Handling Guests' Complaints as A Front Office Trainee At Hotel Hilton Bandung.

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ABSTRACT

Pada masa magang di Hotel Hilton Bandung dari tanggal 18 Juni 2012 sampai 16 September 2012, saya menemukan masalah dalam menghadapi keluhan tamu. Hal ini disebabkan tidak adanya pengalaman saya bekerja di hotel, kurangnya pengetahuan tentang hotel, dan juga kurangnya

kepercayaan diri saat menghadapi tamu yang mengeluh tersebut.

Berdasarkan masalah yang saya hadapi, saya tertarik untuk mencari tahu sebab dan akibat dan juga solusi terbaik untuk memecahkan masalah ini. Oleh sebab itu, saya membahas Tugas Akhir yang berjudul, “Handling

Guests’ Complaint as a Front Office Trainee at Hotel Hilton Bandung”.

Berdasarkan teori yang saya dapatkan, saya menemukan beberapa solusi yang dapat digunakan sebagai jalan keluar dari permasalahan yang saya hadapi selaku pemagang sebagai front officer yaitu saya sebaiknya

memperjelas pokok permasalahan, berempati serta meminta maaf kepada tamu dan berkonsultasi kepada supervisor.

Setelah menganalisis dampak positif dan negatif dari solusi-solusi

tersebut, saya menyimpulkan bahwa gabungan ketiga solusi tersebut adalah solusi terbaik untuk permasalahan yang ada. Dengan memperjelas pokok permasalahan, saya akan dapat berempati dan meminta maaf dengan tulus pada tamu. Namun jika ada masalah yang cukup besar, saya akan

▸ Baca selengkapnya: front office supervisor hotel adalah

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APPENDIX:

knowledge of the hotel facilities. Cause 3: I had fear of conflict of confrontation when handling guest complaints.

Problem: My difficulty in handling guests’complaints as a front office trainee at Hilton Hotel

Bandung.

Effect 1: I did not enjoy working at Hilton Hotel.

Effect 2: The guest were not statisfied with the answer that I gave.

Effect 3: I felt stressed because I could not handle those

complaints at the hotel.

Potential Solution I: I will clarify the guests’

expectations.

Potential Positive Effects: 1. I can make the guests satisfied.

Potential Solution II: I will apologize and emphatize

with the guests. Potential Negative Effects:

1. The guest might think that the hotel cannot give proper follow-up to everything well.

Potential Negative Effects: 1. I will feel uncomfortable. 2. Hilton hotel will lose the guests if the guest keep complaining and I keep apologizing without giving any solution.

Potential Positive Effects: 1. The guests will be respected and happy.

2. I can reduce my stress in handling complaints.

Potential Solution III: I will consult with my supervisor

to learn how to handle complaints.

Chosen Solutions: PS I, II, III

Potential Negative Effects: 1. My supervisor will have to spend some extra time to teach me.

2. I will not be independent in handling guest complaints

Potential Positive Effects: 1. I will get more knowledge

about handling guests’

complaints from my supervisor. 2. I can avoid making mistakes and handle complaints

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Hilton hotel is an international hotel which is well-known and has a

good reputation in hospitality industry. In Indonesia, there is only one

Hilton Hotel, which is located in Bandung. Due to its reputation, I am of the

opinion that Hilton Hotel is the best choice for doing my internship.

I did my internship at Hotel Hilton Bandung from 18th_{June until 16}th

September 2012 as a front office trainee. When doing this internship, I

have a difficulty that is really hard for me to handle because I do not have

any previous experience. My difficulty is in handling guests’ complaints as

a front office trainee at Hotel Hilton Bandung and I choose this difficulty as

my term paper topic.

Based on the observation when I had my internship at Hotel Hilton

Bandung as a front office trainee, handling complaint is the most frequent

problem that comes up in the front office department. Some of the guests

will complain of many things about the hotel to front officers. The guests

often complain about their check-in time as they suppose to check-in in

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want to check-in but the room is not ready so the guests have to wait for the

room and the guests also often complaints about the service, such as when

they order some food and they have to wait quite long for the food. Due to

this situation, I conclude that handling complaints is difficult and I am

interested in taking this as my term paper topic so that I can find out some

ways to handle this problem.

B. Identification of the Problem

The problems I am going to analyze in this paper are formulated in these

questions :

1. Why do I have difficulties in handling guest complaints as a front

office trainee at Hotel Hilton Bandung?

2. How does this problem affect my working performance?

3. How should I handle guest complaints appropriately?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The objectives of the study are to know why I have difficulty in handling

guest complaints as a front office trainee at Hotel Hilton Bandung and how

this problem affects my working performance. Besides, the study also aims to

analyze how to handle guest complaints.

The benefit of doing this research for the institution is the institution will get

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the ways they handle complaints and how good they are in handling the

complaints. What is more, the guests might be loyal guests if the hotel can

take their complaints as feedback and resolve the matter quickly. The team

member of the hotel will get more revenue if the guest is loyal, because the

guest will choose Hilton Hotel as the first choice to stay when they go to

Bandung. As the writer, I will also get more knowledge about handling guest

complaints which will be useful for my personal references in the future. In

general, the readers will get more knowledge about handling complaints and

what to do when someone is complaining to them.

D. Description of the Institution

The following information about Hotel Hilton Bandung is based on Hilton

website (hilton.com), Hilton’s brochure, and hotel general information for

trainees. As mentioned in Hilton Hotel’s official website, Hilton Hotel is an

international hotel that was built by Conrad Hilton in 1919. The first Hilton

Hotel was opened in 1927. From the brochure I conclude that Hilton Hotel

has a lot of brands, such as Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Hilton, Double tree,

Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton, Homewood Suites, Home 2

and Hilton Grand Vacations. In Indonesia there is only one Hilton Hotel and it

is Hotel Hilton Bandung. As mentioned in the hotel general information for

trainees, Hotel Hilton Bandung was opened on 21st_{of March 2009 with more}

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Bandung was Mr. Peer Norsel from Denmark and he was in charge for three

years. After Mr. Peer Norsel was transferred to Edeline, Mr. Scott Wilson is in

charge as the General Manager from now on. He comes from Australia.

There are a lot of facilities that are provided at Hotel Hilton Bandung,

based on hotel general information for trainees :

1st_{floor : Lobby, Purnawarman restaurant ( for breakfast ), Magma Lounge.}

2nd_{floor : Back Office and Magic Operator.}

3rd_{floor : 5 meeting rooms and 1 ballroom.}

4th_{floor : General Manager Apartment and 2 meeting rooms (Mancala and}

Reversi)

5th_{floor : Spa and Hotel rooms.}

6th_{floor : Fresco restaurant (Italian Restaurant), Pool, Gym, and Hotel rooms.}

11th_{floor : Executive Lounge and Hotel rooms.}

While in the 7th_{until 10}th_{floor, there are bedrooms, which are divided in}

four types of room: Deluxe room (118 rooms), Executive room (45 rooms),

Executive plus (19 rooms), Junior Suites (3 rooms), and Presidential Suites (1

room). The total number of rooms at Hotel Hilton Bandung are 186 rooms.

It is also stated in the hotel general information for trainees, that the values

of Hotel Hilton Bandung are :

H : Hospitality = we are passionate about delivering exceptional guest

experiences.

I : Integrity = we do the right things all the time.

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T : Teamwork = we are team players in everything we do.

O : Ownership = we are the owners of our actions and decisions.

N : Now = we operate with a sense of urgency and discipline.

As mention in the hotel general information for trainees, the vision of Hotel

Hilton Bandung is created by the founder itself, which is: ‘to fill the earth with

the light and warm of hospitality. Furthermore, The mission of Hotel Hilton

Bandung is to be preeminent in global hospitality company, to be the first

choice of guest, team member, and owner alike.

E. Method of the Study

Two research methods are applied in doing this study. The first method

that I apply for this term paper is by observation done when I had an

internship at Hotel Hilton Bandung from 18th_{June until 16}th_{September 2012.}

The other method is the library research. This method was done by doing an

electronic research and by searching books for finding the theories to support

my analysis.

F. Limitation of the Study

The limitation of the study will be about handling guest complaints as a

front office trainee at Hotel Hilton Bandung when I did my internship from 18th

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G. Organization of the Term Paper

The first chapter of the term paper consists of the introduction of the study

and the problem that I get during my internship. In the second chapter, I

present the problem analysis, specifically about the causes and effects of the

problem. The third chapter, the potential solutions, presents the ways to solve

the problem, supported by theories or personal interviews. The last chapter,

which is chapter four, is the conclusion. In this chapter, the chosen solution of

the problem is presented with clear and logic arguments. The term paper

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I would like to present the best solution for my problem

at Hotel Hilton Bandung. Based on my experience when I was doing my

internship at Hotel Hilton Bandung, I find that handling guests’ complaints

is a problem for me. The problem happened because I did not have any

previous experience so it is hard for me to handle those complaints, I also

did not have enough knowledge of the hotel facilities and I had fear of

conflict or confrontation when handling guests’ complaints. The problem

results in my not enjoying working at Hilton Hotel, the guests not being

satisfied with the answers that I gave and my feeling stressed out because

I could not handle those complaints. I find three potential solutions, and

after considering the positive and negative effects of the potential

solutions, I am convienced that combining the three potential solutions will

be the best solution of my problem.

Clarifying the issues and the guests’ expectations is a good step to

approach the guests when they are complaining. When the staff know

what the issue of the problem is, the staff can give a proper solution to the

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also know how to satisfy the guests’ need. The second is the staff have to

apologize to and emphatize with the guest. If the guests complain and the

staff who handles their complaints can show emphaty, the guest may feel that

the staff respects them or understands their feeling and their position. The

third solution, I will consult with my supervisor so that I will know what kind of

complaints that usually appear in the hotel and I will also learn from my

supervisor’s experience so that I can handle guests’ complaints appropriately.

Based on those three potential solutions of the problem, I conclude that

combining the three potential solutions is the best and most suitable solution

of the problem. In dealing with complaints, when the guests are angry and I

try to help them by clarifying the issue, I will know what to do next. By

knowing the issue, I can emphatize with the guests and apologize sincerely.

This can make the guests calm down, which can avoid conflicts to happen

and increase my confidence when dealing with the guests. My lack of

knowledge about the hotel can be treated through consultation with the

supervisor. This also will help me to understand how to face the guests when

they are complaining, so that I can provide the right treatments to the guests.

Hotel Hilton Bandung has given an opportunity to me to have an

internship and I got a lot experience from Hotel Hilton Bandung. As a

suggestion for those who want to have an internship at the hotel, they should

know that working at the hotel is not as easy as it seems. It needs passion,

hard work and strong mentality. Besides, they should prepare good

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with the guests or with the staff. Having knowledge about the hotel even just

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Handling Guests' Complaints as A Front Office Trainee At Hotel Hilton Bandung.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPENDIX:

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

B. Identification of the Problem

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

D. Description of the Institution

E. Method of the Study

F. Limitation of the Study

G. Organization of the Term Paper

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY