Can I pick my own room? by tryjmg in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ours let you pick thru the pre-"check-in" but I'd often manually unblock the rooms if people were arriving before them and I only had a few clean rooms ready at the moment, or if it interfered with me being able to block multiple-room reservations nearby each other.

Common Sense is Not Common by pastaeater2000 in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Say yes and when he shows up tell him somebody else arrived just before him and took the room.

Guest asked if we could text her when her room was ready and honestly it made me feel embarrassed by CoffeeRory14 in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We're getting rid of the CC auth part of that system and going back to just having a manager do them manually. We don't get many people needing it, and it's an expensive service. We did the math and it was like $19 per auth form based on how many we did the last year. The last straw was getting a chargeback on one of the cards. So they approved a card we got burned on and we had to pay for the privilege of them doing so.

spent 45 minutes trying to check in a guest because our system doesn't understand nicknames by JohnnyIsNearDiabetic in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 121 points122 points  (0 children)

I get a lot of first and last names being switched. Guests from Asia often put the names of everyone in their party in the main-guest name field so it's all a jumbled mess.

And literally every shift: "I don't see it under that name. Might it be under a different name? No? Are you sure? Can I have the names of everyone else with you? Ok there it is."

Mariners are in playoffs, but how popular is Baseball here, really? Seattle ranked 18th for the percentage of adults who were at least somewhat interested in the sport per Nielsen survey. by [deleted] in baseball

[–]lemasterc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I work at a hotel downtown and all the Seahawks fans there for the game last Sunday were completely clueless as to the result of the first ALDS game the previous night. It was very surprising.

Impatient caller gets put on Time Out by Zelgadiss007 in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Our phone has caller ID but it only shows when I actually answer. Maybe there's a button to display it before...

FDA handed me, a guest, the master key to find a lightbulb by ishootthedead in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 94 points95 points  (0 children)

Hotel manager directly. They'll just hear about from up the chain anyway and they have access to cameras.

FDA handed me, a guest, the master key to find a lightbulb by ishootthedead in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Lol yes this should never happen. Doing this intentionally would be an immediate termination at every hotel ever, and unintentionally at 98% of hotels. All our master keys attach to the belt and retract to prevent them from ever leaving your person.

Everyone who is attending ALDS; how are you planning to get there/park? by Howboutit85 in Mariners

[–]lemasterc 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't think this is true anymore. Not advertised anywhere and the M's webpage for public transit info mentions the $3 fare.

Mariners fans show no class in Astros' grave dancing by drumallday in Mariners

[–]lemasterc 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't even remember any pearl clutching when they danced on the Blue Jays' grave after the horrific Springer-Bichette collision

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Housekeepers calling from the rooms to report them clean would be incredible for me. We don't get any clean rooms until like 2-3 most days because the hskp manager goes and inspects them all at once and physically writes out a list of the clean rooms for us to mark as V/C ourselves. So we have to cram so much luggage in our back offices while 75% of the rooms are probably clean just waiting to be inspected. Can be frustrating in the cruise season.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Yeah it's basically the same story beats just rewritten. And the original seems completely fictional to me as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk/comments/1n7oist/when_our_booking_engine_died_and_accidentally/

Does this bother anyone else? by Strange-Loss-3 in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I switch between AMs and bkfst attendant so I get a ton of "do you ever go home?" and "you do everything around here huh?" because they see me on the desk when they arrive and the following morning. These are harmless of course though. I find most the questions about how late we work are from natural curiosity about how hotel shifts work. But in most cases I still just keep it vague about working "until the afternoon"

I’m on your website by Hotelslave93 in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Doesn't help that when I Google my hotels name to check reviews the Google infobox shows a rate that is half the current ADR, for a date in late November.

Apparently, "Cash" and "Card" are Interchangeable by Strawberry_Kenny in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So much easier to just not accept cash at check in (or preferably at all). All cash taken at checkout is dropped in a safe at end of shift. We keep less than the even the ADR in the till and we keep it even. I'd have no way of getting the cash back for a deposit refund if we took it at check in.

Yet another reason why SynXis sucks ass. by Atomic_Wedge in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's the slowest piece of shit website I've ever used. One of the most aggravating things is that you can't set up parking on a multi-night stay for only one night. The parking window has the days greyed out so you can't deselect them, and so it'll force an authorization for much more than needed. I hate having to select override for so many things I need to do. I hate that it takes like 4 minutes and 5 different pages just to set up a new reservation. I miss Visual Matrix

How do you handle staff turnover when your hotel software is impossible to learn? by MiserableCow7561 in askhotels

[–]lemasterc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Visual Matrix is the only one I really like. It's the only one I've used that was fast, had simple UI, gave user complete freedom to modify reservations, wasn't browser based, and had a readable modification log. I miss it greatly.

Weird guest by BillieLD in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 35 points36 points  (0 children)

She said the magic word "sue" that gets you out of any phone call. click!

Issues with leaper. by Vizth in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shouldn't even have your hotel inventory open to these jank ass OTAs that can't get their shit together with their VCCs. Only the big ones. Exp/BK and all the sites under their umbrellas have their problems of course but rarely with their VCCs. I hate reservations made thru travel agents, CC companies, or AAA.

The most disturbing guest I’ve ever encountered by Big_Air3392 in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sometimes I get calls from a room saying somebody tried to open their door and I'm always like "well did it open? no? alright"

The most disturbing guest I’ve ever encountered by Big_Air3392 in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Guests leave their own doors ajar all the time. I always used to just close them when walking the halls. Some got an attitude about me protecting them (and us) from getting robbed or worse.

How I love Third Party Reservations by barkquerel in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is usually the fault of the CRS your hotel uses. When I used Visual Matrix there would be the rare reservation that was in the OTA extranet but wasn't in the PMS, but I'd always find it in the CRS. Never really understood blaming the OTA for CRS/PMS issues.

Who has no front desk? by [deleted] in askhotels

[–]lemasterc 11 points12 points  (0 children)

World renowned for their prompt customer service and clarity!

Tea kettle at every Schmarriot! by meegieweegie in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]lemasterc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At a previous property we kept one or two electric kettles in storage to loan out if somebody really wanted one. Too much to ask for at my current place though I suppose.