Handle guest complaints and guide front office staff (THC/N0120

Handle guest
complaints and guide
front office staff
(THC/N0120)

Unit: 1 Handle Guest Complaint and Guide Front Office Staffs
Theory Session = 14 hours
Unit Objectives
At the end of this unit, students will be able to
learn:
• Handle guest complaints
• Take decision with-in their control in the
interest of the organization
• Guide and mentor the front office staff
Resources Required
• Laptop
• White Board
• Marker
• Projector
©️ Ampersand Group

• Listen – Empathize – Apologize – Take action – Follow up – that’s all and you are on your way to get a return guest.
• Guest complaints hamper the reputation and working condition of the hotel. So, to improve the standard of the hotel, the
operational staff as well as managers should handle complaints very tactfully.
• Guest complaints are generally handled by Junior Executives, Hosts or Guest Relation Executives (GRE). But always keep
this thing in mind that guest’s complaint only when they are not happy with the service only but the service for which he
or she is complaining is very important to him / her at that moment.
• The complaint handling thing is not an easy job so if you are not experienced with it or don’t have any detail knowledge of
the problem it’s better to refer someone may be your senior so the guest feel that the complaint is taken seriously.
• But this doesn’t mean that you escape the problem all the time but try to stay with the guest and help him / her to your
best so that the problems may get solved.
Guest Complaint

Types of Guest Complaints
Service
related
complaints
Attitude
related
problems
Mechanical
complaints
Room
Related
Complaints
Complaints
Due to Food
and
Beverage
Unusual
complaints

• Unusual Complaints
Unusual problems are those that the hotel has no control over such as the weather, traffic, or transportation. Sometimes guests
demand something that simply is unwarranted or impossible to deliver such as they may complain about the absence of a
swimming pool, lack of public transportation, bad weather and so on.
• Room Related Complaints
Any guest complaints related to the room is categorised into complaints related to rooms. This issue can occur due to room
category booked vs assigned, old mattresses, poor view, noisy room, poor linen, or even bad lighting in the room.
• Complaints Due to Food and Beverage
Even with very good accommodation facilities, the guest can complain about the hotel due to the reason of food and beverage
not up to their exception

• Service Related Complaints
Are usually associated with the hotel service eg long waiting time for service, lack of assistance with luggage, untidy room,
missed wake up call, cold or ill-prepared food or ignored request for additional supplies.
• Attitudinal Complaints
Attitudinal problems are often associated with the attitudes and behaviour of the hotel staff. Guest complaints about impolite,
unprofessional and indifferent behaviour of staff members of the hotel.
• Mechanical Complaints
Mechanical complaints deal with equipment problems within the hotel. Most guest complaints related to hotel equipment
malfunctions. It is usually concerned with problems with air conditioning, lighting, electricity, room furnishing, vending machines,
ice machines, door keys, plumbing, television and so on.

Service related complaint
• Ignore any request made by the guest for any
special amenities.
• The service is too slow!
• I've been waiting for 30 minutes to speak to someone.
• Why there is no one at the bell desk.
• Missed wakeup call request by guest.
Attitudinal Complaint
• No one smiles around here.
• What a rude waitress.
• The front desk clerk was not very friendly.
• Staff showing a lack of skill and sensitivity in dealing
with guests.
• Guests feel insulted by rude hotel staff members.
Situations of different types of complaint

Mechanical Complaint
• Air conditioner.
• The vending machine.
• The lights are not working.
• TV not working.
• Docking station for I-pad, Phone etc. not working.
Unusual Complaint
• The traffic around here is crazy!
• It's so hot and humid in this area.
• The traffic in this town is ridiculous.
• The pre-paid taxi counter at the airport had a long
queue.
Situations of different types of complaint

Room related Complaint
• Noisy room.
• View not good.
• Booked vs assigned room.
• Downgraded to a lower category due to non-availability
or maintenance issue.
• Repeated maintenance issues.
Food & Beverage Related Complaint
• Untidiness.
• Edibleness.
• Dirty cutlery and crockery.
• Stale food served.
• Quantity of the food served
Situation of different types of complaint

• Listen with concern and attention to the guest.
• Isolate the guest if possible so that the other guests are not affected.
• Stay calm and do not argue with the guest.
• Be aware of the guest self-esteem and show a personal interest in the
problem. Use the guest’s name frequently and take the complaint seriously.
• Give the guest your undivided attention.
• Concentrate on the problem and do not blame or insult the guest.
General guideline to handle a complaint

• Writing down the points saves time, especially if someone else must get involved.
Also the guest will slow down to help in writing. Moreover the fact that the staff
is concerned enough to write down the problem re-assures the guest.
• Tell the guest what can be done and offer choices. Do not promise the
impossible, and do not exceed your authority.
• Set an approximate time for completion of corrective actions. Be specific but do
not underestimate the amount of time it will take to resolve the problem.
• Monitor the progress of the corrective action.
• Follow up. Even if the complaint was resolved by someone else, contact the guest
to ensure that the problem was resolved satisfactorily. Report the entire event,
actions taken, and the conclusion of the incident.
General guideline to handle a complaint

• Room Not Cleaned
There’s always a possibility of rooms being dirty or
unclean due to the late checkout of previous guests or
early check-ins or can be any other such reasons too.
Chances are that the bathroom is not clean, or the
washbasin may be dirty, hairs in the tub or on the bed. At
times even the housekeeping fails to collect the things
left in the closet by previous guests. These can be some of
the things that might bother your hotel guests.
What to do to avoid this?
It’s simple. The front-desk manager must request
the immediate room guests to wait for a while till
the room gets clean. Also, train
your housekeeping staff to present the best when
it comes to hygiene.
Tip: Keeping your guests informed about the
current activities, especially when it is linked to
them; will surely leave a good impact on their
minds.
How to handle different
situational based complaint:

How to handle it ?
So when any of the guests raise a complaint about
the damage or the malfunctioning of gadgets, it is
the whole and sole responsibility of the hotel
management to get the electronics repaired or
replaced in time.
Get the malfunctioned electronics replaced with
the working ones and serve the guests with the
best.
Tip: The management should monitor all the hotel
belongings and make sure it is easily accessible to
the guest.
How to handle different situational
based complaint
• Maintenance Problem
We often have this belief that people don’t
make use of gadgets during their holidays but it
doesn’t stand true in most cases. Your guests
may use the television during their leisure time
in the room. So maintenance issues do arise.

• Lost and found, Late check-out, lost luggage at
airport, theft in room
Although it may be frustrating, it's still your
responsibility to provide excellent support to the
Chronic Complainer.
He or she wants an apology. Listen respectfully,
provide a sympathetic ear, and put forth an honest
effort to correct the situation. No matter the
complainer, actively take note of what your customer
is saying.
Complaints, although frustrating, present an
opportunity to strengthen your support experience.
After a support issue is resolved, use customer
feedback as inspiration for new community content.
based complaint:

• Missed wake-up call: Poor Customer service
One of the most commonly heard complaints is – Poor
or unsatisfying customer service.
Be it a front-desk manager, pool staff, housekeeping,
restaurant staff or your gym trainers; it’s crucial that
your entire hotel team is well-trained and polite. They
must be able to understand and listen to what the
customer feels.
Additionally, wakeup call is such a facility that
people don’t come across daily and so when they do,
it’s obvious for them to expect nothing but on time.
Tip: Even if your staff isn't rude, do apologize and try
to rectify the situation in a good manner
based complaint:

If a guest demands for discount, the following steps to
follow:
• Stay Clam
• Find out the reason
• Confirm that the price is only obstacle
• Turn it around
• Ask for something in return
• Be willing to say no.
based complaint:

If a guest demands for upgradation of hotel room:
• The process of putting a guest into a better room than they are paying for is referred
to as "upgrading" the guest.
• Upgrades are handed out for two broad reasons: either the hotel has to, or
the hotel wants to. The second reason is that hotels want to upgrade their best guests.
• Upgrade should be only for short stay guest, or guest who is paying rack rate or VIPs.
• Consider other options: Upgrade a guest if you have no other option available, do
inform the guest that he is being upgraded on the no availability of his desired room
• Any Room Upgrade has to be approved by the Front office manager / Duty Manger.
Analysis the situation where guest need to Upgrade and Downgrade

Handle the downgrade situation
• If the only available rooms represent a downgrading of the room reserved, explain the problem to
the guest and explain the differences between the two room types.
• If the guest accepts the change, let him know the earliest possible time that he could move to the
room type he reserved and ensure that his room rate is adjusted.
• Front office manager to speak to the guest for service recovery if necessary in this case.
Analysis the situation where guest need to Upgrade and Downgrade

Informing Higher Authorities and follow up
procedure while handle complaint
Inform Higher Authorities-Writing Procedure
• The ideal way to get in touch with the higher authorities is by writing a Complaint
Letter/Mail directly addressed to the management or executive board of the company.
• The letter/mail is not only a professional way to convey your complaint but also
represents a physical, hard proof regarding your complaint.
• It must be formally written in a polite tone.
• The letter/mail must contain all the relevant details regarding your issues, with precise
facts and address how have been associated with the company, your current position
along with any solutions that you may have that the company can implement to address
your complaint.

Informing Higher Authorities and follow up
procedure while handle complaint
Follow-up the Problems with Guests and Log book Maintaining:
• Front Office manager may use the Front Office log book to initiate corrective
action, verify the guest complaint have been resolved, and identify recurring
problems.
• This comprehensive written record may also enable management to contact
guests who may still be dissatisfied with some aspect of their stay at check
out. After the guest has departed a letter from the Front Office Manager
expressing regret about the incident is usually sufficient to promote good will
and demonstrate concern for the guest satisfaction.

THANK YOU

Handle guest complaints and guide front office staff (THC/N0120

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