When you find yourself answering the same queries over and over, it can make you think, “There must be a better way.”

Visiting an old workplace is a weird experience. Seeing old friends and coworkers still bound by the same toxic policies and stresses that once held you stirs rippling memories like a stone skipping across a pond's still surface before coming to rest in waters that were better left undisturbed. While you attempt to make small talk and reconnect, you can't help but detect feelings of resentment from the old comrades you left behind; while once you suffered together, now you're free from this par…

When working at a hotel, you get to meet a variety of different people, and some of them are the type to attempt getting a discount or even an entire refund for the smallest of things that could easily be fixed if only they would use their mouth to communicate effectively instead of to argue. In this case, Karen thought she was going to win gold by conveniently complaining about her bathroom fan not working after she'd already checked out of the hotel. She approached the front desk clerk, OP, a…

Employees in customer service should be paid considerably more for the number of things they have to put up with on a daily basis… and minimum wage just isn't cutting it anymore. In this case, OP was working the front desk of a hotel, and described her experience with a Karen guest as the worst she'd ever had, and that's saying a lot, considering OP has been in the business for over seven years. This particular lady's arrogance outweighed anything that OP had ever encountered. Throughout Karen'…

A guest at a hotel couldn't believe the way the front desk clerk was talking to her. She thought it was rude — so she tried to get the employee fired. There's that old saying that goes, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar,” meaning you should be nice to people in order to get what you want. It's that simple, and it works a lot of the time! People who work in customer service are far more familiar with the kinds of customers who are quick to anger, and this hotel guest is a great examp…

Quitting impulsively may not be ideal, but sometimes less than ideal is more than necessary.

Businesses and their owners take on more of the risk and, in return, take more of the reward, paying workers a small portion of the value of their production and taking the rest for providing the means. This is the basis of a capitalist system and the argument used by your boss for why he's not giving you a raise, despite the fact that he himself just bought another new Porsche and vacations in Monaco every summer. It's true; when you're working for a business instead of starting your own, ther…

Whatever happened to cleaning up your own mess?

Dodging Karens while working in the hospitality industry is an unattainable dream for optimists. After working with a wide variety of guests and their entitled attitudes, the word optimist disappears from your dictionary. In this case, OP was working the front desk at a hotel, enjoying her night when an unreasonable potential guest entered the lobby. The man, who we will dub Karen, asked OP for a room that night, and was told by OP that they would need to put a refundable $100 deposit on his ca…

You might see some wild things on the job as a hotel security guard.

Does anyone have it harder than the front desk agent in this age of horrific Karens, annoying teenagers, and entitled folks?

There are some people you just don't want to mess with, and front desk workers at hotels are definitely among those people.

Some folks will lie, cheat, and steal to get a cheaper rate, even if the difference is just $8.

Hotel clerks have to deal with so many stupid questions. This front desk manager wrote about how they work in a national park at a hotel, and as with most customer service roles, they have some guests that can never be satisfied with their surroundings. One guest approached the OP to ask this gem of a question: "I know the county has a burn ban going on right now, but since the lodge is on federal land, it doesn't apply. So I can start a fire on the grass just outside my cabin , right?" The poo…

While traveling, picking the proper hotel room for your visit doesn't seem like the most important detail… until it's time to rest and unwind on the first night of your stay. One fed-up hotel clerk shared their story to r/Talesfromthefrontdesk. As they recall, this husband made room reservations at this hotel, but he chose a busy weekend to stay. When choosing between two rooms, one large and one small, he hastily chose the small one. But later on, his wife was furious with the arrangement. The…

Some customers just can't take no for an answer, and can't understand why they're being turned away in the first place, even when there's a perfectly good explanation. That's what happened to one hotel front desk person who was working the night shift and encountered an entitled self-proclaimed world traveller . As they worked the night shift , the OP recounts that this Ken called up and tried to make a reservation . When he encountered issues, he just truly couldn't wrap his mind around what w…