HOW MAY I DIRECT YOUR CALL?

One would think that ordinarily, when someone decides to call a hotel that they might know what they are calling it for.  However, in my world this is not the case.  I always find myself in hopes that people will ask for various guests that are registered or the reservation department or even the front desk.  Working at a hotel that houses over five thousand employees and just as many guests, the chances of you calling and asking to speak to "Bob" for example, really puts us to task.

Today, I had what I term as a "Challenging Individual".  A gentleman called up the hotel and asked to speak to someone named "Jesse".  For those of us who deal with many names on a daily basis, "Jesse" or "Jessie" can be a man or a womans name.  This particular gentleman's phone line was slightly distorted as I attempted to have him repeat the name of the person with the last name included.  He then proceeded to yell the name back to me.  I then had to use my follow-up question which if a name is given that I do not recognize it, it's a basic standard that helps me narrow the field a bit and in turn expedite the call in a more timely manner.

So, I popped the question!  "Is this person a guest or an employee of the hotel?"  Well, that sealed the "tone" of the entire call.  Being a man of common courtesy and politeness...I am sure...he simply replied, "My God, he's an employee!  Don't you people know who in the HELL you are working for?"

I simply replied, "Yes sir, and I do apologize but I did not hear the last part of the persons name to whom you were seeking."  He came back with..."Uh-Huh....sure! I have heard that one before!"  This kind gentleman then proceeded to slam the phone down in my ear.  So, while I had a few seconds between calls I played around with what I thought I heard until I narrowed it down to a man named "Jeff" with a similar sounding last name. 

As luck would have it, my next caller was the same exact man.  He then proceeded to forcefully ask for the same man named "Jesse" but with the last name that I had guessed at & this time without me having to ask him for it.  I replied with, "Oh, do you mean "Jeff?" and before I connected him through I quickly concluded the call by stating.."My pleasure, one moment for "Jeff"....thank you & have a nice day."  I heard him utter a sarcastic "hmmph" comment before he was transferred out of my ear and on to his Happy Joy Joy day.

In conclusion, my answer to this situation is....really?  Did the caller need to take the overall tone of the call in an entirely different direction, simply because he was into the "Everyone should know who it is I'm seeking" mode?  Unfortunately, in this day and time, this seems to be a regular type of call that always leaves me stunned as to where peoples phone etiquette is and what happened to their common courtesy.

Taking an extra minute or two to be courteous to other people is a sign that you are an intelligent person, and that you are striving to make things easier for anyone that is trying to help you.