I’ve been pretty busy since my last post – with things like a late-night choir gig, a two day trip down to London, a two day ASIST course, a choir rehearsal, a SAMS shift and work work – so I’m enjoying a night of doing absolutely nothing. OK, so I’m obviously not doing absolutely nothing as I’m sitting listening to some good tunes and writing my blog, but you get the jist!
It’s really tempting to start from Friday and note down everything that’s made me feel good, but Alex and Gordon will be back home from training soon and I promised myself I’d be finished on the computer by the time they arrived back. So, I’ll pick out one little thing. It’s the sort of little thing that doesn’t happen all that often, it’s pretty simple but it made me feel great. Basically, what happened was that this young guy sat me down, looked me straight in the eye then sincerely apologised for trying to deceive me...
I’d booked the hotel, that we stayed in down in London, through one of those last minute websites and had managed to get a brilliant deal for a deluxe room in a really nice place. It had the added attraction of being just a few minutes walk from the Saturday night function – the thing we’d travelled down to London for – and was just up the road from Covent Garden. The function was The Champion’s Life Academy Award Ceremony and we had a fantastic night. CLA’s the company that Gemma worked for during the summer and this was an opportunity for the employees to get some recognition and awards for their efforts and achievement. It was especially lovely to meet Gemma’s friends and it became clear why they’d all worked, and lived, so well together as a team. I hadn’t quite grasped how much money they’d all raised for some really worthwhile causes, so Alex and I were extremely proud to see Gemma and her pals collect the ‘Top Team’ award. She received other accolades throughout the evening, but that was the one that meant the most. So, all her hard work and long hours over the 12 week summer period were definitely well worth it!
I knew that would happen! I’ve digressed. Back to the receptionist at the hotel. So, while he was going through the usual gumph that’s required when checking in, he asked if we would like to upgrade to a junior suite for a discounted price. I politely refused and said we’d settle for the deluxe room at our bargain price, thank you very much. He plithered about on the computer, smiling and chatting all the time, then excused himself while he ‘sorted something out’ in the back office. When he came back, he handed us our keys and wished us a pleasant stay. “Oh!” he said as we were about to walk away, “there might be someone from housekeeping in your room; they’re just finishing it off at the moment.”
We opened the door (using the slidy key card, in complete contrast to our Glenskirlie key) and walked in, expecting to see – at the very least – a nice, big double bed and a bit of floor space. But there wasn’t. Not a double bed and not any floor space. Instead, there was the tiniest wee bed in the corner (in complete contrast to our Glenskirlie bed) with one set of pillows. There was one glass at the side of the bed, there was one cup by the kettle and there was one set of towels in the wee bathroom. This was a single room. ‘Och’, I thought, ‘they’ve made a wee mistake’. So, I phoned down and reminded our friendly receptionist that we were supposed to be in a double room.
“But madam, you are in a double room!”
“Sorry?!”
“Room 307 is definitely a deluxe double room. I know exactly which room you're in and it's definitely a deluxe double room.”
“Do you think I button up the back? This isn't even a double room, never mind a deluxe double room!”
“Please, madam, you are definitely in a deluxe double room – but since you're unhappy I will check to see if any other rooms are available and call you back in a moment.”
Just as I put the phone down, there was a knock on the door. Alex opened it to find the lady from housekeeping standing in the corridor, laden down with a set of pillows, a glass, a cup and a set of towels.
“Hello sir. Sorry to disturb you. I’ve been told to make this single room into a double room. I’ve to put these things in. Is it OK to come in?”
Aw man, it was perfect timing!
When the receptionist called back, I interrupted and spared him the misery of trying to convince us again – as he'd started to do – that we were definitely in a double room by telling him that the maid had just arrived and confirmed that we were definitely in a single room. Silence on the line was followed by a request for us to stay put while he organised for a porter to escort us to another room.
The big room we ended up in was lovely (think it was bigger than the deluxe we'd paid for!) but I was pretty angry that the guy had tried to shaft us. Anyone who knows me well knows that I won’t hesitate to complain – in the nicest possible way - about bad service. So, when we were heading out later, I made a bee-line for our receptionist and made it clear how disappointed I was that he’d tried to deceive us. He immediately apologised and assured us that we would be looked after when we checked out the following morning. I was delighted that he’d held his hands up and apologised, instead of making up some cock-and-bull story; that alone was enough to make me feel better about what had happened and I told him so.
However, the following morning as we arrived at the check-out desk, our friend asked if he could have a word with us. He came out from behind the counter and led us over to comfy chairs in the corner. Now, I have to be honest and admit that, at that moment, I was thinking “Ya beauty! We’re going to get a free night or something!!” However, what we actually got was something far better. He looked me straight in the eye and said:
“I am so, so sorry about the way I treated you yesterday. I got myself in a muddle because when you arrived I realised there were no deluxe double rooms left. I tried to get you to take the suite, then I decided to put you in a single dressed up as a double. I’m so sorry. I don’t usually take my work home with me, but I was thinking about this all of last night and I’m just really embarrassed and quite ashamed. I’ve learned a lot from this. I’ll not be doing anything like it again.”
Now, I know there’ll be folk reading this thinking, ‘Yeh, right! He was still at it and just said all that to placate you’. Well, I honestly don’t think it was like that at all. I really believed him – and so did Alex. He didn’t need to speak to me about it again. He’d apologised the day before and he could just have handed us our discounted bill and been done with it. I thought it took a lot of guts to sit opposite me, in a big plush foyer with lots of people milling around, and say all of that. I told him I was touched that he’d taken the time to speak to me so personally...then I asked what discount we were getting...nah, I'm only kidding! He actually offered that information without me having to ask.
So, we had a fantastic (cheap) weekend away and it made me feel great that a nice young man had the decency to apologise in such a personal and honest way for trying to treat me like a mug.
