I know I just ranted about customer service a week ago, but I'm afraid I have to do it again. Saturday night we stayed at a motel. Admittedly it wasn't the nicest motel in the world, but it was the only hotel in the world that met our single requirement. It was walking distance from the area that we were going to be drinking at a costume party. Being responsible drinkers, we planned ahead and got a room. Interestingly (and seemingly impossibly) somehow, when we left the room to go to the party, the security latch inside the room became engaged. I'm not even sure how that could happen.
So, when we came back to the room at 1055, we were unable to get into the room. This is where it gets fun. Apparently this hotel has NOBODY on duty after 11pm at night. There isn't even a 'call in case of emergency' number! When I went to the office, fortunately, there was a woman there. Just barely. Because she was packing up to go home. She wouldn't call anyone or do anything about the situation at all except give us a different room for the night. Even though all of our stuff was in the original room. Also fortunately, in this case, it didn't matter all that much. But what if we had a plane to catch in the morning? I had nothing but my driver's license on me. Or what if we had arrived 5 minutes later? We would have been left standing there outside our room with no place to stay, no way to get our stuff (our car keys were in the room, even if we would have been in any legal state to drive), no options but to call the police or break down the door. What if someone lost their key or locked them in the room? How is it even legal to run a hotel and have nobody on staff from 11pm to 9am???
Just another in a series of bad customer service experiences I have had lately. It seems to be an inevitable decline that shows no sign of improving.
Speaking of customer service, as I just was, one last topic. What is the deal with TIPS? I know it is an American tradition to tip waiters and certain other service providers, but why? Isn't it supposed to be to reward good service? Then why is it so often added to my bill without my permission? I've even heard of places refusing to take it off the bill when the service was bad. So isn't it really just a part of the cost of the entire purchase? So why not just pay the servers a reasonable amount and ditch the entire guessing game of how much will dinner cost tonight for the customer and how much will I make tonight for the server? Sure it makes the prices on the menu look higher, but if everyone did it, the ratio would still be the same.
And even worse, what is up with the TIP jars sitting by almost every cash register these days? I go into a deli. I walk up to the counter. I place an order. I stand and wait for it. I pay the person standing behind the counter. I carry my food to my table. I throw away the containers afterwards. Why on earth would I need to leave a TIP at the cash register? Didn't I just pay for my food? Doesn't the cashier get paid to ring up food? In the deli in my building, the cashier is the business owner and he has a tip jar!!!
AND...is there anyone on this planet who can tell me how much an airline ticket costs? For real? I can't even comparison shop because I never know what the fees for baggage and food and a seat will be until I've already done the research. Then I find out my bargain basement ticket was just as much as first class on another airline. I just can't stand it any more!!!!!
PS...I'm still being held hostage by my bank...a week after we were supposed to close, it hasn't been resolved.
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