Poll of the Day > Overbooked by 10 rooms.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Idk why I even keep trying. This place sucks. We're not allowed to put any rooms out of order for any reason, so we just get a list of rooms we can't use instead(they can still be reserved online though).

So, a few nights ago I spent like an hour just creating fake reservations to block the unusable rooms from being booked. 32... I had to make 32 reservations. Then the next day we were overbooked, so I recounted and someone had gone in and deleted about 6 of the reservations. It made the guests angry, but I got them into a different room type and they at least had a place to stay.

Next day, all the reservations were wiped out. I had to spend another hour putting them back in. Also was overbooked for certain room types that night because of it. It took some convincing but I got things smoothed over.

Today is a classic mini Cooper convention. We're basically sold out. I only have a handful of rooms left available... But I notice an awful lot of reservations for smoking rooms. The smoking rooms are mostly the ones we can't use ATM. So I count it up, and I'm going to be short 10 rooms tonight somehow. Idk how it even happened as my fake ones are still here to block other incoming reservations.

I don't know how I'm going to be able to fix this tonight. I can toss out a handful of other fake ones to hold any empty rooms still available and hope they're ok switching to those ones instead but even then I don't think I have enough. If my boss catches on that I'm blocking the good rooms I'll get in trouble. This whole thing has gone down the crapper over the last year.

I think depending on how things go tonight, I might just not come back.

Burn it to the ground

Mensis posted...

Burn it to the ground

Oh my gosh, I want to. I've grown to despise this job, and the only reason I've stuck around this long is because I didn't want to put too much on my coworkers, but I see how much they care about what I have to deal with.

Last summer they put me through the ringer, having me run both hotels by myself. They owe me at least 2 raises that I never got. Management doesn't fix problems they just hide them from corporate to look better.

I just don't think I can do this any more. I get cussed out constantly. One guest filed a totally fabricated complaint to try and get a free room. The other shifts keep putting their extra work off on me then messing things up so I have more of a mess to fix when I get here. It's really getting to me, it's too much.

Well, I've only been yelled at 3 different times so far. I haven't even gotten to the problematic rooms yet.

They keep putting me on these stupid busy nights knowing I'm going to be cussed out. It's because I keep my composure with the guests anyway, but it really does take a toll on me. Since it turned spring it's been very busy so it happens every night now.

I have enough money saved that I can last till I find something else. So, I don't really see why I have to put up with this.

KogaSteelfang posted...

Well, I've only been yelled at 3 different times so far. I haven't even gotten to the problematic rooms yet.

They keep putting me on these stupid busy nights knowing I'm going to be cussed out. It's because I keep my composure with the guests anyway, but it really does take a toll on me. Since it turned spring it's been very busy so it happens every night now.

I have enough money saved that I can last till I find something else. So, I don't really see why I have to put up with this.

If you don't need the job then I wouldn't put up with it if it is burning you out this badly. From your description this isn't a temporary issue, this is just business as usual, so no point hanging in there if it is never going to improve. Do you have any line of communication to corporate so you can at least 'blow the whistle' on why you are leaving? It doesn't really get you anything but maybe there is the off chance that it might improve things for someone down the line that replaces you.

Can you not apply at any other hotels now that you have experience? One that is better managed?

Jen0125 posted...

Can you not apply at any other hotels now that you have experience? One that is better managed?

Yeah, probably. One coworker quit here and moved to another that she likes. Told me she could get me in there. Just not too sure about taking a similar job right away. At this time it's mostly the guests that are stressing me out.

rjsilverthorn posted...

If you don't need the job then I wouldn't put up with it if it is burning you out this badly. From your description this isn't a temporary issue, this is just business as usual, so no point hanging in there if it is never going to improve. Do you have any line of communication to corporate so you can at least 'blow the whistle' on why you are leaving? It doesn't really get you anything but maybe there is the off chance that it might improve things for someone down the line that replaces you.

I don't think that'd work too well. The current management manipulated his way back in and got the fantastic previous one fired. I should've just walked out then. But anyway, he's got corporate wrapped around his finger as long as things look good on paper, they don't care. That's what he excels at, fudging the papers and saving money by not actually addressing any problem. Gets him a bigger bonus.

Anyway, even if I walked out I could most likely get this job back later if I changed my mind. Other coworkers have quit then simply came back, and despite how I feel about them, management likes me a lot.

I just need to get away from this for a while. I was going to try and take some time off soon, but another coworker is having surgery and will be out for 6 weeks at least.

I used to work upgrading the computer systems at hotels and one of our requirements is we HAD to have a room available for testing. You know, to test the phone system, the environmental controls, the pay-per-view system, billing, and the like, make sure that everything still worked after we left. More than once I'd get there and "Oh yeah, we're booked solid, we don't have any rooms available" and I'd be like "OK, here's the interface testing checklist, I'm just gonna mark N/A for everything and write down that no rooms were available for testing. You're on your own at this point."

KogaSteelfang posted...

Yeah, probably. One coworker quit here and moved to another that she likes. Told me she could get me in there. Just not too sure about taking a similar job right away. At this time it's mostly the guests that are stressing me out.

Guests are happier at better managed facilities. You could always switch jobs while you look for a different industry.

captpackrat posted...

I used to work upgrading the computer systems at hotels and one of our requirements is we HAD to have a room available for testing. You know, to test the phone system, the environmental controls, the pay-per-view system, billing, and the like, make sure that everything still worked after we left. More than once I'd get there and "Oh yeah, we're booked solid, we don't have any rooms available" and I'd be like "OK, here's the interface testing checklist, I'm just gonna mark N/A for everything and write down that no rooms were available for testing. You're on your own at this point."

Sounds about right.

Jen0125 posted...

Guests are happier at better managed facilities. You could always switch jobs while you look for a different industry.

We've gotten so many complaints that we now get charged a large fee for each one that comes in. Mostly it's complaints about a certain coworker being very rude. Followed by people not getting the room they expected.

Also, all those rooms I was worried about all arrived at once. Not only was it the 10 smoking rooms but 14 regular rooms too. Each with 2 people. I literally had nearly 50 people in my lobby. I can't do crowds, I was already stressed. Thank goodness that's done though.

Tough part will be tonight if I do decide to quit. Idk how to go about it.

can you not update the reservation system so that the rooms that are not available are actually not available without having to generate fake reservations? (though I do know that it's supposed to be "normal" for hotels to overbook on purpose.)

Well good luck man life is too short to deal with dumb shit at work tbh

What's wrong with the unusable rooms?

Sahuagin posted...

can you not update the reservation system so that the rooms that are not available are actually not available without having to generate fake reservations? (though I do know that it's supposed to be "normal" for hotels to overbook on purpose.)

We can list them as our of order, but whoever does that will be fired. So the way we settled on is to block them with fake reservations. It just didn't work this time.

Jen0125 posted...

Well good luck man life is too short to deal with dumb shit at work tbh

Thanks.

I chickened out tonight. I told my one coworker that I was leaving and that I probably wouldn't be back. She thought I was joking, but I learned my manager was next door so I went to talk to him. He was actually pretty busy and he wasn't alone, so I just left.

I'm off tomorrow, so I'll think it over more and see how I feel then. I'm just such a pushover, he admitted that he messed up the reservations tonight and made us overboooked so I got angry, but then he said he's gonna do something Friday to help things go smoother and I immediately just felt appreciation that he thought to help, and that I owed him... Why am I like this? lol

You've been complaining about this place for a very long time. Yet you choose to remain there without making any real effort to find something else. Even when something else does get offered you ignore it and stay at this awful place.

It's like sitting in a cold bathtub with a turd floating around and bitching about it instead of just moving to one of the clean, warm tubs that you can see all around you.

Stop choosing to play in someone else's turd tub. You even have a former coworker offering you a spot in a warm tub without any shit floating around. Yet you still choose to remain in your cold turd tub.

Get the fuck out and go to the fresh, warm tub. You know that no matter how many times you scoop out the poop someone else is just going to drop another one for you to play with.

Stop being a weenie.

KogaSteelfang posted...

Oh my gosh, I want to. I've grown to despise this job, and the only reason I've stuck around this long is because I didn't want to put too much on my coworkers, but I see how much they care about what I have to deal with.

Last summer they put me through the ringer, having me run both hotels by myself. They owe me at least 2 raises that I never got. Management doesn't fix problems they just hide them from corporate to look better.

I remember from last year. We all told you this is the best job market in decades, where employers are desperate for help and paying much better, and there has never been a better time to find a new job. We told you to leave. You didn't listen.
Regarding the 2nd paragraph, sounds like how it's always been. And yet you expected it to change? Do you know what the definition of insanity is?

KogaSteelfang posted...

Well, I've only been yelled at 3 different times so far. I haven't even gotten to the problematic rooms yet.

They keep putting me on these stupid busy nights knowing I'm going to be cussed out. It's because I keep my composure with the guests anyway, but it really does take a toll on me. Since it turned spring it's been very busy so it happens every night now.

I have enough money saved that I can last till I find something else. So, I don't really see why I have to put up with this.

And again, like we told you last year... There is no need to quit this job before you find another one, unless the schedule is so bad that you don't have time for interviews. You could've been searching this whole time before sheer fucking burn out forces you out w/o a plan.

Bugmeat posted...

You even have a former coworker offering you a spot in a warm tub without any shit floating around. Yet you still choose to remain in your cold turd tub.

The thing about this option is that it'd just be the same job again. I'd have to go through the whole hiring process, being trained, meeting new people all that stress just to end up in the same position I'm already in. It's mostly the guests berating me over things out of my control that's getting to me. That wouldn't change between hotels, I already work at 2 different ones(a pair of sister hotels) and the guests are the same between them despite one being a cheap one and one being higher class.

streamofthesky posted...

And again, like we told you last year... There is no need to quit this job before you find another one, unless the schedule is so bad that you don't have time for interviews.

I do have a passive income now, but it's pretty unreliable. Sometimes it matches what I make at work, other times it's nothing. So I was hoping to just take some time for myself if I quit this current job. Take my time then to recover and find a more suitable job.

Besides, you guys know I struggle to assert myself. This is a big decision, and I'll be putting others in a tough situation if I leave. It feels more complicated than me just me not being happy here any more. I've always had the mindset that when you take a job that it's a real commitment and to be there when they need you... But it's just been wrecking me for a long time I just want out.

Yes... I'm a being a weenie over it, but it feels like an important decision that should be weighed against more than how I feel about it.

Sometimes a change of industry is for the better. What other industry would you want to work in?

wwinterj25 posted...

Sometimes a change of industry is for the better. What other industry would you want to work in?

I really have no idea. My family has always just been minimum wage workers, so I just assumed I'd find a dead end job I was ok with for most of my life.

Surely your town must have more than two employers? >_>

Is overbooking common?

I have never had a case of a hotel being overbooked when I reserved a room say 3 weeks or more in advance. I don't stay at hotels all the time but I usually stay at one at least 2-3 times a year when there isn't a pandemic going on.

I realize every hotel can have problematic guests but if the hotel is intentionally overbooking for some odd reason that puts out more potential for upset guests.

Monopoman posted...

Is overbooking common?

I have never had a case of a hotel being overbooked when I reserved a room say 3 weeks or more in advance. I don't stay at hotels all the time but I usually stay at one at least 2-3 times a year when there isn't a pandemic going on.

I realize every hotel can have problematic guests but if the hotel is intentionally overbooking for some odd reason that puts more potential for upset guests.

Normally, no. It was a rare problem with the previous management. It was only really an issue if we checked someone into our last room at the same time someone also booked the same room online.

This new system of just blocking them is confusing and sucks. If one gets changed or deleted and I don't catch it before a reservation comes through then we simply have to turn them away. Plus, several times f my coworkers are petty enough to change or delete them just to cause problems like that. My manager is one, and he's the one who caused it this time. Also he knew we were overbooked and needed more rooms and didn't bother letting me know or helping fix it.

Plus, the "help" he said he's going to do tomorrow I'd part of his job anyway. And It'll collectively save me like 2 minutes overall.

Monopoman posted...

if the hotel is intentionally overbooking for some odd reason

isn't it normal for hotels to intentionally overbook due to cancellations? though that doesn't seem to be contributing to this particular situation.

Okay... It's done. I'm kind of freaking out over it right now. Not because I regret it, but because of the bind I'm putting the others in.

I couldn't bring myself to do it face to face. I waited till I got home from from a really rough night and texted my manager. It's been like half an hour and I haven't heard back yet. He's always glued to his phone... So idk why I got nothing back.

So, when I got to work I was pleasantly surprised. They had actually put the rooms out of order. Which meant no more fake reservations, and no more confusion and overbooking issues. Well, we were overbooked by 1 somehow, I assume it happened during the time they were deleting the reservations and putting the rooms out of service.

Then immediately got a hostile guest. 2 others that didn't understand how to unlock their door, and another that needed me to move them like 5 times. My manager showed up and insisted that I pull an extra shift tonight. I agreed to stay a few extra hours but I left at 1am.

They discovered that our newest employee has been secretly living at the hotel. They went to check the issues in that room and he was in there, and apparently has been for a while. He simply moved into one of the rooms we couldn't use and stayed. lol
I guess he'd only go out at night or something, idk.

Anyway, I sold out the one hotel again, and then went to clock out and got put to work at that one checking people in. I was angry about getting yelled at by the guest's when I'm just trying to help them, angry that he tried to force an extra shift on me. But then he said thanks for working over and it all melted away... lol.
Tried to work up the nerve on the way home by thinking of all the times they screwed me over and just ended up giving myself a minor panic attack.

Oh my god. My text refused to send. I had to call him after all. Ugh. I feel like I'm gonna be sick.

JixHedgehog posted...

What's wrong with the unusable rooms?

I'd like to know too.

KogaSteelfang posted...

They discovered that our newest employee has been secretly living at the hotel. They went to check the issues in that room and he was in there, and apparently has been for a while. He simply moved into one of the rooms we couldn't use and stayed. lol
I guess he'd only go out at night or something, idk.

Was he fired?

Revelation34 posted...

Was he fired?

I don't think so. The maintenance worker accidentally walked in on him. She told me about it when I got to work yesterday and I had no idea. Later when I was out dealing with a problem at a different guest's room I saw my manager and maintenance person confront him. Sounded like they just told him he needed to go home but I couldn't hear clearly.

Also, my manager is the one that was doing the same thing last year. So I don't think he considers it a real problem.

KogaSteelfang posted...

Okay... It's done. I'm kind of freaking out over it right now. Not because I regret it, but because of the bind I'm putting the others in.

I couldn't bring myself to do it face to face. I waited till I got home from from a really rough night and texted my manager. It's been like half an hour and I haven't heard back yet. He's always glued to his phone... So idk why I got nothing back.

KogaSteelfang posted...

Oh my god. My text refused to send. I had to call him after all. Ugh. I feel like I'm gonna be sick.

Wait, so you mean you did quit?
And I would've tried sending a new text before calling if I was that anxious about it, lol

streamofthesky posted...

Wait, so you mean you did quit?
And I would've tried sending a new text before calling if I was that anxious about it, lol

Yeah, I told him I wouldn't be back. He was actually much more understanding that I expected. I think that made it worse, he's usually confrontational but this time he seemed genuinely hurt and only tried to talk me into staying a little longer so they could find a replacement, but I still said no.

He wants to talk to me again today, but I'm not going back. That place was wreaking havoc on my mental health. So, I'm just going to take a couple weeks to recover, focus on trying to improve my passive income, and if see where it all goes from here.

Try to get involved in a skilled trade. Trained professionals are always in demand and make good money