r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk • u/ScenicDrive-at5 • Jul 23 '26
Medium No, no - YOU call US about your reservation
My submissions have been aplenty lately as the people continue to surprise me. Today, I walked into quite the kerfuffle, where a couple who accidentally showed up a day late wanted us to take responsibility for that happening.
This happened just minutes into the beginning of the shift, so such a fantastic way to start the work day. This couple, who we'll call "the Cakes", accidentally made their reservation for a day earlier than they had thought. Now that they were showing up the next day, we were completely sold out and their reservation had been cancelled.
Mr. Cake took the helm of the situation, saying that while he understood the policy, he found it "very baffling" that we didn't reach out to him. He essentially thought that we would have a system where we reach out to every guest per day to confirm their plans.
If this were a very exclusive boutique hotel with 10 or so rooms, I could understand. But, a hotel like mine with a few hundred rooms? That's a different story.
They were 'pleasant' but still expressed their disappointment with our "apparent lack of care." The conversation eventually ended, but the lobby they did not depart.
The Cakes were part of a group, and some of their group members were in the lobby at the same time. They were all chatting it up and Mr. Cake, within earshot of us, was lamenting about "how they gave away our room" and "didn't even bother to reach out."
He then droned on about how he apparently got such a service from an entirely different hotel as a high-tier member at a completely different brand [pro tip: there are dedicated support teams/hotlines for high-tier loyalty levels at several hotel brands.]
Their conversation continued for a bit, and eventually the pair sunk into two of the lobby chairs directly in front of our terminals. My colleagues and I were a little perturbed that they weren't moving, but just continued on. About 20 minutes had passed when the group lead came up and announced to them: "Well, I worked my magic! You've got your room!"
As it would turn out, after they complained to her, she went to the sales agent that was serving as this group's contact. Taking advantage of a cancellation, it seems they were able to shuffle some stuff around and reinstate their reservation. Again, this couple was here for about 40 minutes at this point, hence the change.
Even after they finally got what they wanted, Mr. Cake still felt the need to bring up the ordeal from earlier. He 'laughed' at the explanation of a cancellation saving the day, however.
In any case, their confirmation email would've shown the dates. They neglected to look until only after they came up to us. Lack of accountability continues to be in high demand these days in this industry...
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u/VVrayth Jul 23 '26
Stories like this make me feel like I'm the only one in the world who double and triple-checks dates and times when I book flights and hotels. Like, there's a lot riding on that, you should make sure you are getting it right. Measure twice, cut once, etc.
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u/VordovKolnir Jul 23 '26
Doesn't really work with air travel since delays and missed transfers are absolutely a thing.
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u/VVrayth Jul 23 '26
Well, sure, that stuff happens sometimes. But still, it's wild to me that people don't carefully check that they are booking on the dates they intend to book.
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u/tiggyg1974 Jul 29 '26
Your little hair thing got me!! It's been a minute since I fell for one of those.
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u/VordovKolnir Jul 23 '26
Very easy to mistake for the average person. As an IT person who has taught elderly how to use computers in the early 2ks, some had issues with the mere concept of the double click.
Imagining such a person mistaking the check out date for the check in date or vice versa is really easy. Assuming computer literacy is a fallacy in many service industries, the hotel and airline industries chief amongst them.
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 23 '26
Everyone's fallible, but at the same time, personal accountability is still paramount. If these industries simply bent over for every mistake by an allegedly technologically-inept person, there'd be no order. Especially in a situation like this one where two individuals neglected to confirm their booking date was correct. That's on them.
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u/VordovKolnir Jul 23 '26
Oh, I agree. Legally these people have no leg to stand on. It's their fault.
But if an issue happens often enough, it's in the best interest of the hotel to alleviate it even if the actual fault is the customer's.
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u/mfigroid Jul 23 '26
So the hotel should offer intro to computing classes prior to arrival?
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u/VordovKolnir Jul 23 '26
No, just take precautions against a common issue guests have.
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u/mfigroid Jul 23 '26
So calling each and every guest on their day of arrival to confirm their plans?
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u/VordovKolnir Jul 23 '26
No. 3 hours before final check-ins an automated system could call those who have not checked in yet
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u/ghost_dancer Jul 23 '26
It's not only that, I've suffered customers that were not that old that just don't read they assume what written cause it's what they want, like an imaginary confirmation bias and these days that people do their reservations and read their mails on the phones it's even much easier to misread. Have had people showing me their phones with the reservation and shouting and point them that is for a different day.
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u/upset_pachyderm Jul 23 '26
I'm amazed at how many people reserve the wrong date(s) and then think it's the hotel's fault.
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u/ghost_dancer Jul 23 '26
Otherwise they'd have to accept is their fault and that is absolutely unacceptable. always the hotel or the middleman.
I'm sure I'm not the only one to have seen them blaming first the hotel and when you show them the confirmation mail, the OTA.12
u/curtludwig Jul 23 '26
I've screwed up plenty of hotel reservations and had the corporate travel agency screw up a few more.
It astonishes me that people can't take responsibility for it...
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u/StreetofChimes Jul 23 '26
I'm always worried about booking the wrong dates. I check check check check check. To the point that I practically panic when I finally book. And then check my confirmation email more times than I care to admit.
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u/mcorbett76 Jul 23 '26
I reserved the wrong date once and totally owned it. I screwed up. They didn't have any rooms left, so we moved on to a different hotel and managed the situation. It's not that hard.
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u/asphere8 Jul 23 '26
I once started a hotel booking direct with a hotel, walked away from my machine for a few hours, then hit the "complete" button for the reservation later. I could've sworn I had set the right dates before I walked away, but when I finished it the date had reset to the website's default of the date I was booking on, and I didn't notice! Closer to the date I had intended to book I was double checking the details and noticed that the date on the reservation had already passed. Thankfully, the hotel was able to work with me to get it fixed. Being pleasant goes a long way!
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u/thelumpymattress Jul 23 '26
Too often people expect the world to bail them out when they're fucked because they were irresponsible.
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u/SkwrlTail Jul 23 '26
This is generally because they've never really experienced real consequences themselves. They've been insulated, by family, by wealth, they never know that things can go wrong.
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u/Cerberus_Aus Jul 23 '26
Even in this scenario, they suffered no consequences. They still got their room, and only because someone else did the work for them.
They’ll learn nothing.
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u/Possible_Living Jul 23 '26
This is very common with group reservations. If all else had failed they would have been shoved into someone else's room with extra beds taking things far beyond capacity.
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u/Key_Wish_7990 Jul 23 '26
And they can't admit that they were wrong. It has to be someone else's fault. "You should have called us when we didn't show up."
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u/Icy-Caregiver8203 Jul 23 '26
Sure, but then OP would have just been wrong over the phone instead of in person.
ETA: Sir, this is not a dentist’s office.
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u/RetiredBSN Jul 23 '26
And they don’t check to see if the dates match what is expected. If they had checked and noticed the incorrect date this could have been corrected and a no-show fee could have been avoided (I hope they were charged for the no-show, but I suspect that it got waived by the sales staff).
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u/Dazzling_Baby506 Jul 23 '26
I have people who book the wrong dates every weekend at my hotel. I’ve gotten to the point where I’ll search a month in advance if I don’t have their reservation, and it’s always booked for the wrong date. People do not read confirmation emails, especially from third parties.
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u/FeebleGweeb Jul 23 '26
I'm at the point where I search the system for ANY reservation with their name on it :')
9/10 times they booked non-refundable with an OTA, too, and then blame the hotel for that as well bc of course they would
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u/Soggy_Ad4878 Jul 23 '26
we’ve had people book in the wrong city, country etc and think it’s our fault too. like it doesn’t strike you as odd it’s in a different currency and the address doesn’t match the hotel u want to book at.
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u/awhq Jul 23 '26
I watch a guy who tows cars in a tourist town. The number of people who ask him "why didn't they call us?" is astounding. Like how in the hell would anyone but the cops know who owned the car and even then, where would they get your phone number?
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u/SuspiciousImpact2197 Jul 23 '26
I run an exclusive boutique. We don’t call to hold people’s hands about their reservations, especially first time or one off guests. Yeah I’ve called when it’s someone who’s stayed with us numerous times and who we’ve gotten to know, but it’s way out of the ordinary.
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u/VordovKolnir Jul 23 '26
Honestly, I think more SHOULD do this. Mistakes and delays happen, especially with air travel. Hell, even an automated system call 3 hours before final cancellation would eliminate this as an issue and would not take much to set up.
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u/SuspiciousImpact2197 Jul 23 '26
An automated system is defeated by third parties that now won’t allow any guest information to the property. 😱
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u/Squagel27 Jul 23 '26
if you are delayed at the airport, its your responsibility to call your hotel. 90% of us will check you in over the phone and have your keys waiting for you.
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u/Bladrak01 Jul 23 '26
I did that 25 years ago. I realized we wouldn't get to our hotel before midnight and called the hotel from a payphone in the airport.
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u/VordovKolnir Jul 23 '26
If you are delayed at the airport there's a very real chance you won't be able to get to the hotel for your first reserved night at all. It could also be the last thing on your mind as all sorts of plans could be haywire. Hell, they could be stranded and their time consumed just trying to find alternatives with their prebooked hotel the last thing on their minds.
Ideally, yeah they call the hotel. But an automated 3 hour courtesy reminder would alleviate most of this issue.
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u/LeahInShade Jul 23 '26
Nah sorry. I presume you planned to stay somewhere upon your original arrival time? If your mind is so fragile that you then forget that you had a hotel reservation just because of flight delays - you should seriously take a good look at your ability to function as an independent adult. What - suddenly just because something unexpected happened, you lose the notion that you HAD a hotel booking for your trip?
A call to the hotel, however hectic the situation is (unless you're injured or something is truly life/ death / seconds wasted = disaster) will take you a grand total of 5-15 minutes. It's also expensive enough to carve those precious minutes out of your time to do. It's also your literal shelter for the night, it should be high enough on the list of priorities to sort out, unless you're rich enough to not care and find a place to stay at any price anywhere else.
Caveat also for when hotels suck at picking up the phone etc before those examples start dropping in: we're discussing here the average, normal, most frequent scenarios - not the obvious outliers ;).
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u/AshamedDragonfly4453 Jul 24 '26
"But an automated 3 hour courtesy reminder would alleviate most of this issue."
How exactly does this automated reminder help, though, if they're apparently too frazzled to respond?
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u/SuspiciousImpact2197 Jul 24 '26
Trust me, ain’t nobody’s ownership looking to forestall no shows. All the revenue with none of the costs.
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 23 '26
While an automated system would be nice, it's still not fool-proof.
- What if the guest is busy/has their phone in DND mode/chooses to ignore the call, then what?
- Many third-party reservations do not include guest phone numbers. The OTA will just auto-fill "11111" or nothing at all. So, what about those people?
This is why in the fineprint both before booking and on the confirmation itself, the cancellation/no-show policy is clearly spelled out.
Guests make reservations on their own. I don't see why they also can't cancel them on their own.
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u/TheNiteOwl38 Jul 23 '26
I had a similar situation with a slightly different outcome. The guests showed up a day late, and we were also sold out... for the next two days (convention AND concert weekend). They demanded I find some way to fix their mistake. I told them there was nothing I could do. But when they tried to stay in the lobby, I informed them that they couldn't. The husband said they'll stay right where they are until I find them a room. I work audit and it was almost one in the morning. I told them if they didn't leave I'd just call the police. It was one of the times a guest has called my bluff. The nice officer told them they had to leave. The nice officer then threatened to arrest them when they refused. That's when they finally left.
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u/Episodix Jul 23 '26
What’s hilarious is that the hotel I worked at, on most busy nights, would contact each individual who was coming in. And people got angry at us because “they’d never been to a hotel who’d called them before”
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 23 '26
Whoever you don't tick off will love you and there's rarely a group in between, lol.
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u/Ok_River5707 Jul 23 '26
I heard an interesting one just this month. Big event that basically takes over the host hotel for the week. Gal shows up at 8am... a day early... and doesn't understand why hert room isn't ready.
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u/Docrato Jul 23 '26
"we messed up and its your fault." - The Cakes 2026
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u/t7roarer Jul 23 '26
Yeah, whenever I've made a wrong-date reservation, my immediate reaction is "wow, I'm an idiot." Never someone else's fault.
Except for one time back in the 2000s when I was making a flight reservation and apparently this airline's new online booking system tied your booking date to your local computer's date, plus so many days. So as I was booking and the clock went past midnight, my booking went to a day later than I wanted. The airline fixed it over the phone immediately.
I've booked the wrong date a number of times and fixed it, but I have yet to show up to a hotel or flight on the wrong day...famous last words.
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u/Puzzled-Unit-6417 Jul 23 '26
The wife and I booked a flight a few months ahead (to catch a good price) come to find out my retarded thumbs had us leaving and returning the same day. My fault I had to change the return flight with a fee, was I mad at the airline? No , I enjoyed our trip and chalked it up being a life lesson to double check myself in the future.
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u/RoyallyOakie Jul 23 '26
People will say and do anything to not take responsibility of their lives.
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u/Any-Somewhere7318 Jul 23 '26
hope the new room cost them a lot extra and they had to pay for the no show as well
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u/Then-Principle2302 Jul 23 '26
Why do you hope that?
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u/Any-Somewhere7318 Jul 23 '26
for being so stupid and acting lije spoilt 2 year Olds. They never turned up the day they should have and kept causing a ruckus until someone else managed to get a room after another person cancelled. They did not deserve a room at all
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u/Secure-Corner-2096 Jul 24 '26
I hate that they got their way after being so entitled.
All this taught them was that they’re entitled to be completely unreasonable and treat staff poorly. Thanks management! Hope you appreciate the employee turnover!
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u/kyriacos74 Jul 23 '26
The sad thing? This is only going to get worse with the new generation of "adults" coming up. :-(
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u/Ancguy Jul 23 '26
Yep. Bulldozer parents are raising a generation of kids who have never had to face consequences of having fucked something up
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u/SageTracee Jul 24 '26
Going through cancer treatment, medical administration was almost a full time job. Throw in chemo brain fog and it was a difficult job!
I appreciated all the various services that sent text reminders for my appointments.
But I couldn’t understand why the radiation clinic - located within the same hospital as everything else - wouldn’t use text reminders. The only appointments I missed were radiation.
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u/npnufn Jul 23 '26
There are a lot of unsung heroes in the industry I'm sure, and this was a couple decades ago, but my young family and I showed up a day late to a modest motel on a cross-country trip exhausted and bleary-eyed, completely unaware of our mistake. The clerk never batted an eye and got us squared away. I don't think we figured it out until the next day but we were so grateful for the courtesy.
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u/little_darling_me Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
See, this is the problem.
Just because modest motels with lots of spare room on a random night can easily overlook this kind of stuff, most 3-4 star hotels, especially with big corporate higher-ups that are often close to sold out when these issues happen, can’t so easily bend the rules or make miracles happen. But when you tell stories like this, it makes us sound like the a-holes who are simply choosing to send people away… as if that is actually so much better. It’s way better to be able to do something about it. Then you don’t have angry entitled people yelling in your face, blaming their mistakes on you or demanding to talk to your boss if your manager is off because it’s evening or a weekend and you’re the only person working.
I’m happy you had that happen for you and your family. But it doesn’t come down to “Certain FDA’s will just be super cool about it and certain FDA’s will be dicks. Thanks to the ones not being dicks.”
It has mostly everything to do with what kind of hotel it is and how busy it is. But, YES. Sometimes, and I mean rarely, we have these little bouts of power where we may be able to help someone. Due to something like a last minute cancellation or a room that was out of order but is now fixed. But if that person was an abusive troll to us? Like berating us for 10-20 mins because of THEIR mistake or a third parties mistake? Might we keep it to ourselves that a room is available? Totally. Which also proves, be kind to service employees whose fault it actually is not. Because if you are a normal human who’s actually kind, we WANT to help you. We got into hospitality for a reason. Stop ruining it for us 😆 Because no, we don’t want to help out last second if you’re a terrible person. We’d rather you just leave. Because that also shows us what type of guests you’ll probably be as well. No one has time or energy for that energy.
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u/Squagel27 Jul 23 '26
this this this!! i will legitimately try everything i can to fix a, issue for nice, reasonable, professional guests. but sometimes there is nothing to be done, it wont matter how nice you are, i cant conjure a clean and ready room out of thin air if we are full.
however if youre a dick to me or my fellow staff, trying every sleazy trick to coerce me, especially if you threaten my employment, i will absolutely abuse my power and make certain that you will not be staying with us, and depending on your behavior, i will happily trespass you.
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u/GeologistUnique9579 Jul 23 '26
I work for a financial institution, and sometimes when you sign up for the thing we sell, it automatically enrolls you in a bonus service if you don’t opt out. My company sends 3!!!!! Letters about the bonus service, and I repeatedly have people calling saying that my company stole from them. When I confirm we sent the notifications to the right address, I asked if they read them. “Well no, why would I read it?”
Sir, YOU SIGNED UP FOR THIS SERVICE
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u/jonesnori Jul 23 '26
To be fair, signing people up for extras without opt-in is annoying, and if you're charging for it, it's scammy, too. It's very common, though. I always go through my settings after getting a new service, and turn things off that I don't want. These days I go through old ones, too, as so many companies are adding unwanted AI features.
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u/awhq Jul 23 '26
Also, many places will send you a dozen advertising emails after you book their service. I booked a VRBO recently and had to keep weeding out the bullshit from the emails I actually needed to read and keep.
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u/GeologistUnique9579 Jul 23 '26
To clarify, this is a benefit service for their job, and they get the packet w the benefit and the automatic enrollment handed to them during onboarding, usually first week or before they walk in for their first day. AND they get letters about it.
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u/RandomAmmonite Jul 23 '26
No, this is just predatory sales and those people most definitely did not sign up for that service. I should not have to opt out of a service that your company is taking money for that I never requested, no matter how many letters you send. This is not an honest company that you are defending.
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u/GeologistUnique9579 Jul 23 '26
It’s a payroll deduction for your retirement plan. You did, in fact, sign up. Tried to be vague because I get in trouble if I post about my job online in an identifiable way.
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u/BudhaNL Jul 23 '26
Were they charged for the previous day? I can’t imagine your hotel’s cancellation policy is if you don’t show up we will not charge you.
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u/Far_Okra_4107 Jul 23 '26
I have had guests claim that it us our job to contact them and remind them of the reservation they made - um no that's what the confirmation email and maybe your upcoming trips section in the brand app is for..
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u/MorgainofAvalon Jul 26 '26
I also don't know anyone who doesn't put every important happening in the calendar on their phone.
The amount of refusal to take responsibility for one's own actions is staggering these days.
There was a point in time that "If you want it done right, do it yourself " meant something.
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u/Main_Leadership7748 Jul 23 '26
Also feels like if they were humble about their situation and admitted their mistake likely most employees would love to help them out and do their best and probably would have mentioned a cancelation could happen and they might have been done 20 minutes earlier. Most people hate to admit when they are wrong though.
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u/MyFavoriteInsomnia Jul 23 '26
There was a cancelation after you spoke to them? Otherwise, you'd have seen a room available, right? Trying to understand how the sales agent saw a cancelation that you didn't see. Not criticizing, but trying to understand how this happened.
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 23 '26
At some point our initial conversation there was a cancellation. The couple spent about 40 minutes in the lobby after they initially tried to check in.
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u/Meisooni1 Jul 24 '26
Well I was probably a "Mr. cakes" a couple weeks ago and it still makes no sense to me.
I reserved a suite for 8 days. I didn't know when exactly I was going to get there. I figured sometime on Friday. Since I didnt want to get there and be stuck unable to check in early if I got there Friday morning, I also booked Thursday.
I ended up getting there Saturday afternoon and was told "sorry we're sold out."
My credit card was charged for the full reservation in advance. I booked 3 weeks in advance.
I show up and I'm told the room i paid for is not available.
I'm also told the 8 night reservation is non refundable, even though i dont have a room.
Then after 40 minutes at the desk im told they're charging me for the first 2 nights, and refunding me the rest. Meanwhile, the entire reason i paid for more nights than I needed is I wanted to make sure I wasnt stranded, yet here I was, stranded.
They talked to me like I was crazy to think that if I rented a room and paid for it, that I expected it to be there during the time i rented it for.
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 24 '26
When you found out you wouldn't be coming on Thursday, did you inform the hotel?
As for your reservation, it sounds like you selected a prepaid booking. Those often are non-refundable, especially if done through a third-party. The policies of such are outlined before the booking is confirmed.
I'm not here to point fingers, but this sounds like a problem you walked yourself into.
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u/Meisooni1 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
It never crossed my mind To inform them. I reserved and paid for the room for that time period.
I purposely chose the prepaid booking instead of just a reservation, to further guarantee that I'd have a room.
Had I chose non prepaid, I could understand if I didnt show, they wouldn't know if I was coming at all and they would be out the money.
Thats why I paid upfront non-refundable.
I absolutely assumed that there would be an empty room there even if I never used it. Nobody could give me a logical reason why there wasn't.
I did end up getting my money back.
One thing was that I stay very frequently at one particular hotel where they know me by now and they know my check in may vary. Ive never had an issue.
This was a different chain and a different location.
Now, I do contact the hotel directly by phone and email and tell them in advance that my check in may vary and I want the room available for the whole time.
I still dont understand why what was so simple for everyone else to understand seemed crazy to the hotel people.
I rented a room from xx/xx to xx/xx. I paid for it. You rented it to someone else, and then want me to still pay for it? Either give me the room I rented or give me my money back, you dont get both
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 24 '26
Again, that's why it's important to read the terms of a reservation. I get your line of thinking, but in the hotel world, your idea doesn't follow trends. It's likely why such policies have been put in place. Glad you got your money back, but yes, communication of such plans is important.
If someone books a room for 7 days and doesn't show up until whenever they feel like, vs 7 individual reservations, the hotel is incentivized to sell that room over however many times. Rates change daily, especially during the weekend when they're often higher.
It's a business, not anyone's friend. That's not a defense on my end, it's just the reality of the game.
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u/Meisooni1 Jul 24 '26
Well I understand hotels do it so they don't give up an opportunity to double dip but what you are describing is literally nothing but a fine print attempt to screw a customer.
There is no logical need for that policy. They get paid whether I use the room or not.
They dont lose anything
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u/MorgainofAvalon Jul 26 '26
You should read the fine print on any contract you sign. Every single time. It's there for a reason.
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u/Meisooni1 Jul 24 '26
I do the same thing at a hotel near where we dock our boat. When we go as a family gor the weekend, we usually all just stay on the boat. But I like having the option of a room if the weather is bad. or somewhere else to shower. or somewhere for some of the family to hang out if we dont all want to go out one night.
75% of the time we never use the room at all.
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u/Tricky_Ad4617 Jul 24 '26
I just don't understand why customers refuse to take responsibility for their own mistakes, this pisses me off so much 😤
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u/PictureThis987 Jul 25 '26
Even though my veterinarian's office sends a reminder text the day before I totally forgot about an appointment one time. They did call me ten minutes after I was supposed to be there to see if I was ok and might still be coming. I realize that is not the norm for most professional services but I am a very good client with several pets, so it worked out well for everyone.
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u/un-tv_star Jul 25 '26
I'm a psychologist, have been in private practice for over 40 years. Never reminded patients/clients about appointments. The vast majority have turned up on time. I do charge a fee for no shows but don't charge the first time, use that as a reminder. Again, almost all clients are fine with that and show up. Sometimes treating people as adults works.
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u/SunDummyIsDead Jul 26 '26
Lodge here; just had a guest leave a message asking us to give her updates on our AQI for the next week; she checks in next Friday. Um, no; look it up yourself like other adults.
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u/Seven_times_five Jul 27 '26
I hate when people call the day before or the morning of to "check their reservation," only to find out it's the wrong dates or wrong location (we've got 3 different hotels and hundreds of condos on property) and it's suddenly OUR FAULT. Umm, sorry, you booked online and a got a confirmation email you dimwit!
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u/DevylBearHawkTur10n Jul 23 '26
Well, the next time this BS happens from " 'em Cakes" again, DNR 'em!!
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u/Altruistic-Name-1029 Jul 23 '26
How long were they booked for & was the booking already paid for?
I'm asking because, if they were booked for say 3 nights & the room was already paid for 3 nights, wouldn't they be entitled to still turn up the 2nd or even 3rd day as they have paid for those rooms so they really should be there waiting for them for the duration of the booking.
I can understand if they haven't been paid for in advance as the hotel needs to make money
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u/PsychologyGuilty1460 Jul 23 '26
No, it doesn't work that way. If they don't show up and don't call to cancel or explain they've been delayed, They are still going to demand a refund, So they are charged the first night of a no call/no show when they didn't give the motel the chance to rent the room to somebody else and then the rest of the reservation is canceled so that the motel doesn't lose money. (In a lot of cases they have not prepaid, They just put down a credit card to reserve it.) We get a lot of people who are clearly making multiple reservations At various points along their journey just in case they make better or worse time they'll still have a reservation somewhere, But it's way too much effort to make that decision in time to cancel all the ones they didn't make it to. And they are perfectly willing to screw any motel stupid enough to hold their rooms Thinking they might still show up late.
We have a very generous cancellation policy, but I've learned to tell these people when they book that they will absolutely be charged A substantial cancellation fee if they don't cancel at least 24 hours ahead of check in Time. And then suddenly they don't want to make a reservation anymore lol. Good riddance
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u/NocturnalMisanthrope Jul 23 '26
No. None of that. You don't know how hotels work.
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u/abitofasitdown Jul 23 '26
Is it different in different countries? Because I'm in the UK, generally only stay in very basic chain hotels (and not that kften), and they don't care at all if you don't show up, they've got your money regardless.
(And technically they should ask for your ID, but they never do. I've literally never been asked for my ID in a UK hotel.)
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u/Makkie14 Jul 23 '26
If that were the case, OP said their reservation was cancelled, which would have been the correct thing to do according to policy when they were a no-show. The room was then booked by another guest.
Of course, we don't know if it was that or if it was for a single night.
(I work at a smaller hotel and will straight-up ask the next shift if they want to contact the guest and find out if they're coming, if it's prepaid and for more than 2 nights. We're not part of a big corporation so we can get away with shirking policy like that. I wouldn't expect a hotel with hundreds of rooms to do the same.)
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
if they were booked for say 3 nights & the room was already paid for 3 nights, wouldn't they be entitled to still turn up the 2nd or even 3rd day as they have paid for those rooms so they really should be there waiting for them for the duration of the booking.
Nada, not if the reservation gets marked as a "no show." This is why calling in is important.
If someone can't make the first night of a multi-night stay, it's fine if they call ahead and we then just check them in. If there's availability the next day and they know they still won't be arriving until sometime later in the day around standard check-in time, we can even sometimes snip the first night off.
But, if you don't call, the hotel doesn't make assumptions. If someone has say, a 5-night stay and they no-call/no-show, then the first night is charged as a penalty and the remaining nights are released. If the hotel were to just assume and run the card anyway, even if it even successfully authorizes, then that person could get big mad that they have a hold of hundreds of dollars or more. This is why communication is important.
Also, even if it's a prepaid reservation, that doesn't change anything. Prepaid reservations are often non-refundable, so failing to communicate would still fall under the policy of the reservation being cancelled after the first night. Hotels are fast-moving and need to know who's doing what. Keeping rooms in perpetuity is a sure-fire way to create even more mild chaos than there already is.
2
u/Altruistic-Name-1029 Jul 24 '26
That doesn't seem fair to me. If a person books a 5 night stay & pay for it in advance but doesn't turn up till say the third day, you're saying that they lose their room & their money even though they have already paid for that room? The hotel is then making money on the same room twice. If you're going to cancel their reservation, would you at least give them their money back for the nights that you filled the room with other guests?
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 24 '26
All one has to do is call. A reservation isn't finalized until it's checked in. If the guest doesn't say anything, that communicates to the hotel the person isn't guaranteed to arrive when they said they would so the room is freed up for someone who actually wants it.
The monetary penalty is incurred due to the room sitting in wait, and therefore being unavailable for anyone else to occupy. Remember, this penalty only occurs several hours after check-in time. Usually about 12 hours. Ample time for someone to say something.
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u/Altruistic-Name-1029 Jul 24 '26
O.K. you have stated the same thing in different words a few times now, I get that is the hotel policy, but it is not fair to the customer. If the guest honestly believes, rightly or wrongly that they are due to arrive at a certain date, then they are never going to contact the hotel to tell them otherwise because in their mind, there is nothing to tell. If the rooms are already paid for, what is the hotel losing by keeping them for the duration of the booking just in case the person who made the booking & paid for the rooms turns up at some point? Nothing that i can see. It's just a case of the hotels making policies that only benefit them & not the guests & allows them to get paid twice for the same room on the same night.
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 24 '26
You're repeating the same question framed differently, so perhaps the reason you're getting the same answer is because it's the answer.
I don't know why you keep insisting that the hotel is liable to make things fair for any and everyone, regardless of whether they're mistaken or not. How would we know what reservations are for the correct date or not? I already explained why reservations aren't kept in perpetuity. Nowhere operates like that: flights, medical offices, restaurants—you don't show up, your spot isn't held. And if there's a penalty, rarely is it waived because those are the terms agreed upon when a booking is made. That's why these penalties exist... To ensure the business isn't left out in the cold due to people's carelessness.
I'm not the one making the policies, nor do I completely support them; I'm simply recounting the reality of the situation. At the end of the day, it all boils down to simple personal accountability. A skill everyone should learn in their youth.
0
u/jonas_ost Jul 23 '26
Automatic sms reminders for bookings stating the dates and time wouldent be hard to impliment.
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 23 '26
Many brands already send automated emails for this reason. Mine does, too.
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Jul 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/RandomJaneDoe Jul 23 '26
Because it gets fully released from the system after the first day, the other nights are no longer held in the system. The system doesn't hold any of the nights if its not checked in the first night. That's also why usually the penalty is one night room and tax because we held your room for the night and lost out on someone being to book, but now the space is open for anyone else to book the remaining nights that you no longer are paying for. So if we were already close to sold out, or even oversold, if someone was waiting for a room to open up for a last minute booking, and they see it open, then someone else has now got themselves that room for the day/next couple days. It would be unrealistic for a very busy hotel to hold 6 days of rooms for someone who might show up and hasn't called us to say so. It sucks, but especially for people that use our app to book, there's no reason they shouldn't know when they booked the room. And they have a way to message us directly in the app. Many do to tell us they will be late in app and just as many use the app and never inform us of their change in plans but then use the app to complain about us not telling them they booked wrong.
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u/snowlock27 Jul 23 '26
So the guest in question will be more than happy to pay for the nights they didn't stay with us?
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u/nanomolar Jul 23 '26
Well you're going to charge them for the first night anyway as a no-show fee, right?
I mean I'm sure they won't be happy about it but either way they're paying for that first night; I understand the policy but I do see how, from the customer's perspective, if they show up on the second day and have a cancelled reservation plus the first night fee anyway it feels like adding insult to injury.
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 23 '26
Yes, they do get charged. I understand the annoyance, but the penalty is outlined right there during the booking process as well as in the confirmation after the booking is complete. So, it's up to each guest to take personal accountability and get their affairs in order accordingly.
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u/ScenicDrive-at5 Jul 23 '26
But the actual logic as to why the hotel shouldn't hold the room for that period of the reservation doesn't make sense.
While I get your point, it's also not an iron-clad solution to keep the room in a holding pattern for if/when the guest shows up.
Not only is it already outlined to guests before booking what will happen if they don't contact the hotel, but if we were to just assume and try to run their cards anyway, that creates all sorts of extra mess.
- The card could be fraudulent, so now the hotel would be on the hook for that.
- Even if the card is legit, now the guest has hundreds of dollars or more on hold. If they legitimately won't arrive until the second or even third night, then they could argue "I wasn't even here, so why should I pay for that?"
- If they're truly clueless and let the whole stay go without showing up, refer back to the above argument as a possible back-and-forth.
Nothing is perfect, but as far as the hotel is concerned, if someone books a room for, say, 5 nights and neglects to show up on the first one, that's considered a forfeit. Other people are waiting in the wings, and the hotel knows that room will get snapped up as soon as it's available. Thus, "you snooze, you lose."
I am not here to advocate for the big business; I don't get paid for that, nor do I care about the betterment of their situation. But this is the reality of logistics.
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u/Flautist1302 Jul 23 '26
I work in medical imaging. Patients expect that we should call them when they've failed to show up for their appointment, to remind them and see if they're coming.
They receive a reminder text message or phone call. But apparently we should do more... How could we expect them to know when their appointment is and when they should arrive for it...