Part 1/2- "The customer is always right." As a front desk agent promoted to front office manager for varying hotels over the past THIRTEEN years, the aforementioned quote is by far one of the most well-renowned and most inaccurate phrases known to anyone with a customer service career; my own being no exception. That being said, the customer most certainly isn't ALWAYS wrong either. My experience with Ecoair LLC this afternoon was nothing short of an extensive and horrendous nightmare. I transferred from another hotel back in October and only recently took on the responsibilities at my current property several weeks ago. While trying to get everything in working order and ensure that my property stays up to par with repairs so that we run as smoothly as possible, I solicited the assistance of my maintenance tech to help with trying to get an idea on what the damage was going to be financially in two separate areas of my hotel. The back office located between the front desk, and the laundry room utilized most frequently by my housekeeping staff. I compiled a list of 10 phone numbers from different HVAC companies and relayed the message that we needed to make it clear, all we were interested in for the time being was a FREE ("WITHOUT cost OR payment;" is the definition of that word, for those of you alongside Ecoair in dire need of a vocabulary lesson,) consultation. My tech sat in my office with me for HOURS making call after call after call. After flying through my list and going the extra mile by trying to compile his own, he had the misfortune of stumbling onto this company. After several minutes on the phone with their receptionist, Natasha, and reiterating REPEATEDLY that we were NOT looking to pay anything for this particular visit, just merely looking for someone to help us make an informed decision on how to proceed; she politely told him "There is NO consultation fee." Now, after that, I'll admit, she did disclose that for her technicians to make any repairs (again not what I asked for,) that it was $210/hour with a 2 hour minimum. I heard him again ask for reassurance that there would be NO COST for our company to have them come out and assess the damage, to which she happily obliged. We. were. THRILLED. Upon their arrival, I greeted them eagerly and showed them which parts of my facility I needed repaired. I did my best to provide anything they requested and had my maintenance tech show him any and/or every room they inquired about while simultaneously trying to maintain my own job responsibilities and stay out of the way as much as I possibly could. A couple of hours later, Matt Mayo, the technician is suddenly standing at my desk. As I'm watching him intently interact with his phone while anxiously listening to some of the details of his findings and inquiring as to whether or not he had the ability to send me the photos he took of what he found, it was in that moment that he chose to let me know that he would be attaching said photos to the "invoice" ($420) that he was finishing up for me. The moment that word left his mouth, I became highly agitated as MY manager, MYSELF, and my maintenance technician had ALL, at every step, every opportunity made it very clear that I was ONLY looking to find out a "WHAT" before we tackled the "how," "when," and "HOW MUCH" for a Klondike bar. Those of us with a background in customer service recognize that you can't make everyone happy. Occasionally, unhappy client(s) merely need someone, (anyone,) to hear that they're angry and to just be quiet and listen. I maintained my composure, I didn't raise my voice, and I remained respectful as I vocalized with who, why, and what exactly I was upset about. After I explained to him that no one had informed me that there would be charges incurred for this visit, that myself as well as my colleagues were more than abundantly clear about what I was looking for, and that his receptionist "Natasha" in the future needed to clarify more directly that "there is no consultation fee" " ACTUALLY meant "We don't provide free consultations..." read more
