Handling a Local Guest Who Expresses His Dissatisfaction about Hotel Service during My Internship at de Java Hotel Bandung.

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Maranatha Christian University i

ABSTRACT

Selama mengikuti program magang di de JAVA Hotel Bandung saya menemukan suatu masalah yang akan dibahas di dalam Tugas Akhir ini. Masalah tersebut adalah saya mengalami kesulitan dalam menangani seorang tamu lokal ketika menyampaikan ketidakpuasannya atas pelayanan hotel. Posisi saya adalah sebagai staf GRO (Guest Relation

Officer) dan salah satu tugas saya adalah menangani keluhan yang

disampaikan oleh tamu dan menanyakan kenyamanan tamu selama menginap di hotel. Saya melakukan magang selama 25 hari yang dimulai pada tanggal 1 Juli – 25 Juli 2013.

Penyebab dari masalah yang saya hadapi adalah saya tidak mendapat pelatihan apapun dari pihak hotel sebelum mulai bekerja, saya tidak diberi kesempatan untuk menjelaskan apapun kepada tamu tersebut, dan tamu tersebut tidak dapat mengendalikan kemarahannya saat menyampaikan ketidakpuasannya. Selanjutnya, dampak dari masalah saya adalah tamu tersebut memberi pengaruh buruk kepada orang lain dengan cara

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Maranatha Christian University iv

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Front Desk staff have an important role in a hotel business. They will be

the first people to interact with the guests and give the first impression for

the guests. According to Sephton, “The front office department is

extremely important because in most cases the front desk is the first thing

that a visitor will see” (par. 1). I really agree with this statement because

front desk is the first place where the guests come when arriving in a hotel.

People who work at the front desk have to communicate a lot with the

guests, because they will deal with various situations and they are

responsible for many things. It is stated that “front desk is responsible for

checking guests in and out, taking the reservations by phone and by

e-mail and dealing with customer’s complaints and problems” (“At the Front

Desk”, par. 2). It can be seen that the role of Front Desk staff is significant

in a hotel.

During my internship, I had some experiences related to Front Desk

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from 1 July until 25 July 2013. My position as a GRO assistant (Guest

Relation Officer) made me have to communicate with the guests who

came to the receptionist to check in or check out. I had to have a small talk

with the guests, ask about the convenience during their stays at de JAVA

Hotel, and ask them to fill in the form of guest comment. My working hours

was about 8 hours/day, either morning or afternoon shift.

During my internship, I found a problem related to handling hotel

guests. There was a local guest from Jakarta who often expressed his

dissatisfaction about the service of de JAVA Hotel. He visited the hotel for

three times during my internship and he stayed for one or two nights per

visit. Every time he came to the hotel, he always complained about hotel

services. He liked to speak loudly and made everyone look at him. For

example, one day when he stayed at de JAVA Hotel, he came to the front

desk and complained that the wifi could not work. Then, I checked the wifi

service to the Engineering Department, but the engineering staff said that

there was not any problem with the wifi. As a matter of fact, there was not

any guest who complained about the wifi. I told the guest that the wifi was

in good connection, he just said “I don’t know, I don’t know”, and then he

just went away from the lobby. Another example, one day when the guest

came to the hotel to check in, I told him that all of the room was full for that

day. He forced me to get the room for him and said that if I could not get a

room for him, he would curse me. These situations show that the local

guest was not able to control his emotion when expressing his

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Based on the above explanation, I choose to discuss handling a local

guest who expresses his dissatisfaction about hotel service as the topic of

my term paper, because it was important for the hotel staff to improve their

service. It is stated in The Marketing Donut ,”A complaint is a gift and

company should consider their self lucky that a customer is prepared to

give up valuable time to help company improve their organisation” (par. 2).

I agree with the statement, because sometimes a hotel needs complaints

to know what needed by the guest. In my term paper I will explain about

the causes, the effects, and the potential solutions of my problem. There

are three causes of my problem, three effects of my problem, and also

four potential solutions of my problem.

B. Identification of the Problem

The analysis of the problem is formulated into the following questions:

1. Why did I have a difficulty in handling a local guest who expresses

his dissatisfaction about hotel service?

2. How did my problem influence other guests, my co-workers and I?

3. How should I handle the guest who cannot control his emotion?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

In my term paper I will analyze the causes, effects, and potential

solutions for my problem. Besides, this term paper also gives some

benefits for several people. First, this term paper gives a benefit for me

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hotel guests. Second, this term paper will give a benefit for the readers;

they will know about the solutions to handle complaints from the guests.

The last one is for the front desk staff at de JAVA Hotel, they can learn

how to handle guests who expressed their dissatisfaction about the hotel

emotionally and the hotel staff (Human Resources) also can train their

staff to improve the skill about handling guest’s complain.

D. Description of the Institution

This data is based from the information in the website of de JAVA Hotel

Bandung. De JAVA Hotel is the first hotel built by PT. Suki Panca Jaya on

March 10, 2013. The owner of de JAVA Hotel is Mr. Sukiamto Candra, he

is the only owner of de JAVA Hotel Bandung. The location of de JAVA

Hotel is on Jalan Sukajadi 148-150, on the opposite of Paris Van Java

Mall. De JAVA Hotel has six floors up and one basement, the space of the

area is 945m2. De JAVA Hotel offers 88 rooms including 64 Deluxe rooms,

4 Executive rooms, and 2 Suite rooms. There are many facilities such as

swimming pool, meeting rooms, a lounge, and a restaurant.

The design of de JAVA Hotel is a combination of modern design and

Javanese culture. The vision of the de JAVA Hotel is to be the best hotel

nationally and internationally by always improving the quality of the

hospitality services. Thus, everyone can feel like staying at home and the

staff can work together as a team. The hotel also has missions to always

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improving the skill of their staff. The hotel also aims to be the one stop

vacation and always uses the natural products and recycle items to keep the

environment.

E. Method of the Study

During my internship I started to collect the data to complete my term

paper such as brochures from the hotel, the data from the hotel’s website,

and the internship journal. I also did a library research from printed books

and articles from the Internet to find the theories used to analyze the

causes, the effects, and the potential solutions in my term paper.

F. Limitation of the Study

The subjects of research are the local guest and me. I found a problem

when I did my internship at de JAVA Hotel Bandung that is about handling

a local guest who is expressing his dissatisfaction about the service. Thus,

in my term paper I will only focus on discussing about complaints from a

hotel guest.

G. Organization of the Term Paper

This term paper starts with the Abstract, Declaration of Originality,

Acknowledgements, and Table of Contents. It is followed by four chapters.

Chapter One explains about the Introduction; consisting of Background of

the Study, Identification of the Problem, Objectives and Benefits of the

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Study, and Organization of the Term Paper. Chapter Two discusses the

causes and the effects of my problem. Chapter Three explains the

potential solutions along with the positive and negative effects of each

potential solution. Chapter Four presents the conclusion of my term paper.

It is followed by the Bibliography that contains all of the references used in

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Maranatha Christian University 18

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

This chapter is about the conclusion of my analysis. I had a difficulty in

handling a local guest who expresses his dissatisfaction about the service

during my internship at de JAVA Hotel Bandung. The causes of my

problem is I did not get any training from the Human Resources Manager

about handling complaints, I was not able to make the guest listen to my

explanation, and the guest could not control his anger when expressing

his dissatisfaction. Next, there are three effects of my problem, the guest

influenced other people not to stay at de JAVA Hotel by posting negative

comments at public website, my supervisor was angry with me for not

being able to handle the guest, and it took so much of my time to handle

the guest who was complaining that I could not take care of other guest.

There are also four potential solutions that will help me to resolve the

problem, I should listen actively to the guest whatever the guest is talking

about, I should show my sympathy by making apology to the guest

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on the hotel’s policy, and I need to get training from Human Resources

Department about handling hotel’s guest.

As the best solutions, I choose to apply all of my potential solutions,

because they support each other to resolve the problem. First, I need to

get training from the Human Resources Department, because training is

an important thing for a new staff. If I get a proper training from the Human

Resources Department, I will avoid making mistakes in handling hotel’s

guest. Next, if I just listen actively to the guest and do not apologize to the

guest, it will not resolve the problem. Likewise, if I just apologize to the

guest without offering a solution based on the hotel’s policy, the guest will

not be satisfied with my solution and my problem will not be resolved.

These solutions are applied consecutively. When the guest come to me

and complains about the service, the first thing that I should do is listening

to the guest because the guest wants to be heard. After the guest finishes

talking about the problem, I should show my sympathy and make apology

to the guest, because it will help the guest to feel understood. Finally, to

make the guest feel satisfied, I should offer the guest a solution. One of

these solutions should not be skipped, because if I skip one of these

solutions, the solution will not work out effectively.

Handling a guest is an important thing in a hotel, it will give a positive

effect for the hotel if the guests are satisfied with the service. I have some

suggestions for the staff at de JAVA Hotel Bandung who have the same

problem with me. It is important for a staff to be patient in dealing with

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problem. On top of that, serving the guest with the best attitude will make

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