Karma

After harassing me for several minutes about our rates ("But why are you still charging foliage season rates? I think foliage season is over!"), the caller finally decided to ask me questions about the rooms, with her husband beside her looking at our website. "Do you have any rooms with, like, tubs?" she asked. "How much do those cost?"

I explained that all of our rooms are unique in their amenities and decoration, and that some of our rooms do have tubs. She then asked me about each room that appealed to her - whether it had a tub or not. The features of each room (INCLUDING whether they have a tub) is clearly listed with each room description on the website, but apparently that was too much reading for her.

"So, like, how many stars are you? Like five stars?"
I explained that we are not a member of an organization that gives out star ratings (i.e. AAA), but we are a member of Select Registry.
"But like how many stars? Four or five? Are you like a nice place? Like probably one of the best in town?"
I said with a high degree of certainty that we are.

She and her husband then continued to discuss with each other while I sat patiently on the line. I finally broke in to ask if there was a certain date they had in mind, because I could then tell them what was available and what they had to choose between.

"Oh. This weekend. Like, checking in tomorrow and staying until Sunday."
"I'm sorry. We are actually completely booked for this weekend," I replied (thank god!).
"Completely booked? Like NO rooms? Why?"
I reminded her of the foliage season which SHE believed to be over.
"Well, who does have rooms? Give me someone else's phone number."

'Please' and 'thank you' are very important to me, and I tend to get testy when they aren't used - but I remained polite and suggested calling the Chamber of Commerce for a last minute referral. "Would you like their number?"

"No. Thanks for nothing." She slammed down the phone.

I'll tell you, I was a little put out for a minute... but then I reminded myself that she will not find any rooms in our town on such late notice. None. And I smiled a little bit.