7 Common Guest's Complaints And How to Resolve It

No matter how good the hotel does the prevention, how many times the hotel does the training for their staff, FOR SURE, there will be a time when a guest raised a complaint. And when the hotel doesn't resolve it immediately, there is a chance that 1 single complaint becomes a huge issue, and furthermore, the guest might end up posting the issue on social media or even on an online review website.

Hence, just in case you are new in this industry, here are the 7 common complaints that most probably you have to deal with from the guest. And just to share with you my experience, I will also include how we may resolve it properly.

1. Dirty Room

In my opinion, this is the most embarrassing complaint that I had to deal with. Imagine, what if the guest just arrived from a 12 hours flight and just want to have a shower and take a good sleep. But they go into a dirty room that even housekeeping did not make it up at all, yet. 

Yes, I know I know, it is best to solve this issue before it occurs. But it happened already, so how? We point our finger at housekeeping? At Front Office Staff? It is not a solution at all, even worse, it turns the hotel's credibility down when you try to blame someone.

Solution: 

Promptly transfer them to a new spotless room or go the extra mile and upgrade them to a much nicer room. And make sure the transfer process is as quick and smooth as possible. I recommend, that at least the Duty Manager him/herself escort the guest to go to their new room.

2. AC Problem

Most of the guests are expecting their room to be cold enough, even when they reach their room after check-in. Or, what if after they stayed for half an hour and the room is still not cold enough? What if the AC is not working properly?

Solution:

If you are a Duty Manager, FOM or RDM, directly go to the room and check it by yourself. In this way, the guest will feel more appreciated. If the AC is broken, then immediately call the engineering to fix it accordingly. Make sure you inform the guest about how long the process will be. During the process, perhaps you can offer them to wait in the Restaurant or Bar with a complimentary cold juice.

I highly suggest you to have your own Temperatur Gun, so you may check it accordingly and show the guest if the temperature is already correct as they expected. 

3. Slow Internet Connection

Yup.....slow......internet......connection......

Solution :

Yes, of course, call the IT staff. But before you call them, make sure you have a speed connection app on your phone, there is a lot of that kind of apps, and it is free. And you have to make sure with the guest how many devices do they use? Because some hotels limit their device usage in the room.

4. Noisy Neighbours

Crying babies, returning from a night of drinking at 2am, and rowing couples are just some of the noise dangers your beloved guests might have to endure.

Solution :

Most likely they will complain about this issue via phone call. Politely ask the guest just if they know where the noisy sound is coming from. Room next to theirs? Above or below? With this information, you can easily follow up and go directly to the location. But if the guest already knows the exact room, usually I will ask the security to check and confirm that the room mentioned by the complaining guest is correct. Once I had the information, I will call to the room and politely inform them to low down their voice or tone. Remember, they also are our guests, so we have to treat them well like we treat other guests. If it is because of crying babies, make sure you check if the baby is okay, or if they need any further medical assistance. Offer them if there is something you can do to calm the baby down. For this issue, worse come to worse, you will have to offer them to transfer to other room so other guests not be disturbed. Remember, HOW you offer the room transfer is the main key, explain politely.

5. Rude Staff

We have to admit, that 1 or 2 times hotel staff was having a terrible day. And by that, they talk or behave badly, unintendedly. Or, maybe there is a staff that has a consistently bad attitude that is raking up the bad reviews.

Solutions :

I will meet the guest personally, and ask them to tell the full story. Once they are finished, apologize to them for this issue do an internal investigation, and get back to them after it is done for a full explanation. Remember, do what you promised them, and get back to them with the solution.

You may have to enforce a disciplinary if displays of poor customer service skills continue by some members of staff. But before you do that, you also must be fair, you must provide a regular training so your team member is always on "behave" mode, even to the most difficult guests.

6. There Is No Hot Water

Expecting a nice hot shower after a long trip journey, and the water is not getting hot enough.

Solutions:

I know, you are correct, calling the engineering staff. But instead of just calling them and asking the guest to wait, you yourself have to check it as well. Check if this occurs only in this single room, or if this also impacting to other rooms. In this case, it is most likely you will have to transfer the guest to another room.

But for your own knowledge, you have to understand how much is hot water can be used until it unable to produce hot water anymore. Let's say, your hotel is only able to produce approximately 30 liters of hot water continuously. With this knowledge, you may suggest to the guest how they should use the hot water.

7. Yellowish Water

For sure, the yellowish water will be a bad review for the hotel.

Solutions :

If the guest is already inside the room, ask permission from the guest that we will need to do water flushing for a certain time (it depends on your hotel, make sure either with engineering or housekeeping staff on how long the process will be needed). If it takes a lot of time, again, you will need to transfer the guest to another room.

Conclusion

As you read above, many of the complaints will end up in transferring the guest to another room and if you go the extra mile, you will need to give the guest a "service recovery". It is costly, and the most important thing is, that the hotel might lose its credibility and get a bad review online. The best solution is to prevent it to happen. Provide regular training. Do regular inspections. Learn, practice, and action.

Hope this article is useful. Again, I will be more than happy to hear your feedback, comment, or even any critics. 

Lobby Lizard
It is okay to move slow, but make sure you move forward