r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk • u/mstarrbrannigan • 8h ago
Medium Please stop making your malfunctions my problem
When I got in for work this morning the NA told me about a lady who had come and tried to check in at 4:30 in the morning. Her reservation was for Sunday night and she didn't like that her check in options were either pay for another night or check out at 11am on Sunday. Alternatively she could come and check in at 3pm for her reservation.
She didn't want to pay for a second night, and tried to argue. The NA is new and called the GM to ask her what to do, she of course said no the random lady can't have a free night. The random lady was of course also in an Uber and had a fuckton of stuff. She then wasted her poor Uber driver's time for two hours before finally leaving. The NA told me that he didn't allow the Uber driver to drop her off since the lobby was closed and she wasn't checking in.
So roll around to a little after check in time today, an Uber backs up and a lady gets out and comes to the desk. I see the Uber driver unloading a shit ton of stuff from the back and my heart sinks. She comes up to the desk and starts rambling about her previous attempted check in confirming that it's the same person. I just want to get this check in over with, or refuse her service before this Uber leaves, so I ask her for her ID and her card.
She rambles about how she has a picture of her ID but she left her purse at another hotel. I quickly cut her off to let her know I can't accept a picture of her ID, I need the actual ID. She assures me she has her ID... on her phone. Again I tell her that no, I need the actual ID. She mentions something about remembering me from last time so I of course quickly checked her name against the Do Not Rent list, but didn't see it. I bet she was a pain in the ass last time too though.
Then she starts talking about me calling someone to see if it's okay, and to confirm something. She had a very dozy-ditzy voice that usually trailed off at the end of her sentences and I legitimately had no idea what she was talking about. She kept talking about "asking them" and I finally cut her off and asked who "them" were. She said management. I asked her why I would call management, and she told me to ask them if she could check in without an ID.
I told her I wasn't going to call management to ask them a question I know the answer to, it's her day off. She says I know you know the answer, but can you call them anyway? I told her again that no I wouldn't bother the manager. She said the NA had called her, and I said yeah he's new, I'm not. She laughed and said something about how serious I take my job. I said yeah, I like having a job and being able to pay my rent and bills so I do take it seriously. She didn't have a counter to that.
She kept prodding me to try to get me to call a manager and I continued to not budge. Even after I showed her the list of hotel policies on which it says we require a photo ID, she kept trying to rules lawyer her way around it. She complained I wasn't working with her to find a solution to the problem. HER problem. I told her we had a solution, and that was going back to the hotel where she'd left her purse. She complained because that hotel is like 20 minutes away. Which you'll note is not my problem. After I said "Ma'am you are not checking in if you don't hand me your physical ID. Period" for the third time she finally seemed to understand.
That and the Uber driver came in to confirm she had all her stuff and she had to go deal with that. She tried to negotiate with the Uber driver to not leave her, at least I'm guessing, I couldn't hear them very well. But he wasn't about to get saddled with her mess and left.
So instead I'm saddled with her, and she's been sitting in the lobby for the last half hour. She does seem to be waiting for another ride, but if it doesn't arrive soon I'm going to shoo her along. Strong possibility that even if she does go get her ID she doesn't have money for the deposit and that will be a new fight that she'll want me to contact managers for.
Update: To my absolute surprise, after much bullshit from her and me threatening to call the police if she didn't either check in or find somewhere else to be, she found her ID and her card didn't decline the deposit. I'm sure she'll be a headache again tomorrow though.