HANDLING GUEST COMPLIANTS

To handle guest complaints professionally, so as to resolve them, as per the guest satisfaction.  

•  Listen carefully with concern and empathy (please note that empathy and sympathy is not the same thing).
•  Isolate the guest, if possible, from the crowded public areas so that you can attend to the guest without interruption and other guests won’t overhear.
•  Stay calm. Avoid responding with haste, hostility or defensiveness. Do not argue with the guest, as the guest is always right.
•  Be aware of the guest’s self esteem. Show a personal interest in the problem. Use the guest’s name frequently. Take the complaint seriously.
•  Give the guest the undivided attention. Concentrate on the problems, not on placing blame. Ask relevant questions to find out more about the problem (if applicable).
•  Ensure that the guest does not feel insulted.
•  TAKE NOTES. Writing down the key points / facts saves time if someone else must get involved. Importantly, guest will feel reassured that the hotel staff is concerned enough to write down the complaint. Also, the guest will slow down when they are speaking faster than you can write.
•  Tell the guest what can be done. Offer choices / alternatives, thus making the guest feel that he / she is in command. DO NOT exceed your authority. DO NOT promise impossible.
•  Instant guest pacification is of paramount importance.
•  Involve if necessary a senior member of the hotel. After apprising the person, introduce the guest.
•  Set an approximate time for the hotel’s actions. Be specific, but DO NOT underestimate the amount of the time it can take to solve the problem. If you are not sure ask the relevant person before committing yourself.
•  Make notes in the Front Office log incase the job would spill over to another shift.
•  Monitor the corrective action, by following it up with the concerned department / persons.
•  Follow up with the guest even though someone else may have resolved the complaint. Contact the guest to verify the action taken and whether it was to satisfaction.
•  Send an amenity to the room with a note of apology
•  Update the guest history with the entire event (complaint & the action taken as well as the persons & departments involved) and the conclusion of the incident.
•  Narrate the incident in the GM’s log.