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?!

You can't see how compensation could make things better?

This is the definition of compensation:

noun

1. something, typically money, awarded to someone in recognition of loss, suffering, or injury.

Compensation is literally to recognise suffering and to try and make things better.

Being woken up unnecessarily at 6am is suffering. It's not serious suffering, but it's still suffering.

Of course giving a freebie will make someone feel better, even if just acknowledges the hassle of being woken up early.

Mistakes do happen and compensation in this instance is a way of saying sorry.

Totally agree.

My DH and I have just checked into a bedroom in a reasonably expensive hotel and were given a room with what I think was a small double. I immediately went to complain and am now in a huge room on the top floor in a room that was listed as twice the price. It was two upgrade levels above the one we booked.

I had simply asked if they had another room with a bigger bed as we were disappointed in the room we had and the hotel. Now the hotel has dealt with the issue so nicely we are very happy.

I was charming and polite and the hotel staff were charming and polite.

That's how it's meant to work when there is an issue.

I'm glad the OP is getting some free drinks because of the wake up. I would be happy with that too. The 'cost' to the hotel is minimal but the goodwill they get from giving the freebie drinks is significant.

An apology is not enough for an expensive hotel waking someone up potentially hours earlier than they planned to get up, and certainly far too early for a normal holiday wake up.

An apology is not enough for an expensive hotel waking someone up potentially hours earlier than they planned to get up, and certainly far too early for a normal holiday wake up.
As Ive said before, I've been been put out in a fair amount of expensive hotels in my time but don't see the need to put my hand out for a freebie. Even with false alarms at gone 3 in the morning I just get on with my life. If people want to grab a compo, crack on!

I'm putting in a bulk order for hair shirts if anyone wants one?

😂

But I am totally confused. You posted this morning at 5.21 am! To say you were woken up by alarm at 6am?

You are in Switzerland in a very posh Hotel, and you have spent most of the day on Mumsnet.

Makes no sense.

One of my sons works near Lausanne and says people are really friendly and fun. Definitely much more so than in Zurich, Geneva or even Paris or Milan.

As Ive said before, I've been been put out in a fair amount of expensive hotels in my time but don't see the need to put my hand out for a freebie. Even with false alarms at gone 3 in the morning I just get on with my life. If people want to grab a compo, crack on!

Indeed they will.

Isn't amazing how people are different?

And tbh some free drinks at the bar 🤷‍♀️ if you don't think that's a nice thing, crack on .

*You are in Switzerland in a very posh Hotel, and you have spent most of the day on Mumsnet.

Makes no sense.
*
Yep because it's not really true.

A classic MN exaggeration. 😄👌🏼

Isn't amazing how people are different?
Yeah, some want compo for the slightest inconvenience while others are slightly more stoic and understand life has little hiccups sometimes.

And tbh some free drinks at the bar 🤷‍♀️ if you don't think that's a nice thing, crack on

It's neither here nor there to be honest. It's not something I'd seek out or miss if I didn't get.

Have you heard of time zones?

I remember the time I was staying in a hotel and the shits that had stayed in the room before us set the alarm to go off at 2am. Scared the living daylights out of me!! Couldn’t get back to sleep after that 🙄 🙄

I’d definitely want some sort of gesture if I was paying £800 a night for a room only to be woken early when you’re presumably on holiday. A lie in is a very, very precious thing around here! One being ruined would put me in an extremely bad mood.

Isn't amazing how people are different?
Yeah, some want compo for the slightest inconvenience while others are slightly more stoic and understand life has little hiccups sometimes.

You can understand that life has little hiccups at the same time as expecting a luxury service from a 900££ a night hotel. 😆It's nothing to do with being stoic. It's about good service and the value of a contract.

And tbh some free drinks at the bar 🤷‍♀️ if you don't think that's a nice thing, crack on

It's neither here nor there to be honest. It's not something I'd seek out or miss if I didn't get.*

Excellent👍🏻 But not a sign of a superior anything.

Free drinks are just an acknowledgement of a contract between customer and provider.

I’d be massively pissed! I booked a hotel room on a handful of occasions for the sole purpose of having an ininterrupted night of sleep/a proper lie-in. I have a toddler who wasn’t a good sleeper and I am currently heavily pregnant and in need to catch up on sleep. I’d be very disappointed and would expect at least a proper apology from them, they should be livid.

Your mistake @hellsBells246 was mentioning the price of the hotel. That’s all people are focusing on, that you can afford a nice hotel…

Interesting how not reporting a problem to a business you have made a £££ contract with is seen as a moral virtue by some posters.

Not stoic 😂 etc

And not knowing how to behave. Lots of " you're obvs not used to ££ hotels, poor form etc etc "

Ah yes, 1 hour. So posted at 6.21. So not much of an attempt to go back to sleep and but jump on phone to have a good moan on MN, and then spend the rest of the day here. When in a VERY posh Hotel in a fabulous part of the world. Ah well.

Exactly and a freebie does help. Waking me
up at 6am due to hotel error might put me in a bad mood since I might be sleep deprived for the rest of the day, so a free breakfast for example would cheer me up a little.

It’s really very standard and normal for hotels to give you a small gesture alongside apologies for issues more minor than a 6am wake up call you didn’t ask for. And I don’t stay in super fancy luxury hotels!

I was staying in a hotel recently for work. There was an issue with the heating and I’d had a long journey to get to the city, and was very tried and had to leave my room a couple of times to get it sorted . It was resolved eventually.

I didn’t ask for it but they gave me a free breakfast which was a lovely gesture.

If you'd read the OPS updates before replying you would see that this was a special occasion and a stay that had saved up to take. They had high expectations, so what? I would too

Missed the part where someone called OP a Karen. Then remembered it's still half term

Or Easter school hols, rather

For some people it doesn't take long before you know there's no chance of getting back to sleep. Perhaps its like that for OP.

Maybe- what I know for sure, I'd be lying there enjoying the luxury of this amazing Hotel room and planning what I would do for that amazing day in an amazing location.

Not moaning on MN. But maybe it's just me.

And I have never ever spent a holiday, never mind a night, in a Hotel at this ridiculous price. £850 is quite a price for most, and most would make the best of it.