I called to check on room availabilities at a few hotels in Towson for my parents’ visit next month. Google, of course, gave me a few pushpins just a few miles up the road, so I started calling. What’s amazing is that with each call to the front desks, I was redirected to a call center somewhere else to field my questions on room rates and availabilities. I’m a mile away asking a question to a lady who could be my neighbor, and soon I’m talking to someone on another part of the world who pronounces Baltimore wrong.
On one call, I was connected to Lilly, who spoke remarkably crisply and quite lovely. She asked the standard questions, and when it was my turn to respond, my questions were standard as well. “I’m wondering if you have any rooms for the weekend of October 4th?”
“That weekend. Let me check. I am checking. Yes, we have a standard suite available with one king bed and an attached living room for a rate of $116 a night, with cancellation up until the day of for no charge. You can book now if you have a major credit card or online at our website.”
I asked a follow-up. “I may have more guests, can you tell me if you have another room for that weekend?”
“You can cancel up until the day of arrival for no charge either over the phone at this number or on our website,” she answered.
“No, I’m not asking that. I have another….”
“I can’t answer that,” she interrupted. “You can cancel for no extra charge by calling this number or online at our website.”
“No, I need to know…” I started to ask until she repeated the cancellation routine. Now I’m thinking. Although very human, she sounded very mechanical.
While she was talking, I interrupted her with some Ferris Bueller, “I’m afraid that in my weakened condition, I could take a nasty spill down the stairs and subject myself to further school absences.”
She cut me off mid-stride with, “I cannot help you with that. Good-bye.”
God knows I’m a fan of the geeky side of things and wouldn’t mind having a robot of my own to answer questions directed my way, but at some point, we, the customers, need to be right again.