How Do You Deal With an Entitled Customer?
About six months ago, I was traveling for work and, after a long day, I walked through the door of a higher-end hotel that I stay at once a quarter. I was counting down the minutes until I could get to my room, change into comfy clothes, order some well-deserved room service, and fire up Netflix, when an unwelcome surprise caught me completely off guard.
The hotel was booked!
Okay,“that’s no problem,“ I explained. “I have a reservation.” Whew! That was a close one.
“No ma’am,” she told me, “Your reservation has been given away.”
Wait?! What? No, that’s not possible right?
“Not to worry,” she said. “We have taken the liberty of rebooking you at our sister hotel.”
“Oh, really,” I said. “And where is that?”
“Forty five minutes away,” she managed to choke out.
Okay. Stop. Now I went from being highly annoyed to down right furious!
“Unacceptable,” I replied.
“I’m so sorry ma’am. We have a karate convention in town and all the hotel rooms across the city are taken.”
“I understand,” I said. Then (I admit) I got a little sarcastic, “hmmm, I wonder what might have been helpful in this situation? Oh yes, a reservation. WHICH I HAVE!”
The friendly (and she truly was being as friendly and professional as possible during this very difficult situation) hotel check-in representative just kept apologizing. Saying she understood and that there was nothing she could do.
I dug my heels in. “I’m not leaving,” I said.
She wasn’t quite sure what to do with that. “We are oversold, ma’am. There are no rooms.”
“Is the hotel 100% checked in?,” I asked.
The is where she wavered, “well, no”.
“Great, problem solved!” I practically shouted.
“No ma’am. Those rooms are for our preferred guests with a higher status than yours.”
That’s when I really lost it. “So, not only are you not going to honor my reservation, but now my status isn’t high enough either? You are kidding me. I want one of those rooms. I’m here. They are not. End of story.”
She nodded, starting typing on her computer and produced two room keys for me.
Was I behaving like an entitled customer? Yes! But you know what, I’m okay with it. I think I (as well as all buyers) deserve certain entitlements.
I believe that all buyers are entitled to our respect and our professionalism. All buyers are entitled to delivery of what they were promised. And, all buyers are entitled to equal and fair treatment.
Entitled buyers get a bad wrap. We label them as “difficult,” “rude,” or “mean” when really they are often just fighting for the basic entitlements that all buyers deserve.
So the next time you start complaining about your “entitled” buyer, take a step back. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you like to receive the treatment they are being given or would you become an “entitled” buyer too if you were them?
