I recently stayed at the St. Regis Hotel in Deer Valley. The St. Regis is supposedly known for it's exceptional customer service, and charges quite a bit for that service. Unfortunately, I didn't get to experience that "exceptional customer service", in fact, I had one of the most frustrating hotel experiences ever. It didn't end when I left either, there were billing problems that took time to resolve as well.
It all started on the Saturday I was checking in... I called the hotel around noon and asked if it would be possible to get an early check-in. The person I spoke with was very friendly and said that my room had already been cleaned and just needed to be checked, but that I was free to come in right then and they would have the room ready. I had scheduled a massage with a Park City spa and was trying to plan my day accordingly, so I would have been fine with checking in later, but since I had the option to drop my things off first, I decided to do that.
When I arrived at the hotel around 2:30 (two and a half hours AFTER I had called and they told me my room was ready), I proceeded to the check in area of the hotel. The associate that checked me in was new, so she was being assisted by a trainer. She was very friendly and apologized for the extended length of the check in process. They informed me that my room still hadn't been checked, but that it would take about five minutes and would be ready by the time I got to the lobby. They let me know that they would call my cell phone when my key was ready. That was no problem, so I headed to the lobby with my bags in tow.
After sitting in the lobby with no communication for about 15 minutes, I approached another front desk associate and inquired about the status of my room. He informed me that they were aware that I was waiting and that it should be ready shortly. I continued to wait. At about 30 minutes, I was frustrated. I started to worry about making my massage appointment as I still had to drive down to the spa. I inquired again and they said it would be finished any minute. I continued to watch people that had walked in after me receive their keys and be shown to their rooms.
The front desk associate could see that I was anxious and frustrated. He came over to apologize a couple of times, but at the point I had been sitting there for an hour he asked if there was anything they could do. I said, "you can get me into my room, that would be helpful". He called somebody and a few minutes later came over and said that he would be extending a dining credit for the "miscommunication". A few minutes later he gave me the keys to my room.
One hour and fifteen minutes after arriving, I was finally in my room. I had missed my massage appointment and called to find out that I would still be charged in full for the missed appointment. As I mentioned above, if I had known that I would be waiting that long, I would have just done the massage before checking in. AWFUL.
If that weren't enough, when I checked in I provided a credit card that I wanted to be used for my incidentals. I was very specific that I wanted all charges to be processed to that card. Because I had been provided with a dining credit (which is something I wouldn't typically have used), I ordered some room service and purchased something from the honor bar.
When I received my folio I noticed that I had been charged $80 dollars for something that was an error on the hotel's part. I also noticed that I had not been charged for the room service or honor bar purchases. When I called the hotel, I was transferred to their accounting department, who did not answer. I left a voice message but didn't receive a call back. After calling FIVE times, I finally was able to speak to an employee that was able to reverse the charge that was an error.
He also explained that the room service and honor bar charges had been charged to the card that made the reservation rather than the card provided for incidentals. This was frustrating because I had explicitly asked to have all charges charged to the card I provided (not to mention that the purchases were made to use the credit I had been given).
The entire experience, from check-in to following up on the bill was frustrating and anything but "world class service". Not only did I have to deal with all of the hassle of the check in and the billing follow up, but I had to pay for a pricey massage that I was unable to receive because of the poor customer service. Not what you would expect from a brand that prides itself on offering great customer service.
During the check-in fiasco, I was tweeting about my frustration. The St. Regis replied and asked for more details, so I will be sending them a link to my blog post. I will post any follow up information that I receive.
Thanks again to all of my loyal readers for following!
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