Customer Experience Articles
Contact Vox to discuss how we can help you create a comprehensive Customer Experience that drives bottom-line results dramatically higher.
| ‹ ‹ Previous Article | Article Index | Next Article › › |
5 Star...Really?
Erica Falkner
July 30, 2008
When Expectations Aren’t Met
I recently attended a friend’s wedding in Milwaukee where my husband and another couple shared a room at a five- star downtown hotel. The hotel is a well-known high-end chain and I have relatives in this city who mentioned this was the nicest hotel in town. We checked-in Friday and while the official check-in time was 3 p.m., the rehearsal dinner started at 4 p.m. so we hoped to be able to check-in early. However, not only were we not able to check in early, we weren’t allowed up to our room until about 3:45 p.m., which didn’t leave much time to get ready. Upon entering the room, I headed straight to the bathroom where I was greeted by a hair-covered used bar of soap sitting upon, what appeared to be, a clean stack of towels. I then looked over to see about a foot of dirty water sitting in the bathtub. Needless to say I was not impressed. We promptly called the front desk to complain and they apologized, but said they would not be able to move us because the hotel was full. They did offer to send maintenance up to fix the tub.
As the weekend wore on we discovered additional troubles with our room including that the two beds were only full-size which wasn’t ideal from me, being eight months pregnant, or for my husband, who stands 6’5. We also discovered they don’t clean around the air vents or under the chair cushions. Basically, we were all disappointed and frankly grossed out by our room.
The phrase everyone kept repeating all weekend was, “and this is a five-star hotel?” While the price was relatively high for Milwaukee, it was average for Chicago so it wasn’t so much the price that upset me as the expectations I had and the fact that the hotel fell way short of meeting them. Don’t get me wrong, a foot of stagnant water in a bathtub would bother me no matter where I was staying, but it was even more disturbing because it totally did not fit with my expectations of a five-star hotel.
The worst part was how the hotel chose to handle the situation. They weren’t able to move us despite the fact that the room was not cleaned property, the tub was clogged and the beds were not up to par size-wise. When we checked out, they did apologize, but we were told the best they could do was to give us $100 off our bill. We left feeling unfulfilled, unappreciated and very underwhelmed by our experience.
Here are a few recommendations for how this hotel, or any company, could better manage and follow-up on customer complaints.
- A little empathy goes a long way – listen to the customer, let them vent their frustrations and acknowledge you understand the situation from their point of view.
- Admit when you’re at fault – give the customer options or allow the customer to suggest options for how to make the situation better.
- Say you are sorry and follow-up with action – don’t say $100 off is “the best” you can do – even if it’s true. This implies you’re doing the customer a huge favor, rather than accepting fault and taking responsibility.
- Say thank you and follow-up – despite a bad experience, customers are forgiving and more inclined to do business with a company again if they receive a sincere apology, thank you and follow-up regarding their complaint(s).
Erica Falkner is Marketing Manager at Vox, Inc., a customer experience research and consulting firm. Contact her through the feedback form on our Contact Us page. Copyright 2008 Vox, Inc. All rights reserved.
| ‹ ‹ Previous Article | Article Index | Next Article › › |
