Steve Stefanides, is an experienced award-winning reporter of local civic and public interest news. Contact him by email at Stef@coastalbreezenews.com.

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It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered some of the disappointments endured by business travelers over the many years while I accumulated mileage by air, train or automobile. Actually, my recent travel wasn’t so much for business purposes, but instead was for family issues and a little leisure.

I’m not much of a demanding traveler. I do, however, get a bit upset dealing with issues that shouldn’t exist, caused by folks not doing their jobs correctly and taking shortcuts. This is compounded by those who hide behind excuses instead of trying to resolve customers’ issues.

I’ve had the privilege to travel all over the world, mostly for business. The majority of my experiences were enjoyable and the folks I encountered were wonderful to deal with and exceptional at carrying out their responsibilities.

We may, in fact, have caused some travel issues to increase, through our impatience with the airlines. This is especially true when making connections between cities, because FAA officials desire to look good with “on-time” departures. It seems that customer service is secondary to making the numbers look good.

Take for example, when your flight lands at the airport and the gates are clogged due to weather. When you finally pull up to your gate (which happens to be right next to the plane that will take you on the next leg of your trip) and the airline will not facilitate a slight hold on the next flight, closing the door on the aircraft so that they can accomplish their “on-time” goal. 

Nothing is more frustrating than walking up to that gate and finding out they will not accommodate loading you. Smiling, they inform you that they will be happy to book you on another flight five hours later, or worse yet, the next day. Unfortunately, that plane will sit at the gate for another 20 minutes before pushing back to take off. This negates the domino effect that is often cited by airlines as the reason they can’t hold a flight.

Hotel stays can also be somewhat frustrating. Hotels, just like restaurants, have been slammed since the pandemic, faced with personnel and staffing issues. I understand that, but a little commonsense thinking would help keep customers happy.

Let’s say you check into your room and want to take a shower before bed. Now mind you, shampoo isn’t a big deal to someone like me who is “follicle-challenged,” but your significant other wants to shampoo her hair and feel refreshed. You walk down to the front desk and request shampoo and conditioner. You are told the hotel doesn’t have it available now but will hang some on your door the next morning.

Morning comes and no shampoo or conditioner is waiting for you on the door. So, you leave the hotel and walk to a convenience store to purchase some. You go out for a couple of hours and return after lunch to find that your room still has not been serviced. Ok, when you walk downstairs you are told at the front desk, “You have to request service since you are staying two nights.” You ask where that policy is written and are pointed to a sheet of paper around the corner that reads, “Some services not available due to personnel issues.” Don’t you think they should have told you that at the outset when you checked in?

Frustrating as that is, you inquire about the availability of a guest laundry room. “Yes,” you are told that on the third floor is the laundry room and that you can purchase laundry detergent at the front desk (which you do).  After returning to the room and picking up your dirty clothes, you go to the laundry facilities. There you find a large sign on the door which reads, “OUT OF ORDER.”

Then comes the march back down to the front desk where you ask the manager if they knew this. “Nobody told me” is the reply you receive. 

If this was a second-rate chain, I’d blame myself for staying at the hotel, but it wasn’t. For the first time ever, I will avail myself of the toll-free number to discuss this unsatisfactory experience because I am a valued customer, and the hotel wants to hear from me. Good luck with that!

I do have to say that no number of problems could have dampened our trip, it was outstanding. When we did stay with our friends in their homes the hospitality was extraordinary. Thank you, George, Sandy, Mike and Candy, you guys were the best hosts.

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