Winners and Losers

It was exciting tonight at Dodger Stadium to see future Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux on the mound for the first time in a Dodger white "home" uniform.

Even though the Dodgers beat the Rockies 4 to 2, Maddux didn't get the credit for the win because the Dodgers were trailing 2 to 1 when Maddux came out of the game at the top of the 7th inning.

On the topic of "winning and losing," my recent stay at the Embassy Suites Hotel in South Lake Tahoe was marred by the lack of high-speed access throughout the hotel for several hours. I came back to my room Wednesday night planning on getting some work done (yes, work!) and their internet access was out. I checked with the Front Desk and they told me it would only be for a couple of hours. So I went to bed and got up early the next morning to do my work. Alas, the internet access was still out and the hotel had no Plan B. So I was forced to go to the Business Center of a hotel across the street to get my work done.

When I got home I complained to the Hilton Hotel (Embassy Suites is a Hilton brand) Frequent Guest Desk (aka the Diamond Desk). Today I heard back from the hotel.

Take a look at this email exchange. Talk about angering a customer by dismissing his complaint:

Mr. Green-We recently received a correspondence from our corporate office concerning a challenge you experienced during a recent stay. I wanted to first apologize for the inconveniences associated with the Business Center. We recently "flattened our network", which affected the operation of the Business Center for almost two weeks. I wanted to let you know that it has been successfully "fixed", and returned to service. Thank you for your feedback regarding your stay. We not only read everything, but act on all questions and concerns. If you have any questions for me, please let me know. Thank you, again.

Jeffrey Runsten
Director of Front Office Operations
Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe Resort

oOo

From: Ted Green
To: Jeffrey Runsten

My problem wasn't with your Business Center. I didn't know your hotel had a business center. My problem was the lack of wireless internet service in my room (and your entire hotel) for several hours.

Please ask the Diamond Desk to forward you my email so you can read it and respond to it.

Thank you,

Ted Green

P.S. Thank you for promptly refunding the $4 overcharge on my credit card.

oOo

From: Jeffrey Runsten
To: Ted Green

Mr. Green-I misread the email. I'm sorry. We had a few minor problems with V-Link (our wireless internet provider) during this time, as well. AT&T was having some challenges with finding the IP addresses of our ports. This problem is also resolved.

Jeffrey Runsten

oOo

From: Ted Green
To: Jeffrey Runsten

Your "minor" problems caused me significant headaches. I'm not the only traveler who counts on high-speed internet access to get work done.

From the tone of your emails you do not understand that. And if your attitude is representative of your hotel's management I'm not surprised I had such trouble.

Ted Green

oOo

And that's the last I heard from Jeffrey Runsten. Somehow, however, I don't think this issue is over.