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Guest Blogger Time with Leigh Pujado.
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So I read a lot of blogs. I read a lot of blogs about other blogs. I know it sounds weird, but it's a good way to round up all kinds of stuff along a topic.
Slashfood.com is a good example. Just selections of good food, some from blogs, recipe sites, whatever.
Another site I actually really like is the Consumerist. A site based around the fact of power to the people. How to get things done when you get screwed over. It's happened to everyone, sometimes it turns out well. I had a problem with an iRobot Scooba. I dealt with the customer service far too many times to get it replaced, but in the long haul, they fixed everything and sent me out a beautiful brand new Scooba and I'm happy with the company. You see, there was a problem, and they fixed it. Took a little longer than it should have, but they fixed it.
Now this is something I deal with constantly in the Innkeeping business. Someone has a problem, let me know. I'll do everything I can to help fix it. Issues will arise. If the AC conks out (or Conchs out for those who like the "island humor") I'll have it replaced, move you and probably give you a little bit of a discount for the inconvenience. Now if you have a problem with something, I need you to tell me and give me a chance to fix it. If you head home and then just unload in an email to me, it doesn't give me a chance to fix your problem and you had to sit there and suffer though it just so you can bitch.
This brings me to my point. On the Consumerist I ran across this guy
A professional complaint letter writer. This is "his thing". He obviously lives for this. Now I don't have anything against a complaint letter. A well worded letter is often the best way to have your issues heard.
The part that gets me is the "For Fun and Profit".
Compensation. Scary word. Because everyone feels that they should be compensated. Something doesn't go right and you are owed something. Some people feel that they are owed something when everything DOES go right.
You see, I have nice, clean, reasonably priced guest houses. There is a certain level of service that you should expect from my establishment. You will receive that. You will receive some of the best service on this island! On the other hand, I don't have any room for just bitching to get something free. I can normally pick out the people who have an issue with something, and I can pick out the "Discount Diver". I keep my rates as low as I can. I don't have a lot of room for loss. I'm a little bitty guesthouse and if I give you something for free, it's coming out of my pocket. It truly means that there is a problem and you deserve something. Careful. I have had discount divers in my office before telling me that the place didn't live up to their standards. Telling me this knowing that they chose the cheapest place in the neighborhood, and the cheapest rooms I have to offer. I have often given these people a full refund .... followed by the instructions to find another place to stay that will make them much happier than mine did. Sometimes they said that they didn't want to leave. I reply with the fact that I am not going to be able to give them the stay that they believe they "deserve". I have had them fight to stay (knowing that my establishment is a GREAT DEAL!), I've had them flat out refuse to leave. ... I've called the cops.
When you try and get something for free from me that you don't deserve, You're swindling me. I don't like to be swindled. I know that we live in a world of faceless corporations, automated answering machines, endless loops of no one to talk to. That isn't me. You have a problem, I have someone to help fix it. I'm not a faceless entity, I'm a guy at a front desk who tries his very best to keep his guesthouses running, making a little profit, and my guests leaving Key West knowing that they had a personal experience.
For the "Professional Complaint Letter Writers" out there. Come see me at the front desk. Don't waste the stamp after you told me everything was ok. Give me a chance to fix it.
Go ahead and write that letter though. Try not to get a paper cut as you shove it up your ass.
"Fun and Profit" ... ugh. If your life's fun is complaining then you need a better life. Maybe I'm being a little hypocritical here. I know I complain on this blog quite often. It's my diary. This is where I vent these things out of my system so they don't poison me like they used to. I don't look to "profit" from this. It's just my life. An optional read at best.
Posted by landon at June 4, 2008 11:48 AM
Landon,
I've been reading your blog for the last couple of years since I visited key West from the UK (not at your establishment, alas). I genuinely empathise with your recent entry and must applaud you for the way you keep your blog entertaining and to the point. Keep up the good work, my pseudo-friend, and rest assured that some of us appreciate your efforts!
Robin
Posted by: Robin Baker at June 6, 2008 8:29 AM
Well said!
Posted by: Ben at June 6, 2008 11:10 AM