How to fail at customer service (holiday/hotel post)

Now when it comes to staying away from home I am not a complete snob. I have enjoyed many a good time in caravans and chain's like Premier Inns. That said I also do like the luxury of hotel's like the NEC Hilton. I have one expectation, the hotel does what it claims to.  So when I book a hotel that had 24 /7 room service I am of the opinion that I can get that service.

With this in mind when heading to Glasgow last weekend with one of my bff's for TG Live  we were looking forward to a long weekend of quality service at the Crowne Plaza, especially as they had phoned on the Wednesday before asking for us to change rooms and matching the Hilton for price as an incentive.  We had been promised a fully furnished luxury hotel with breakfast included and access to the bar that included cocktails.  To us this sounded perfect as we tend to kick loose on the Saturday.

We did not expect to walk into a building site with the stench of paint. But as we checked in we should have been warned.  First of all the booking was incorrect and we had to stand there whilst they corrected this. At this point noticing the restaurant and bar were out of commission.  The receptionist assured us that this work would be complete by the morning.  By this point we were both feeling heady from the paint fumes.  There was no concierge service to out room leaving my friend to struggle with both our suitcases and bags as I hopped on my crutches. They never asked if in an emergency I could hopped 4 floors of stairs.

The room was typical of this level of hotel and I must say the beds were bigger than the average single and not short of pillows.  Now having been on the road since 6.30 am and stuck in a wheelchair, car or plane for all of that I was itching to move about and explore. We navigated the weird lift system to get to the temporary restaurant and bar. Well I have never been so horrified by such an unwelcoming area in my life. Shutters up, lack of seating tacky decor and sin of sin staff who really couldn't give a dam. Needless to say we didn't stay there and went into the city for a look around, shop and eat.

Laden up with shopping,  we stopped off to have a drink with another friend at her hotel and catch up. At least her bar was welcoming. I think a t this point niggling doubts were running through our heads.

Apart from some hyper noise from happy guest's we slept well and were ready to face the day a fresh.  Eagerly we headed to breakfast in the newly opened area. Well there was less of the paint smell but instead a queue from hell. The place had the organisation of a sinking ship and yet there were tables not even laid ready. Yes they had all the typical breakfast items and the cooked items were labelled well. However I was unimpressed with the tea/coffee service and that was just the 1st day.

We were set to see the first show and to kill time we finally treated to the specialist coffee bar advertised so we sipped lattes whilst enquiring about the nights cocktail menu. It was unavailable but promised for the evening. Due to the soggy weather we asked about the route for the internal walkway to the Hydro, only to be told it wasn't open. We subsequently were to find this was a lie and it was open. When we returned from the show with a friend we were to find out that the coffee machine was broken and we were unable to order even filter coffee. Thinking this was only a bar issue when we were to order room service the request for coffee wasn't going to be a problem.  However it was coffee was no longer available in the entire hotel.

To be honest that set the tone for the evening,  when we headed to the bar we were about to find our Saturday night ruined. Cocktails! What bloody cocktails even a simple black Russian was unavailable.  In fact the total attitude from the bar staff sucked. Tables were left cluttered with half eaten food,  customers weren't served in order and to be honest the favourite word seemed to be no. By midnight I had lost rag all I wanted was a brandy and coffee then bed. After letting the duty manager know for thE second time about the disgusting service suddenly a coffee for two appeared.

To be honest I thought it couldn't get any worse on Sunday,  but it did. The breakfast queue was as bad if not worse than ever. We dared to order the waffles and pancakes between us. When they did show up warm there was nothing with them no butter syrup nothing.  So we asked for some . Five minutes later when the food was getting cold the waitress sent a manager to tell us  there wasn't any syrup and to use jam! By now my friend had got fed up and gave me her plate not wanting to eat cold pancakes.  Any way half way through me eating them what arrives but blinking pancakes syrup. Wonderful!

After my cigarette post breakfast I got the lift back to the room only to hear that people were having problems with their water supply.  So I was a little concerned about my shower.  Sure as black is black when I tried the water we had neither hot or cold water. Kind of ironic being sited next to the Clyde river.  That lead to another complaint which was graced with even even more complacency.  By now I think I was at the stage of crying.

How we put up with that place for another night I don't know,  but it did involve eating in Glasgow City. When we checked out and complained about this circus we were told they would remove the room service charge. Even after we spoke to the duty manager I still felt they were failing the customers.

Anyway we were treated to club class on the flight home thank you British Airways for the   upgrade Whilst we were enjoying the luxury buffet my friend decided to check her receipt from the hotel only to find they had invoiced her one amount and then charged her over a hundred pounds extra. She is still dealing with this via her bank. But that about sums up the treatment we received from the Crown Plaza Glasgow.  We won't be back