HOTEL “We do not want your money”
I always get astounded by customer service or lack of common sense here in the Philippines, and I like to share out this frustration of trying to book a hotel in Manila, and then can anyone explain to me why?
I am travelling soon to Manila from Davao and my flight will land late in the evening , therefore I will arrive at a hotel about midnight thirty so I got my Filipino friend to make a SKYPE call to the hotel as I sat there to confirm everything.
“No sir you have to book in no later than at 6pm ”
He explained that we could not because of the flight and that the booking will be for seven days but alas the first day we arrive late because of the flight. “N0 sir you have to book in no later than 6pm”. Her answer was so automatic so we decided to speak to the on duty manager who after three minutes on hold told us that we need to be there at six!!
Now this is NOT a small hotel and no matter what was said he just could not understand that we could NOT get to the hotel an earlier, so I took over he call and said that the cost of this SKYPE call was mounting and all I want to do is book a hotel room for seven days surely it cannot be beyond him to take my booking.
He explained for the 100th time the stock answer and I said surely if I pay and you have my card details you must be able to accept my booking!! He advised that although have a credit card merchant account he could not take it over the phone as its not allowed. He suggested I use the website, but then admitted that that did not have a card facility either.
Then he came up with a fantastic idea so simple I could not believe I had not thought of it myself, remember I am in Davao and he knew I was flying in on a very late flight he suggested that…..
“Sir, why don’t you come to the Hotel and pay before your flight, then the room will be secure”
I have to admit after that I just said “stupid man” and put the phone down and marvelled at the inability of getting a simple thing done here in the Philippines. Well done CITYSTATE Tower Hotel, Manila you get the customer service award for 2008.
And in fairness I just received a rofessional reply.
I would like to extend my sincerest apology for the
incident/miscommunication that transpired between you, your friend and
my two staff.A copy of your letter was forwarded to me last night and I was very
unhappy on the manner my staff handled your booking. However, I am
presently conducting an investigation and would be able to come up
with an evaluation as soon as possible.
This appears to be an example of non-empowerment - obviously the stockholders would prefer the booking, but employees are unable to step outside the box.
Fast food restaurants in the Southwest US are predominately staffed by less educated, albeit hard working immagrants. The CEO of Taco Bell (YUM!) decided he would give every employee $5 / day empowerment. If a customer has a complaint, any employee has the ability to refund up to $5, no manager decision required.
Perhaps you should reply to the response from CITYSTATE Tower Hotel with a link to YUM! bRANDS’ 2002 annual report which discusses how they empowered their employees - oh and the fact that they are the world’s largest restaurant company:) http://www.yum.com/investors/annualreport/02annualreport/pdf/yum_annualreport02.pdf
John:
Sort of what I wrote about with my hotel in Cebu!
That is why I book the international names in Manila… Frustrating and absolutely asinine. At least you received a reply from the GM. Try the Holiday Inn or Crowne Plaza in QC near the EDSA memorial… Professional and a good bit cheaper than the Marriott, etc. The Mandarin Oriental is also good and reasonable.
Gary
You are ight here in the Philippines its very hard for the employer to give or the employee to get empowered as in ost cases everyone is employed on short term contracts because of the labour laws.
Some of the staff do not even get paid, but the bottom line is that it affects the customer and therefore the profit .
John M
Thanks for the advice I will report back.
John I was roaring with laughter on your article, it was the laugh of experince ! I have had ssssooooo many things like this happen to me in country that it astounds me it even functions as well as it does.
I meet an englsihmen at a bar on my first trip there years ago..when he asked me if this was my first trip to the RP he extended a hand shake …looked me straight in the eyes and said ” Welcome to the Philippines….a continual excercise in patience ” I didnt quite understand it then what he meant….BUT I DO NOW !!!!
Also thought u might enjoy this: ran into a ozzie in Ceburips back who lived there..he wore a shirt he had silk screened there which read:
“The Philippines: Where common sense has been banned and the monkeys have taken over”…he could have gotten away with..he was 6′2 and 220# and built like a brick outhouse !!!!
Hi John- Marilou and myself have booked hotels in Manila many times when in Cagayan de Oro without any problems so far. What we do is got to a travel agency in CdeO and make our request and the travel agent makes the booking and we pay the agent not the hotel direct. It has always worked for us maybe also for you.
I feel sorry for your frustrations. John. I always asked to talk to the manager, If i sense the responder can not handle the problem. I booked via telephone from Marinduque every year and never have a problem. We usually stay at Somerset Olympia in Makati. I do not believe in booking through a travel agent when you can easily book it yourself by simply calling.
Brian
It shows that my version of “common sense” is not the same as the locals. I must admit sometimes when I tell my friends in the UK about the ways things can work here we all laugh and its only then I actually see the funny side.
Jim
I agree I use to do that, but I decided to contact the hotel direct..STUPID ME!!
Great to have seen you a few weeks ago too.
David
To be honest I asked for the manager and could only get the duty manager.
Fortunately, I had no difficulty with the hotel I stayed at in Iligan City. The hotel I originally planned to sttay at in Cagayan De Oro was fully booked when I got there but I did not make a reservation ahead of time. My schedule for CDO was a variable arrival time so booking ahead would not have been practical.
The first hotel I stayed at in CDO was a smaller older place although from what I could tell ” looked ” ok. They did not take credit cards. The room I was given had No toilet seat although the room my friends were in did have one. I tried to call front desk, the phone didn’t work. The window A/C was on its way out and had all it could do to make the room bearable for me. I went to the front desk. A short while later 2 maintenance guys show up at my room, install a new toilet seat attaching it with nylon cable ties, they replaced the phone with a repaired one. Not much they could do about the a/c but it was ” just good enough ” for me.
I went to what looked to be a decent bar near the hotel thatt night with my local friends there. Although it may have been a mis-understanding I thought the waiter was asking me 500 peso for one bottle of San Miguel beer. I thought maybe he thought I was stupid kano tourist and did not know I was with local filipino friends. We did not stay at that bar very long LOL.
The next day we just happen to walk by the Dept. of Tourism so I thought I would go in and mention the situation I had at that particular bar the prior evening to see what response I would get. The head of the Dept. talked to me and also asked where I was staying. After telling me he ” made some suggestions ” ( I dont want to bad mouth the hotel I first booked into ) and immediately got me a great deal at a major hotel in CDO. He explained to me it would be in my better interest to only book at ” accredited ” hotels all of which must take major credit cards to become ” Accredited ” . Also it is better to only patronise ” accredited ” food and drink establishments.
Without going into too much detail, I would say I got excellent response and service from the Cagayan De Oro Department of Tourism.
Yes, I had a few occasions where I had to remind myself that I was not in the USA during my visit to the Philippines in regards to being patient. I have had similar instances on my many visits to the UK as well. I appreciated a blog on this website about those who move to the Philippines will have to learn to ” adapt ” themselves to certain situations there and to have patience.
In a few instances where my Filipino friends got the hint I was about to loose my cool, not at them but about some instances I am not acclimated to, the best explnation I could give them was ” Kano Kulture ” LOL. I just had to remind myself at times and in my own mind, ” I am not at home ” .
Fortunately, none of these ” minor ” situations could spoil the great time I had there. I just chaulk them up as a learning experience for future reference.
So John, you may want to contact the Manila Department of Tourism concerning your attempt to book a hotel in Manila. I wonder if other hotels there have the same policy ?
Bob NY
I love the story and I too love CDO, and I must remember your advice that “I am not at home” and enjoy the difference , well at least try.
Some hotels have very strict internal policies to observe because there experience many defaults or no show when customers book rooms. So unless you are a regular and your name is in their record they will have a dateline time for you. Certain hotels will take your credit card details and will charge for one night no show, but how they do the charging,i am not too sure. Maybe they need you to fax them copy of the CC. Had any of you experienced that you got confirmed booking to find out that they didnot have a room for you without apology, and that time most hotels are fully booked. This is especially true in a small town?
Fun: not to dart of the subject but booking flights in the RP with a credit card does not guarantee you will have a seat even WITH a comfirmationumber when you arrive to fly !! Take a number have a seat and wait an hour for your turn in hopes your flight is not booked solid!
PS “City Garden Hotel” in Makati Manila is a fabulous hotel w/ outstanding staff, run very very well, you can book online with an excellent website and rest assured your room WILL be availible when u arrive without ever speaking to a clerk !!
Fun
Have to say I think I will just you agencies in the future let them have the communication problems with the hotels.
Brian
I have had tickets confirmed and paid and when I get to the airport NO SUCH FLIGHT EXISTS and no one wants to help you.
John,
Although the internet has made it possible for anyone to be their own travel agent and book their own tickets, especially for air travel, I still use a reliable and experienced travel agent. Many times a travel agent knows of equal or better deals than may be found on the internet sites or be able to find them. If there are difficulties encountered with flight bookings it is the travel agent that gets the headaches. All I have to do is go to my local travel agents office and pick up the tickets. I dont have to worry about them getting lost in the mail or airline websites that do not seem to work. I have very successfully used the same travel agent for over 2 decades with excellent results. I don’t know if the same would apply there in the Philippines.
Speaking of headaches, I am in the process of arranging another visit to the Philippines. Part of my journey includes a domestic flight from Manila to Cagayan De Oro. On my last visit this was acomplished on Cebu Pacific Airlines. This time, my travel agent called me and said he was having trouble booking me on Cebu Pacific and it seems they are not taking Any USA credit cards over the phone or on the internet as they are not on the same computerized netowrk as they were before.
Out of curiosity I tried to book those tickets on the internet myself to see what would happen. I got the same response my travel agent did, ” Purchase Declined “. I got a call from my travel agent who had Cebu Pacific on the line at the same time, they said if I wanted to book a flight I would have to send them a photocopy of my credit card And a copy of my Bank Statement ! They would not take the credit card of my travel agent either so it was not like it was a problem with my card.
Obviously, my answere to an arrangement like this was No Way !
That part of the journey is now booked on another carrier and I guess I will forget about Cebu Air for any future travel. I just can not imagine an airline like that declining valid credit card purchases from the USA. There was no problem booking with a competitive airline there in the Philippines.
My response to this situation is similar to the one you have used for this blog although I have my own version that I have used for years. In this case it’s
” Cebu Pacific, You got something against making money ? ”
I will be contacting the main office of Cebu Pacific regarding this matter both by E Mail And hard copy letter sent through the Postal Service. My experience has been that E Mail complaints are often too easily ” clicked Off ( discarded ) by large companies or whoever reads them. A hard copy letter ( remember those ? ) sent to the appropriate address will more often bring some kind of response. The time I did fly Cebu Pacific, I had no problem with them and enjoyed my flight.
When booking seat for Royal Brunei via the internet by credit card, there is a clause that says you have to produce and show your c card either at their ticket office or the airport before check-in to fly. Dont know why this is a requirement cos I did not find out. In Malaysia all flight bookings are e-ticket and you dont even have to go to the agent/airlines to collect your ticket. So it come in handy if you maintain account with your agent and call them wherever you are and place a booking for last min booking. I have not seen any complaints here that reserved seat are not allocated during check-in.