The Importance Of Customer Service

Back at my desk today and, typically, the weather is beautiful, unlike the typically British Summer weather last week when I was away for a few days in Norfolk. I love that part of the country but this time it was a bit cold and rainy, not that it spoilt anything as we had a lovely time.

thornham beach 2

Rowan loves the beach and went every day, running around like a mad thing every time his paws touched the sand on Brancaster Beach. Lots of good food, long walks and a little bit of retail therapy – perfect for a mid summer break away from the office.

Anyone who has read my blog before will now that we do try to go to Norfolk at least a couple of times a year, normally staying in the lovely village of Thornham. This break was in fact booked around a year ago. We were actually due to stay at the Lifeboat at Thornham, acquired in October 2015 by Agellis Hotels after the disaster of Marco Pierre White`s brief ownership, in March this year . The hotel was to undergo a complete refurbishment so we were really looking forward to seeing the new rooms.

lifeboat 4

 

You can imagine how disappointed we were when, two weeks before we were due to go, a phone call came from the hotel to say sorry but the rooms were all closed and would not be ready until July.  Bearing in mind this was the week after Easter and alternatives were not easy to find we were not too pleased but there was nothing we could do and just started to look forward to seeing the new rooms at the end of June, when we were repeatedly assured they would be ready.

The room we have is downstairs, so perfect for the dog, and has twin beds, essential as we this is a girly trip and we definitely don`t want to sleep together! However about a week before were due to arrive the phone call came again – sorry but the room wasn`t ready. We could have another one, upstairs and a double bed! We would NEVER stay there again and told them so.

thornham 4

To be honest if I could have found an alternative I would have cancelled but it is the middle of the summer and everywhere else was full, we just had to make the most of it but not happy is a massive understatement. We arrived, the room was lovely but small and the bed not the king size promised, things were getting worse. To make matters worse there were no cupboards or draws in the rooms to put anything in, obviously designed by a man !

A little knock on the bedroom door turned things around. Would we like to have the room across the corridor, as well as the original room, as they had let us down so badly, and no extra charge. The staff were great and did everything they could to make sure we had a good stay. The food was lovely and, despite the rain, we had a really good time. To make things even better, when we cam to pay the final bill, we had been give a massive reduction on the room rate – without even asking! Excellent customer service and we will now definitely stay at the Lifeboat Inn again!

thornham beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About Me

I have been working in travel since 1991 when I realised there was more to life than the Banking Industry. I started as an Overseas Representative with Thomson Holidays moving to the beautiful Island of Rhodes, where I spent 3 very happy summer season. This was interspersed with winters in Spain -…

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