To say I'm a Receptionist not a Dogsbody?

[ReceptionistNotDogsbody]

I work as a receptionist in a very busy hotel. There are 6 of us in our team, and we all have a job description that keeps us busy; we don't just sit at the desk saying hello to people walking in, and checking the occasional person in, we actually have constant reports and paperwork to do, too.

However, the rest of the staff in the hotel seem to think that we're there to be their PA, and constantly try to offload the parts of their jobs that they dislike, to us! One particular woman in another department always gives us the parts of her job that she cannot be bothered to do, and expects us to do them, whilst getting the 'glory' of doing it herself!

Customers are also the same; thinking we're there to act as their PA whilst they're in the building. I'm happy to do receptionist duties and always happy to go over and above expectation, but I'm not here to be someone's slave.

Our management are totally ineffectual; I've mentioned everything to my manager so, so many times and they, whilst sympathising and making the right noises, have made it clear they will do nothing about it.

It seems that all departments in our workplace can do as they wish, except reception!

AIBU to get sick of being treated like a dogsbody?

PPs suggestion of going to your manager and saying "CF wants this, I'm happy to oblige but i also have x, y and z. Please prioritise for me and let me know which ones to drop"

If you need someone to man reception while you go to the loo, if you have had email requests to, say, allocate rooms - reply to that email with the request. Keep doing it, and then when nobody answers? you can tell them how give and take works.

Generally i'm not a fan of "that's not my job" but sometimes you have to be firm.

Finally the "what's she like?" comments about allocations and overbookings? My reply to that would be "not doing her job, that's what she's like" every time. And then every time you do it for her, email with a detailed list of what you did, cc to your and her manager. Every time.

Just say you don't have time to do it. Surely they will stop asking you after a few refusals?

With regards to unreasonable things guests expect us to do; well, one wanted me to stay on their phone on hold when they were in a queue that would take hours, whilst they went swimming and had dinner. Another wanted me to phone round local garages to try to find a new part for his car. Another wanted us to vacuum his car for him. We're receptionists not Personal Assistants!

Is your hotel part of a chain or group? There is the option of going to the area manager or someone more senior, at least on the matter of overbooking, which will damage the hotel's reputation. Not that if there is a good booking system that should be something possible to do in any case.

Sorry that you feel you are regarded as the lowest of the low - that’s not right at all. It does surprise me, I must say - I always thought receptionists were quite high up. They are always very slick and professional and I am often quite scared of them! Especially as they seem so professionally turned out, unlukw the scruffy, sweaty mess I am in holiday! Try speaking to your manager again. They should really be dealing with lazy or incompetent staff rather than expecting you to pick up the load. Bless???

Oh we are totally regarded as the lowest of the low; we get excluded from staff meetings, never get a break, ever (I had no lunch today!) and are just seen as people to mop up whatever tasks no one else wants to do. I've even heard someone from another department laughing and saying 'Give that to reception' when it was something she and another colleague didn't want to do

Yes, helping out should work both ways, and like another pp I'm quite surprised that as you're reception you're treated this way - IME it's usually f&b that is bottom of the heap and ends up with the crappy jobs.
I work on reception a bit, though we are smaller than you sound and we do reservations, bookings etc all as part of it.
I get what you mean about guests, I had one ask me to go into a meeting and take minutes, which would have been the whole afternoon - he wasn't amused when I said I couldn't leave the desk unmanned.
Fwiw you've kind of got to manage expectations of guests and I have found that saying that X isn't a service we currently offer however I will forward it on as a suggestion to the management team works quite well.
From the guest pov, for some, you're the lowest of the low in hospitality no matter what department you're in, you just happen to unfortunately be the face of it and so you get it more often, possibly with the exception of f&b staff, as I said expectations are high and getting higher, and they don't have to be reasonable or even possible sometimes to be demanded and then complained about because they're not going to happen.

I feel for you. I was in the Customer Service Team in an open plan office with lots of other teams and we too, were the lowest of the low. Whilst other teams got whisked off for lunch or little get togethers in the middle of the day when someone was leaving, we were barely allowed to leave our desks. It gets to you after a while. I have no advice really, just a bit of solidarity. And to say, I'm no longer in Customer services and would never want to be again!

@Joy2TheWorld that's exactly the kind of thing that happens. We're not even invited to the staff xmas meal and night out because 'someone has to man reception and it wouldn't be fair for some to go and not others'