Is this the best you can do -- a $20 gift certificate?

Just got this email message from the folks at Holiday Inn Express and their guest relatons staff after my recent night's stay in Sealy, Texas:

Dear Mr. Scherer, > > Thank you for contacting Guest Relations regarding your experience with the> Holiday Inn Express Sealy, TX. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to> bring this matter to our attention and apologize for the difficulties you> had experienced with the hotel staff. > > It is IHG's goal to consistently provide superior service and accommodations> and your comments are very important to us. The feedback we receive from> our valued guests, like you, enables us to target problem areas and take the> necessary actions to ensure similar situations can be avoided in the future.> We appreciate the candid feedback we receive and welcome any opportunity to> improve. > > I have forwarded your comments to the General Manager and ownership of this> hotel, and I am confident they will take the necessary steps to continue to> improve their services. In addition, in an effort to retain your patronage,> I have sent you $20.00 in Guest Coupons, on their behalf. These may be> redeemed towards room or restaurant charges at any of the following IHG> Brands: Crowne Plaza®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Express by> Holiday Inn®, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts®, Staybridge Suites®,> Candlewood Suites®, and Hotel Indigo®. They are valid for redemption until> the expiration date printed. You will receive them under separate cover> within the next 7-10 business days.> > Once again, we appreciate you taking the time to share your comments with> us. We know you have many choices when it comes to lodging and we hope you> will continue to choose IHG for your future travel needs. > > Sincerely, > > > Everett Parra > Guest Relations > IHG

And here was my response to them:

Dear Eve,
Let me share my perspective on this. When I had a similar experience at another hotel chain, the Drury Hotel apologized to me and gave me a free night with a similar deal to the one promised for 100-percent satisfaction at your chain. And, that's why if there is a choice in the matter on hotels, I always opt for them. The folks at Drury were big enough to admit their mistake and rectify the problem. Since that one bad incident, I have spent about 10 nights there with them, especially when on business in Houston and Colorado.
Your $20 gift certificate is not adequate to repair the damage done by your Sealy Hotel. As I said before, I would expect this from Knights Inn Hotel or a trucker's motel, not from Holiday Inn. Everytime I see your ads in San Antonio, I think of the Sealy Hotel treatment, and while I don't go out of my way to share my experiences with this hotel, I will tell others of my treatment and your $20 gift certificate offer, especially in light of your promise to make things right.
If this is the best that you can do, I'll take my business to your competitors. What I truly expect is this:
A) A full refund for the one night stay in Sealy (that's what you promised in the cover thing for my room key if something wasn't right.)

B) An offer to send via expedited freight sweet rolls like the ones promised in your ad for a future breakfast at my home.

If you can't do better than a $20 gift certificate, please expect me to mail it back to you and your answer to the chief executive officer of the Holiday Inn Express. In light of your promise to make things right, a measly $20 gift certificate is not doing things right.

Waitress at Mimi's restaurant exceptional

After watching Becoming Jane with my wife, I went to dinner at Mimi's Restaurant in the Rim. Our server was fantastic in that she and her team worked together to keep our glasses filled with water. When I told her that the fries were cold, she smiled and said she would get me a fresh basket.

I should have taken the time to contact her manager because of her professional and positive attitude, but he or she wasn't available. There wasn't a customer comment form either. So, I left my server a 25-percent tip.

Still awaiting an email from Holiday Inn Express

It's been three business days since I emailed the folks at Holiday Inn Express, and so far, there hasn't been a response from them. The delay tells me they don't really care about my lodging experience. While I am not a road warrior who travels 10 days a month or more, my personal and business schedule calls for some significant use of hotels.

I am amazed at how much companies spend on advertising, but when it comes to providing a quality assurance service, they are slow or underfunded. I know when I had a poor experience at another chain, they at least contacted me via email.

Why it will be a long time before I eat at the Trilogy again

My son, Peter and I had pizza at Trilogy Pizza, the best deep dish pizza in San Antonio.  The service was poor, the pizza cold, and I took the time to email my comments to the owner.  Did the owner call me to discuss my pizza or offer to buy the next one?  Nope.  I saw him at a business luncheon where he told me he saw my comment.

It's been a week since I sent him the email, so it wouldn't have taken him more than two minutes to call so he could have told me that he was sorry that my last experience was so poor and told me that he would take care of my next visit to his restaurant.   He smiled and said he was sorry.

His reaction made me think of a sign I saw at Bigz Restaurant.  It said simply that the cost of making a hamburger to a customer's satisfaction was cheaper than losing a customer.  Well, as much as I love the deep dish pizza at Trilogy, I have a lot of other choices for my business.   Here's hoping that John, the owner, realizes that he has lost my business.

An open letter to Barry Johnson, VP of student affairs at Lamar

Dear Dr. Johnson,

I just wanted to take the time to share my feelings about my son's move into Lamar University.   If you want to make things better for future students, here's my thoughts on ways to improve the process:

1)  When a student gets his student ID, it shouldn't take 10 business days to get through the mail.  When I went to college at UTSA to get my business degree three years ago, I got my ID card in only five minutes.  Your folks in the ID section said my son, Peter, had to wait two weeks because the card had a magnetic card with financial data in it, but my UTSA card also had money placed into it for meals and for print jobs at the school.   Maybe, it's time to find another ID card vendor that can provide a card that can be given to a student in just a few minutes.  As a public relatons manager to MDI Security Inc, I know that there are security card vendors that can provide a card and allow the students to put a pin number to protect the info.  Perhaps, it's time to get a new or updated system into place.


2)  Your mail process.  How is it that my student can get his key to his room on Saturday, but he has to wait until Monday to get his mail box?   One of your senior staff said that it was because the mail folks don't work on Saturday, but I know that there are a lot of authorized contractors who work on Saturday, especially when they have 1000 new customers.

3)  The dining hall.   My son reports that he couldn't get a meal until Monday.  It's a good thing that I left him with a lot of groceries until the dining hall folks open for business.

Here's hoping that you look at these comments as a way to make things better for students at Lamar.  I admit that you're the first university administrator to give me your private cell phone number during my son's orientation, so I know you care about the process at Lamar.

Want a cinammon roll at the Sealy Holiday Inn Express? Forgetaboutitttttttttttt!

After dropping my son off at college, I stopped at the Holiday Inn Express in Sealy, Texas. While the person who took my reservation told me that breakfast was served at 6:30 a.m., I got up to check out at 6 a.m. to see one of their famed cinnamon rolls in their kitchen.

Alas, the door was locked, and the night clerk would not allow me in to sample one of their famous rolls. I've stayed at this chain several times and I have had breakfast before opening time at this and other hotels.

And, when this chain makes it a point of advertising these rolls, it's a crime for them not to serve me at least one.

So, as a true six-percenter, I took the time to look up the customer service feedback to write to the holding company for Holiday Inn to let them know that this was the first time that one of their hotels wouldn't at least give me a roll for the road.

I am hoping that I will get more than the usual apology form letter. When I had a bad experience at the Drury Inn, I contacted their service folks. I got a nice letter, a call from their manager and a free stay at the hotel when I was back in Houston.

I know some people would accept poor service and never say anything, but I think it's only reasonable to have a hotel that allows me to provide services that they advertise and not take my key through a slot and return my credit card receipt.

Here's hoping that the folks at Holiday Inn are serious about their customer service, just as much as they are about promoting their great cinammon rolls.