Service Failure Story - Essay Example

Personal Service Failure Story Section One - Story Service failure stories still happen in contemporary service organizations despite the magnanimity of resources that provide authoritative information on the need to provide high quality service to the clientele. Most stories of service failures commonly happen in restaurants and within the hospitality industry. For purposed of complying with the requirements of the current essay, one assumes the role of a consumer or the client in a hotel setting. The incident is hereby described in detail as follows: One made reservations in a particular hotel (termed XYZ Hotel) one week in advance for a business conference. The check in time was scheduled at 9 p.m. on December 19, 201x. On that particular night, the weather was identifiably difficult with strong winds and a downpour of rain that made travelling from work to the hotel difficult. One therefore arrived at XYZ Hotel at exactly 9:45 p.m. and approached the front desk clerk to check-in through the previously made and paid reservation. Upon checking on the reservations and the room assignments, the front desk clerk apparently found out that the room previously reserved for me has been given to another guest who arrived earlier and needed the room due to the bad weather. After waiting for 30 minutes and since I did not arrive on time, they surmised that I would not arrive and gave the room to the other guest. Since the hotel was then fully booked for the night, without available rooms, the front desk clerk advised me to go to the next hotel (ABC Hotel), which is their affiliate hotel, which is several miles away. Section Two – Analysis The service failure story is common in the hotel industry. The proximate cause of the failure to deliver the expected and appropriate service was the need to have abided by the reservation within a stipulated time frame, which differ depending on hotel policies. In this case, the hold time stipulated was just 30 minutes and if customers did not relay any message that they would be late but would come, the reserved rooms would be given to other guests who need it. In other hotels, the moment that the customers defaulted on the time of arrival, without giving prior notice or advise for any delay, the customer would already consider the reservation in default and could provide the previously reserved room to other guests. There was a failure on both parts regarding enhancing awareness for the hold time for reservation. Since I made the reservation one week ago, there was no apparent knowledge for any weather disturbances to occur on the date of booking. On the other hand, there was likewise a failure from the booking personnel regarding advising me on the time frame within which I must arrive at the hotel or to properly advise them if I would be duly late but would still arrive, as previously indicated. However, since it was a long drive and due to the bad weather, my cellphone batteries were depleted and I could not call the hotel to confirm my coming. Therefore, in this scenario, the service failure was primarily due to the bad weather that made me late in coming to the hotel. And without clear stipulation of the hold time for my reservation, I assumed that the room would be reserved until I came (which was apparently 45 minutes after my stipulated time of arrival). And, my failure to make a call justified the hotel’s providing the reserved room to another guest who needed it at that time. Section Three – Service Recovery According to Gronroos (1998), service recovery refers to the actions a service provider takes in response to a service failure. Concurrently, in a study conducted by Smith and Bolton (1998), “when service failures occur, the organization’s response has the potential to either restore customer satisfaction and reinforce customer loyalty, or exacerbate the situation and drive customers to a competing firm” (p. 65). In this personal scenario, the front desk clerk immediately apologized for the dilemma and offered the reservations to be applied in their next affiliate ABC Hotel, even offering me to have their personal chauffer drive me to the location. Since the XYZ Hotel became fully booked due to the guests needed rooms to stay due to the bad weather, I could not expect that there would be available rooms within the night. Their offer to drive me to the nearest affiliate hotel and use the prepaid reservations was an effective service recovery strategy that appeased my concern for the night. The front desk clerk checked on the nearest available room that would be vacated so that I could transfer on the next available schedule to fulfill my business conference obligations for the next few days. The next day was the nearest available date at 11 a.m. when the front desk informed me that I could be picked up from the ABC Hotel at 10 a.m. and bring me back to XYZ Hotel just in time for the 1 p.m. business conference. The service recovery strategies of immediately apologizing for the inconvenience, explaining possible options, according best quality service and available accommodations for the night and offering a return to the hotel through the same chauffer service and reinstatement of my reservation was enough to restore my confidence and trust in the XYZ Hotel’s commitment for excellent customer service. The strategies that accorded immediate favorable response from the end of the front desk personnel confirmed the proactive stance applied by their personnel and their commitment to provide high quality service. The alternatives that were given were most appropriate as these placed the benefits for the customers as their primary interest and found ways to please the customers despite the challenges and scenarios at hand. As aptly revealed from the study conducted by Smith and Bolton (1998), “differentiation through superior customer service (rather than price) and relationship building is critical for service organizations” (p. 91). In times of challenging situations, service provides should be adept and quick in providing the most appropriate and effective response through excellent customer service to restore the confidence and trust of their discriminating clientele. Works Cited Gronroos, Christian. ""Service Quality: The Six Criteria of Good Perceived Service Quality." Review of Business (1988): 9 (Winter), 10-13. Print. Smith, Amy K and Ruth N Bolton. "An Experimental Investigation of Service Failure and Recovery:." Journal of Service Research (1998): Vol. 1, No. 1, 65-81. Print. Read More