subject: Hotels to Blacklist Disruptive Guests [print this page] In a bid to name and shame undesirable clientelle, the development of the GuestScan database, created by British businessman Neil Campbell, enables hoteliers to make other hotel operators aware of potentially ill-behaved guests. It also allows hotels to check the credentials of prospective guests on the database.
Campbell is believed to have realised the innovation following a conversation with a neighbouring owner of a B&B who had a visitor from hell. It is thought that up to 10,000 hotels are expected to sign up for the subscription-based network. This is the first scheme of this type in Europe, aiming to protect Britain's hotel industry from destructive or disruptive guests.
Individuals who have previously failed to pay, caused damage or have demonstrated anti-social behaviour run the risk of being blacklisted on the GuestScan site, although people will have the opportunity to appeal the decision made against them if they feel they are being unfairly treated.
However, the service may also give rise to a culture of power amongst hoteliers, who may admit names to the database without a good enough reason. The initiative may indicate a move away from the traditional philosophy of the customer always being right, and instead replaced with a desire to punish problem customers.
Many of us have had altercations with hotel staff over various issues. By providing hotel operators with this power to ban customers from other hotels, or at least make it difficult for them to be accepted at other hotels, the GuestScan service may end up persecuting the wrong type of person.
No doubt many troublesome or professional complainers will be punished through the scheme, but it may also deter good customers, whose disagreement with a particular hotel has left them stigmatized in the eyes of the hotel industry.
If however, the service is carried out with common sense, and an overarching adherence to the aforementioned philosophy, then the project will no doubt prove to be a success. All the same, hotels may find themselves losing out on potentially desirable business through the arrogance and stubbornness of some hotel managers.
It is no coincidence that the hotels which thrive are those which offer unrivalled customer service, and a dedication to customer satisfaction. For instance, some brief research on Edinburgh hotels demonstrates that a bad hotel review emanates from an experience of inept customer service. Contrary to this, reviews of the more prestigious boutique hotels in Edinburgh consist largely of praise for the service provided by staff.
So, while the GuestScan may be a useful tool for hotels to avoid ill-behaved and unpredictable custom, it must not be allowed to create a culture of the hotelier is always right.
