Ten New Customer Service Decrees for the Hotel Industry – By the People, For the People
February 22, 2010 – Los Angeles, CA – Broken amenities, dirty pool, poor customer service, construction noise, broken promises, no hot water, or no water at all. We’ve all heard the horror stories about some hotel stays but starting today, consumers will no longer have to worry that the hotel room they booked for their family vacation, honeymoon or business trip will be less than perfect.
The Guest Bill of Rights®, launched today by GuestRights, is a list of ten customer service principles that all GuestRights member hotels must agree to uphold including:
| Guests have the right to clearly stated prices and policies. | ||
| Guests have the right to have all complaints properly addressed. | ||
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The Guest Bill of Rights covers the gamut of problems that consumers could encounter at the hotels they frequent, including bad service, bad food, safety issues, hidden fees and unfair policies, among others.
These good faith industry principles were not created by hotels as a way to increase sales or bring in more business; in fact, they were established by an experienced hotel guest – by the people, for the people. As a former commercial photographer and frequent traveler, GuestRights founder Carl Schneider was inspired to develop the Guest Bill of Rights after a particularly disastrous holiday in Hawaii when his hotel didn’t provide the amenities it had promised.
The experience was eye-opening for Carl, who realized that in absence of a governing body maintaining the customer service levels offered by hotels, there was no one held accountable to the guests who paid their bills. He developed GuestRights and the Guest Bill of Rights with the intention of providing guests with a way to guarantee the best customer service possible from hotels.
But consumers aren’t the only ones who benefit from this program. The GuestRights membership program offers two very important benefits to hotels: increased consumer trust and increased revenues.
In the last year, consumers have become increasingly disenchanted with the recent pricing changes in the airline industry – a distrust that can often be mistakenly placed on the hotel industry because of its association and proximity to the airline industry. Distrust means that consumers don’t fly, which means that many of them don’t stay in a hotel, making an already weak market, even weaker.
Given the increasing consumer distrust of the hospitality industry as a whole, customer service is an operational imperative for hotels looking to develop long-term relationships with guests, as these repeat customers are the most lucrative for a hotel. Hotels that do adopt the Guest Bill of Rights will find that their occupancy rates and revenues increase over time because their customer loyalty will grow, making it a vital tool for hotels facing a weakened travel market.
Also, by following the Guest Bill of Rights, hotels will have a way to distinguish themselves from their competition, an advantage that really does make dollars and sense. If a consumer was presented with two different hotel options, each priced identically with the same amenities, room quality, location, etc., consumers will always pick the one that has pledged to give them better service.
GuestRights and the Guest Bill of Rights provide a new way forward for the industry, one that will ensure the prosperity and positive ethos of the hotel industry for years to come. A limited number of complimentary hotel memberships are available for properties willing to honor and uphold the Guest Bill of Rights. To sign up for a charter membership, please email Carl Schneider at carl.sch@guestrights.org.
For more information about GuestRights and the Guest Bill of Rights®, or to arrange an interview with Carl Schneider to discuss hotel customer service ethics, please contact Jennifer Rodrigues at jrodrigues@thinkinkpr.com or +1.305.316.3719.
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About GuestRights
GuestRights is a membership program for hotels and resorts whose purpose is to maximize the hotel guest experience and increase hotel bookings and revenues. To achieve this, GuestRights developed the Guest Bill of Rights®, a list of ten customer service principles that all GuestRights member hotels must agree to uphold. GuestRights also offers its member hotels a CommentCard Service and a Dispute Resolution Service, which were designed to help hotels implement the new customer service mandates that the Guest Bill of Rights demands. For more information on GuestRights and the Guest Bill of Rights®, please visit www.guestrights.org