An investigation into different methods used by hotel staff in three to five star hotels to deal with difficult customers.

Abstract

This is a comparative study, which investigates different methods used by hotel staff in three to five star hotels in the UK and Brunei to deal with difficult customers. It is known that customers always expect excellent service in the hospitality industry despite how tolerable or intolerable they are. The semi-structured interview and close-ended questionnaires covered 2 hotels in the UK and 3 hotels in Brunei. Respondents who took part in the interview were hotel managers, who held the position of hotel manager, food and beverage manager and human resource manager. The questionnaire participants were employees of different departments such as, Front Office, Food and Beverage, Finance, Human Resource, Housekeeping, Laundry and Others. The importance and outcome of training reflects how well hotel employees deal particularly with difficult customers and situations to execute excellent service. It was found that there were mixed views about briefing, training, recruitment, and motivation and how much participants enjoyed their work. However, one can conclude that best practice solely depends on individuals' performance and commitment.