A Response from the Sheraton Ghetto…
On Wednesday, I posted about my less than lovely stay at the Sheraton Miami-Mart. Well, turns out, people listen.
Wednesday at 3pm, my phone rings, and it’s the executive offices of Starwood Preferred Guest. They’ve read my blog, and are beyond, beyond shocked. They were truly amazed, in fact, to find out that a hotel that flies their flag could be so… well… crappy.
I’m not going to get into what they’ve done here to make me change my opinion, but suffice it to say, it was significant. They went above and beyond what was expected of them, going so far as to follow up not once, but twice, but make sure I was satisfied.
Now, I want to make it clear - This was Starwood Preferred Guest that did this - NOT the Sheraton itself. Which makes me think that the people who own that particular Sheraton (as it’s not a company owned hotel, but rather, a franchise,) need to read Raving Fans, and more importantly, take some customer relations classes. Although, to be fair, I did get a letter from the General Manager of the property as well. However, it took four days, and prodding from the corporate office before I did. Had I not written the post, it would have been, as I mentioned, “we’ve comped your cheeseburger.”
Comping a cheeseburger is not the way to deal with someone who falls into the “gives you 85% of your revenue” category. As brand marketers, we need to know this - hell, it should be our gospel.
Fortunately, it would seem that SPG does know this - and went out of their way to make up for what that specific Sheraton didn’t.
Well done, SPG. You’ve kept me.
3 Responses to “A Response from the Sheraton Ghetto…”
What, you’re not going to tell us what they gave you?
WHERE IS THE TRANSPARENCY? WHERE IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY?
Good for Starwood!
Last week, I linked to a post on Peter Shankman’s PR Differently blog in which he complained about a bad experience at a Sheraton hotel in Miami. I pointed out, as I have before, that this is never a good
I work for Starwood (at a Sheraton) and read your story last week. I sent the link to both SPG and the GM of the Sheraton Miami. Unfortunately, franchises cheapen our brands and feel little need to maintain brand standards. Basically, they make the rest of us look bad.
Anyways, I’m glad SPG did something about the situation and sorry the hotel didn’t.