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Reservations and Low Expectations

Written by: Don Doman

Article Overview: John arrived at the hotel only to be told that he had a room with a twin bed. "I'm six foot four," John used as part of his argument. It didn't help. His confirming the day before didn't help, either. The clerk advised him to curl up in the twin bed.

Reservations and Low Expectations

John Procaccino, a Seattle actor and radio talk show host was telling of his recent trip to New York. He is six foot three plus. When he's irritated he says he's six foot four.

John carefully made reservations requesting a "King Size Bed" to accommodate his height. He didn't name the classic hotel, but it's on Park Avenue. The day before arrival he even called to double-check that he had what he wanted. The clerk announced he was "confirming the request" in the computer as they spoke.

John arrived at the hotel only to be told that he had a room with a twin bed. "I'm six foot four," John used as part of his argument. It didn't help. His confirming the day before didn't help, either. The clerk advised him to curl up in the twin bed. He did.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld in an episode from his television show illustrates the same problem. Jerry goes to a car rental agency and is told they don't have a car for him.

Jerry: I don't understand. Do you have my reservation?
Rental Car Agent: We have your reservation, we just ran out of cars.
Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation.
Rental Car Agent: I think I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don't think you do. You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.
-- script from Seinfeld

Of course the problem is that hotels and rental agencies are dealing with "current" customers. That is their priority. Customers change their minds. They stay an extra day or two in their hotel room. They don't return their rental car on time, or they extend their reservations. Customers that are about to become current customers get leftovers.

Complaints to customer service representatives will produce nothing except apologies and maybe a "thank you for being so understanding" reward. A customer service rep cannot wave a magic wand and produce a king-size bed or a four-door sedan.

I'm sure everyone has similar stories. I remember another comedian being asked about what he looked for in a woman. He replied, "Low expectations." I think this is perhaps a policy we need to adapt when traveling: Low Expectations. I don't see hotels or car rental agencies changing their policies. I think this is something we just have to live with.

In traveling we need to accept several possibilities:
Things will go wrong.
We will miss connections.
Our plans will go awry.
We won't always get what we want.

If we all adapt a policy of "lowered expectations" we can probably survive trips better anyway. Ummm, it sounds a lot like life.

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