Horrible Service Story

My very good friend, Eugene, experienced what could be described as one of the worst service attitudes ever. He took his car to the local dealership to arrange for an oil change. He walks into, what was called, the service department only to find an empty room with a counter. Eugene stood at the counter for a few minutes when a mechanic walks in from the shop area behind the counter. The mechanic stopped, looked, then turned to pick up a clipboard from the desk and walked back into the shop. Didn’t say a word or acknowledge that anybody was standing at the counter. A few moments later another man came through the door from the shop area and stood there, looking at Eugene for a few seconds and finally took the three steps to reach the counter. The two looked at each other for an awkward moment and Eugene broke the silence by saying that he wanted to set up an oil change. The other man, wearing the ‘manager’ badge, laughed at him. He actually broke into a laugh. As his laughing subsided he said “today? We are way too busy today.” Then he turned and walked back into the shop area.

This service manager was in dire need for some instruction of what service really is. Not only did he lose a lifetime customer, he also lost the potential business of the twenty people Eugene told about the situation. The dealership lost future car sales from Eugene, the type who buys a new car every two years, and those twenty people with whom he shared the story. Was this so called service manager showing any hospitality at all? No, he wasn’t. Eugene didn’t say he wanted to get the oil change that day; he just wanted to make the arrangements, set up an appointment to get the oil change done. The manager was not cordial; he was not generous in his disposition and treatment of his guest at that particular instance.

We all have a story similar to Eugene’s story. The problem is that we all have a story similar to Eugene’s story. Bad service attitudes are so common we almost expect it every time we walk into a place of business. The guests who walk in our hotels often feel the same way. Since we are in the hospitality industry we need to fully understand what hospitality really is. As hospitality professionals it is important that we project the right hospitality attitude toward all our guests. Hospitality managers have the responsibility to teach the entire hotel staff the importance of a proper hospitality attitude.