Why do people treat receptionists like shit?

[NotSummerYet]

I have worked for the past two months as a hotel receptionist and have handed my notice in today as I'm fed up of being treated like shit and looked down upon by both staff and hotel guests.

Staff speak to us receptionists like dirt, and try to palm off any parts of their jobs that they don't want to do onto us. There is a distinctive difference in how management speak to non-reception staff and how they speak to reception staff. Some of the back office staff are no more senior than us yet are allowed to treat us as if they are senior to us, and are also allowed to offload things onto us that they (openly admit) can't be bothered to do. Also, receptionists were not invited on the office staff Christmas do, even though we are all supposedly a team.

Then there's the customers; mostly speaking to us all as if they're better than us, and thinking we are either their servant, or working there because we're too thick to do anything else.

All that for minimum wage and not even a shift enhancement despite having to start at 6am for an early shift and finish at 11pm for a late!

Why do people treat receptionists like this?

Sounds like the venue management are at fault. I work in a hotel and this is absolutely not the case for us. All staff are included on Xmas party and the hierarchy keep their manners regardless of which member of staff each is talking to. An environment in which people think being senior is a permission to be rude and treat people like shit needs a shake up imo.
customers don't get to speak to us like shit either, management put a stop to it pretty quickly.

Wow I'm sorry to read that OP! I'm really surprised to read that actually as I assumed you would get shitty guests but thought you would at least get treated decently by other staff. I know in my firm the receptionist is a vital and professional job and treated as such.

Maybe you should become a doctor's receptionist so you can be the one who is rude to others! (Just joking!)

No decent person speaks to a receptionist like shit, regardless of circumstances. What you describe is just rude.

Maybe it’s because you’re front facing that you see a higher proportion of arseholes.

I’ve experienced it too - people assuming that I am a secretary because I look young, have blonde hair extensions and false nails. Their tone immediately changes when they realise I’m actually a 15yPQE lawyer…

I worked as a receptionist for many years

thise that treated me well got upgrades, those that were nasty didn’t get the nicer things the place had to offer 😊

I briefly worked on a hotel reception, worst job I've ever had hands down. The owner straight up lied to me in my interview, saying I would an equal number of early shifts/late shifts but in the few weeks I was there I was only given lates. He also refused to tell me the most basic information such as how much the rooms cost per night! When people called making enquiries I would have to find him so that he could give them his spiel (try to find out how much he could fleece them for). So customers would get impatient and rude with me, understandably I think as I could not actually help them with anything!

The final straw came when he and his manager called me into the office at the start of a shift and accused me of having stolen a significant amount of money from the safe. The safe that only they had the keys for. It was clearly an excuse to get rid of me because I'd recently told another staff member there I wasn't happy with all the late shifts and the fact I'd been lied to and was going to be looking for another job, she obviously snitched on me! Funnily enough I never heard from the police about all that money I'd managed to steal from a locked safe I had no key for!

Even funnier still that hotel ended up on that Hotel Inspector tv programme and has now shut down permanently!

I would say the opposite.

Some receptionists are downright rude - especially doctors' receptionists.

I’ve worked as a receptionist before although not in a hotel. I took it on part time whilst I was freelancing in a more creative field and needed the extra cash. It was amazing how often people assumed I was a bit dim. People do all sorts of jobs for all sorts of different reasons and I got tired of being spoken to like I was stupid. I also remember an infamous time that someone came up to me and told me there was a huge poo blocking the toilet. I was like “what do you expect me to do about that?”. The genuinely thought it was my job to go in there and deal with it.

Try working as a temp receptionist.

I was a temp for two years. Mostly did receptionist work. I was either ignored or spoken to like a piece of shit.

Luckily, I was only ever in the same place for a week or two.

Jesus Christ, where do you work? They all sound like a bunch of cunts. I don’t think it’s normal, there’s obviously a toxic ethos at your place of work.

“Then you’re going to have a REALLY long wait. Next customer please!”

I would also expect management to kick him out and I’d be reporting him to his company for his behaviour! Utterly unacceptable and not funny in the slightest.

It's sounds horrible and I can understand why you want to leave. However, I have been a receptionist for over 40 years, and no-one has ever treated me like shit, nor have I ever been on minimum wage.

’optician’ can cover 3 jobs- ophthalmic optician(optometrist), contact lens optician, dispensing optician.

Contact lens opticians are specially trained professionals who can only do contact lenses basically. It’s not as common as a job anymore as they can’t do eye tests, eye health checks and are only limited to contact lenses. They can’t dispense glasses either.

dispensing opticians focus on the glasses side of it- fitting, measuring, choosing the best lens option, that sort of thing. Similarly to contact lens opticians, they can’t do eye tests or eye health checks and they can’t do contact lens related things either

Optometrists/ophthalmic opticians are what most people think of as opticians- they test eyes and are responsible for eye care/eye health, infections, pathologies, basically everything to do with eyes. They’re officially called ‘ophthalmic opticians’ but also called optometrists or just opticians. They can also do the jobs of the other type of opticians- contact lens and dispensing opticians so the job sort of covers all 3 roles

hope that clears it up!

One of the biggest annoyances I found working on reception was people when people couldn't get what they demanded they would automatically try to leapfrog over you to someone more senior. It didn't matter if the manager said the exact same thing, they would never just accept it from you. So many times I had people who thought they were important wave me away with their hand and say they wanted to speak to someone who 'knew what they were talking about'. If you can perform miracles for them they assume you are stupid or uneducated.

*can't, sorry

Thanks @fruittwisterz. The world of opticians is very complicated!! Good to see my optician ophthalmic optician can do everything. Knew she could because she is absolutely brilliant!!
Thank you to all the different types of opticians for taking care of our eyes. x

Hmmm the thing is that most "services" are becoming crapper and it's frustrating to have to deal with. I guess that's why there are more disgruntled customers...

To be honest it's more the other staff testing receptionists like shit that bothers me

When I was interviewed as school office staff (not even technically receptionist but reception team) I was asked on two occasions by two different schools how I would cope when other staff were rude to me or talked down to me. It is a know fact that people treat administrators and receptionists like dirt.

I’m currently temping at a school in the office and I’ve been told not to read or respond to office emails, not to update registers, and not to call parents 🤷‍♀️ I am literally emailing the woman next to me to say ‘xx is poorly today, won’t be in school’ because another member of staff won’t let a temp do basic admin. It was literally my exact job in my old school.

when my old admin team all got covid and we were all off for ten days at the same time the entire school ground to a halt and we were told to work from home or the school would have to close.

@C2190 An optometrist is the person qualified to test your eyes, like a dentist and has a degree or similar in optometry. An optician is (usually) someone who can dispense the prescription/glasses/lenses. Training for this obviously but they aren’t able to test your eyes. I caveat this with what the local optometrist told me when I called her an optician to DS.

@thenewaveragebear1983 it's so weird how workplaces seem to just accept it rather than tell staff members to stop being rude to receptionists and admin.

I guess it's because reception and admin jobs are traditionally 'women's' jobs.

I think the opposite, that the receptionists always end up treating the customer like SHIT. They are always new and just cant answer any questions competently. I asked if they had my reservation and they said no. Could not even spell my common last name to look me up. I stay at this hotel several times a year, yet I am not in their system. My review for that occassion was a big fat zero. I have stayed all over the usa as I travel and also like to ride motorcycles long distances. Receptionists are quick to charge anyone the prime rate, slow to ask if you have a discount and always cutting you off in any and every conversation. I am 57 yo and stayed in thousands of hotels in my lifetime. 99.9 % of the receptionists are horrible. even at 5 star resorts.

Interesting post, years ago I was a receptionist and it was the best job I've ever had. I loved greeting all the clients and meeting new people all the time. Often I'd chat to people and even make friends with them. I worked in an office so maybe that was the difference.

A hotel in my town is constantly advertising for a night receptionist, at least every couple of months the job will be advertised. It's a big chain hotel too.
I know why now.
I don't know why people have to be so rude and obnoxious to someone who is just trying to do their job, whatever that job may be.

BUSI