good and bad in all

[brian richards]

Well while we were Holidaying in the DR, we became friendly with quite a few of the resort workers. One was a sweeper who had holes in his trousers and shoes falling off his feet. So I gave him a pair of my chinos trousers and my leather sandels, only wore them both once, the night before. Then I realised that I forgot to check the pockets, and I had left 1700 pesos in the back pocket. When I spoke to him again I told him what I had done, I expected him to say there wasnt anything in the pockets. He didnt he told me to wait there he would go and get it for me and he would give it back, we told him to keep it.

Then there is this other resort worker, good looking guy, not going to say who he is. But we became friendly with him. He told us how he was saving hard to come to the UK to get married, my good lady gave him a ?20 note telling him to spend it on arrival to the uk on getting something to eat. We was told that he probably tells everybody that story to get money. Well we have just heard he is in the UK, Getting married. So all though you have to have your wits about you its not all of them telling you a yarn to get your money. We are going to try and find him in the UK just to make sure he is ok.

But I tell you what did upset us is the way most of the tourists treated the resort workers, no please, no thank you, we want, with a we have paid for you to wait on us attitude. How about some respect for the people who go out of their way to ensure you have a supurb vacation. Mind you it wasnt all tourists.

 

[Musicqueen]

Thank you...

...for a refreshing post!

It's exactly what some of us have been saying all along...

I hope you find him and help him out if he needs it!

 

[Marianopolita]

These stories are nice to hear and unfortunately people do not post enough of these ones. In terms of attitude as you stated: "we have paid for you to wait on us attitude" really annoys me as well. I have seen some Canadians and Americans display that attitude in the DR and it takes everything I have to not go up to them and tell them: "when go on vacation to a resort in the DR or anywhere leave your attitude at the airport". I have witnessed the uttmost in disrespect toward the resort workers too often and there is no need for that. The superiority complex of some foreigners is really appalling. You have treat people the way you want to be treated. It's as simple as that. One never knows when the tables will turn.

Well while we were Holidaying in the DR, we became friendly with quite a few of the resort workers. One was a sweeper who had holes in his trousers and shoes falling off his feet. So I gave him a pair of my chinos trousers and my leather sandels, only wore them both once, the night before. Then I realised that I forgot to check the pockets, and I had left 1700 pesos in the back pocket. When I spoke to him again I told him what I had done, I expected him to say there wasnt anything in the pockets. He didnt he told me to wait there he would go and get it for me and he would give it back, we told him to keep it.

Then there is this other resort worker, good looking guy, not going to say who he is. But we became friendly with him. He told us how he was saving hard to come to the UK to get married, my good lady gave him a ?20 note telling him to spend it on arrival to the uk on getting something to eat. We was told that he probably tells everybody that story to get money. Well we have just heard he is in the UK, Getting married. So all though you have to have your wits about you its not all of them telling you a yarn to get your money. We are going to try and find him in the UK just to make sure he is ok.

But I tell you what did upset us is the way most of the tourists treated the resort workers, no please, no thank you, we want, with a we have paid for you to wait on us attitude. How about some respect for the people who go out of their way to ensure you have a supurb vacation. Mind you it wasnt all tourists.

 

[brian richards]

...for a refreshing post!

It's exactly what some of us have been saying all along...

I hope you find him and help him out if he needs it!

So do we, there are many blokes/girls who do the same as they do over there. Who knows, he could have been led up the garden path by this young lady. Alone in the uk, I should imagine it is far more hostile over here. There is an awful lot of racism over here. Many people look at the colour of a persons skin over here, do we not all bleed the same or feel the same pain. Well a good person is a good person, wherever they come from. We hope this hasnt happend to him, so we will try to find him just incase. We hope we are wrong.

And as for the pig ignorant tourists, they should remember you may have paid for a holiday, BUT YOU ARE STILL A GUEST OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC and should act like one.

 

[naskapi]

Unfortunately it is not just Canadians and Americans, there are bad tourists from every country. The thing that annoys me other than people just being rude to the staff, is the people who get angry when the staff can't understand what they are saying. If someone plans on traveling to a country where the language isn't the same as their own, then they should try to learn a few words and phrases. I witnessed a family on my last vacation, yelling at a waiter because he brought them the wrong drink. Sitting at the table next to them, I thought that the waiter brought them what they ordered, but with their accent, I guess it was wrong. All they wanted was red wine, not too hard to ask for in Spanish, but they got white wine. The way they treated the waiter after that was horrible, so we left him a much bigger tip than normal.

 

[AnnaC]

Thank you Brian. That's a heart warming story to hear for a change .

 

[AZB]

When you try to communicate with the hotel staff in english, please stick to basic elementary english. Many english speaking people from all over the world speak to them as if they were speaking to their own friends from back home. Ex: please don't say 'get me a couple of lagars..." , instead try saying "please bring me 2 bears". Don't say " are we going to hit the town?", try saying "are we still going to the town?". The list is endless.
Oh, if you are british, please try to speak correct english, which means, american english. Have you ever tried to understand a drunk english man? I mean, they have invented the language and yet some of them can't even speak it. Hahahaha. Whats does that mean: "hey mate, me going to get mi cigs from mi car..." Hahahaha, I am just kidding, don't jump all over me. I have no problems with british accents, I have scott as a translator.
AZB

 

[dms3611]

....instead try saying "please bring me 2 bears".

Cmon AZB....you know there are no BEARS in the DR. You are going to keep scaring future touists away with these wild animal posts........

 

[LuvtheDR]

People that go on vacations do so because they need to get away from the hectic world that we live in back home. But, some people seem to have the mentality that the people that work at these resorts are here to serve them and only them! What about the other 500 guests at the resort??

One day, the maids did up our room, and took out the old towels, but did not give us new ones. This apparently happened to the people staying in the room next to us aswell. We both ended up at the front desk at the same time, and our "neighbors" were first up to tell them what had happened. These people were so rude to the Front Desk Staff it was unbelievable! They were yelling at them because they did not have new towels in their room! I couldn't believe it! They demanded that towels be taken to their room immediatly. When it was my turn to tell my story, I said that we had the same problem, and the guy at the front desk started apologizing over and over. (I guess he thought I was going to tie into him like the last person) I just said to him that it was no problem, and if he just gave me the towels, I would take them back to my room myself. He wouldn't hear of it! Well, we had new towels in our room before our neighbors did, and it was all because we treated these people with respect!

I would really like to see how some of these people would react if someone came into their place of employment back home and demanded this and that and treated them like sh*t! They probably wouldn't like it very much! If you go into something with an attitude, chances are you will get attitude back!

I guess I just don't get it! I mean, you are on holidays for the love of God! What does it matter if you have to wait an extra 5 minutes to take a shower because you have no towel?? Where exactly is it that you feel you NEED to be in such a hurry?? You are on Dominican Time! Sit back, relax, order a drink and PLEASE....do us all a favour and SHUT UP and enjoy your holiday!!! Because before you know it you will be back home dealing with the traffic jams and the endless pile of paper in your IN box!!

 

[chuckuindy]

But, some people seem to have the mentality that the people that work at these resorts are here to serve them and only them!

I would really like to see how some of these people would react if someone came into their place of employment back home and demanded this and that and treated them like sh*t! They probably wouldn't like it very much! If you go into something with an attitude, chances are you will get attitude back!

I guess I just don't get it! I mean, you are on holidays for the love of God! What does it matter if you have to wait an extra 5 minutes to take a shower because you have no towel?? !!

It is attitudes like this that has helped ruin the service industry. Christ, it?s there job to get new towels in the room in a timely manner. If they can not do their jobs, fire them, and replace them with someone who is willing to do what they get paid for.

I don?t care what industry you work in, if you are told what your responsibilities are and you fail to do them then you should quit and find a new job you can do to perfection. Today everyone is happy with half a** service or quality. Not me! I pay for perfection and demand that I get it. If we continue to have your ?well it?s Ok because we are on vacation? attitude? what next? Your attitude breeds slackers. I say kick them in the a** once and the next time fire they.

You must be some Gen-X type and too young to remember when we did not have to pump our own gas, check our oil, eat buffet style, buss or own tables, bag our groceries, have cash registers tell the employee how much change to give. The reason we pay such high prices for everything today is because we do not demand perfection and are willing to accept poor service.

By the way what if you were out of toilet paper?

Charlie

 

[Doodoo]

It is attitudes like this that has helped ruin the service industry. Christ, it?s there job to get new towels in the room in a timely manner. If they can not do their jobs, fire them, and replace them with someone who is willing to do what they get paid for.

I don?t care what industry you work in, if you are told what your responsibilities are and you fail to do them then you should quit and find a new job you can do to perfection. Today everyone is happy with half a** service or quality. Not me! I pay for perfection and demand that I get it. If we continue to have your ?well it?s Ok because we are on vacation? attitude? what next? Your attitude breeds slackers. I say kick them in the a** once and the next time fire they.

You must be some Gen-X type and too young to remember when we did not have to pump our own gas, check our oil, eat buffet style, buss or own tables, bag our groceries, have cash registers tell the employee how much change to give. The reason we pay such high prices for everything today is because we do not demand perfection and are willing to accept poor service.

By the way what if you were out of toilet paper?

Charlie

Hey, what makes you so perfect. It's that attitude of people like you that I believe brian richards was was pointing the finger at. The Dominican people work real hard on the resorts to make your vacation a good one. I would under no circumstances wait on anyone like you. Have a bit of respect.

Oh.............and by the way, if you find you have no toilet paper, use your finger.

 

[Marianopolita]

Jeez....

Ay Dios mio, caramba. Que actitud de "salvese quien pueda".

A bit rough but to each his own.

It is attitudes like this that has helped ruin the service industry. Christ, it’s there <A TITLE="Click for more information about job" STYLE="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: medium solid green;" HREF="http://search.targetwords.com/u.search?x=5977|1||||job|AA1VDw">job</A> to get new towels in the room in a timely manner. If they can not do their jobs, fire them, and replace them with someone who is willing to do what they get paid for.

I don’t care what industry you work in, if you are told what your responsibilities are and you fail to do them then you should quit and find a new job you can do to perfection. Today everyone is happy with half a** service or quality. Not me! I pay for perfection and demand that I get it. If we continue to have your “well it’s Ok because we are on vacation” attitude” what next? Your attitude breeds slackers. I say kick them in the a** once and the next time fire they.

You must be some Gen-X type and too young to remember when we did not have to pump our own gas, check our oil, eat buffet style, buss or own tables, bag our groceries, have cash registers tell the employee how much change to give. The reason we pay such high prices for everything today is because we do not demand perfection and are willing to accept poor service.

By the way what if you were out of toilet paper?

Charlie

 

[AnnaC]

Calm down Charlie your age is showing. Yes I remember when we didn't have to pump our own gas and we still have them here in Guelph. But I don't remember any yelling going on. I always say thank you and please as do most people even when they make mistake.
What if the towels were not dry or available when the room was being cleaned and after cleaning 500 other room you forget to return to those two rooms. Wow what tragidy. And by the way I'll tell you something no matter who is in the wrong the person yelling to get their point across is always looked down on NOT the person being yelled at. Keep that one in mind.

I look at the person yelling and think blankblank you blanking idiot.

This is a nice thread so don't spoil it with your high and mighty attitude.

 

[chuckuindy]

?lo siento!

Calm down Charlie your age is showing. Yes I remember when we didn't have to pump our own gas and we still have them here in Guelph. But I don't remember any yelling going on. I always say thank you and please as do most people even when they make mistake.
What if the towels were not dry or available when the room was being cleaned and after cleaning 500 other room you forget to return to those two rooms. Wow what tragidy. And by the way I'll tell you something no matter who is in the wrong the person yelling to get their point across is always looked down on NOT the person being yelled at. Keep that one in mind.

I look at the person yelling and think blankblank you blanking idiot.

This is a nice thread so don't spoil it with your high and mighty attitude.

You are correct I should not have made this a personal attack on LuvtheDR. I apologize. Still, I defend myself that we all should expect and receive only the best. If the towels were not dry it was the maid?s responsibility to go to her supervisor and demand that who ever was responsible should be fired. If it was a broken washing machine who ever was responsible should have had a back up plan or be fired. Someone needs to understand that the consumer is paying the bill and their salary no matter how meager.

I keep hearing the saying ?Sh** runs down hill?, answer to shareholders for the actions of others and you will quickly see they expect only two things, results and returns.

As far as yelling, I don?t mind yelling if it accomplishes getting the job done, on time and correctly, after all we are no longer allowed to beat an employee. ?sticks & stones???but words.? Not even the poor should accept mediocre goods and services.

Then again, maybe you are right, because if we all did our jobs like we are expected to do and did not make so many mistakes we would not need so many F****** lawyers.

I am sincerely apologetic for my personal attack on LuvtheDR, no personal offence was meant.

By the way Anna, did you ever yell at your kids? I bet you did and I bet today they are responsible adults.

Charlie

 

[miguel]

Much luv to you Charlie!

It is attitudes like this that has helped ruin the service industry. Christ, it’s there job to get new towels in the room in a timely manner. If they can not do their jobs, fire them, and replace them with someone who is willing to do what they get paid for.

I don’t care what industry you work in, if you are told what your responsibilities are and you fail to do them then you should quit and find a new job you can do to perfection. Today everyone is happy with half a** service or quality. Not me! I pay for perfection and demand that I get it. If we continue to have your “well it’s Ok because we are on vacation” attitude” what next? Your attitude breeds slackers. I say kick them in the a** once and the next time fire they.

You must be some Gen-X type and too young to remember when we did not have to pump our own gas, check our oil, eat buffet style, buss or own tables, bag our groceries, have cash registers tell the employee how much change to give. The reason we pay such high prices for everything today is because we do not demand perfection and are willing to accept poor service.

By the way what if you were out of toilet paper?

Charlie

Although I do understand what you are saying and measures are needed, I do not believe, for the life of me, yelling at someone just because "I am paying and I should get a great service". Granted, that person should have known better than to clean a room, any room, without towels in her cart. Maybe she run out of them while cleaning all the other rooms. Granted, she should have gone and get some more towels before she continued cleaning, but nobody is perfect. In my case, I have come across that situation many, many, many, many times and I am yet to scream at anybody. You name it, some have fogotten soaps, towels, shampoos, sheets, toilet paper, you name it. Everywhere I go, even when I am paying top dollars, I try and make the people at the resorts or hotel's life a little better. These people make no money at all. Most of them depend on the miserable tips that the tourists leave in the rooms for them, if any. Instead of making a fool out of ourselves, why not call the reception of the maid's manager and ask them to send you a towel instead of making everybody feel unconfortable because one is yelling at some poor soul that makes 10 pesos an hour, if that!. The first thing that I do when I rent a room in a hotel is that I make sure that I know the maid's name. I treat her very nicely because the nicer you are to them, the better service you wil get from them. While on vacation in SD once, there was a time that I called the maid 2 times to get toilet paper and when 10 minutes passed, I went down and got it myself. It just happened that not only was she cleaning all the rooms, she was cooking also and cleaning all the windows in the hotel. I felt sorry for her and after she apologized to me, I ended up giving her 200 pesos for having cleaned the room the day before. I know that I am paying for "good service" but I also know that they are human just like us and we should not try to make them feel inferior to us. Care to know what I do sometimes, when they knock on the door to clean the toom?, I ask them for the towels and the clean sheets, give then the garbage and I tell them that I would do the bed myself. It takes me 2 minutes to make a bed and sometimes it takes them much more to do it. Hell, once I even vaccumed the room!. I am known to give then a rose every now and then(only to the elder maids). See, if my sweets is with me, I make sure that she gets many, many roses in the room so it does not kill me to give one to an old maid that is making shi* for money. I am so nice to them that some have even shed a tear or two when I check out!. My point is that when I am on vacation, NOTHING will be important enough for me to lose my control and talk to people like if I own them. There are many ways that one can demant good service without being a totel jerk. These people can lose the only income that they have to support their kids. It does not kill anybody to call ahead of time and tell "I will be needing a towel in a few minutes". Many tourists think that some hotel worker is giving them an attitute, but anybody would give you an attitute after you have been treating them like shi* while screaming to them like if the were kids. People want good service, give the maid a tip every now and then (give it to her personally because if the manager goes into your room when you are not there, he/she WILL take the tip for him/herself), smile at her, ask for her name and when addressing her, call her by her name, ask her things about her, don't make her feel like she is inferior to you. By spending 3 minutes of your time, you would learn so much about someone. And you know what you will get?, a very cleam room all the time, towels on time, and everything you need will be there right away. Now I know why the people that have cleaned my rooms have done such a great job!!. She did not had the towel, call the manager and ask for a towel, do not DEMAND a towel because even if one is paying for a good service, people do have pride.

 

[Wannago]

But I tell you what did upset us is the way most of the tourists treated the resort workers, no please, no thank you, we want, with a we have paid for you to wait on us attitude. How about some respect for the people who go out of their way to ensure you have a supurb vacation. Mind you it wasnt all tourists.

When I was in the D.R. I too saw people being rude to the workers, it was very disturbing. For our housekeeping lady, we left little presents for her every day. She was so happy for the small tokens of appreciation.

I have been to the UK, Germany and Austria and have had some very rude hotel workers and some nice ones. But, I must say that in the D.R. 99% of them would give you a smile, say hola and try to be very helpful. They made our vacation a little more special.

deb

 

[chuckuindy]

The point is

Although I do understand what you are saying and measures are needed, I do not believe, for the life of me, yelling at someone just because "I am paying and I should get a great service". Granted, that person should have known better than to clean a room, any room, without towels in her cart. Maybe she run out of them while cleaning all the other rooms. Granted, she should have gone and get some more towels before she continued cleaning, but nobody is perfect. In my case, I have come across that situation many, many, many, many times and I am yet to scream at anybody. You name it, some have fogotten soaps, towels, shampoos, sheets, toilet paper, you name it. Everywhere I go, even when I am paying top dollars, I try and make the people at the resorts or hotel's life a little better. These people make no money at all. Most of them depend on the miserable tips that the tourists leave in the rooms for them, if any. Instead of making a fool out of ourselves, why not call the reception of the maid's manager and ask them to send you a towel instead of making everybody feel unconfortable because one is yelling at some poor soul that makes 10 pesos an hour, if that!. The first thing that I do when I rent a room in a hotel is that I make sure that I know the maid's name. I treat her very nicely because the nicer you are to them, the better service you wil get from them. While on vacation in SD once, there was a time that I called the maid 2 times to get toilet paper and when 10 minutes passed, I went down and got it myself. It just happened that not only was she cleaning all the rooms, she was cooking also and cleaning all the windows in the hotel. I felt sorry for her and after she apologized to me, I ended up giving her 200 pesos for having cleaned the room the day before. I know that I am paying for "good service" but I also know that they are human just like us and we should not try to make them feel inferior to us. Care to know what I do sometimes, when they knock on the door to clean the toom?, I ask them for the towels and the clean sheets, give then the garbage and I tell them that I would do the bed myself. It takes me 2 minutes to make a bed and sometimes it takes them much more to do it. Hell, once I even vaccumed the room!. I am known to give then a rose every now and then(only to the elder maids). See, if my sweets is with me, I make sure that she gets many, many roses in the room so it does not kill me to give one to an old maid that is making shi* for money. I am so nice to them that some have even shed a tear or two when I check out!. My point is that when I am on vacation, NOTHING will be important enough for me to lose my control and talk to people like if I own them. There are many ways that one can demant good service without being a totel jerk. These people can lose the only income that they have to support their kids. It does not kill anybody to call ahead of time and tell "I will be needing a towel in a few minutes". Many tourists think that some hotel worker is giving them an attitute, but anybody would give you an attitute after you have been treating them like shi* while screaming to them like if the were kids. People want good service, give the maid a tip every now and then (give it to her personally because if the manager goes into your room when you are not there, he/she WILL take the tip for him/herself), smile at her, ask for her name and when addressing her, call her by her name, ask her things about her, don't make her feel like she is inferior to you. By spending 3 minutes of your time, you would learn so much about someone. And you know what you will get?, a very cleam room all the time, towels on time, and everything you need will be there right away. Now I know why the people that have cleaned my rooms have done such a great job!!. She did not had the towel, call the manager and ask for a towel, do not DEMAND a towel because even if one is paying for a good service, people do have pride.

You missed the point my friend. It was not the customer yelling at the maid; it was the front desk guy who may have been her supervisor. I would not have yelled at the maid either, that?s not my job. However if we are not punished for our sins there become no sins.

Believe me I understand the plight of the resort worker, long hours and little pay. But if that was the only job I could find I would be happy for some supervisor to yell at me if it made me a better employee and gave me some hope for advancement. Yelling is just a form of communication to emphasize a point. It is a necessary management tool. Granted the yelling should have taken place behind closed doors and not in front of the guest.

By the way, I always reward any one for good service, but I will never reward those who do not perform their given task out of laziness or dereliction of duty. I am not perfect and this is not a perfect world. We all make mistakes including me.

Take a look at France today. The government is now calling for a 40hr. work week because union enforced work rules have diminished to overall output of this nation. It is a shame that economic situation in the Dominican Republic and other third world nations is what it is. I am sorry that I can not cure it. But if the people of these nations did a little more yelling at the politicians may be things would change.

For 5 years I worked for an American billionaire who yelled at me every day. Sure he was a jerk. But I will tell you one thing; I very seldom made the same mistake twice. I have also learned over the years that you must never insult a person?s humanity. We all take pride in who we are.

Charlie

 

[jrzyguy]

this thread reminds me of my first trip to the DR. On my return trip...the computer at the airport crashed and they had to hand ticket us. THere were a few different lines....and this one dude TOTALY snapped when this one passenger was called next before him. He started screaming "I"M NEXT IM NEXT!!!!" and got all bent out of shape. I was feeling kinda tropical and told him to calm down and next time book a trip to orlando or vegas!

Anyway....i have never stayed at a grand resort...but i have found the service at both El Candil and Costalunga in Boca Chica to absolutely perfect. And since i used to work at 4 start hotels for years here in the US i have pretty high standards. Im not saying i got 4 star treatment (nor did i expect such for 40 bucks a night)....and i do bring my own soap....but my room was always spotless...and of course i left a nice tip for the staff...as well as some decent clothing.

:smoke:

 

[LuvtheDR]

I am sincerely apologetic for my personal attack on LuvtheDR, no personal offence was meant.Charlie

And no personal offence was taken! (Although I do have to admit that you pis*ed off at first!) But, you redeemed yourself.....apology accepted!

I know what you mean when you say that when you pay for a service, you expect that service to be carried through. But, I just do not understand why some people think that it is OK to yell at others at the first sign of things going wrong!

You said that I must be some Gen-X person who is too young to remember "back in the day", and that it is attitudes like mine that have ruined the Service Industry. Well....I beg to differ with you! I am 31 years old, and happen to work in the Service Industry...and let me tell you...I have dealt with a lot more well mannered Gen-X'ers than I have Baby Boomers! You are right....times HAVE changed, and we DO enjoy more luxuries than you did, but that is what happens when times change! The older generation are the first ones that start out yelling and demanding rather than rationally discussing the situation. Yes, we might be younger, but does that give anyone the right to start yelling at the poor person who just so happenes to be scheduled to work behind the desk that day?? Not so much!

I am in no way pointing this directly at you Chuckuindy, but I am to the ones that feel that going on a rant right away solves the problem. Yelling at the first person you see will not solve anything. Actually, yelling at ANYONE will not solve anything!

Again, this is not a personal attack on you, but if you feel like it is....I humbly apologize!

 

[miguel]

No, no, nooo!

You missed the point my friend. It was not the customer yelling at the maid; it was the front desk guy who may have been her supervisor.

I did not missed the point, as you and "smart" told me, if you read LuvtheDR, it was mentioned on his post that some people where yelling at people at the front desk because they were not given clean towels. I might be old but not "witless" yet.

Ps: Brian Richards, that was such a nice thread. Only if some tourists would behave the way you did. Hat off to you.