Don’t Be Like Hilton – The Proper Way to Deal With Complaints
July 31, 2007
There’s only one way to deal with genuine customer complaints (not customers that need to be shot types)  Sort each customer problem out quickly and efficiently before they turn into a complaint. Don’t waste your customers time keeping them waiting “to speak to the boss” – give your staff the responsibility of dealing with the complaint there and then.
To show you what I mean – I’ll explain how Hilton Hotels dealt with a complaint recently – the wrong way, and how the Disney Company deal with a problem before it comes a complaint – the right way.
Hilton Hotels can’t even teach their own grandaughter that you shouldn’t make the same mistakes twice, so I’m not surprised they have a problem training their staff. Here’s what happened when I ordered a room service breakfast at the Hilton Olympia in London at the weekend:
Hilton in room breakfast is not cheap – £40 for two people ($80), so you would expect them to put things right when they get them wrong. The breakfast arrived with no bacon. We called and spoke to the Room Service Manager, who promised to send some right up. Then we realised that one plate was also minus the eggs. We called back and were told by the man who answered the phone that our breakfast definitely contained both bacon and eggs. We insisted it didn’t, so he said he would send “extra” bacon and eggs to our room.Â
We proceeded to eat the cold offerings on our plates when the phone rang. It was the same man. “My colleague says he definitely brought the bacon and eggs”. he insisted. The call seemed to last an age and we finally got his assurance that the said bacon and eggs were on their way. We’d only just rang off, when the annoying man called again to say that he believed that we had actually missed the bacon off our order altogether! By the time he rang off,  what they had brought of our breakfast was stone cold, and we were running late.
Over thirty minutes after our breakfast arrived, there was a knock at the door. The man carried one plate with some cold bacon and eggs – and said, “I’ve brought your “extra” bacon and eggs.  We tried to tell him we’d had none to begin with, but he accused us of lying. On the plate, beside his cold offerings was a small box, containing two chocolates – we threw them in the bin.
By now we were running very late. The checkout girl asked if everything was ok, and I said we weren’t happy with the breakfast but I’d write to complain as I didn’t have time. She ignored me and got another member of staff. I explained the problem, and that I was running late, but she insisted that I wait and speak to the room service manager. We waited and waited, then she looked over and asked if we would like to go for a coffee whilst we were waiting. By then, I’d had enough. “No, actually we’d like to go to Buckingham Palace,” I replied. She frowned and picked up the phone again. Eventually the room service manager showed up. I explained what had happened and she refunded the cost of our breakfast.
So Hilton, not only accused us of lying and ruined our breakfast – they wasted our time. What should they have done? The moment we called to complain about the missing food, they should have apologised and asked whether we wanted a full refund, or whether we’d like a fresh breakfast bringing up (a complete breakfast – not just the missing items 30 minutes later). We would have accepted their mistake, been happy enough that they’d dealt with the problem efficiently, and we’d have returned to stay there another time.
Don’t be a Hilton – keep your customers happy, and deal with customer’s problems quickly, so they remain customers. Here’s a short example of how the Disney Company deal with complaints: A few years ago, my son was trying to get an autograph from one of the characters but the pen didn’t work. “That’s strange,” I said, “I just bought this pen this morning.” A passing Disney castmember overheard me, walked over to the nearest stall, and exchanged my pen for a new one. I didn’t have to complain – there wasn’t a problem, but you can bet I’ve been telling people for years how great Disney’s customer service is.Â
Spot the difference? Disney’s solution was far simpler, and it produced heaps of positive word of mouth, whilst Hilton will be lucky if we ever stay in one of their hotels again, or recommend them to our friends.
How can you emulate Disney, and avoid being like Hilton? It’s simple, allow your staff to sort out customer complaints themselves. You could have a rule list to keep them on the right track – eg. if A goes wrong – give the customers a voucher, if B goes wrong, give them a small gift – but tell them they should always apologise, and put the problem right straight away.
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