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 don't think I would expect a bottle of wine as compensation, @hellsBells246 - but I would certainly want an actual apology for the very early wake up!

Poshest hotel I ever stayed at, the fire alarm went off at about 23.30.
We eventually got back into our room at about 4.30am.
They forgot our alarm call in the morning, so we had less than a hour to get to our flight (small airport thankfully) so didn't eat breakfast and nearly missed check in time.

Didn't even get an apology.

Well aren’t you kind to let me know in such a lovely way.

Wishing you a lovely evening.

There are no health and safety issues here. There was an alarm sounding when it shouldn't and a client pissed off because it woke them up when they are staying in a posh hotel at over 700 pounds a night.

It was a human or a glitch in their system, all part and parcel when you stay in a hotel. How do you think hotels deal with "freebies" and bigger insurance premiums from clients blaming them for getting sick on a meal? Do you think they absorb the premiums and freebies or raise their prices?

You are incorrect. It is a potential problem with the phone system, which could result in a health and safety issue.
We would take it very seriously and hotel systems is our business.

Enjoy the rest of your stay OP. Unfortunately, MN is like a nest of jealous vipers on their imaginary 6 figure salaries and roast chicken that lasts 4 meals.

Enjoy your free drinks 🍸

I think it's a general attitude that comes with the power of Internet, every man and their dog complain and post it all over Twitter/X/FB

Fancy everyman and their dog being able to complain. The outrage.

In the past you could be ripped off, treated badly or subject to sloppy service and say NOTHING.

Tough shit on poor business.

This happened to me recently - also in a very nice hotel. However, it was at 7am but on a Sunday. I was really upset about it as I'm a single parent and exhausted and was so looking forward to a lay in! They apologised and gave me a free coffee. I don't think it was sufficient myself but let it slide.

Mistakes happen so I'd never expect any hotel to do anything more than be apologetic if they woke me up like this but when you're paying that much money for a night in a hotel (an insane amount to a skinflint like me who wants to retire early), you're also paying for a certain level of service. That service is meant to be above and beyond what you'd get in most hotels.

Over the years I've stayed at a few places where they've offered a token thing like a bottle of wine or some chocolate when they've messed up even in a small way. And they've all been much cheaper than £800 a night. Can't imagine "demanding" some freebie because of a stray alarm call though.

Wonder though if there's someone who should have had that call at 6 am and who's now missed their flight because they didn't get it 🤔 They'd be the ones who need a free bottle of wine!

you dont sound like you are used to being in expensive hotels op. it’s like you paid too much for you and now want to get your money’s worth but being compensated for every little thing that might go wrong.

Quite the opposite. You clearly don't. They expect to compensate people for inconvenience and errors.

Jeez people need to chill out (not you OP).
The hotel might give you the wine as a gesture anyway. I hope they do.

Few free drinks and a sorry sounds like a lovely outcome.

I'd have been pissed off too about getting woken up at 6am on holiday.i paid my dues when the kids were little. No more early mornings for me. Fuck that!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday. And hopefully some lie ins

Stop talking about "could". "Could" didn't happen in this thread. Good hotels have extra security alarm systems for serious problems. The thread is about an alarm that because of human or technology, woke up the OP at 6..00 am, and pissed her off.

She wanted a freebie, and she got it.

Did you piss off a member of staff or another guest somehow? They might have ordered the wake-up call...

Folks. She's stayed at the Ritz, the Adlon and similar.

I don’t think YABU I suffer from insomnia and once I’m up it’s usually very difficult for me to get back to sleep. It would be nice for them to have at least apologised profusely.

the other night for example I went to bed at 11pm but was awake until 3am, if an alarm had woken me up at 6am i probably wouldn’t have been able to get back to sleep so I’d have struggled by the rest of the day on 3 hours sleep.

It's quite a horrible attitude insinuating that by complaining OP is somehow beneath (you?) (other people?). As if rich people are somehow better than the rest of us - benevolent and uncomplaining? It's just not true.

Expensive hotels spend large amounts on making their guests feel valued. I used to work with the accounts of a large, high end and very well known hotel group. For my job I needed to know the nature of their expenses - they had large amounts spent on gifts for guests. Either gifts when something had gone wrong or pro-active gifts for valued customers.

Your phone ringing at 6am is hardly a little thing. It's very disruptive and something that should be within the hotels control.

@magicmole
Can't imagine "demanding" some freebie because of a stray alarm call though.

The OP didn't 'demand' anything though? Did you put demand in quotes to be dramatic!
If you owned a hotel what would you do if a customer accidentally got a wake up call? I'd offer them something.

Compensation should only reimburse you for what you've lost due to the incident. I.e. if you've lost wages due to injury etc. But you have absolutely no financial loss due to this, therefore expecting compensation is silly.

That being said, if I worked at the hotel, and made that kind of mistake, I would probably put a bottle of wine or box of chocolates in the room, or even offer free desserts at dinner etc, as it's always worth keeping the customers happy.

But to expect compensation is a bit grabby.

It's not like OP is expecting a refund of the nights stay. Just an apology and token of that eg drinks, chocolates, breakfast. Totally reasonable! It sounds like she got that and hopefully both parties are satisfied.

you dont sound like you are used to being in expensive hotels op. it’s like you paid too much for you and now want to get your money’s worth but being compensated for every little thing that might go wrong.

Oh please. Give us break @grennleaves . You don't think people who stay in expensive hotels complain??? Right.

Dear god. what's with this you're 'not good enough ' narrative?

Can you point out where OP said she expected compensation?

The pretentiousness is off the scale. Oh top hotels couldn't possibly make a mistake 🙄

And tbh a good hotel is going to welcome someone letting them know there is a problem with phones.

Think of the round of drinks as a thank you for that.