jaejaez
Nov 7, 09, 7:09 am
Reservation representatives at diff Starwood properties offer just as many diff qualities of service. Speak to a 100 different properties and you will get 100 different levels of service. This is starkly different from others i.e. Shangri La or the Intercontinental (the only other two that I have experiences with) where the interactions with the reservations staff are clearly standardized and trained from ground up.
Just as a quick example, let me compare the interactions I have had with Le Meridien Bangkok vs Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu.
I emailed LM BKK to enquire about rooms at specific dates. I was given tables with rates for diff room classes + a whole list of promotions I may consider. I emailed back indicating my preferences. A reply was waiting in my mailbox later that evening with thanks, asking me whether I needed limo service. Why not? I said to myself, and asked them to fetch me from the airport. By the next morning I was given another email, thanking me, and telling me that the airport representative will wait for me by Gate X (map of the airport included in pdf format) and that I should call xxxxxx if I have trouble finding him. Every email started with greetings and ended with genuine thanks for my enquiries. Very slick and efficient.
I emailed LM KKB to enquire about rooms at a specific date. As in previous case, I was given options of rooms with rates & promotions. I replied to ask them to book for me, to which I get a response telling me that I am supposed to make my own bookings on the internet but they would do it for me “this time”. I email back asking them to make it a non-smoking room. I get no answer for days. I email again and say “pls acknowledge receipt of my email” to which they immediately send a one-line-email saying “I book you a non smoking room”. I reply to enquire about the airport limo service. They reply with rates. I ask them to arrange one for me to which I hear no reply for days again. I email again asking them about whether the airport transfer is confirmed and as a response I get CCed in an email that the reservation representative sends to its own concierge desk asking them to take note of my request. I never heard the concierge’s confirmation or instructions etc. I am now wondering whether I should write back AGAIN asking if my limo is confirmed?
This is just one of my examples. There are clearly no standardized service guidelines as far as I have experienced from starwood. Some are superb, others are downright lousy. I have had better email correspondence with Ibis before in Morocco than the one I got from LM KKB. A big thumbs down for LM KKB for their poor email correspondence… but the question remains. Why are some reservation reps (often the first point of contact for hotel guests) trained so poorly, if at all? :confused:
Just as a quick example, let me compare the interactions I have had with Le Meridien Bangkok vs Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu.
I emailed LM BKK to enquire about rooms at specific dates. I was given tables with rates for diff room classes + a whole list of promotions I may consider. I emailed back indicating my preferences. A reply was waiting in my mailbox later that evening with thanks, asking me whether I needed limo service. Why not? I said to myself, and asked them to fetch me from the airport. By the next morning I was given another email, thanking me, and telling me that the airport representative will wait for me by Gate X (map of the airport included in pdf format) and that I should call xxxxxx if I have trouble finding him. Every email started with greetings and ended with genuine thanks for my enquiries. Very slick and efficient.
I emailed LM KKB to enquire about rooms at a specific date. As in previous case, I was given options of rooms with rates & promotions. I replied to ask them to book for me, to which I get a response telling me that I am supposed to make my own bookings on the internet but they would do it for me “this time”. I email back asking them to make it a non-smoking room. I get no answer for days. I email again and say “pls acknowledge receipt of my email” to which they immediately send a one-line-email saying “I book you a non smoking room”. I reply to enquire about the airport limo service. They reply with rates. I ask them to arrange one for me to which I hear no reply for days again. I email again asking them about whether the airport transfer is confirmed and as a response I get CCed in an email that the reservation representative sends to its own concierge desk asking them to take note of my request. I never heard the concierge’s confirmation or instructions etc. I am now wondering whether I should write back AGAIN asking if my limo is confirmed?
This is just one of my examples. There are clearly no standardized service guidelines as far as I have experienced from starwood. Some are superb, others are downright lousy. I have had better email correspondence with Ibis before in Morocco than the one I got from LM KKB. A big thumbs down for LM KKB for their poor email correspondence… but the question remains. Why are some reservation reps (often the first point of contact for hotel guests) trained so poorly, if at all? :confused: