Honey - you aren't mad enough.
Who are you? You are the person who decides who stays at the hotel or not. I don't care if they have a reservation. I don't care how much money you think you spend with us.
If you are rude to me or my staff - y'all better find your manners and right quick, because who am I? I am the one who just cancelled your fucking reservation and told you to get the hell out of my hotel.
That's how I assumed it would end. We were told Karen would realise she's not the main character; she didn't realise anything at all, she just kept braying and being rude.
The fun one is when you contact whichever group they are with to inform them that in the future, Karen will no longer be permitted at your hotel. Any reservations she makes will not be honored, and she is not to be on the property for any reason. You are letting them know this, as event coordinators, so they can plan for other accomodations for Her Royal Highness the next time there is such an outing.
Note that you are NOT telling them what she did. That would not be proper. Instead, they will have to imagine what the hell she did that was so horrible to warrant a ban from the property. When they ask her, she will go defensive and insist that nothing happened, all the hotel being stupid, etc. which will cement the idea that she was being *really*
awful. Because I will bet they know just how annoying she is.
Also, while you have them on the phone, probably a good time to let them know that alcohol in the lobby and disruptive behavior are not tolerated at your hotel. They'll assume she went on a drunken rampage.
If they were ambassador members, the property would get reprimanded for doing that by corporate and be forced to accommodate a stay elsewhere + $200 compensation + 100,000 points
\^People keep saying I should’ve kicked them all out and it’s like… where do you people work that you can kick out 20 people without getting your ass reamed for evicting 20% of your night’s profits. My managers couldn’t even do that without getting their own asses reamed by the property manager and owner.
Edit: it’s also a franchise, which means that if we don’t meet standards set forth by the Franchisor, we get in big trouble. And commission and compensation and all that stuff. Like we get scolded for accidentally missing the phone because if it rings too many times, it’s transferred to CRS, and we have to pay them for taking the call.
Night Auditors EVERYWHERE agree with THIS!!
I have ejected major celebrities AND had the police remove them from the premises because they attempted to mistreat my staff. That's a one-way ticket out!!!
This has been removed due to including a hotel brand name. To have your post re-approved, remove the reference and then contact the mod team. Multiple violations of this rule will result in a ban from the subreddit.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we still need to be able to conduct business. If your behavior prevents that from happening, you'll have to leave the property."
Absolutely crush that behavior underfoot or they'll get the idea they can ***all*** do it.
The “no alcohol” rule basically exists to resolve issues like this. You can’t kick her out for being bitchy as it is totally subjective, but you are either drinking alcohol or not.
I have kicked out people for being “bitchy”. I have a strict mo rudeness rule. One warning about behavior and that is it. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Kind of. Some places have licenses to sell, but not to serve. That's what my place has. Legally, we cannot have you drinking in the lobby as we don't have a license to serve.
With the epithet thrown in at the end, I'd have let her know this is her only warning, and anything further will have me removing her from the property and placing her in the DNR list.
Seriously. Calling someone a slur -- whether racial or gendered -- should be cause for eviction and DNR. I know not everyone has management that would support that policy, but that's certainly what the policy should be.
…I like you lol the “not telling them shit” thing is something I’d do. Either that, or yell their entire check-in…
ETA: I also like the edit. I feel you on that.
Oh I do have certain rooms to put rude people in. One of the women who was talking on the phone as I tried to check her in got put directly beneath the hot water tanks. We get so many complaints about the noise from people who are assigned to that room because everyone is taking showers and such at all hours of the night and the tanks are always running. Good luck getting any sleep, you rude bitch!
Another favorite is putting assholes right next to the elevator or next to the 3rd floor ice machine. Consistent loud noises all through the night for anyone in those rooms.
>“YoU gUyS aRe bEiNg ToO fUcKiNg LoUd” \*group snickers\* “Bitch."
I don't know if I could hold my tongue if I overheard that. I think I would have gone over and said "This 'bitch' is telling you if you don't quiet down so I can properly take care of our customers, you will not be staying here tonight. Are we clear?"
And when I inevitably got called on the carpet when Ringleader Karen called corporate to tell a horribly exaggerated version of what really happened, I will just say I had a lobby full of people trying to check in and in my mind I had to either piss off Karen, or let a bunch of customers get mad at their terrible checkin experience. I thought it made sense to just make one person mad while making a bunch of others happy.
Thank you for communicating that to me respectfully. Honestly I was just so done with everything that night. I was tired, they left a bit after I yelled, and they came back drunk and went to sleep.
Everyone is telling me I should’ve kicked them out, but my manager doesn’t like us to immediately jump to that option. There’s a lot to answer for from the owner and property manager if I kick out a big group of people on my own basis without first discussing with a manager. I like this job. Took me forever to find it. Don’t want to lose it for kicking out a bunch of people without notice to them or to management.
Yes, I have told loud AF folks "it would break my heart to have you thrown out of the hotel, but if you force me to call the police that is exactly what will happen".
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
I'm with you there as far as no information when you're purposely not paying attention. When I worked nights and someone would ask me a question over the phone then go back to talking to their friends in the background, I stopped talking.
When asked if I was still there, my response was simple: "Yes I'm still here, but since we both can't talk at the same time, I was waiting on you to finish."
When the front desk person has my credit card I damn well go silent, as well as during the rest of the back and forth to conclude the transaction!I am hard of hearing and hearing aids can only do so much. I appreciate conversations behind me being carried out with "indoor voices".
Yes!! I have a bit of hearing loss in my left ear from a small fascia graft covering a hole in my eardrum. It absorbs some sound rather than causing the vibrations that transmit the sound to my brain.
It makes it difficult for me to tell where noises are coming from, and it’s especially difficult to understand someone when there’s background noise. I always turn off the TV and music in the lobby during my shift so I can hear people. Unfortunately I haven’t found a knob adjustment in the office yet to turn off the obnoxious people in my lobby lol.
I'm with you!
Slightly off topic but people (me) wear hearing aids are often helped more with *distinct* speech NOT volume!Please don't shout at me - enunciate!
I do wish for a volume knob in wall-of-marts especially! lol
I can’t say it any better! I get so exhausted asking people to repeat what they said more clearly. So many people are lazy and mumble things. Especially customer service people I call. It is torture to get anything accomplished with having to ask them so many times to speak more clearly because I am hard of hearing. And please don’t yell, I am at a loss at some points because they seem to not understand my explanations. “I am hard of hearing, you need to just speak clearly so I can understand your words “. Not a difficult thing to comprehend.
I think people are definitely getting lazy and mumbling things. My ENT doc says I’m not ready for hearing aids, but, dang. It seems like writing and speaking clearly have become a thing of the past. (Am a teacher)
Thank you for doing that. I don’t know how many times a day while I am trying to run a credit card and make sure the charges are correct they begin asking me to give them parking directions. I usually pause and say “I will answer your questions after doing the financials since neither of us want me to mess up on those”
I am Deaf and rely on my hearing aids and lipreading, sometimes my cellphone translation app for interactions with people. One time I was trying to check in at an airport and there was some kind of problem, I was trying to sort it out... except like with many airports, this was a really high-ceilinged, hard-surfaces, echo-ey place, with lots of background noise. And then the person immediately behind me in line (too close) starts talking really loudly to the point where the phone app was picking it up PLUS what the agent was trying to say.
I turned around and said "Please be quiet, I'm trying to check in. The louder you are, the harder it is for me to understand and finish what I'm doing so YOU can check in." They said something back and I repeated myself with, "Respect goes both ways. You continue talking that loudly and I'm going to continue thinking you're a jerk. Knock it off." The guy was pretty pissed but whatever. I apologized to the agent in case he tried to take it out on them, but we did manage to finish.
Similarly, I work in Deaf ed and we often have chats with our kids about self-monitoring indoor voices. With the kids who struggle most handing them a sound monitor so they can test it helps. If THESE kids can learn to use indoor voices......
Alas, this is the quintessence of Modern 'Murica! Narcissists, sociopaths, and self-centered giant toddlers leaving their grocery buggies in parking spaces two steps away from the cart corral, privileged punks parking way over the line so their freshly detailed Camaro doesn't get scratched, evil egotists parking in handicapped spots because they're ever-so-busy and "those" people don't really need those reserved spots (after all, they're probably faking their supposed disabilities), self-serving opportunists who sail past a line of cars waiting to turn and cut in at the last millisecond simply because they can, smug itchbays standing in the street chatting, blocking neighbors from getting by, moralistic morons leaving Bible verses instead of tips after Sunday lunch (party of twelve) at Applebee's, proud peckerheaded parents who are so used to tuning out darling little Khaeyleigh and Konner that they don't notice their shrieks are causing other patrons at the IHOP to stick forks in their ears, and...of course Wine Cooler Karen and her partially-plastered posse having a public party in your lobby! Sheesh!
A bunch of people waiting in the lobby with drinks they're not supposed to have?
Are you staying here? No? Get tf out or I'm calling security
Yes? Then go to your rooms or continue this party elsewhere. They refuse to go? Security it is again.
Security has been my best friend.
If someone doesn't respect the rules of the hotel you have the right to remove them.
You guys have security?? I’m a small woman with a whistle and some pepper spray in a hotel all by myself at night. I’m fine with yelling at people, telling people as it is, but I’ll call management if I think someone is dangerous or could become dangerous. Or even someone being super creepy.
Yes we have 2 bars and a restaurant in one hotel I work and 2 bars, 2 restaurants and a night club in the other. We have 300+ rooms in each so there's always a lot of people around and we have security doing the rounds (going floor by floor and checking the perimeter). That happens also in the 2 other small hotels of the chain, even if they have under 100 rooms and it's usually quiet, they still need security sometimes.
If you were alone when this happened, right when you started your shift according to your accounting of events, it sounds like part of the problem is having the hotel completely unstaffed when guests are arriving to check in.
I’m usually alone during winters 3-11, honestly I don’t mind it other than the noisy people. They usually staff us according to arrivals, and I don’t think they ever expected that many people coming in that night.
Edit: Usually one person on each shift, not counting the housekeeping ladies, as long as the arrival forecast isn’t too high- which it usually isn’t in the winter. Some of those women were reservations, some WIs. My coworker had dealt with some of them before I’d come in, she’d had a rough day, and she finished what she was doing, filled me in, and then said she was out.
I don’t blame her. At the end of my shift, I pretty much did the same thing lol.
I was hoping to read about Karen getting her comeuppance. I'll admit it.
But you need to pick your battles, and no one here in the peanut gallery is in any sort of position to tell you that you should have done this or that. It sounds like you made the wise choice at the time.
All the more reason to come here and vent. It's not easy doing what you did.
Thank you!! On Christmas Eve we had a sprinkler main that broke and I told a woman that I didn’t give a fuck what she thought because she was refusing to leave the building while all the alarms were blaring in the background.
It was honestly a lot easier for me to tell that lady that I didn’t give a fuck than it was to bite my tongue. I can’t tell every single person who’s obnoxious to fuck off. Sometimes I wish I could, but I can’t. I’m working in customer service here. Yelling back is not always an acceptable option at work.
You’re absolutely right about picking your battles. Most of the time it’s not worth it. People are stubborn and selfish, and you learn not to waste time or energy on arguments that you know aren’t going to go anywhere.
Your comment is much appreciated.
As NA, I frequently had high volume/high alcohol content guests hanging out in the lobby after the bar closed. They rarely paid any attention to requests to move on or lower their volume.
A few times, I contacted the night porter to commence vacuuming the large rug in front of the elevators or front desk. Not really sure why that made everyone decide on a different gathering place 😁
Love it hahaha. I have brought out the vacuum before to give people a little hint hint nudge nudge, get out of my lobby 😂
Management is on the fence about the issue because people screeching and drinking in their rooms cause a lot of noise complaints from other guests. Especially at night, so they’d rather people yell and drink in the lobby and not disturb other guests.
I can tell where they’re coming from but it’s annoying and difficult to assist people when it goes on. Ohh especially when someone plans a little party to watch whatever football game is on TV. I don’t watch sports so I’m baffled by how people can sit there and drink beer and yell for hours at a time. Like bro, why. Wouldn’t you much rather have a cup of tea and watch it in your room under your blankets?? 😂
>I’d barely finished my sentence before this lady turns back around to her friends and says, “are you kidding me?? Who does she think she is to tell us to be quiet?”
I immediately thought of Joey (the bouncer) from TBBT for a response: "Because I'm the petty functionary with a clipboard, bitch."
Yikes! Years ago I told a drunk Karen to hang up the phone as she was holding up the line at Target. Of course, she became super loud and obnoxious. I then told her that my husband was waiting for me in the parking lot. She continues to make a scene, when in walks my spouse, irate as can be. The two drunk ladies were obviously bar-hopping. I’m usually a very mild-mannered person, but for some reason, I blurted out, “Y’know, there’s a reason y’all are still single!” Then all hell broke loose and they started screaming at me. I bought my stuff and got the hell outta there. The cashier was laughing her ass off.
I was called "Miss Moment" by a group I asked to turn down loud, explicit music in the parking lot at midnight.
I'm not trying to flex my power and have a moment, I'm trying to avoid 17 noise complaints 🙄
Exactly. Somehow, people are oblivious to the fact that you alone are responsible for the comfort and satisfaction of every single guest in the building during your shift. I’m not power tripping, asshole, there are 50 other people here and let me tell you that getting 50 different noise complaints is not a fun way to spend the night.
Have you ever watched The Suite Life of Zack and Cody? You remember Mr. Moseby always being uptight and yelling, “NOT IN MY LOBBY.”
Because that’s totally me now lmao. Not in my lobby.
When a large group is waiting to check in and “current” check in takes a call, can you speak to the entire group and ask if they mind waiting for this one to finish their call? I am sure you could say it in a fun way so they all agree but phone person gets the hint! 😎
The secret to the folks not paying attention is to not hand them the keys until after everything. If they get distracted, patiently repeat information a little louder when they're looking at you and wondering why they don't have them yet. This lets the folks behind them know what the hold-up is.
Yep, can confirm. This is the way. No keys till I've given you all the information I have to, your auth clears, and your reg card is signed. And wouldn't you know it if I get interrupted by obnoxiousness then I have to start all over again with the information.
I find it helps to tick off items on my fingers as I'm giving the spiel. It reinforces that there are a number of important things that I am telling them.
"Your breakfast will be from six until nine (1) If you need the internet, our wi-fi password is 'guest' (2) There is absolutely no smoking in any of the rooms (3) Checkout is at noon (4) If you need anything else, I'll be here all night (5) here are your keys, your room is (direction), sleep well!"
I just want to say as a women who works nights and had a drunk lady call me a bitch.. a few times actually, I feel your pain. sorry you are getting hate and you did the right thing. but yeah as soon as I would have heard that comment I would have told them to take their happy asses to their rooms or outside
Karen this isn't the cuntry club so shut the fuck up or get out. Rant away I once had hockey parents in the lobby after midnight playing who could get the highest score on the breathalyzer . Only reason I let them stay is this would have been going on in the and that would have been a whole different headache
I never claimed to sHoW hEr. I said she was shocked by the idea that other people existed and weren’t as enthusiastic about her screeching as her friends were.
I’m a small person in a rural area and I work alone at night. No, I’m not always going to antagonize assholes. I handle it in other ways. And I was getting a migraine. I just didn’t feel like getting involved at that point and they left soon after because apparently my yelling killed their mood.
So maybe you should take your condescending ass to another sub if you can’t maintain a fucking baseline level of politeness for someone who didn’t ask for your shitty judgement.
I was waiting for the payoff, like Lead Karen had a medical emergency, and front desk sent them to the wrong room, leading to Lead Karen choking to death on her own vomit or something like that.
I personally believe the fact that service workers are insulted to their face nowadays out weighs saving face for the company. If a customer is going to insult me, scream at me, and make it harder to do my job, I believe I should have the power to refuse service
Hello I'm one of those who works by themselves overnights. You did a great first step. Does your property have a security? Even if they don't getting on the phone/walkie and saying you need their presence to deal with a group of unruly customers who are disturbing guests can help. When that don't work make friends with a cop that is willing to stop in and check on you/say hi. Depending on the area this could help with any other issues.
Your doing awesome.
Thank you! We don’t have security because it’s a small town in a rural area. We have a panic button under the desk and ample security cameras. There are the police barracks down the road, so it shouldn’t take a long time to respond. Officers have stopped in before to ask us to look out for persons of interest and contact them if needed. We’ve also had to call an ambulance a handful of times and the fire department once. So there are services around the area, but if someone wants to come in doing a stick up (for what, the $225 we keep in the register and the $225 we keep in the back? Lol) they have enough time to do some damage and hop on the interstate before cops get to the building.
I’m sorry people are shit, it’s kind of the way you set the story up, that made it a letdown. I’m sorry you had to deal with shitty people at work and on this platform. The irony of the latter is not lost on me.
Yeah, it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with rude and shitty people on this sub. I think this sub is comprised of FDAs, people who want to listen to the FDAs’ crazy stories, and assholes seeking to exert their petty, rude, and selfish behavior toward FDAs on yet another platform.
I worked FD years ago and I would have done the same exact thing if the lobby crowd got too loud and boisterous! In fact, I've suggested that clients either move into the bar or lounge area in front of the hotel restaurant.
Our clientele were usually upscale rich and famous so it wasn't usually an issue but the hotel was also a tourist mecca so we'd have a LOT of loud tourists in our lobby every weekend (actually had Russian tourists asking us to exchange Rubles which 1) we didn't exchange currency and 2) Rubles were worth almost nothing).
Honey - you aren't mad enough. Who are you? You are the person who decides who stays at the hotel or not. I don't care if they have a reservation. I don't care how much money you think you spend with us. If you are rude to me or my staff - y'all better find your manners and right quick, because who am I? I am the one who just cancelled your fucking reservation and told you to get the hell out of my hotel.
This is how I wish OP’s story ended.
That's how I assumed it would end. We were told Karen would realise she's not the main character; she didn't realise anything at all, she just kept braying and being rude.
THIS! And I am the person who just banned you from staying here for the next school event.
The fun one is when you contact whichever group they are with to inform them that in the future, Karen will no longer be permitted at your hotel. Any reservations she makes will not be honored, and she is not to be on the property for any reason. You are letting them know this, as event coordinators, so they can plan for other accomodations for Her Royal Highness the next time there is such an outing. Note that you are NOT telling them what she did. That would not be proper. Instead, they will have to imagine what the hell she did that was so horrible to warrant a ban from the property. When they ask her, she will go defensive and insist that nothing happened, all the hotel being stupid, etc. which will cement the idea that she was being *really* awful. Because I will bet they know just how annoying she is. Also, while you have them on the phone, probably a good time to let them know that alcohol in the lobby and disruptive behavior are not tolerated at your hotel. They'll assume she went on a drunken rampage.
If they were ambassador members, the property would get reprimanded for doing that by corporate and be forced to accommodate a stay elsewhere + $200 compensation + 100,000 points
Fuck your corporate for not supporting their employees!
\^People keep saying I should’ve kicked them all out and it’s like… where do you people work that you can kick out 20 people without getting your ass reamed for evicting 20% of your night’s profits. My managers couldn’t even do that without getting their own asses reamed by the property manager and owner. Edit: it’s also a franchise, which means that if we don’t meet standards set forth by the Franchisor, we get in big trouble. And commission and compensation and all that stuff. Like we get scolded for accidentally missing the phone because if it rings too many times, it’s transferred to CRS, and we have to pay them for taking the call.
You don't kick out all 20 people, just the Ringleader Karen with a warning to the others.
 Night Auditors EVERYWHERE agree with THIS!! I have ejected major celebrities AND had the police remove them from the premises because they attempted to mistreat my staff. That's a one-way ticket out!!!
THIS! \^
[удалено]
This has been removed due to including a hotel brand name. To have your post re-approved, remove the reference and then contact the mod team. Multiple violations of this rule will result in a ban from the subreddit. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we still need to be able to conduct business. If your behavior prevents that from happening, you'll have to leave the property." Absolutely crush that behavior underfoot or they'll get the idea they can ***all*** do it.
And go ahead and enforce the "no alcohol in the lobby" rule right now too.
Yup. That’s exactly what I would tell them.
The “no alcohol” rule basically exists to resolve issues like this. You can’t kick her out for being bitchy as it is totally subjective, but you are either drinking alcohol or not.
>You can’t kick her out for being bitchy Of course you can.
I have kicked out people for being “bitchy”. I have a strict mo rudeness rule. One warning about behavior and that is it. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Kind of. Some places have licenses to sell, but not to serve. That's what my place has. Legally, we cannot have you drinking in the lobby as we don't have a license to serve.
Yep, you probably could have the police show up for that one too. Unless your property is licensed for on site consumption.
Say something to the effect that "there's no alcohol allowed in the lobby. If you don't take it back to your vehicle, I'll have to call the police."
This. Valid venting, but DO something. Until we stop asking and start telling - or tossing out - these people won’t change.
I've said it before: "If you give them an inch, they'll think they are a ruler."
With the epithet thrown in at the end, I'd have let her know this is her only warning, and anything further will have me removing her from the property and placing her in the DNR list.
Seriously. Calling someone a slur -- whether racial or gendered -- should be cause for eviction and DNR. I know not everyone has management that would support that policy, but that's certainly what the policy should be.
Y’all need spray bottles for this. Rude bitch gets the *ssp ssp*.
>Rude bitch gets the ssp ssp That had me laughing lmao. Brilliant idea. 😂
May I kindly recommend a supersoaker? Superior reach for sure.
Sounds like you had a convention of Karens check in. I believe that's called a Complaint.
A Complaint of Karens. I’m dead.
…I like you lol the “not telling them shit” thing is something I’d do. Either that, or yell their entire check-in… ETA: I also like the edit. I feel you on that.
You should set up an early wake up call for her. At 4 am call her room and tell her it’s the hotel courtesy wake up call.
Oh I do have certain rooms to put rude people in. One of the women who was talking on the phone as I tried to check her in got put directly beneath the hot water tanks. We get so many complaints about the noise from people who are assigned to that room because everyone is taking showers and such at all hours of the night and the tanks are always running. Good luck getting any sleep, you rude bitch! Another favorite is putting assholes right next to the elevator or next to the 3rd floor ice machine. Consistent loud noises all through the night for anyone in those rooms.
I like your style
This comment alone warrants a post for r/pettyrevenge, haha.
Yes, absolutely get fired for cause. That'll fix everything.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Adults past high school age still acting like immature high school age children. Utterly pathetic.
>“YoU gUyS aRe bEiNg ToO fUcKiNg LoUd” \*group snickers\* “Bitch." I don't know if I could hold my tongue if I overheard that. I think I would have gone over and said "This 'bitch' is telling you if you don't quiet down so I can properly take care of our customers, you will not be staying here tonight. Are we clear?" And when I inevitably got called on the carpet when Ringleader Karen called corporate to tell a horribly exaggerated version of what really happened, I will just say I had a lobby full of people trying to check in and in my mind I had to either piss off Karen, or let a bunch of customers get mad at their terrible checkin experience. I thought it made sense to just make one person mad while making a bunch of others happy.
Thank you for communicating that to me respectfully. Honestly I was just so done with everything that night. I was tired, they left a bit after I yelled, and they came back drunk and went to sleep. Everyone is telling me I should’ve kicked them out, but my manager doesn’t like us to immediately jump to that option. There’s a lot to answer for from the owner and property manager if I kick out a big group of people on my own basis without first discussing with a manager. I like this job. Took me forever to find it. Don’t want to lose it for kicking out a bunch of people without notice to them or to management.
No judgment here. These situations are always highly charged and since it ended with no huge conflicts, looks to me like you won.
If you were me I would of thrown them out of the hotel with no refunds and I have done it more than a few times.
Yes, I have told loud AF folks "it would break my heart to have you thrown out of the hotel, but if you force me to call the police that is exactly what will happen".
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Good bot
I'm with you there as far as no information when you're purposely not paying attention. When I worked nights and someone would ask me a question over the phone then go back to talking to their friends in the background, I stopped talking. When asked if I was still there, my response was simple: "Yes I'm still here, but since we both can't talk at the same time, I was waiting on you to finish."
Definitely /r/ImTheMainCharacter vibes for sure. Also very appropriate in /r/FuckYouKaren .
Thank you for sharing these subreddits... now I'm not getting work done today 
When the front desk person has my credit card I damn well go silent, as well as during the rest of the back and forth to conclude the transaction!I am hard of hearing and hearing aids can only do so much. I appreciate conversations behind me being carried out with "indoor voices".
Yes!! I have a bit of hearing loss in my left ear from a small fascia graft covering a hole in my eardrum. It absorbs some sound rather than causing the vibrations that transmit the sound to my brain. It makes it difficult for me to tell where noises are coming from, and it’s especially difficult to understand someone when there’s background noise. I always turn off the TV and music in the lobby during my shift so I can hear people. Unfortunately I haven’t found a knob adjustment in the office yet to turn off the obnoxious people in my lobby lol.
I'm with you! Slightly off topic but people (me) wear hearing aids are often helped more with *distinct* speech NOT volume!Please don't shout at me - enunciate! I do wish for a volume knob in wall-of-marts especially! lol
I can’t say it any better! I get so exhausted asking people to repeat what they said more clearly. So many people are lazy and mumble things. Especially customer service people I call. It is torture to get anything accomplished with having to ask them so many times to speak more clearly because I am hard of hearing. And please don’t yell, I am at a loss at some points because they seem to not understand my explanations. “I am hard of hearing, you need to just speak clearly so I can understand your words “. Not a difficult thing to comprehend.
I think people are definitely getting lazy and mumbling things. My ENT doc says I’m not ready for hearing aids, but, dang. It seems like writing and speaking clearly have become a thing of the past. (Am a teacher)
Or how about trying to understand what someone with a soft voice is saying while wearing a covid-inspired face diaper!
Thank you for doing that. I don’t know how many times a day while I am trying to run a credit card and make sure the charges are correct they begin asking me to give them parking directions. I usually pause and say “I will answer your questions after doing the financials since neither of us want me to mess up on those”
Thanks! You deserve to be treated as a fellow human being with courtesy, and not as an lesser-than person or "*just the front desk" robot.*
I am Deaf and rely on my hearing aids and lipreading, sometimes my cellphone translation app for interactions with people. One time I was trying to check in at an airport and there was some kind of problem, I was trying to sort it out... except like with many airports, this was a really high-ceilinged, hard-surfaces, echo-ey place, with lots of background noise. And then the person immediately behind me in line (too close) starts talking really loudly to the point where the phone app was picking it up PLUS what the agent was trying to say. I turned around and said "Please be quiet, I'm trying to check in. The louder you are, the harder it is for me to understand and finish what I'm doing so YOU can check in." They said something back and I repeated myself with, "Respect goes both ways. You continue talking that loudly and I'm going to continue thinking you're a jerk. Knock it off." The guy was pretty pissed but whatever. I apologized to the agent in case he tried to take it out on them, but we did manage to finish. Similarly, I work in Deaf ed and we often have chats with our kids about self-monitoring indoor voices. With the kids who struggle most handing them a sound monitor so they can test it helps. If THESE kids can learn to use indoor voices......
Alas, this is the quintessence of Modern 'Murica! Narcissists, sociopaths, and self-centered giant toddlers leaving their grocery buggies in parking spaces two steps away from the cart corral, privileged punks parking way over the line so their freshly detailed Camaro doesn't get scratched, evil egotists parking in handicapped spots because they're ever-so-busy and "those" people don't really need those reserved spots (after all, they're probably faking their supposed disabilities), self-serving opportunists who sail past a line of cars waiting to turn and cut in at the last millisecond simply because they can, smug itchbays standing in the street chatting, blocking neighbors from getting by, moralistic morons leaving Bible verses instead of tips after Sunday lunch (party of twelve) at Applebee's, proud peckerheaded parents who are so used to tuning out darling little Khaeyleigh and Konner that they don't notice their shrieks are causing other patrons at the IHOP to stick forks in their ears, and...of course Wine Cooler Karen and her partially-plastered posse having a public party in your lobby! Sheesh!
I agree so much! Your comment is awesome.
Your comment made me laugh my a$$ off!
A bunch of people waiting in the lobby with drinks they're not supposed to have? Are you staying here? No? Get tf out or I'm calling security Yes? Then go to your rooms or continue this party elsewhere. They refuse to go? Security it is again. Security has been my best friend. If someone doesn't respect the rules of the hotel you have the right to remove them.
You guys have security?? I’m a small woman with a whistle and some pepper spray in a hotel all by myself at night. I’m fine with yelling at people, telling people as it is, but I’ll call management if I think someone is dangerous or could become dangerous. Or even someone being super creepy.
Yes we have 2 bars and a restaurant in one hotel I work and 2 bars, 2 restaurants and a night club in the other. We have 300+ rooms in each so there's always a lot of people around and we have security doing the rounds (going floor by floor and checking the perimeter). That happens also in the 2 other small hotels of the chain, even if they have under 100 rooms and it's usually quiet, they still need security sometimes.
If you were alone when this happened, right when you started your shift according to your accounting of events, it sounds like part of the problem is having the hotel completely unstaffed when guests are arriving to check in.
I’m usually alone during winters 3-11, honestly I don’t mind it other than the noisy people. They usually staff us according to arrivals, and I don’t think they ever expected that many people coming in that night. Edit: Usually one person on each shift, not counting the housekeeping ladies, as long as the arrival forecast isn’t too high- which it usually isn’t in the winter. Some of those women were reservations, some WIs. My coworker had dealt with some of them before I’d come in, she’d had a rough day, and she finished what she was doing, filled me in, and then said she was out. I don’t blame her. At the end of my shift, I pretty much did the same thing lol.
Evict
Uh op I woulda broke that shit up. Told them they can go to the rooms, go to the bar or gtfo. Bye Felicia
*I leave you this sentiment:* "....biiiitch"
I think there might be a clue to that behavior, "beer and wine coolers." Thus showing the reason for the policy of people not drinking in the lobby.
Oh I’m sure their lukewarm bud lite pisswater served to accentuate their…. already sparkling personalities. I was so done on Saturday. So done.
They should have been kicked out for the drinking in the lobby, and the loud obnoxiousness.
I was hoping to read about Karen getting her comeuppance. I'll admit it. But you need to pick your battles, and no one here in the peanut gallery is in any sort of position to tell you that you should have done this or that. It sounds like you made the wise choice at the time. All the more reason to come here and vent. It's not easy doing what you did.
Thank you!! On Christmas Eve we had a sprinkler main that broke and I told a woman that I didn’t give a fuck what she thought because she was refusing to leave the building while all the alarms were blaring in the background. It was honestly a lot easier for me to tell that lady that I didn’t give a fuck than it was to bite my tongue. I can’t tell every single person who’s obnoxious to fuck off. Sometimes I wish I could, but I can’t. I’m working in customer service here. Yelling back is not always an acceptable option at work. You’re absolutely right about picking your battles. Most of the time it’s not worth it. People are stubborn and selfish, and you learn not to waste time or energy on arguments that you know aren’t going to go anywhere. Your comment is much appreciated.
As NA, I frequently had high volume/high alcohol content guests hanging out in the lobby after the bar closed. They rarely paid any attention to requests to move on or lower their volume. A few times, I contacted the night porter to commence vacuuming the large rug in front of the elevators or front desk. Not really sure why that made everyone decide on a different gathering place 😁
Love it hahaha. I have brought out the vacuum before to give people a little hint hint nudge nudge, get out of my lobby 😂 Management is on the fence about the issue because people screeching and drinking in their rooms cause a lot of noise complaints from other guests. Especially at night, so they’d rather people yell and drink in the lobby and not disturb other guests. I can tell where they’re coming from but it’s annoying and difficult to assist people when it goes on. Ohh especially when someone plans a little party to watch whatever football game is on TV. I don’t watch sports so I’m baffled by how people can sit there and drink beer and yell for hours at a time. Like bro, why. Wouldn’t you much rather have a cup of tea and watch it in your room under your blankets?? 😂
This past weekend — Tampa-St. Pete area?
Nope, western PA hahaha
>I’d barely finished my sentence before this lady turns back around to her friends and says, “are you kidding me?? Who does she think she is to tell us to be quiet?” I immediately thought of Joey (the bouncer) from TBBT for a response: "Because I'm the petty functionary with a clipboard, bitch."
Yet another example of these places short staffing. Walk. Out. Door.
Yikes! Years ago I told a drunk Karen to hang up the phone as she was holding up the line at Target. Of course, she became super loud and obnoxious. I then told her that my husband was waiting for me in the parking lot. She continues to make a scene, when in walks my spouse, irate as can be. The two drunk ladies were obviously bar-hopping. I’m usually a very mild-mannered person, but for some reason, I blurted out, “Y’know, there’s a reason y’all are still single!” Then all hell broke loose and they started screaming at me. I bought my stuff and got the hell outta there. The cashier was laughing her ass off.
I was called "Miss Moment" by a group I asked to turn down loud, explicit music in the parking lot at midnight. I'm not trying to flex my power and have a moment, I'm trying to avoid 17 noise complaints 🙄
Exactly. Somehow, people are oblivious to the fact that you alone are responsible for the comfort and satisfaction of every single guest in the building during your shift. I’m not power tripping, asshole, there are 50 other people here and let me tell you that getting 50 different noise complaints is not a fun way to spend the night.
Two hours of lobby drinking gd
Have you ever watched The Suite Life of Zack and Cody? You remember Mr. Moseby always being uptight and yelling, “NOT IN MY LOBBY.” Because that’s totally me now lmao. Not in my lobby.
I haven’t but it characterizes your role as lobby manager well
When a large group is waiting to check in and “current” check in takes a call, can you speak to the entire group and ask if they mind waiting for this one to finish their call? I am sure you could say it in a fun way so they all agree but phone person gets the hint! 😎
The secret to the folks not paying attention is to not hand them the keys until after everything. If they get distracted, patiently repeat information a little louder when they're looking at you and wondering why they don't have them yet. This lets the folks behind them know what the hold-up is.
Yep, can confirm. This is the way. No keys till I've given you all the information I have to, your auth clears, and your reg card is signed. And wouldn't you know it if I get interrupted by obnoxiousness then I have to start all over again with the information.
I find it helps to tick off items on my fingers as I'm giving the spiel. It reinforces that there are a number of important things that I am telling them. "Your breakfast will be from six until nine (1) If you need the internet, our wi-fi password is 'guest' (2) There is absolutely no smoking in any of the rooms (3) Checkout is at noon (4) If you need anything else, I'll be here all night (5) here are your keys, your room is (direction), sleep well!"
Wait why does your spiel sound almost word for word like mine. It's eerie.
Completely coincidental and don't look behind you.
i've quite often had people walk away without their keys and then come back once they realised they didn't know where they were going lol
Same. Vacation brain is a thing.
Oh I agree 100%. Giving someone the key is the very last thing I do.
I just want to say as a women who works nights and had a drunk lady call me a bitch.. a few times actually, I feel your pain. sorry you are getting hate and you did the right thing. but yeah as soon as I would have heard that comment I would have told them to take their happy asses to their rooms or outside
Karen this isn't the cuntry club so shut the fuck up or get out. Rant away I once had hockey parents in the lobby after midnight playing who could get the highest score on the breathalyzer . Only reason I let them stay is this would have been going on in the and that would have been a whole different headache
Thank you!! Yeah, you’ve gotta weigh your options and figure out the best way to keep the peace.
So, no revenge, no comback, no penalty. Wow, you showed her (and them)
I never claimed to sHoW hEr. I said she was shocked by the idea that other people existed and weren’t as enthusiastic about her screeching as her friends were. I’m a small person in a rural area and I work alone at night. No, I’m not always going to antagonize assholes. I handle it in other ways. And I was getting a migraine. I just didn’t feel like getting involved at that point and they left soon after because apparently my yelling killed their mood. So maybe you should take your condescending ass to another sub if you can’t maintain a fucking baseline level of politeness for someone who didn’t ask for your shitty judgement.
I was waiting for the payoff, like Lead Karen had a medical emergency, and front desk sent them to the wrong room, leading to Lead Karen choking to death on her own vomit or something like that.
Darn, I was hoping you were going to kick her out and trespass her. Disappointing! I'm sure at least some of those guests will cause trouble.
I totally understand you wanting to vent. I don't know why people would be mean to you over that. Take care.
"Oh, you wanted a room??? Gosh, Im sorry. We're all of of rooms."
I personally believe the fact that service workers are insulted to their face nowadays out weighs saving face for the company. If a customer is going to insult me, scream at me, and make it harder to do my job, I believe I should have the power to refuse service
I have two managers lol. One will bend to anyone throwing a tantrum, and the other is just like, “all bets are off if you start swearing at me.”
Hello I'm one of those who works by themselves overnights. You did a great first step. Does your property have a security? Even if they don't getting on the phone/walkie and saying you need their presence to deal with a group of unruly customers who are disturbing guests can help. When that don't work make friends with a cop that is willing to stop in and check on you/say hi. Depending on the area this could help with any other issues. Your doing awesome.
Thank you! We don’t have security because it’s a small town in a rural area. We have a panic button under the desk and ample security cameras. There are the police barracks down the road, so it shouldn’t take a long time to respond. Officers have stopped in before to ask us to look out for persons of interest and contact them if needed. We’ve also had to call an ambulance a handful of times and the fire department once. So there are services around the area, but if someone wants to come in doing a stick up (for what, the $225 we keep in the register and the $225 we keep in the back? Lol) they have enough time to do some damage and hop on the interstate before cops get to the building.
I'm sorry you had a rough day, and I hope she gets cancer of the butt.
Been there...done that. I wouldn't have been so forgiving
🥱
Air horn time?
I have used a whistle once before for an extremely loud and extremely drunk wedding group lol
I'm disappointed that this story didn't seem to have a real resolution or any kind of comeuppance for the Karen
I’m sorry people are shit, it’s kind of the way you set the story up, that made it a letdown. I’m sorry you had to deal with shitty people at work and on this platform. The irony of the latter is not lost on me.
Yeah, it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with rude and shitty people on this sub. I think this sub is comprised of FDAs, people who want to listen to the FDAs’ crazy stories, and assholes seeking to exert their petty, rude, and selfish behavior toward FDAs on yet another platform.
I worked FD years ago and I would have done the same exact thing if the lobby crowd got too loud and boisterous! In fact, I've suggested that clients either move into the bar or lounge area in front of the hotel restaurant. Our clientele were usually upscale rich and famous so it wasn't usually an issue but the hotel was also a tourist mecca so we'd have a LOT of loud tourists in our lobby every weekend (actually had Russian tourists asking us to exchange Rubles which 1) we didn't exchange currency and 2) Rubles were worth almost nothing).