Concierge Behavior: Negative experience; your take?

[Thorben-Hendrik]

3 hours ago, gerif said:

In answer to your question, I would have immediately removed my MIL from the lounge and escorted her to guest services to resolve her issues, perhaps apologizing to the concierge on the way out for the confusion. There are always three sides to every story - what he said, what she said and what actually happened. 

 Can't believe you wrote that! 🤢

[Bloodgem]

2 hours ago, PopeyeDaSailor said:

 

After reading a page and a half of responses this is my thoughts... Why didn't your MIL simply ask for you and wait at the concierge  desk?  You could have then gone outside and dealt with her problem. 

You beat me to it. I was going to mention this point myself.

Several years ago I was in a similar situation myself. I was Emerald and my parents were Diamond. They were in the DL and I needed to speak with them.  I gained entry to the DL, when someone was leaving, and the first thing I did was ask the concierge if I could talk to my parents. The concierge said no but if I waited by his desk he would let my parents know that I needed to speak with them.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Bloodgem

[wolfganghowell]

This sounds a lot like a concierge some friends told us about.  Our friend - probably in his 50s at the time a few years ago walked in the SL and the concierge screamed at him "Sir you are not allowed in here."  She kept on him so he pulled out his gold card and said "Will this work?"  She walked away, no apology.  Fast forward to the NEXT night and it was the officers party with the suites. Once again, he walks in the venue and she stops him "Sir, only those with gold cards are invited here.  You need to leave."  He looks at her, shakes his head and says "Are you kidding me?  You did the same thing to me last night.  How many times do I need to show you my *******gold card?"  Again.....nothing from her apologizing for screaming at him not once but twice.  I would certainly document the encounter and send to Royal and leave it at that.  If enough people complain about an employee's behavior, then they will have no choice but to address it.  I can't believe a concierge would act this way.  We've met some absolutely GREAT concierge.  The only "bad" ones have been those that sit at their desk and don't interact with anyone.  Thankfully, those have been few and far between for us <knock wood>.

Yes, probably she shouldn't have gone inside but it was obviously mishandled from the get go.  As far as elder respect, some of the rudest, nastiest behavior onboard has been from seniors.  So on the flip side, we shouldn't assume that all elders treat the crew well.  I've seen some horrible behavior towards crew from people old enough to know better.

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, PopeyeDaSailor said:

 

Agreed.  The Concierge should have been trained to know better.  She should have simply asked the OP to take his MIL outside the lounge and deal with the issue.  Like I said earlier it appears both sides handled this poorly.

Agree. The OP should have reported the DLC to her boss immediately if he/she felt the DLC was being disrespectful. Be part of the solution not part of the problem. For all involved it's noway to start out a cruise. Through out the years we've seen a lot of inconsistencies how the DLCs manage the DLs. No guest (no matter their age) or staff member deserves to be talked to disrespectfully. 

Edited April 16, 2019 by davekathy

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

35 minutes ago, wolfganghowell said:

 As far as elder respect, some of the rudest, nastiest behavior onboard has been from seniors.  So on the flip side, we shouldn't assume that all elders treat the crew well.  I've seen some horrible behavior towards crew from people old enough to know better.

Point well taken! I too have witnessed this first hand. I am always taken aback by it! I was always taught that manners were king with that generation. (maybe it's a southern thing) But, on the other side of that coin, I would NEVER disrespect someone old enough to be my parent regardless of their behavior.

[grapau27]

24 minutes ago, wolfganghowell said:

This sounds a lot like a concierge some friends told us about.  Our friend - probably in his 50s at the time a few years ago walked in the SL and the concierge screamed at him "Sir you are not allowed in here."  She kept on him so he pulled out his gold card and said "Will this work?"  She walked away, no apology.  Fast forward to the NEXT night and it was the officers party with the suites. Once again, he walks in the venue and she stops him "Sir, only those with gold cards are invited here.  You need to leave."  He looks at her, shakes his head and says "Are you kidding me?  You did the same thing to me last night.  How many times do I need to show you my *******gold card?"  Again.....nothing from her apologizing for screaming at him not once but twice.  I would certainly document the encounter and send to Royal and leave it at that.  If enough people complain about an employee's behavior, then they will have no choice but to address it.  I can't believe a concierge would act this way.  We've met some absolutely GREAT concierge.  The only "bad" ones have been those that sit at their desk and don't interact with anyone.  Thankfully, those have been few and far between for us <knock wood>.

Yes, probably she shouldn't have gone inside but it was obviously mishandled from the get go.  As far as elder respect, some of the rudest, nastiest behavior onboard has been from seniors.  So on the flip side, we shouldn't assume that all elders treat the crew well.  I've seen some horrible behavior towards crew from people old enough to know better.

Great post to read.

 

[Mikew0805]

5 hours ago, Sam Ting said:

There is no reason to be rude especially to an elderly person.  Disgusting.

I changed my mind... this is right, but this applies to all people. There is no need to be rude to anyone, especially in that environment, that should command a little decorum. 

Edited April 16, 2019 by Mikew0805

[cltnccruisers]

If DL is so restrictive why do they not have someone minding the door?  Or did the OP's MIL have a cloak of invisibility so she could sneak by the guards? 

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

If DL is so restrictive why do they not have someone minding the door?  Or did the OP's MIL have a cloak of invisibility so she could sneak by the guards? 

You have to use your Sea Pass card to open the door. Some with wait and follow the person that just entered before the door closes. 

[Sam Ting]

18 minutes ago, davekathy said:

You have to use your Sea Pass card to open the door. Some with wait and follow the person that just entered before the door closes. 

Someone probably held the door open for the elderly woman.   That’s just manners. 

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, Sam Ting said:

Someone probably held the door open for the elderly woman.   That’s just manners. 

That would be my guess. 

[Big_G]

Last I checked Royal Caribbean is in the hospitality business and a concierge should be tops in their hospitality skills. If that concierge can't resolve such a minor issue as stepping into private territory without making a spectacle then maybe they're not worthy of the position. All LMaxwell asked for was advice not to be run through the wringer. Some members here need to take a deep breath.

[GUEST71919]

Without knowing any details about the why’s on every single aspect of this situation, I think that it is unfair (if not just plain mean) to suggest and/or assume that her family was doing something wrong in relation to her in this situation (that seems fairly unlikely given her daughter-in-law’s reason for posting was concern for her). This thread really has me wondering how many of these posters have ever experienced a real loss or any trauma in their lives where they hoped others would show some empathy or at least not purposely increase their pain.   

 

This is one of those threads that shocks even me about how uncaring people can be and how quickly and easily people can pounce on someone and tear into them with unbriddled joy when what should be shown is empathy (and trust me when I say that it is extremely difficult to shock me when it comes to human behavior).  My intention isn’t to engage in a childish back and forth with anyone since I don’t have a lot of free time and don’t wish to fight on the playground with the time that I have; but after watching this discussion go on page after page I just wanted to put in my own thoughts here.

Edited April 17, 2019 by 2Beeze

[The_Big_M]

Appalling.

 

Less so about the initial interaction, as we don't know what led up to it, it may have been some other factors as LMaxwell suggests, who knows. That's where the comments about 3 perspectives have come from.

 

But it's actually what subsequently happened with the concierge lying about helping, having an assistant, and then getting security, and then avoiding/ignoring the passenger the rest of the cruise because of their own poor behaviour that actually screams out how terribly suited this concierge is. This is directly observed with full context, and also after they had a chance to reflect/recover if there were any other unrelated issues that caused the first one.

[Bloodgem]

I find it sad that posters are being branded as uncaring because they have tried to point out that the OP played a part in this whole sorry situation. 

 

Yes the concierge behaved badly but did the OP even stop to think how their MIL would get in contact with them whilst they are sitting in the DL. 

 

 

[LMaxwell]

51 minutes ago, Bloodgem said:

 

 

Yes the concierge behaved badly but did the OP even stop to think how their MIL would get in contact with them whilst they are sitting in the DL. 

 

 

There was no prior issue that I was aware of, so no, I had not.  That is why we made a prior plan to get together.  

[sft429]

Would be nice if this Concierge could be moved to the pool and be put in charge of rooting out chair hogs.  I, for one, wouldn't care how she treated them.

[Lionesss]

To OP

 

Just caught up reading your thread

 

It is sad what happened to your family.

 

Help was asked for, and options could have been provided where to seek help.  Not attitude.

 

Safe travels

 

 

[Arzeena]

On 4/15/2019 at 10:10 AM, LMaxwell said:

 

My MIL requested at Guest Services next day that the GS Manager contact her; the GSM did contact her directly onboard about it.   I guess the GSM had contacted the concierge before following up with MIL because GSM started off talking about "the rules" of the lounge when really that had nothing to do with anything.  They did have further discussion 1 on 1 and MIL felt it was appropriate of GSM to reach out but never did even get a cursory apology from the concierge. 

 

  

 

right is right. 

 

wrong is wrong.  

 

 

 

 

I am going to quote you and post what I think:
 

"It is wrong"......I feel for your MIL ....there should have been some apology (or even an attempt at) to your MIL. It was wrong of anybody to be unprofessional and rude to an elderly lady.

"Right is right"......She (concierge) was doing her job in kicking out people who did not belong there..... she conducted it badly and no excuse for being insulting.

"Wrong is wrong".....Your MIL had no business to be there if she was not D or D+ or whatever....but given her age, I understand totally that the  problem she was having must have made her feel lost, frustrated and in dire need of getting in touch with a familiar person immediately. I also wonder if you would have the same tolerance for another elderly person or a child who may have wandered in to look for their family? (Not saying this in a bad way)
 

In any case, I agree that there should have been an apology from the concierge for behaving like she did.

I was recently on the Anthem and many people were grumbling about how rude the D concierge was there. He was loud and very prompt at checking sea pass cards, demanding them instead of asking politely. Yes, he could have softened his edges a bit, but I think he was just doing his job.