XVII. Role-Play.

Make up and act out with a partner a dia­logue based on the following situation.

A guest comes up to Mrs. Dale, The Duty Manager, complaining angrily about the Hall Porter's Department. Since there are other guests present, the Duty Manager invites the guest to come to her office to talk things over.

The guest tells the Duty Manager that the Hall Porter yesterday promised to obtain theater tickets for a show in the city. He says that today, when he went to collect the tickets there was another porter on duty. The porter could not find any tickets for the guest, and could not find any record of the request for tickets.

It seems that the porter on duty today did not believe that the guest had made any request for tickets. The guest says that the tickets were promised, that he has made arrangements to go to the theater that night, and that it is the hotel's job to provide the tickets.

The Duty Manager apologizes, summarizes the complaint, and says that the Hall Porter is off duty today. However, she knows where he is. She promises to telephone him immediately and find out about the tickets. She says that if the hotel has made a mistake, she will personally contact the theatre and do her best to reserve tickets for this evening's performance.

XVIII. Most business takes complaints very seriously; but some complaints are more serious than oth­ers and some customers complain more than others. It is often the responsibility of an individ­ual member of staff to deal with the problem.

Sometimes, of course, it is necessary for the staff member to refer an unhappy customer to someone else, such as a manager.

Decide which member of the hotel staff is best suited to deal with the complaints below; perhaps, the duty manager, the assistant manager, the head receptionist, a receptionist, a station waiter, the head waiter, or someone else.