We need MORE of these kinds of stories and people in our world.

Of course, the Ritz-Carlton is also a VERY swanky hotel and they'd better have some awesome customer service for those prices, right?

Every employee of Ritz-Carlton is allowed to spend $1000 to solve a guest's problem, without getting authorization from a manager. I also figure the pay is great there.

One big reason this policy works is they already spend tons of money eliminating problems before guests find them.

I did that with my oldest granddaughter once for her class project

It was a cardboard cutout of "flat Stephanie" I had to take places and photograph her adventures


Stephanie had quite an...interesting...vacation.

It was lots of fun.

take it on vacation and email either vacation or ransom photos.

It was fun.

Pencils tanning on the beach in Florida...

Paper clips sipping coffee in Paris


Stapler tied up on the railroad tracks with a ransom note...

My little Green Bay Packer bear went to Paris and got drunk, the south of France and Dallas. He's more well-traveled than I am!

Good times.

Last edited Sun Dec 1, 2013, 08:18 PM - Edit history (1)

...however re-watching the video confirms that he was 8 when this happened, but had had the toy since age 2.

So it doesn't look like he held off for 6 years to tell the story. Sounds like the kid was indeed 8 when he liked the toy. I dunno, I played with 'action figures' until that age. His father said he'd had the toy since he was 2, and he'd be embarrassed by the story. Not that it matters, I could be wrong in my reading of it.

...probably still dealing with this video. Will edit mine.

great job by the Ritz employee.

Except that I am a middle-aged guy who left five shirts on hangers in a hotel in San Francisco.

I called them a day after checking out - they said they already had them boxed for shipping to me.

I didn't get photos (of what? my shirts hanging in different closets or worn by various staff - "Here's Bob in catering, wearing your white oxford in the hotel bar ... and Karen, in accounting, taking your short-sleeve print out for a night on the town.&quot , but I did get the shirts pretty quickly, sent no charge.

back in the 90's, I was there for the IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix.

My company put us all up at the Hyatt Regency, Long Beach. I could walk from my room to the paddock area.

Anyway, I left a nice silk robe I had bought years before in the room and realized I had domne so two days later. I called the hotel and guess what?

No robe. Never saw it, know nothing, don't got it, tough luck pal.

It hasn't colored my opinion on Hyatt's, but unfortunately, it really is up to the housekeeper or whoever is in the room first after you check out.

I also left an irreplaceable (to me, anyway) NASCAR related jacket in a Best Western in Tennessee once. They never saw that one either.

It depends on the management, but it also depends on the honesty of the housecleaning staff members. I've stayed in literally thousands of different hotels over the years, in the states, in Canada and several overseas locales and good customer service, particularly that done with a sense of humor, is, in my experience, all too rare.

I do love this story though

Okay, this is a cute story and I would not expect anything less from one of the most expensive hotels in North America. Yeah...hotel staff had some fun, made a headline and the kid is happy. Me...Mr. Humbug. The REAL story here is, "Each employee is allowed to spend up to $2000 to resolve a customer's problem without having to refer to a manager." I've been spreading this kind of message for years. I think, for example, every customer service rep should have "X" number of dollars in his/her "Goodwiil" account that he/she can spend anyway they want to keep a customer happy. For instance, "I'm sorry Mr. Thompson that we shipped the wrong part, let us pick up the return shipping and handling costs." Or, "The part you need is on back order for a month. Please accept this $5 gift certificate towards this purchase to help offset the wait." Or, "Mr. Thompson, our records show that you've spent $2,000 with us this year. We'll be sticking a free T-shirt in this shipment...what's your size?" Some companies have lost my business forever and others have gained a lifetime customer...for only the price of a few dollars. Just saying.