Posh hotel un-asked for alarm at 6 - compensation?!

[hellsBells246]

Staying in a v posh hotel. Think 900 Swiss francs per night...

Just got woken up by a bloody alarm. Picked up phone and got a recorded message saying we had asked for a 6am alarm. We hadn't!! It woke us both and now we can't get back to sleep.

Rang reception, who were puzzled about the alarm but not v apologetic.

AIBU to think they could offer a small gesture to apologise?? Eg a free bottle of wine?! Or AIB greedy and mistakes happen?!

I'm with you and will unapologetically complain about noise affecting my sleep. The one thing I expect from a hotel is a night's worth of sleep. From my experience, hotels accept they are in the wrong when they don't deliver.

Two bottles of free champagne, one night’s free stay, and some sort of guided tour would be my absolute minimum. Demand to see the manager.

Thanks! Yes I didn't think I needed to spell out "just to let you know that is what a cheap hotel did when it was MY mistake and you are in a much more expensive hotel and it was their mistake" but perhaps I did.

Who cares? These things happen.

Not that long ago, on a cruise, the entire ship was woken at 2:30am by a voice speaking direct to our cabins. An hour late the captain came on to apologise for the disturbance!

I do think it's un-chic to ask for something though. I'd just very politely tell reception "just to let them know in case it was affecting anyone else" and see what happened. Sometimes I think you can really tell who's worked in customer facing jobs and who hasn't.

I think they mean “grovelling” but I like growling better!

If you want compensation go to the USA, the rest of the world tend to roll their eyes at demands for compo when minimally inconvenienced.

Some people are really willing to accept anything on behalf of other people on the internet. I bet my bottom dollar they wouldn’t be anywhere near as complacent if they’d forked out for a decent hotel and had this happen to them.

it never ceases to amaze me. The peak one was the person booked into an expensive hotel who was told the electricity was going to be off over night where they stayed and apoarently they were massively entitled expecting to be able to access electricity in a hotel room they were paying a small fortune for.

🐂 💩

Come on OP, don't be such a push over. This is Mumsnet and there are plenty of posters who get a cheap thrill out of posting over the top 'vitriolic' responses.

I don't think you are being unreasonable. It's not the biggest thing but I'd expect and want a decent apology and, maybe, some sort of compensation. Any decent hotel would want to do something to make it right with you.

Yes, I knew it was just a typo for grovelling really, but I am an extremely silly person and it made me smile. 🙂

Not read the thred so I know it will have been said but picking up your phone to come on here would keep you awake.

Why are you wasting even a minute of your holiday on Mumsnet!!!

Well, yes. It was a mistake on their part. Nobody died. Why would you need compensation ? I don’t think the responses were vitriolic and I think your optimism was misplaced if you thought MN would agree with your entitlement in expecting a grovelling token of their regret.

Some people are really willing to accept anything on behalf of other people on the internet. I bet my bottom dollar they wouldn’t be anywhere near as complacent if they’d forked out for a decent hotel and had this happen to them.
I've already said about the apartment I was on last weekend. No worries, stuff happens. We had a similar expierence in Kirkcudbright in a hotel there last summer.
Stuff happens, no one was injures. It's annoying but I wouldn't expect compo.

I would be fuming if I’d shelled out that much to be woken so early, even Premier Inn’s guarantee a good night’s sleep. I have worked in hotels and you should be offered an apology by way of flowers or a bottle of wine.

Wow. A golden opportunity missed for the whole cruise ship to be substantially compensated for such a heinous error !!😀

Sounds appropriate and I definitely don't think you were unreasonable to complain and expect some kind of small freebie to compensate.

If it was a budget hotel I'd say get over it, but you've paid a lot of money. It's outrageous to be woken up at 6am when you didn't ask for an alarm.

Compensation culture really has taken over the world, hasn't it?

They made a mistake. It was annoying but nobody was harmed or suffered any loss. An apology is due; compensation isn't.

If I'd paid £700+ for a night in a hotel, you can bet I'd be complaining if I got woken up at 6am. That's not 'compensation culture' - that's simply expecting to get what you paid for.

I would be really annoyed. Mistakes happen but if it ruins your sleep when you have paid for a room in an expensive hotel I would expect them to be at least very apologetic. I would complain as they need to make sure it doesn't happen again.

To all of you who think the OP is an awful person for thinking she might have been given a decent apology and maybe a little something to say sorry what would you do If you were running a hotel and this happened to one of your customers? I'd be glad the OP had made me aware of the issue and would want to do something to make sure the OP was happy.

I think people are happy to overlook mistakes and inconveniences if they are handled well.

I agree. Being woken by a telephone ringing if you haven't asked for it can be stressful for some people and if it is at 6 a.m. very difficult to get back to sleep.

Unplug the phone tonight.

Their mistake meant OP didn't get what she paid for which was a good nights sleep.

I’m surprised by the strength of people’s reactions. It is fairly reasonable to expect not to be woken up when you haven’t asked to be, and that a top hotel should acknowledge a mistake and perhaps offer something to the person who has been inconvenienced.

It’s not remotely the same as someone fabricating an incident like deliberately dropping a fly in their food so they can then demand compensation.

I think “Karen”-hunting has become a bit of a sport.