thumbs down for hotel sofitel

as part of the media committee, we had to do an ocular inspection in hotel sofitel. we had two contacts in that hotel, lesly and edwin, both i think are account managers. (if only i have their last names, i would have gladly posted it here as well)
prior to going there, we had to call them first because we had to set up a date and we had to ask them about a lot of things that our committee is concerned with (tarpaulins, media coverage, standees, photo walls, etc.).

booboo number 1: lesly and edwin are very hard to contact. either they're not in their respective offices or they just wouldn't answer their cellphones.

finally, we were able to set up a date for the ocular with lesly. we finally got there and she showed us around the hotel while we look for certain spots for us to consider. she was ok but not outrageously nice - just like how people behind the reception of every respectable hotel are. thing is, for every question that we ask, it's either she's not sure if we can do that or she has to check first or it's not allowed. what the hell is that? she does sales for chrissakes! she should be able to answer us concretely. i mean i understand that she just wanted to make sure and she'd rather say it now than apologize for it later. but NOT FOR EVERY SINGLE QUESTION/REQUEST/INQUIRY THAT WE HAVE!

in the end, we got nothing from them except a lot of "you-can't-do-that" and "i'm not sure, i'll check first."
so the three of us who went there just gave up and just looked around. as if we haven't already seen it before.

booboo number 2: edwin answers the calls but does not reply.

i have tried calling edwin about our tarpaulins since they do not permit sticking things on their walls, which i completely understand. but they have no other option for us except what has been mentioned earlier by lesly about the aluminum poles where we can hang things - which was not actually confirmed by any of them.
after a lot of attempts to speak to edwin to confirm it, he only said in a condescending voice, "ok na nga ho sir. provided na po yun. hanapin niyo na lang yung mga tao ko dun."
what the hell? save me please! first, isn't he the one who's supposed to assist us in all these? what the hell do we know about his "mga tao?" second, he does not have to use that will-you-stop-asking-me-questions-already tone with me. fucker.

booboo number 3: lesly on day 1 of event.

while we were just done installing the photo op wall which cost us 3k, she suddenly felt the need to voice out her opinions about it: whether it won't work because we'll be blocking the exit or we would create traffic or the hallway is too small or the many other reasons she has. COME ON! since the day of the ocular inspection i specifically told her that the photo op wall would be placed there. i just want to backhand her pa-cute face and fake accent and roll up the tarpaulin and shove it in her hole. she just would. not. shut. up.
even my colleague got fed up with her too.
and just for your information, the photo op wall did great because we 'funneled' each attending delegate for us to take their red carpet picture - both of which were actually our intention thank you very much.

booboo number 4: requests are always as hard as getting legislation passed in the senate.

we requested for red carpets - they don't have enough.
we requested for stantions (posts with ropes) - they wanted to provide us with 4. the photo wall was almost 20 feet long. hello.
we requested from the hotel staff to put up the 4m x 10m tarpaulin outside the hotel - they sent us 1 waiter.

geez. there are still a lot of things that we can complain about these two. and i'm not the only one.
i'm sure the management has plenty of staff who can represent their hotel but instead, they send us these two who are just plain idiots and lack a lot customer service.


i even did an experiment: while wearing our company shirt (plain round-neck tee with the company logo) and committee ID, i spoke to them in the vernacular. the hotel staff's reactions were either arrogant or just plain dumb. the complete opposite happened when i spoke to them in straight english while wearing my formal attire.
so tell me, do they typecast people as to how they should and would react? booo.

thumbs down hotel sofitel philippine plaza.
and just for a little history lesson, we were one of your biggest clients in 2003 (this was published mind you) back when it was still under westin philippine plaza. so why treat us this way now?