Quote:
Originally Posted by Bilbo1967
Well, I know that the system hadn't failed to the extent that key cards wouldn't work, or even be programmed (several people who were pre-booked with allocated room numbers got key cards processed as I watched - and, no, I have no idea why they were different to most other people there). It was the booking in / room allocation system that was down hence, as they explained to me, they had no idea which rooms were free so couldn't allocate us one.
I'm proud to say though, that I didn't get angry with the individual staff involved - I'm pretty sure that they were having as bad an experience as I was, and it wasn't their fault. Proud, because I was starving hungry and I'm seriously not renowned for my patience in those kinds of circumstances.
I do think that the hotel processes should include some kind of manual work-around for this situation though. It was "the system" or nothing. As a software quality consultant, I'm well aware that total dependence on IT systems isn't a foolproof plan!
|
Waaaaaale,
Back in the day, to use that overused term, we did. We still had the old room boards, with cards. And yes, from what you've described, that would be the room allocation system, which is ALSO tied to housekeeping--so that they'd know that a room was empty, cleaned and
thus, available.
In the olden days, we'd pull out the old card board--think of a big, flat shoe hanging bag, kinda. You put cards in that said "occupied," cards that said "empty and cleaned," cards that said "empty" (implicitly uncleaned), etc. We did it all by hand.
But it's been...wow. Major system were put in, for most of these, in the bulk of hotels, in the 80's. It's been a while, I'd guess, since most hotel employees have had to use "The Board." ;-)
(In fairness, I
should mention, "The Board" for a major hotel--like, for example, a Fairmont Princess, with over 600 rooms, can be simply overwhelming to manage by hand.)
Hitch