Saturday, January 15, 2011

Hyatt's Customer Service Steps Up When Their Hotels Fall Short



Have you ever been stuck in a hotel's elevator?  This just happened to my friend at a Hyatt Hotel. The doors opened and he was staring at a concrete wall.  Fortunately he stayed calm and pushed the lobby button a few times. Eventually the door closed and the elevator started moving.


When he reached the lobby, he related his experience to the representative at the front desk.  You wouldn't believe the response!  She said, "Oh, that has been happening lately."


Can you imagine a hotel with an elevator they knew was not working properly and letting guests still use it?  What about the response of the person at the front desk?  Must be something in the drinking water.


But it doesn't end there. The filter basket for the coffee maker in the room was missing, so he had to order up room service. The least they could do is make sure the coffee makers have all of their parts and are functional.  This is a Hyatt!


The next night, this same friend stayed in another Hyatt Hotel. The toilet flusher in the room would not work.  Being a handy person and pressed for time, he fixed it and let the front desk know it wasn't working properly.  And what was their response?  "Thank you for telling us," was all they said.  


Perhaps the individual incidents may not seem like a big deal, but the fact that they all occurred at two different Hyatt Hotels within a 24 hour time frame is what peaked my interest.


I volunteered to call Hyatt's customer service.  The good news is the representative was extremely responsive.  


She understood completely that my friend was more confounded by the response of the representatives at the front desk than by what had actually happened.


She apologized and said that the hotels would be notified, put additional reward points into his account and gave me her contact information for the next time he will be staying at a Hyatt.


This was an easy call. The representative didn't have to be prodded into understanding the point of the call and didn't have to be asked for something to make up for what had happened.


There are things that happen at each and every hotel.  We can deal with them if we feel the issues get resolved properly and that the inconveniences we experience are appreciated by the staff.   


Of course he will stay at these hotels again.  He just may ask if the elevator is working before entering.