Ready, Aye, Ready

Recently I've had two minor complaints that were dealt with in a way I felt was wrong. It's not that the people involved were rude or difficult but simply that their initial reaction was not what would have been easiest or most appropriate.

The first was in a hotel in Houston where my desk phone didn't work. Instead of immediately replacing the phone, the desk attendant came to my room, thumped the keypad a bit, jostled the wires and declared it working. It wasn't until I suggested she listen for a dial tone that she finally opted to replace the phone.

The second was here in Calgary when I noticed my carwash ticket was getting close to expiry. When I asked to have it extended because the carwash was closed and I didn't really want to lose it, I was informed after a bit humming and hawing that the expiry date wasn't really what was printed and that it would last longer. Personally I would have expected it to be easier to simply reissue the ticket rather than risk an irritable customer; it's not like the car wash was going to lose money as the ticket had already been paid for.

There's no particular moral, message or thesis to be drawn here. I'm just noting stuff.