A few weeks ago I booked a hotel
room in a small town in Tennessee . Cheri and I are attending a wedding there and
it’s a long drive home, so we’re staying overnight. I noticed yesterday as I reviewed my credit
card charges that I was charged for the room last weekend, but the wedding is
tomorrow. Since I had booked the
reservation directly with the front desk, I called the hotel to ask for an
explanation. To make a long story short,
someone made a mistake and made the reservation for last weekend. I had been charged for a “no-show”, and
because of the error, I didn’t have a reservation for tomorrow night. To make matters worse, the hotel was sold out
because of two weddings in town, and the night clerk informed me that no rooms
were available.
I’m usually a patient man but
this really got under my skin. What good
does it do to call several weeks in advance for a reservation when somebody
screws up and you’re left without a hotel room?
Even though the night clerk was apologetic, I wanted to vent my
frustration. I managed to hold back, and
realized it wasn’t his mistake. I
decided to let him off the hook and call the hotel manager today.
I waited until late morning
before I called. The clerk from the
night before answered my call and immediately transferred me to the
manager. The manager went right into a
long explanation of why the error occurred, and apologized repeatedly. I was prepared to insist the he find another
hotel for me and pay for my room. After
all, I had done everything I was supposed to do and I deserved compensation! But before I even broached the subject, I was
convicted of my selfishness. I listened
to the manager explain a “computer glitch” that caused the error, and realized
he was seeking mercy. How many times
have I made a mistake and been granted mercy?
More times than I can count!
As we were on the phone, he saw
that someone had canceled their reservation and he booked the room for me. Problem solved! I realized I’ll probably seem him this
weekend during our stay. I’m glad I
didn’t act like a jerk on the telephone.
Micah 6:8 “…And what does the
Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly
with your God?”
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