Imagine being checked into your hotel for, I don’t know, say a business trip. You’re all unpacked and are in a meeting when you notice you have a voice mail message:
Transcription
“Hi this message is for Haley this is Kathy calling from the courtyard in Salt Lake City by the airport um I am so sorry to bug you we am just had a mess up with the rooms him and we need to get into your room that you had been checked into so we actually am moved your stuff down here to the desk um so when you get back just come down and get a key to a different room um I do apologize there was a little bit of a mixup in with the renovation they needed to get into the room that you had been checked into him if you have any questions or if you know anything just feel free to give us a call back the number is {redacted} once again I do apologize have a great day thanks bye…”
Bad transcription, and too many ‘uhhhs’ notwithstanding wow, what a crappy voice mail to get!
But yeah, the person whose room got changed? Her name was Haley. The room she was in was apparently scheduled for renovation, and there was a mix-up; she should never have been assigned to that room in the first place. Work on the room needed to start, so while she was working, they packed up all her stuff and put it in her suitcase. “Someone had to grab my sweaty workout clothes from this morning that were hanging on the side of the tub. So awkward!!” she said.
Oh, and this could happen to anyone…Haley said she’s had Marriott Titanium status for work travel for 4 years.
Why wasn’t she informed ahead of time?
They (read: the manager) swore they ‘called her’ before they did it, but Haley says they definitely did not. There were no missed calls on her phone—only the one after they had already moved all her stuff out of the room.
Haley has posted about this on the Travel Grumps 101 Facebook group. Most of the replies focused on how awful the situation was (concerns about privacy and theft were mentioned a few times), and what compensation she should have asked for. Suggestions about the latter ran the gamut from getting a full refund for her stay, to being walked to the nearest five-star hotel, to having loads of points credited to her account. A personal apology from the property manager, or a write-up to corporate. One response (from someone who apparently complains to hotels for a living 😜 – he says he’s gotten 3 free stays) had a whole multi-part checklist of what she should do.
What did she wind up getting in compensation?
Nothing.
No, really—not a thing. And that, based on Haley’s response, is perfectly OK.
Remember our post about who’s allowed to enter your hotel room, even if you’re not there? Yeah, it goes under that. Moving her stuff was within their rights.
Haley said she did call corporate – they said if they needed to access the room, they had to move her stuff. Neither corporate nor the hotel offered her any compensation and Haley didn’t ask for any. She said she wouldn’t have felt comfortable about asking for anything that wasn’t offered.
It kind of reminded me of when my husband and I had an issue in our hotel room a few years back. Many people would have asked for compensation; we didn’t think a small issue like that was worth it.
I’m sure Haley felt the same way. A mistake was made and they apologized. They did all the leg work of packing and moving her stuff; all she had to do was remember a new room number and take a few minutes to unpack her suitcase. As far as we know, none of her stuff was stolen. Honestly, concerns about someone touching your sweaty workout clothes or even your underwear dissipate quickly.
Sure, making it up to her with a free drink or some points would have been nice, but being moved wasn’t the end of the world. Sometimes it’s OK to be OK with just an apology.
***Many thanks to Haley for allowing us to share her story!
Feature Photo: pixabay
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5 comments
It is not ok. They should have at least asked for her permission over the phone.
Socially, yes it would have been nice. However it’s not required; it’s their property and they needed to do emergency work on it.
Just because something is legal doesn’t mean that it should not trigger compensation. There are many things that can happen to a traveler that are terribly inconvenient and even offensive, but are perfectly legal. A good hotel should offer compensation in these situations. And what is this concept of required compensation? Most compensation offered by a hotel chain is not required, so that should not even be part of the conversation.
Comment redacted by YMMV to remove portion(s) that is/are against YMMV’s requirements for approval
I think it depends on the person. Of course, some people have a very high sense of entitlement and think they should be highly compensated for every little thing they find “terribly inconvenient and…offensive.” Others feel the same situation really isn’t a huge deal and they’re willing to go with the flow. For this particular situation, Haley was obviously someone in the latter group and frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with that. As the good blog says, YMMV.
The account states it was a mistake and room was scheduled for renovation – not an emergency. Yes inconvenient for the hotel to wait another day to renovate but not an emergency. Then to go in and move all her stuff, yes legal, but not socially okay by most people’s accounts. As noted by the incredibly apologetic hotel staff person in the voicemail. Event they knew it was not great. But where they fell down was not offering compensation and kind words. Especially given how much business she does with Marriott. Just bad hotel/chain response. No one should have to ask for compensation for a, at best an inconvenient mistake, at worst an invasion of privacy to boot. They are a service provider who provided poor service.