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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to turn this customer away?

419 replies

QuandryQueen · 27/12/2016 09:37

I've name changed as I'm a regular and this is a work related question and I don't want it linked to my usual account.

I work at a Hotel and what with the Christmas break was the most senior person there yesterday and will be this afternoon and evening. I don't know what decision to make!

A customer reserved a room to arrive today and I noticed yesterday they have put a comment on the booking to say they are bringing their dog. We don't accept dogs except service pets. They booked through a travel agent/Web site rather than direct. I have been off prior to yesterday so not sure if others have seen the note or not. There's nothing in the booking to show that anyone has tried to get in touch with the guest.

I messaged them through the site they booked (a from hotel message not a personal one!), and highlighted where it says on their confirmation that pets are not allowed.

I have no other way of communicating with them. As of yet we have had no response.

What do I do?

  1. message again, not knowing if they will see it?
  2. if they turn up with the dog turn them away?
  3. if they turn up with the dog let them just keep the dog in their room?

They've pre paid and booked a month ago so it's pretty crap that none of us have seen the note before now, but it is well hidden in amongst all the other data on their booking.

What do I do??

OP posts:
Original poster
QuandryQueen · 27/12/2016 10:44

The confirmation states No Pets but that is generated once the booking is made.

OP posts:
Nocabbageinmyeye · 27/12/2016 10:44

I don't think it's shit, doesn't everyone assume all hotels are no pets alloawed unless it's otherwise stayed and not the other way around??

Lesmacarons · 27/12/2016 10:45

I would enquire from your boss as to whether you can make an exception. If you really cannot accommodate them then I would look for a boarding kennels or a dog friendly hotel - but don't turn them out in to the winter at Christmas. Try to find a solution. I have a dog and they really are very silly for not checking - but perhaps they are very silly. If you can have service dogs then I don't see why they can't make an exception.

I want to know what happened - so please tell us.

Cagliostro · 27/12/2016 10:45

Oh dear :( that's awful that it's not clearer on their website

turbohamster · 27/12/2016 10:47

I think as the default policy would be for a hotel not to allow dogs then it doesn't matter how it is stated in the terms and conditions.

Yanbu to turn away

Nocabbageinmyeye · 27/12/2016 10:47

Op I really think you are making this a bigger deal than it needs be, hotels book people out all the time, they didn't read their confirmation, you messaged them and they didn't check, turn them away and be done with in, handle it nicely, offer them something nice, whatever you can but do not let them stay with their dog and go against your own hotel policy. This will not look good for you personally

TaliDiNozzo · 27/12/2016 10:47

It's a difficult situation but I don't see that you have any choice but to accept the dog and assign the service dog room to them. And then rip the third party a new one for not displaying the information.

Original poster
QuandryQueen · 27/12/2016 10:48

Ok I've emailed the manager as I feel like whatever decision I make could end up being the wrong one..... hopefully he will reply.

OP posts:
KeptOnRaining · 27/12/2016 10:50

Lots of booking sites are like that, just list what the Hotel has or does.

I think if they live in the UK then they should have checked, but people coming from a more dog friendly country aren't really in the wrong to assume their dog wouldn't be as welcome here as they are in their home country.

Ubertasha2 · 27/12/2016 10:52

Just put on their notes/tell other guests (if they ask) that this is a service dog. Am sure the dog owner will,put up with people's screaming infants so others can put up with a lovely doggles!

Monkeyinshoes · 27/12/2016 11:00

I think you have to turn this person away or help them find an alternative place to stay. It's your hotel policy not to accept pets, this was stated online. They don't get to rewrite your hotel rules by writing "bringing dog" in a booking form.

My son is allergic to dogs, his last big reaction had his face break out in hives and his eyes swell shut. Thankfully, I've not seen his allergy affect his breathing, I hope I never see that. So far he doesn't react if I've given him piriton first, and this also stops the reaction (though the swelling took two days to go down).

I only book accommodation that says no dogs are allowed. Recently booked our holiday and had to pass up staying in a gorgeous cottage because they allowed pets. I'd be upset and feel lied to if I found a no pet policy, which is a key factor in where I book to stay, turned out to not be enforced.

Obviously service dogs are an exception to the no pet rules. However there are less service dogs in the world than pets so we're less likely to come across them or stay somewhere they'd recently been. They are also better trained. My FIL has a guide dog and you'd barely know he had it with him...it doesn't sniff people (which is what my son would react to...dog saliva from being sniffed, licked or panted on), it doesn't get on the furniture, she just walks or lays quietly by his side.

A service dog in a hotel lobby or bar probably wouldn't be a problem for us, I would rather not stay in a room which a dog had stayed in recently. Though again, as there's not many of them, it's not as likely so most rooms would probably be fine. I'd bring piriton just in case and ask to be moved rooms if he had any problems.

What I wouldn't be happy with is finding the no pet hotel I'd booked was letting any old dog in. I'd be assuming it wasn't a one off, that it actually wasn't a pet free hotel and wouldn't stay there again. If the dog was a bouncy, sniffy licky type, I would be annoyed that we could no longer relax in the public areas of the hotel for fear of bumping into it.

Hopefully the dog will turn out to be a service dog and not be a problem for you but if it's not, I think you should stick with the hotel policy.

BillSykesDog · 27/12/2016 11:00

It's the 27th of December. It's going to be near enough impossible to find another hotel room at short notice. OP, if the hotel manager is a non-starter as far as help goes do you have a head office or an operations manager who could help you out with this? It really is a massive fuck up.

You need to find them alternative accommodation. If you can't get that (and I highly doubt you will today), you'll have to put them in the disabled room dogs normally go in if disabled. But if someone with a disability already has that it might be a problem. Kennels may also be a struggle to find at this time of year.

This isn't really about the dog. But if you just turn them away you're basically putting the owner out on the streets overnight if no alternative accommodation is available. And, yes, that is going to absolutely fuck your hotel up if a review appears saying that the hotel didn't notice and just turned them out on the streets. It's a DM story waiting to happen. You can't expect the guest to sleep rough for the night because the hotel fucked up.

You really need help from higher up.

BillSykesDog · 27/12/2016 11:02

Monkey, RTFT. Nothing about no pets is stated on the site the customer booked from. It's just buried in the T&Cs after the booking is made.

Willyoujustbequiet · 27/12/2016 11:02

You cant except the dog. You must consider the health and welfare of other guests.

Service dogs are different because thats the law. The person booking should have checked but having said that i would do my best to find them suitable alternative dog friendly accommodation.

Rockpebblestone · 27/12/2016 11:07

I would be careful about putting them in a service dog room. What if someone who actually has a service dog needs it?

Alternative accommodation would be best. Also I think the previous poster who said the default is no pets. I mean why assume dogs are allowed and not cats, or birds, or house rabbits, or pet rats etc etc?

Why leave a message in comments and then not check this is ok? That in itself suggests this customer is trying to railroad you.

AchingBack · 27/12/2016 11:07

My dh is a hotel gm, he'd accept the booking this time as it's not the guests fault but he would also get on to all external websites to ensure it is advertised that no dogs are allowed for future bookings.

Rockpebblestone · 27/12/2016 11:10

Some places don't allow children. Really, have people more of a right to bring their pet than a child?

category12 · 27/12/2016 11:11

You can't accept the dog. You can't go against policy when other guests would quite rightly have grounds for complaint if the dog is there. And you can't pretend it's a service dog if it isn't, that's just weak and wrong.

It can sleep in the car overnight at worst. It's not going to harm it.

I would look up alternatives for the people. They had it in the confirmation that no dogs were allowed. It's positively unusual to allow dogs in hotels, it's their fuck up, they should have queried it properly when they got the confirmation with no dogs allowed on it.

Monkeyinshoes · 27/12/2016 11:12

BillSykes Err I did RTFT. Typed a reply and, in the time it took to do that the bit about no pets only being in the confirmation was posted.

Nocabbageinmyeye · 27/12/2016 11:12

It doesn't matter if it doesn't say no pets on the site, most people assume no pets unless otherwise stated, it says it in the booking terms. Pay hotels state per hotels as it's their unique selling point as the majority of hotels are still no pet hotels.

People shouldn't be comparing a pet to a service dog either, they are well behaved dogs with lots of training,generally a far cry from the type of pet people travel to a hotel with one night for

seagaze · 27/12/2016 11:14

I just think the customer was very presumptuous, most people with dogs KNOW that most hotels don't accept them. When I book a hotel I either look up on their website to see if dogs are allowed or else phone the hotel and ask. I'd never automatically presume it's ok. You look for dog friendly hotels before you even think of booking them.

Nocabbageinmyeye · 27/12/2016 11:14

Sorry that should say Pet hotels**

Catsize · 27/12/2016 11:18

If you book a room at another hotel, your hotel should pay for it. Yes, her error for not checking properly, but yes, the note should have been responded to a while ago.

SauvignonBlanche · 27/12/2016 11:18

YWBU to turn the customer away but YWBVU to not follow your policy and turn the dog away, unless it's a service dog.

Hulababy · 27/12/2016 11:18

Does it say on your website that there is a no dog policy?
If so, you can just say no. Adding a small note on the end of a booking to say you are bringing a dog is not a good enough excuse to get away with it, if on the website.
TBH surely with requests like pets you, as a customer, phone up and double check before booking?!

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