Return To Red Lion Hotel
About a year ago, I wrote about a dismal night I spent at a Red Lion Hotel in Sacramento, California. But I was also impressed that they cared enough to monitor their customers’ experiences, and when I reported my dissatisfaction through an online survey they responded and tried to recover quickly.
Part of their recovery was a gift certificate for a free stay at any Red Lion Hotel. This past weekend, I used that gift certificate at the same Red Lion Hotel in Sacramento that was the source of my original complaint.
This hotel has a great location near a major shopping mall. Even though the hotel is older than most in the area, the facility is clean and well maintained. The front desk staff was responsive and friendly. The only reason I will probably never return to the hotel is none of the rooms have internet service. They do offer free wireless in the lobby, but because I do so much work online that’s too much of an inconvenience for me.
The fine print on my gift certificate said you had to call a number provided to make a reservation. I screwed that up by making my own reservation online and did not catch the mistake until a few hours before I was supposed to check in on a Saturday. But I was able to call that number on Saturday and the agent cancelled my online reservation and set me up with what had to be one of the best rooms in the hotel. That’s impressive.
I probably won’t return to that specific Red Lion property because of the internet issue, but because I know Red Lion truly cares about their customers, I will continue to consider them as an option when I travel. If you fail to impress your customers in the initial transaction, and they do you the favor of letting you know, make sure you impress them with your recovery. Well done, Red Lion.
Related Posts:
Service System Failure: A Tale Of Two Hotels
Service System Recovery: Back To Peet’s Coffee
Harrah’s Lake Tahoe: Service Recovery
About the Author: Bret L. Simmons
Welcome to my blog! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of my posts. I publish all constructive, non-anonymous comments. 
Great post Bret,it is about how we react to our problems, unfortunately some many things are out of control, for example I could train my direct reports and direct contacts to do what is right for our customers, to excell at it, however when the shipper at the end of the process does not ship the product to the right customer. Surely I will have to face the situation and accept our error, and try to resolve quickly, for example by offering a free overnight shipment, or personal hand carry. So it is all about how we react where our customer truly feels it wasnot personal, or on purpose, it is just something that happened but we are here to accept the error, and fix it quickly.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
February 3rd, 2011 at 12:33 pm
As you point out, Juan, stuff happens. Even the best service systems will fail occasionally. I’m ok with that as a customer as long as the recovery is good. But if you fail, and then refuse or fail to recover correctly, not only will I not be back, I’ll make sure to tell everyone I know not to visit your business either. And these days word of mouth travels faster and farther than ever. Thanks! Bret
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Mr. Simmons –
Thank you very much for your comments regarding stays at the Red Lion Sacramento. I was pleased to read that your second stay was positive overall.
I did want to let you know the internet problem will be fixed and I have forwarded your comments onto the management of the hotel for direct follow up. Each Red Lion Hotel offers free wireless internet and I am sorry that the service was not available during your stay.
Thank you again for your comments and I appreciate you recognizing that we truly care about our guests.
Best regards -
Mike Castro
Director of Brand Services
Red Lion Hotels Corporation
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
February 3rd, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Welcome, Mike. I was glad to have something good to say about Red Lion given how hard you tried to make things right. That’s the way it should be. I think you guys do care, and that matters big with me. Thanks! Bret
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What a nice post from Mike above; Bravo!
I’ll say it again, Bret: A service organization makes a mistake if it merely preaches good service recovery to their client-facing staff. Practical, flexible empowerment is key. This means upper management needs to do a 360 to make sure that highly-usable systems and resources are always in place to correct slip-ups (even if, to Juan’s point above, it’s “not our fault”). In my experience many companies seem reluctant to invest dollars in developing those systems and resources… So gaps persist which make for confusion, frustration or even the downright sabotage of (presumably) good corporate intentions.
This is duobly sad because ofetn the same systems and resources needed for service recovery are the leading-edge engines of positive culture change among staff in general. I’m talking about initial setting of clear expectations in the hiring process, impactful values and procedures training, continually-updated procedural guidelines, streamlined forms or templates, clear communications pathways, and measures of accountability that are available to all and understandable by all.
In service areas where variables are complex, such as the hotel front desk, there also needs to be a formally-reinforced and trained-out authorization framework to allow for the exectution of spontaneous out-of-the-box “Plan B” service exceptions, as needs dictate.
Without thse tools, even the highest-performing staff will not be able to react with focused attention, positive attitude and expert agility when bumbles occur. Which is too bad, because well-executed service recovery can not only retain, and even deepen, customer loyalty… it can refresh the staff person as well. As John Maxwell said, “The definition of high morale is, ‘I make a difference.’” It feels good to succeed in putting something right, and get recognized for it!
Empowerment leads to engagement.
Disempowerment leads to detachment.
And either way, the ripple effect spreads, and spreads…
Hope you’re feeling empowered to make a difference today! – - Beth
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
February 4th, 2011 at 11:32 am
I was very impressed with Mike’s fast response, Beth. You are so correct, impressive service results from well designed and consistently implemented systems, not wishful thinking. Thanks! Bret
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