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Evil_Chuck
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Joined: 24 Aug 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Posts: 494
Location: Lost in my thoughts.

17 Sep 2014, 1:05 am

Especially a cheap one like I do. It's bad for you.

Here are just a few of things I must deal with: thoughtless, irresponsible guests who will gladly create domestic disturbances in the hotel at 2AM as if 100 other people aren't trying to sleep. Permanently down-on-their-luck people who live here in worse conditions and at a far higher cost than most apartments in the city. Prostitutes who look and act so obvious that even I can tell they're prostitutes. And some people who, instead of wasting their money here for one hour in a lousy room, should have just gone and checked themselves into the nearest police station because the cops are going to find them here and apprehend them anyway. Noises--loud bumps, barking dogs, and muffled voices that seem to come from everywhere and nowhere and scare the crap out of you.

And LIARS. Oh, the lies people will tell you to try to get a lower rate or hide something (like an affair) that you don't care about anyway. Here's an example. A dude in his mid-20s comes in and he wants a nonsmoking single-bed room, and I ask him how many people will be staying.
"It's just me," he says.
*LIE #1*
I take his information. "Sounds good. Do you have a credit or debit card you can use?" (We prefer them over cash.)
"Oh. Uh...yeah."
*LIE #2*
"...I'll be right back." He ducks out of the lobby and disappears for five or ten minutes, leaving his ID sitting on the desk. Finally he's back, and hallelujah, he's got a credit card. Except it's not his. It's some woman's.
"Sir, is this person with you?" I ask.
"Yeah...she's, um, just out in the car."
"But she's not staying with you, correct?"
"No."
*LIE #3*
Well, obviously we can't take someone else's card without asking any questions, right? "In that case, we will need her to come in and fill out a third-party authorization form for you."
Right away I can tell he has a problem with this idea. But he goes to the window and waves her inside. The young woman says as little as possible, but she cooperates and fills out the form so that we can approve the charge. So far so good, right?

"Will you have a car in the lot tonight?" I ask.
"Yes."
Hmm.
I take the license plate number and ask, "So if she's not dropping you off, but she's not staying with you...where is she going?"
He's getting nervous now. "Um, well, the room is really just for her."
"...Oh. So what you told me earlier wasn't true? It's not you who's staying in the room, it's her?"
"Um, yeah."
*LIE #4*
(My "cheating spouse radar" should be going off by now. But I have no street-smarts at all, so it doesn't. I'm just irritated that he's lying to me.)
Time to go in for the kill. "So if it's only the young woman staying, and not you, why would you check in under your name and try to get a birthday discount for yourself?" (Which he did try for, but he didn't have the required coupon.)
"...I dunno."
*LIE #5*
I've definitely got a 'Daria' expression on my face at this point. "I'm afraid I'm not understanding you, sir."
"Well, look, I'm just sticking around for a little while. I'll be leaving in a few hours."
His mouth is moving, so... *LIE #6*
"So that wasn't true either. It's not just you, AND it's not just her; it's actually BOTH of you in the room. Correct?"
"Yeah, I guess...why does it matter?"
*TRUTH!*

Sigh. People are so tiresome. If you have any reservations about dealing with them, this is not the job for you. I think I'm going to be decreasing my hours and seeking SSDI soon, because even on the night shift the stress and aggravation are overwhelming.


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MissDorkness
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17 Sep 2014, 12:25 pm

:lol: My Mom works in a place like that and tells me some stories. She's a normie and can get along with anyone and put people at ease, and even SHE finds it trying at times. There's no way I could hack it.
But, I am amused by some of her stories.

Most of the hotel desk staff, nice hotel or not nice hotel, always know what people are up to, and generally do not care.



ajpd1989
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24 Sep 2014, 11:38 pm

In any job where you have to deal with customers you'll get bad ones.

I work for a rental car company, and the three types we get most often are:
-people who lie about problems with their car or GPS to get discounts
-people who are so clueless you'd wonder how they found their way out of bed in the morning (i.e. "if this is the first floor, how do I get to the second?")
-people who are belligerent for no apparent reason

I mainly just drive the cars back and forth, so I don't have to deal with them often, but when I do I'm usually ready to just go home right afterwards.