Symptoms of Customer Service Failure
The Mount Rundle Hotel has various symptoms that indicate that a customer service failure has occurred. First, this hotel employed a student as its front office operator. The officeholder does not have adequate experience and skills to manage the needs of this department. In addition, the smell from the kitchen interferes with the customer’s comfort, and they are forced to live with the nuisance created. The housekeeping staff do not know their duties and are usually playing catch football instead of stocking and cleaning rooms. The premise lacks an elevator and guests have to use the stairs to get their luggage into their rooms. Moreover, guests like McKenzie are forced to buy toiletries because the hotel does not have any. The accounting department used Steve McKenzie’s credit card without his permission. However, it did not inform him about the issue until when he realized the abnormalities in his statements. In addition, the hotel management takes too long before informing customers about changes in their payment systems.
Causes of Hotel Failures
The hotel failed to provide quality services to its client because of the poor administrative structure. The front office is operated by a student that does not have adequate experience in this job. In addition, lack of employee supervision makes them lazy and thus they do not have time to clean or stock rooms. Moreover, the hotel is not committed to offering quality services to its clients, and that is why nobody is concerned that guests do not have adequate toiletries in their rooms. The management is lazy and has never bothered to research the importance of an elevator on their premises. Everybody is relaxed and happy with the current state of affairs in the hotel. They take advantage of clients that do not complain about poor services to harass those that do not tolerate this behavior. This problem is not unique in this hotel; however, this company does not seem to address its problems to improve the services it offers.
Assessment of Customer’s Behaviour
Steve McKenzie is responsible for the tribulations he experienced at the hotel. First, he knew the facility offered poor services but did not seek other alternatives. There are many hotels in Banff that offer better services, but he kept going to The Mount Randle Hotel. In addition, he should have considered the services of other hotels after staying in this one for four days and seeing that his room was always filled with egg and bacon smell in the morning, lunchtime, and evening. The behavior of this customer was not appropriate because he took a long time (seven months) before balancing his credit card statements. In addition, he volunteered to buy toiletries yet their costs were included in the booking payments. He had not gotten value for his money yet he continued staying in the hotel.
Recommendation
This hotel should recruit experienced and mature staff to handle its front office operations because this department has a lot of work to be done. The management should conduct performance appraisals and periodic inspections in the hotel rooms to assess their conditions. Moreover, all departments must work together to ensure they update clients of any changes in their systems, policies, and services. Lastly, it must train its staff to ensure they offer professional services and avoid thinking that this is the only hotel that offers hospitality services.