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There had been a mix-up with my hotel reservation last week. The hotel had a room reserved for me, but for the next day.
I expected when he saw the mistake the desk clerk would say something like, "Let's see what we can do for you." Instead the conversation went something like this:
Him: "We have you reserved for tomorrow, not today."
Me: "Oh...umm...well, I have a meeting in this hotel tomorrow so I need a room tonight."
Him: "Okay, but I have you reserved for tomorrow."
Me: "Right, but I need a room tonight."
Hesitation...
Him: "But that doesn't change the fact that I have you reserved for tomorrow night, not tonight."
Me (trying really hard to hold back my exasperation): "Well, can you do something for me tonight?"
Him (scrolling on his computer...and then scrolling some more...and then looking perplexed...and then scrolling some more): "All we have are suites left..."
You see, this is the only hotel in the small town I was visiting. There are no other options unless I wanted to call the meeting planner and ask if I could bunk with her and her husband.
I took the suite.
Back to me: "Do you have a special rate for [this company] I'm working for?"
Him (smirking): "We never offer special rates to anybody...ever." Okay...that wasn't just a smirk-that was a cocky little smirk.
Me: "Ah, yes, when you're the only game in town, you can do pretty much anything you want, eh?"
Him: Smirked again.
I dropped my luggage in the room and went for dinner. I boarded the elevator to go back to my room at about 7:30. On the floor of the elevator was a cup of ice.
Next morning, exactly twelve hours later (7:30 AM) I returned to the same elevator on my way to check out the meeting room. Now on the floor of this elevator was...a cup of water. Yes, the cup of ice remained all night...and became water.
This is a casino; it purports to be a nice hotel, prices itself that way too. But it's disheveled, disorganized and sloppy. Help staff seldom smile. Paper and stuff litter it inside and out. It's dirty, dingy, a light bulb was out in my suite. I opened up a drawer or two in my room and found garbage in them-really, not kidding.
And, as you've seen, they do nothing to make their largest customers feel special.
There is a magic bullet for this. There is one thing that would make all the difference; one thing that would change everything. And that one thing is...
Competition.
Build another hotel across the street and see how fast things change. Competition would bring smiles and service, cleanliness and bargains for the best customers. Competition would remove the smirk.
Capitalism is a flawed system, but it's still better than all the others. Competition is at its philosophical core, and where there is competition the customer is better served.
Our survival instinct drives us to do better, and competition is that battle for survival. It's how we're made. Where competition doesn't exist, there is little or no incentive to achieve.
Thus, competition, as ruthless as it can sometimes be, is good for the supplier and the consumer.
There is no question that competition overdone can be devastatingly dangerous, but competition done right...well...it'll keep the ice from turning to water.
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