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 worrying about the people who didn’t get their alarm call and have overslept.

They probably apologised but OP expected them growling on their knees begging for forgiveness handing over their whole wine cellar as compensation.

The replies here are due to jealousy. As soon as you mention posh hotel and the price, the green eyes come out. How dare you have any money and do nice things? You deserve to be woken. How entitled you are.

ABSOLUTELY they should be making a gesture. I feel at least a discount of that nights stay. I mean if premier inn can give a good night guarantee then so can posh swiss hotel. Go and ask for the manager when you go to breakfast and nicely explain that you've had a disturbed sleep due to a mistake on their part. Be nice but firmly explain that it's not what you expect when staying somewhere of their ranking and cost. You may get a dinner or a bottle of wine but you may get more. Good luck.

@BoringName2 ,

I find your attitude a bit strange. Firstly a fire alarm and wake up call are both some kind of software glitch (in all probability). And getting into a cold street in night wear at 1am is a lot worse than being woken at 6AM.

And yes, of course everyone makes mistakes at work, and should forgive themselves for them. For most minor mistakes, an apology should be sufficient and you move on.

It is quite childish to expect to be compensated for minor errors. 6AM is already morning, not 2am or 3am. All that happens if everyone is compensated is hotel prices go up.

I don't think the OP is being greedy for expecting something in return, when she was woken up at an hour one does NOT expect on holiday, at a hotel she has spent a lot of money for.

I stay at nice hotels once in a blue moon; if I have scraped the money together to do so, I'd be very annoyed at having my rest disturbed due to hotel error.

When this happened to us (couple, 30s) at a posh hotel (£700 a night, en suite, carpet) we spoke to the manager (man, bald, 50s), he publicly (breakfast room, 9am) flogged (cat o nine tails, mace) the lady (19, minimum wage, confused) about her grievous error. We weren't satisfied.

Thing is, we don't know that the OP does have any more money than anyone else. My family stayed at the Hilton a couple of years ago for one night, but this was a really special treat for our family (one night in a nice hotel and use the swimming pool there) and we did without other things to afford it. We're not rich!

OP. What is the smallest inconvenience that you would demand some form of compo for?

Your DC are in a different room? I’m betting they’ve done it as a prank…

Have a shag and get back to snoozing op

You wrote “Or AIB greedy and mistakes happen?!”, but then don’t like it when people haven’t agreed with you 🤣

You can normally set automated alarms via the telephone keypad.

this has happened to me once or twice- I have a sneaky feeling the previous guests checking out have done it as a “joke”.

i would find out if that’s the case and feedback that they should clear any automated alarms after each check out.

Mistakes get made, hotel workers are often not very well paid.

Hope you have a good night's sleep tonight.

I'm thinking back to that recent thread about crap service at Mcdonalds nowadays (limp, cold food, waiting forever, delivery drivers being prioritized) and starting to understand why the UK has a particular problem with this kind of stuff. Do people really think this is OK and just shrug it off?

I'm not a difficult customer, but I'd expect a proper apology and some sort of freebie or voucher or reduction after this, after spending a really hefty sum on a hotel for the night.

Any chance the DCs might have had a hand in this? This is just the sort of stunt my sister and I might have pulled as a prank when we were 10.

Either way, if it was an automated voice that woke you it could easily have been an IT glitch or another guest mistakenly setting an alarm for the wrong room (possible in some hotels, believe it or not) and nothing to do with the reception staff. Might be worth a gentle complaint to the duty manager once you're up and about (rather than the night receptionist) but talk of compensation is well OTT, IMHO.

Don’t be daft! How can an alarm waking you up at 6am ‘spoil the night’? The night is over!!! And as for being ‘exhausted’ the next day… words fail me 😂

No, the replies are due to disbelief that someone could be so grabby. In fact, it’s hilarious that the OP was straight onto Mumsnet 20 minutes after said alarm call. And why would anyone want a bottle of wine at 6am???

You could always have sex, snuggle up and fall back to sleep. A nice way to use a surprise wake up.

YANBU. I think at any hotel, regardless of price, the absolute bare minimum you can expect is not to be woken unnecessarily by the hotel staff.

For those who say that you're being unreasonable, I'd like to know what kind of poor hotel service you think is deserving of compensation?

Was the alarm from reception or is it a DIY thing you type into the phone as a guest?

I wonder if it’s a guest typing in wrong room number if it is the DIY type? Or previous guest .

Not unreasonable at all. If you paid £800 for (let's say) 8 hours sleep and were woken 2 hours early that's 25% of what you paid for damaged. If you ordered a pair of £800 shoes that were missing a heel you would be sending them back.

OP isn't asking if she should 'demand' wine, just whether it's unreasonable to expect something for the poor service. At £800 a night it's not unreasonable at all. Totally commonplace in customer service where service is poor and the experience is what guarantees repeat business and referrals.

Maybe try not going on your phone and posting on mn then reading through the messages 🙄

She wasn’t. It was an automated alarm call - you know, the ones that you set on the room phone?

If it's a 900 francs a night hotel in Switzerland, I'd expect a proper apology - a bottle / chocolate / fruit basket they usually put out for any new arrival wouldn't be that hard to arrange and goes a long to retain your customs. Speak to the duty manager.