Hotel's "customer service"
& life’s ironies
*** how i fell in love with london was by falling out of love with my british boyfriend, whom i met while we both lived in miami beach. We had planned a trip to london to attend his sister’s wedding, but after 3 months, i realized that he was not the man for me. So i broke up with him, and changed the date to go to london for 10 days with my teenage daughter, instead the following year.
She and i instantly fell in love with the city and to thank god for our trip, we would give alms to homeless people everywhere we would see them.
For 9 years, i dreamed of moving to london for at least 3 months, to get to know it better, but had no expectations or plans.
After college, my daughter decided to move to london to work in theater, and
4 months later, i came to visit her for 2 weeks, and as the day to take the plane approached, i could not leave my daughter and the opportunity to live in this fascinating city.
After 5 years of living in london, i am happy to report, that as much as i loved raising my daughter in miami beach and "the american way", i am still happy to keep exploring every corner of the city and admiring how friendly and sociable the british are.
Nothing to do with my british ex boyfriend. I know that our differences were more because of a chemical in balance in our opposite personalities.
*** the first job that i had in london was as a promotions agent. I met the company’s owner though a man who i met by chance while touring the city.
His office was in the monument area and i loved it, but after 6 months, there is so much free promotion that one can get for a company. I told my boss that i could not keep getting a salary if i was not going to produce more ideas.
As a reward, he wrote me an amazing recommendation letter and we are still friends until this day, 3 years later.
*** i got my second job just walking in to a place where i thought that i wanted to work, but had the misfortune of being the newest employee. So when a new manager from france was hired, there was no room for the new mid level girl. The new manager invented things against me like like i was telling the chef to cover for me in reception while using the ladies room and i was then dismissed.
*** ironically, my next job was at a hotel where the general manager, who hired me, was french. He was fantastic, but after a month, he decided to take the same position in another of the chain’s hotels, so i was left alone with an antisocial asian front desk manager who did more to discourage than to encourage us.
We would only have peace when he was not working. I believe that the nice french gm also left so that he would not have to put up with him in the morning meetings.
I tried to avoid the asian f.d.m. At all cost, and do my job consistently without mistakes. Unknowingly, this bothered him and he did not extend my contract after 3 months because, “i was isolating myself”. And i was, not from my colleagues, but from him. This time, i could not have the protection of the wonderful french g.m.
*** my next job at a hotel reception was given to me, ironically, by a very sociable asian front desk manager with whom i connected during the interview. He hired me on the spot, and we also became friends. Every month, he would organize reception outings to the theater, movies and restaurants. But after a year, he doubted extending my contract because of 2 bitter employees’ complaints about me. I also had complaints about them, but chose not to talk about it.
I spoke with the gm and he game me an opportunity to stay for 3 more months. Need i say that he does not get along with the front desk manager who wanted me out.
The reason, of course, is a power struggle between them.
*** after the 3 months passed, i made an unconscious big mistake on the day that i was going to have my contract reviewed. It had to happen that i misunderstood the name of a big company boss staying at the hotel and did not find his reservation among the arrivals because i forgot that he was already registered as “in house”.
He was very polite, and proceeded to call his secretary who advised him to go to another hotel. Before i could ask him for any i.d. Or more reservation details, he totally disappeared.
After settling him in another hotel, his secretary called us and we were made aware of my mistake. I was going to get a six months extension on that day, but with this mistake, it was not going to happen. Also on that day, i was falsely accused of a second mistake, but i was able to prove with the cctv that it was not me. So after time passed, i was able to convince the most unexpected person in the hotel to forgive me and give me one more chance, the general manger, even after the f.d.m. Had told me that the g.m. Did not like me, to discourage me from talking to him.
I went anyways and told him that i did not do it on purpose, that the vip guest left without giving me the chance to ask him for more information about the reservation to help locate him, that he was not upset, and to please forgive me as jesus said:
“to forgive 70 times if you have been offended”.
Not easy to do for anyone, including me.
So the g.m. And not my friend, the f.d.m. Made the honorable decision of forgiving me and extended my contract for 3 more months. Amazingly, the next day, he even told me that he read about forgiveness in the bible because of our conversation.
He saw my interest to stay, as well as the fact that i reminded him of my value to the hotel. High breakfast sales, the 20 good reviews mentioning my name, and the number of new guests making reservations in his hotel because of those reviews.
*** the most ironic part of my defense is that i had to talk about the good deeds that i have done in the hotel in order to keep my job. I am a very humble person. I have always disliked being the center of attention. Truly, i have always tried to avoid it because all it gets you is envy from others who may really like it.
So now, because of the many good reviews, i am recognized by people from all over the world when they check in and see my name tag. Even travel agents are calling the hotel asking to speak to me to make sure that i will be there during their clients’ stay so that they would get the same treatment from me as the one that they have read from previous guests.
What i really love about my job is the joy of helping people feel comfortable and well informed about a new city, in a new place where they come to sleep, work and relax. I thought that all my actions would be appreciated at the moment, and then forgotten.
*** ironic that when i was younger, i was impatient. All of my jobs have been in customer service and i have always been so patient with my clients and customers. I do it by putting myself in their position and treating them as if i have known them all my life.
**** ironic that exactly the day before, k, a colleague in reception, turn on me for trying to help her with a messy situation that she was creating with a guest, i brought cup cakes, flowers and candles to celebrate her birthday. For 1 year and 3 months, we have been friendly to each other and i even thought that she was very patient and sweet. Boy was i wrong…
the last 2 couples that we were waiting to check in at the hotel had reserved double rooms for 1 night. We only had 1 double and 1 twin bedrooms,which meant that a couple would have to sleep in 2 individual twin beds.
When the first couple arrived, k told them that there were no more rooms except the twin, and that they could only stay in that room in the hotel. The guests were upset about this. They wanted the double that they had reserved no matter what. They started an argument, with k insisting that they either take that room or go to another hotel, right after she had already charged them for that night. She even tried to use the fact that the guest’s first credit card had been declined in the previous day's pre-authorization, and that she could have cancelled the reservation before their arrival.
They went on and on about this for a good 15 minutes, after which i decided to advice k to give them the last double room we had and that i would try to convince the next couple to take the twin bedroom.
In the mean time, i took the guests and the hotel maid to the twin room to show them that we could put the beds together, and that the room was more spacious. They asked me to see the double room and then decided that they still wanted what they reserved to which k had to give in since i had given the guests a choice.
She got furious at me for this. She left reception like a thunder, went to the office to call the f. D. M.to complain about me and did not come up to reception until i was leaving. I told her that i was able to convince the last couple to take the twin room with free breakfast.
I also mentioned that one can not force what one wants on others, only try to make an attempt to convince them and accept their refusal if one can not succeed. I thought that this would make her feel relieved that the problem was solved but this made her even more furious and the next day, she changed shifts with a colleague to avoid working with me.
*** the week of my contract renewal, i made another unconscious mistake of sending a guest to a room, but having him in the computer system on another room, so i sent a second guest to the first guest’s room thinking that it was vacant.
After i gave the new room to the second guest, who thankfully was not upset, i should have called the first guest earlier and apologize for the mistake, but i got so busy in reception that i forgot to do it.
Hours later, the first guest who was in that room, came down to complain about the incident. I was already gone, and the only one in reception to take the complaint was no other than k. She wrote the complaint in a place where it would be taken to the general manager and of course that was the end of my job, regardless of the fact that the f. O. M. Was going to extend my contract for 3 more months should this not have happened.
At the meeting with the gm, he said that the incident was a potential security risk. To which, of course, i agreed, and thank god that nothing happened. I knew that this mistake had unfortunately happened to many other of my colleagues in reception, but the only one that was caught was me.
The incident with k was also brought in to the g.m.’s attention, but he would not believe that such an “angelical” being as her could be so aggressive with both the guests and with me. Of course he does not see this because she works nights when all the employees are gone and there are less guests going to reception. But now that she is getting many of my day shift hours, they will be able to see her true colors.
*** ironically, i now believe that that is what god wanted to happen and that one day i will also be thanking her for her horrible behavior towards me.
I accepted the consequences, surprisingly with much joy. I saw myself free of two bosses, backstabbing colleagues, schedules, and i saw a big way to do what i needed to do to support myself and help even more people than at a hotel, with a project that i have had in my mind for years.
As a matter of fact, i decided to work only the next day and then leave 2 weeks before i was supposed to. Everybody was shocked. The g.m. Even tried to convince me to stay until the end of my month. But freedom and happiness were more important to me than money.
As much as i liked my job in reception, and most of the people that i was working with, i was thinking about writing all these experiences before i would quit. But because i was too comfortable in a stable job receiving a steady income, i never took the time to start it.
*** ironically, if it would not have been for my contract not being extended because of my mistakes, i would not
have written them. And even if this project is uncertain and i have no income, it is truly worth while trying.
On that same night, i was alone in reception, when the husband of a guest whom the f.d.m. Had checked in came tom complain about him being very rude to his wife. I wrote the complaint and thought, now he will be caught being rude to a guest, but he went to the morning meeting, so of course he was not going to bring it up to the g.m.
*** i understood that my destiny was not to get revenge, but to finally dedicate time to my dream of many years, and to use it for a greater good than i could ever possibly imagine come true.
Thinking about more ironies in this, my last job, every time that the f.d.m. Would tell me that he was not extending my contract, because of a last minute mistake, we would have an earlier free tour planned together. The more uncomfortable i was feeling around him, the closer i was being pulled to spend time with him.
The first time was a tour of the shard. The second time was the harry potter tour and the third time, for the reception outing, we got to be the only ones at winter wonderland because the rest of the team cancelled because it was raining. After 20 minutes of rain, we went on to the different rides and had a great time, as well as in the previous occasions.
I believe that these were more signs from god not to be upset with him for not keeping me working at the hotel, but to remember the good times with him and keep him as a friend.
*** on my final day, i even thanked him (now my ex boss, the f.d.m.) for declining to extend my contract because this would allow me to move on and make a wonderful project, with my daughter and with god’s guidance, eventually help more people than ever. I truly needed the push that i received from him. And when i succeed with this project i will thank him again for it.
He was so surprised about me thanking him that he invited me to his birthday celebration, but i could not go because my daughter had invited me out that same night in the same neighborhood. Ironic, that we were so close and yet so far that night…
*** the next day, my final day, 15 minutes before the f.d.m. And the g.m. Were going home for the day, i was alone in reception, and a guest reports that her very expensive laptop was stolen from her room. I informed the house keeping director and the g.m. Of this. The housekeeping director went to the room with the guest. And the g.m. Looked at the cctv for what happened while the maid was cleaning the room.
It was seen in the video that while a newly employed maid was getting soap and towels from her cart, a thief got inside the room and took the laptop. This was a huge security breach, not merely a security "risk", like my mistake had been. One which could have been avoided should the g.m. Allow the maids to close the room doors while cleaning. The police arrived, a report was filled, but the thief was not caught, and the poor maid, whose instructions were to leave the door open at all times, lost her job.
*** ironic, that a new head of security for the entire company was staying at the hotel, but because he was out, he never knew about the incident. The g.m. Was not sacked, reprimanded nor told to change housekeeping instructions to clean the rooms with the doors closed because his boss never found out about it because he works in another building.
His mind did not change about the open doors even after a year before, a theft attempt occurred, but this time a more experienced maid prevented it. Again the g.m. Was not even reprimanded, because his own boss was never informed of this.
But the security director will be there for many months to come, and this time, i hope that the g.m.’s instructions about leaving the doors open while the maids are cleaning change asap. I do not want him sacked, because everybody deserves second changes. After all, he gave me two but at the third time, he had no other choice but to agree with the f.d.m.’s decision, although i believe, that he did not want to.
*** ironic that the following week, after my departure, the f.d.m. Also invited me to the monthly reception outing, to which i accepted. Everyone was shocked to see how a newly released employee could be happier than all of them with their jobs.
All of them were curious about what would i do next, especially when i told them that i was not planning to go to unfair job interviews, get a new job, nor have another boss if i could avoid it.
*** the very next day, my daughter told me that she unexpectedly found my ex boss in a supermarket (they both live very close to each other, but had never seen each other there. They had only met several times in various other places with me). Not knowing what to say, he asked her: “how is your mother?” to which she replied: “didn’t you see her yesterday? She is happy.”
tell me if this is not god putting people together in the same place?
He also asked her if we were working on a project. She confirmed it with out giving him any details.
He sees a movie or two every week, he will have his answer, some day when he goes to the movie theater… hopefully soon!!!
*** the idea behind this wonderful project is to write about my experiences and make a movie about them. Have the public hopefully, relate to them, and increase their hopes and believes that god has a master plan for us all and that is to deserve heaven. So he helps us to achieve this in ways that we do not expect or understand. That is why we get upset and frustrated most of the time when our plans do not pan out the way we thought we wanted.
*** i would never presume to know more than anyone or advise them about spiritual matters. All that i am doing is sharing my experiences and thoughts, and humbly hope that it may entertain as well as make them see their own ironic experiences in life and understand that it is for a greater good.
*** my other important motivation to write these experiences is to pay for homeless people to sleep in shelters. (they should not have to pay to sleep in them if they have nothing). I would like to improve the shelters with automatic showers, toilets, soap boxes, sinks, and self-cleaning bathrooms.
I would love to help them get motivated to develop their potential of self support by developing their strengths and inspiring them to follow through with their dreams or help them create them.
I would also like to bring happiness to elderly people by bringing them flowers, arts & crafts projects, music, plays, as well as taking them on tours in and outside of this beautiful city.
As much as i have never been greedy, i need to be realistic about providing for at least our basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.
I would like to pay for all of the things that i have mentioned above by myself. It will be my humble way of thanking god for all of his blessings, visible and invisible.
*** i once read this fantastic sentence that has helped me in life to accept changed plans and frustrating situations.
“we are all spirits living in a human being experience”.
Keeping this in mind, we may be able to be less lost, less depressed, less upset, and hopefully understand, why events happen the way they do...
Copyright 2015 ana maria ortiz
Hotel's "customer service" & life’s ironies
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