Right now, the Twitterverse and the advertising world is learning that Edward Boches of Mullen didn’t have a good night last night. He stayed at a Marriott, and his room had all sorts of problems.
OK, so maybe it’s not your fault that my hotel room ceiling leaked all night long. Though the fact that there was already a stain in the same corner of the room suggests you should have known about it. But what doesn’t really work for me is the response that I got when I called in the middle of the night. It went something like this:
“We’re sorry, the hotel is totally booked there’s nothing we can do.”
Really? Nothing you can do? How about a real apology? How about an offer of five free nights at any Marriott in the system? How about setting up a bed in a conference room? They’re not full in the middle of the night. Or perhaps it doesn’t really matter to you. After all, you’re full. Business is good. What do you care if you lose one customer or have an occasionally unhappy guest?
Edward goes on to suggest some remedies the Marriott folks can take, which is constructive. I think one of the primary things social media is great for is helping companies improve their customer service.
We’ll see whether Marriott does anything to make Edward happy. But hey, it could be worse–at least there’s no tale of the infamous Night Clerk Mike.
