People ask about my contract with
hotels, but there is none. Concierges, operators, and bellmen call because they
know me.
Guests sometimes praise me, and their
praise goes to concierges et al. If they decide to complain, usually because
I’ve declined to give them something they wanted, they go to the general
manager, often galvanizing him into one of several upsetting actions.
Referring the complainer to a
competitor is tiresome. Anxious to make a good impression on his first call
from Doctor Oppenheim’s hotel, he may relax his standards.
If the manager consults the hotel
lawyer, he always hears that he must never help a sick guest because guests who
sue the doctor will also sue the hotel that suggested him. At any given time,
about ten percent of hotels are in this my-lips-are-sealed mode, but it’s a
changing ten percent because guests persist; employees want to help, and most
competing hotels have doctors, so it’s bad public relations.
Some managers make up a list,
instructing staff to hand it to guests but to never recommend an individual.
They believe (incorrectly) that this eliminates their liability. The employee who
makes up the list mostly confines her research to the internet and in no
particular order. As a result, it includes doctors who don’t make housecalls
and walk-in clinics with limited hours. Fortunately once the list is made the
hotel forgets about it. As years pass, it gradually becomes out-of-date, but my
number remains.
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