Customer Service Issues at Hotel Futura: Solutions and Recommendations

This article discusses the customer service issues faced by the Washington family during their stay at Hotel Futura. It identifies the problems they experienced and provides recommendations for more appropriate service. The article also includes steps for handling customer complaints, service provisions for customers with mobility impairments, techniques for communicating with non-English speaking customers, and characteristics of an effective team. Additionally, it provides a letter of reply to Mr. Washington, policies and procedures to prevent such occurrences, and methods for collecting feedback. Finally, it includes observations of customer requirements and effective service to six different customers, as well as responses to three different customer complaints according to organizational policies and procedures.

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CERTIFICATE 1V IN COMMERCIAL COOKERY
Name
Course
Instructor
Date
University

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1. The Washington family was very disappointed with their Hotel Futura to stay.
Identify 8 problems they experienced and provide a suggestion for more
appropriate service/behavior/ communication.
Downfalls Recommended Standard
1. Washington’s family was not provided
with a private transfer when they were
coming from the airport to Hotel
Futura1. In addition, the family did not
get a written document confirming
them about the privet transfer.
The Hotel employee Jane would have
informed the family early enough about the
delay of the private transfer
2. On arrival at the Hotel, Washington
family was not assisted in carrying
their luggage. The bellhops at the
reception pretended to be busy but as
if they were surfing on the internet
The Hotel should get employees who should
carry customers luggage so as to avoid
inconveniences
3. The receptionist at the hotel was not
cooperative and active because they
delayed locating Washington's room.
The family was delayed to have their
room ready despite the fact that they
The Hotel rooms should always be ready
before the client's arrival so as to avoid
delayed location
1 Bleuel, William ."The GBR Book Corner Reviews: A Complaint Is a Gift by Janelle Barlow and Claus
Moller | Graziadio Business Review | Graziadio School of Business and Management | Pepperdine
University". Gbr.pepperdine.edu. 2010.

3
made an early booking.
4. Washing ton’s family was not
provided with an early maid as they
had requested.
The hotel should hire more employees that are
responsible for monitoring their clients every
time they need assistance
5. The family also faced a problem of
paying for airport transfers which they
were not provided by the hotel
The Hotel staff should always return its
clients’ money in case they are not provided
with the private transfer
6. The Family was delivered breakfast
very late as the restaurant cashier first
verified it with the front desk every
day
Breakfast verifications should always be
made earlier before, the customers make their
requests.
7. On their last stay at the hotel,
Washington's family was not provided
with a wake-up call which led to the
missing of their breakfast.
The Hotel manager should make sure that he
installs alarm clocks to avoid issues of
delayed or missing making wakeup calls for
clients
8. The family was not provided Hotel
services in time as they were
promised. In addition, the family paid
the services that they were not
delivered
The hotel should always make sure that they
provide services to customers.

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2. Assume that Mr. Washington approached you, the receptionist, during their stay
and raised these concerns then. Provide a step by step explanation for how you
would handle Mr. Washington's complaint in person.
Step-by-Step Procedure
If I was the hotel receptionist, I would inform Washington's family that was sorry for all the
inconvenience that they faced while at the Hotel but we hope to make changes next time. In
addition, I would inform the family that we hope to improve our customer care services
3. If you felt the complaint was above your scope of responsibility, who would you
recommend to intervene and assist?
Response
If the complaint was above my scope of responsibility, I would recommend the Hotel manager
to assist and intervene with Mr. Washington.
4. Assume that Mrs. Washington has a mobility impairment and is confined to a
wheelchair. Provide 6 service provisions that could be extended to Mrs. Washington
relevant for the Tourism and Hospitality industry
Service provisions
1. Customer training
2. Provision of Hotel information
3. Customer guide
4. Accessibility to infrastructure.
5. Advanced customer care services

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6. Accessibility to physical facilities such as buildings
5. Unlike Washington, some guests of Hotel Futura do not speak English. List 5
techniques you could employ to be able to better communicate with non-English
speaking customers.
Techniques to communicate where language barriers exist
Use of simple English words
Use of short and precise sentences
Use of a single word at a time.
use of body language
Speak slowly
6. In the template below, design an appropriate uniform for use in your department,
inclusive of footwear. Provide the character with facial features and grooming
standards that would apply to a typical hospitality employee. Provide a brief written
description to the side to support your sketch.
All women employees are required to wear white Shirts and Black skinny skirts2. In addition,
female employees are also required to wear light closed shoes for easy movement across all areas
of the Hotel. Men employees are required to wear black short sleeve shirts and Black trousers.
Further, men employees are also required to wear white sneakers as their footwear.
7. The Tourism, Hospitality and Event Industry is reliant on strong teamwork. List 7
characteristics of an effective team.
2 Jason Fell. "Questex Renames, Redesigns Hotel & Motel Management". Folio:. 2010.

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Characteristics of an effective team
1. Commitment
2. Organized
3. Leadership
4. Interpersonal Skills
5. Communication Skills
6. Enthusiasm
7. Teamwork
8. Many guests at Hotel Futura come from diverse backgrounds: some are Indian,
Muslims, Jewish, German and Japanese. Identify 6 cultural requirements you may
need to accommodate or provide for people from these backgrounds.
Provisions to provide for cultural requirements
1. Establishing a mixed culture that can be in the position to serve all the plans of the
diverse population.
2. Promoting diversity among Hotel leaders so as to know the benefits that arise from
diversity.
3. Creating a plan for developing and identifying the diverse population of Hotel
managers.
4. Respect for all customers who visit the Hotel so as to effectively manage clients from
diverse backgrounds.
5. Training and educating Hotel employees on how to handle different groups of people
so as to achieve higher organizational performance.
6. Taking care of staffing procedures by the managers so as to achieve business objects

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despite having customers from a diverse background3
9. The General Manager of Hotel Futura has delegated the responsibility of fixing the
internal problems highlighted in Mr. Washington's letter to the 4 department
managers. List at least 6 steps the team of managers should follow in order to get
the task completed.
Steps to resolve the internal service issues identified by the Washington family
1. The team of managers should first listen to the customer's complaints so as to
understand their reasons for being upset.
2. Understanding the customer's complaint. This step involves analyzing the extent of
customer complaint if it is necessary or not.
3. If the customer's complaint was necessary, the managers should defend him but not
involve in any fight. Even though the customers was wrong, the manager should not
fight him.
4. The managers should then find a resolution after listening and understanding the
complaints of the customer.
5. The managers should then resolve the matter so as to address the issues of the customer
6. After making a resolution, the Hotel managers are required to memorialize the matters
into writing so as to ensure customer satisfaction.
7. The managers should, therefore, use the experience they have had with the customer to
learn different flaws in the system.
3 Martin Scarrott. Sport, Leisure and Tourism Information Sources. Routledge. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-136-
36455-6. 2009.

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10. Draft a letter of reply to Mr. Washington, apologizing and thanking him for
bringing the service downfalls to your attention
From,
Mrs. Jane,
Hotel Manager,
Futura Hotel,
Australia.
To,
Mr. Washington
Dear Sir,
I Mrs. Jane, manager at Futura Hotel, drafting this letter to you on the behalf of all other staff
members to extend our apologies to you and your family for the inconveniences you received
while at our Hotel. We appreciate you for having informed us about the matter4.
As the Futura Hotel, we are offering you a free holiday to our hotel as part of the apology. Please
accept our offer and reply to us. We hope to have apositive feedback from you.
Thank you
4 Tavana, Ali Feizbakhsh.; Fili, Saeed.; Tohidy, Alireza.; Vaghari, Reza. &Kakouie, Saed. "Theoretical
Models of Customer Relationship Management in Organizations". International Journal of Business
and Behavioral Sciences. 3 (11).2013.

9
Yours truly.
Mrs. Jane
11. List all the policies and procedures which should be in place in the establishment to
prevent the occurrences in this case study. What would these need to include?
Policies or Procedures Details to be included
Training All the Hotel employees should be trained so
as to understand how to deal with the
different guest so as to avoid inconveniences.
Feedback processes. The guests should be given an opportunity to
provide their feedback about the services
provided.
Identifying service disruptions. There might be a disruption of services that
may be or might not be under the control of
the hotel.
Support person. The Hotel customers should always be
accompanied by supportive people so that
they can have a good time at the Hotel.
12. List 3 formal and 2 informal methods which can be used for collecting feedback:
A formal method of collecting feedback An informal method of collecting feedback
Surveys Interview
Feedback boxes Observation
Usability tests
13. Write an email to Mrs. Myers, quoting the prices for each menu.

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Dear Madam,
I would like to make a list of lunch menu you ordered for as we discussed on phone. The prices
of each menu include the following;
Menu 1 $ 21.50
Menu 2 $ 23.50
Menu 3 $ 27.80
Am looking forward to receiving your feedback.
Thank you
Doreen
Receptionist,
Hotel Futura.
Assignment 2
PART A You will be observed by demonstrating how you identify customer requirements
and provide effective service to 6 different customers as listed in the table below:
Instance Date Duration from ...
to…
Tasks to be
completed What will
be observed?
Instance 1: 23/july/2018 6 hours the customer was
engaged in a phone

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call
John, Male, aged 24
Email
communication
Instance 2: 25/july/2018 2 hours Establishment of the
customer report
Sara, Female, 29-
year-old
Email
communication
Instance 3: 1st /August/2018 3 hours customer inquiries
were clarified with
the help of active
questioning
Jovie, Female, 32
years old
Interactive
communication
Instance 4: 5st /August/2018 6 hours
Janet, Female, 30n
years old
active customer
listening was done so
as to identify the
needs of the customer

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Live Chat
Instance 5 10st /August/2018 2 hours
Kenneth J, male, 45
years old
The customer was
engaged so as to
determine his needs
Customer help
Instance 6: 13st /August/2018 4 hours
Nicholas k, male, 50
years
Products were
displayed to the
customer to make his
priority.
Voice interaction
Part B
You will be observed by demonstrating how you respond to 3 different customer
complaints according to organizational policies and procedures
Instance Date Duration from ...
to...
Tasks to be
completed What will
be observed?
Instance 1: 12th August 2018 7 hours
Washington Robert,
male, 70 years old
Rude staff Training the business

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staff on how to
handle clients
Instance 2: 20th August 2018 2 hours
Irene, female, 28
years old
Faulty product Carry out an
investigation with the
product
manufacturers
Instance 3: 28th August 2018 4 hours
Keith H, male, 45
years old
Slow delivery Train the business
staff on how to
deliver services to
customers accurately
and fast
Bibliography

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Bleuel, William ."The GBR Book Corner Reviews: A Complaint Is a Gift by Janelle Barlow and
Claus Moller | Graziadio Business Review | Graziadio School of Business and
Management | Pepperdine University". Gbr.pepperdine.edu. 2010.
Jason Fell. "Questex Renames, Redesigns Hotel & Motel Management". Folio:. 2010.
Martin Scarrott. Sport, Leisure and Tourism Information Sources. Routledge. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-
136-36455-6. 2009.
Tavana, Ali Feizbakhsh.; Fili, Saeed.; Tohidy, Alireza.; Vaghari, Reza. &Kakouie, Saed.
"Theoretical Models of Customer Relationship Management in
Organizations". International Journal of Business and Behavioral
Sciences. 3 (11).2013.