Chrislorl

I just wanted to take a moment to give a public thank you to (an employee) <name removed by moderator due to TOS> at Starwood Preferred Guest services.
I booked an awards weekend for the Mrs. and myself at Disney's Swan. I had a few basic questions and needed help with a dinner reservation. I received the welcome email from the hotel with the managers "Let us know if we can do anything at all" message. So I sent an email asking about help with this reservation and the fact that it was a Birthday and Anniversary so I wanted to see if we could get a room facing the fireworks. No Reply, so I sent a second email, No Reply again.
I was home, a little frustrated so I dialed the SPG Platinum number and (an agent) answered. I told her my issue and just asked for another email that may work??
(The agent) told me to hang on while she made a few calls. She called the hotel directly, arranged the room, combined two different awards to insure we didn't have any issues, and started working on the reservation for dinner.
We spent about 1/2 an hour or more on the phone, she was professional, polite, and really made me feel like it was no problem and I was a valued customer.
(The agent) could not get us a reservation either but would not give up. She told me she would reach out a little further and if it was ok get back to me tomorrow. I told her that was great, thanked her for all the help and said goodnight. (The agent) was actually off the next day but contacted me from home to tell me she was still working on it. Then the next day again. Finally she came back, told me she had tried everything but the restaurant is booked 6 months out.
I have to tell you I was completely blown away by the service level she provided. William if you can pass this along I would appreciate it greatly. This is why SPG gets my business. And finally Thanks again (to the agent) for trying so hard!
Chris & Samantha

Barefootdr

This is the kind of post I like to read!

There are warranted complaints about any service organization, which need to be aired and hopefully rectified, however often here at FT there are just whiners or those who feel "entitled" without fully understanding the TOS.

Thank you for sharing Chris...hope you have a wonderful B-day & anniversary!!

PS: my b-day & wedding anniversary are on the same day.... I've never missed our anniversay

FatManInNYC

^^ Great post Chrislorl , thank you for sharing.

BL1KITW

I hope (the agent) is in the Lancaster office. (Another agent) in that office has been a huge help to me over the past two years. but it seems she has vanished. Hopefully, (this agent) will answer the next time I call.

clublounger

I certainly hope that they don't give out their real first AND last names. I think it's wrong to be publishing a CSR's full name on a public board like this, either for praise or criticism.

THis doesn't even seem an appropriate place to post such a commendation. Send it to her superiors directly. THEN let us know that something good happened, without the reps details.

I feel for her.

aloha

l etoile

That's really a nice story Chrislorl. Thank you for sharing. I'm especially impressed the agent took time to work on the matter from home.

Since the FlyerTalk rules prevent us from identifying employees in order to protect their privacy (http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q69), I had to remove the agent's name. I suggest you contact Starwood Lurker and ask him to pass along the praise to the agent's supervisor.

Thanks,

l'etoile
Starwood co-moderator

alley cat

I am impressed that the starwood co-moderator is "especially impressed" by the behaviour of the agent.

By reading the posts from the past, the stories have a clear sign of repetition. IOW, many issues and flaws are identified but the issues and flaws continue to recur. Why are the policy makers ignoring the issues and flaws but continue to reinforce unacceptable behaviour? Why do the processes require and external source to identify an acceptable behaviour? My observation is that many employees are handicapped by dysfunctional processes within the policies. The performance process metrics are meaningless to both the employees and policy makers.

How many policy makers listen to both the employees and the guests? What do these policy makers do with the feedback?

One nice story is very nice but WHY are they the exception?

AZ Travels the World

Not to take anything away from your points about process, empowerment and leadership, but I'm not clear how the poster you quoted being a 'starwood co-moderator' factors into this.

Just to clarify, the moderators on FT have no relationship with the company, beyond (likely, but not necessarily) being a member of their program. We are just members like everyone else, who have volunteered some our time to help organize things and keep the place civil and enjoyable for everyone. But we are no more 'policy makers' at Starwood than the average alley cat.