure that you are given an opportunity to communicate with them personally or even compensated depending on how serious the issue is. I’ll be honest and say that I like having this forum. I definitely did not expect the response I got and whereas I would normally write off a business after a bad experience, I’m more willing to give them a second chance with the hopes of not experiencing bad customer service again.

What are your thoughts on social media as it relates to calling out companies on bad customer service?

xx

Travel, Uncategorized

When Social Media Corrects Customer Service

by SymoneFLeave a Comment on When Social Media Corrects Customer Service
When Social Media Corrects Customer Service

I was in New York last week and it was quite a week. However, this post isn’t about what I did but an experience I had with Twitter and the Hilton hotel. I’ve mentioned before how much of a pet peeve bad customer service is for me, and during that week, I got pissed enough to not only tweet about it, but to copy Hilton to my tweet – this is my experience with tweeting about poor customer service and the response I received.

We arrived in New York on a Tuesday afternoon. We got a taxi to our hotel in Westbury (which I was very grateful that I arrived in one piece without any whiplash from the fast driving and fierce breaking). When we arrived there, our check-in was not what I expected for a hotel carrying the Hilton name. We were simply given a sleeve with our room keys and that was it. No “have a good stay”, “the elevator is to your left and you are going to the second floor”, “if there is anything you need please feel free to call us”… nothing. Basically “piss off” but with no words. For me that was strike one. When my husbands family arrived a few hours later, they messaged us asking how the hotel is, and I made it clear that I was not impressed by the customer service so far but it’s not a bad hotel.

 The next day (Wednesday) we went down to breakfast and after we ate, the waiter was preparing our bill and my father-in-law pointed out that we had the breakfast package. The waiter then said we need to talk to front desk seeing that we didn’t provide any breakfast vouchers. Strike two. We went to front desk, where we were greeted with an attitude so stink I could only laugh in disbelief at this response.

Clerk: “You didn’t get a voucher? I know I filled them out yesterday and put them aside! I set up your keys (etc)”

Me: “Ok, I’ll go up to our room and check.” (came back down with sleeve and no vouchers)

Clerk: “I know I did those yesterday! *slaps desk, gets more slips and starts filling them out so quickly it almost looks like ink scratched across the paper*

Me:

 

 

 

 

We got our vouchers and were also told that they were for up to two people per room even though, for our room, we booked the breakfast package for three people in our room. I just had enough not to contest and figured things will work out.

We then decided we should probably rent a car for the week. There were seven of us and taxi fare for a week would be pretty ridiculous. So off to front desk I go again (just minutes after sorting the breakfast vouchers) to get numbers for  car rental companies. She was pretty ok with that and giving me pen and paper. I found one and after I put down the phone, I realized I forgot to ask their location. Can you believe she told me “the taxi driver should know that”. Really? I just had a enough of the looks and attitude, and figured that there can’t be many locations in this area so it should be fine. Error. We got into the taxi and the guy has attitude with us for not knowing the location of the car rental place but also that the receptionist assumed that he knew the location… again – Really!?

It was only day two and all of this action already?! What happened to friendly service? What happened to making me feel like I need to return to this hotel as well as give it 5 stars?

Day three was what really lead to the tweet. After a long day out, we were in our room relaxing when my sis-in-law started to smell something burning. After 10 minutes she called downstairs. She didn’t get a very friendly greeting and the clerk proceeded to ask her if she knew where the smell was coming from. WHAT!? Was he really asking us to investigate where a burning smell was coming from?! Uh, no! We won’t!! He said he’ll get someone to have a look and give us a call back. Another 10 minutes passed. This time I called. I was greeted with this:

“Uh yea, so are you still smelling it?”

“YES!”

“And you don’t know where it is coming from?”

“NO!”

“OK, I’ll give you a call back when we find out.”

Apparently this was the same clerk that checked us in so I shouldn’t be surprised but, I’m sorry, why does he think it is our job to find out where this smell is coming from? I could only answer with one word answers and it took everything in me to not give this man a piece of my mind. Another 10 minutes… My husband calls. AGAIN, no pleasant greeting, but they found out someone burned popcorn. By this time we were desperate for a little fresh air and my husband asked if there was any way to open the windows to get fresh air, we were advised to put on the A/C because they don’t open. I was simply amazed. After this, I tweeted the following:

Within a few minutes, I was followed by both Hilton and The Hilton Garden City Inn where I was staying. In the morning, I received a direct message asking for my confirmation number, and I happily gave it. Seeing that there were 3 rooms booked under this number I was asked for a first name and room number. Within 10 minutes of giving this information, I received a call from the general manager at the hotel saying she understands I’m not too pleased with the service I’ve been getting and she’d like to know what’s been going. on. I let her know everything. I did not hold back. She expressed that this is not what she expects from staff and she will address all of these issues with staff. I asked for her not to discuss it prior to our departure because from experience, some people are no longer genuine with you and are just pretending to make sure you are happy. I’d prefer to let the rest of the week play out and let her know in a follow up email how everything went. Other arrangements were made and I’d rather not disclose them, but I was very pleased with how she handled everything and she was exactly what I think of when I think of excellent customer service. Also, within 20 minutes, someone was knocking on our door with our new breakfast vouchers for three people. The rest of the week went without a hitch.

Social media now serves as a major outlet for unsatisfied customers to truly be heard and responded to by companies/corporations. If you happen to have a lot of followers/friends and put them on blast, and drive people away from them, that is not good for them. So most of the time, what are they left to do? Respond and make sure that you are given an opportunity to communicate with them personally or even compensated depending on how serious the issue is. I’ll be honest and say that I like having this forum. I definitely did not expect the response I got and whereas I would normally write off a business after a bad experience, I’m more willing to give them a second chance with the hopes of not experiencing bad customer service again.

What are your thoughts on social media as it relates to calling out companies on bad customer service?

xx

Humor, Life, Uncategorized

What I’ve learned living in Seattle

by SymoneFLeave a Comment on What I’ve learned living in Seattle
What I’ve learned living in Seattle

Technically I live in Bellevue but it’s still “part” of Seattle. Anyway, as I was driving on the road recently I was observing the weather which led to me consider writing the post. So here are a few things I’ve learned while living in Seattle since 2009.

~~

Weather

Compared to what I grew up knowing as rain, Seattle has more of a mist than actual rain. And it’s annoying. You keep getting this feeling like will it just rain and stop? It’s sooo annoying to have this “heavy mist” building up on your face. To light for an umbrella but heavy enough to need a hood. Sometimes, you can still wear sandals in it. Yes it’s weird like that. However, despite the more gloomy than sunny days, I have grown extremely appreciative of the sun as well as sensitive. I grew up in the sun and now if I stay out in it too long (even if it isn’t hot) my skin gets really sensitive to the touch. I’m trying to be consistent with taking my Vitamin D, because Lord knows I don’t get enough of it naturally. I’m learning to live with the cold and found out layering is key. I haven’t perfected layering to deal with the weather but I’m getting there.

Driving

NEVER blow your horn… never. For you will be wrong. Yes! YOU will be wrong if you toot your horn at someone who’s been sitting still at the green light. You will be wrong for doing it to someone who put on their signal while changing over to your lane. You just don’t blow your horn here. If you do, you’re a foreigner. I’ve somewhat adapted though, I count to 10 first then blow the horn if you haven’t move so, technically, I gave you a chance.

Lifestyle

People here are very zen, there isn’t much of a rush (except during Christmas). This also relates to the driving it seems. People are very laid back and it’s not about “look at me!” – you have every right to express yourself as you see fit. If there is a lot of plastic surgery I don’t see it and feel free to carry any designer label while looking like you just got out of bed, don’t make any effort to say I showered. It’s hard to get dressed up around here. It would have to be for a occasion or Saturday night. Women here don’t do heavy make-up unless they work at a make-up counter or that’s how they express themselves, but the majority doesn’t.

One of the places I encounter this “I live in a bubble” attitude is at the gas station I go to, where people are intent on getting to a certain pump and have no regard for the fact that they are blocking the road. They’re basically saying “you need to find a way around me as I’m not moving because I’m next”. Now honestly, the gas station isn’t the only thing there, you have a supermarket and mini strip mall, we just want to pass and obviously that’s hard with traffic coming down and you sticking out in the road just because you have to be next in line! I encounter some of the most selfish drivers on this road daily and it’s scary more than anything. I truly believe that a lot of people live in bubbles and only see themselves on the road. For that reason, I try not be on the road close to lunch time as traffic increases and these hungry people need to dash out for lunch and get back to the office within an hour and here you see the extremes – the crazy drivers and the ones who aren’t in a rush and drive well below the speed limit. I play music… it’s the only thing that helps my road rage. I’ll end that there 😛

Outdoors

Now Washington is known as the “evergreen state”. I am truly thankful that it’s here my husband ended up working. Despite the gloominess 300 out of 365 days, the atmosphere is one that relaxes you. I have been able to think and write more on the days I just stare outside at the mist. However, I am NOT an outdoor person and this is one of the activities a lot of Washingtonians take part in. I have considered getting a bike, but it’s not sunny enough and I won’t be riding in the mist and cold. I also have a fear of grasses touching me because when I was younger we used to go hiking around Barbados and I broke out into a rash or just itch like crazy after going through some grass areas, so I prefer to just stay away from it. And I don’t like bugs or wildlife unless there is a cage or glass or wire separating us. So outdoors just isn’t for me but I adore the greenery around this place.

~~

On a serious note, God knows what he’s doing when he puts us in certain places outside of what we’ve known to be our way of life for a while. Being so far away from family and friends has made me more thankful for them and also to know who my true friends are and strengthened a bond between my husband and myself. We only have each other up here and it’s been interesting growing in our marriage without the interference of family and others. If we had to pick up and go I’ll be happy wherever we go once it’s not colder than here  knowing that this adventure of life can only get better with every challenge we face, and we can only grow wiser with time.

xx

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