Mitch Cronin Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Just to change the topic for a moment... not that my poor little old head can't take all this heat...I just know there are other things to distract attention for the sake of our weariness... ... Isn't a "guest" someone who doesn't have to pay for his presence someplace? My "guest" at a dinner for example, would be someone I'm paying for... A guest in my home sure as hell won't be paying for anything... The dictionary I have simnply says: "Someone who receives hospitality"... But it seems to me, if someone's paying for that "hospitality", that'd make them a "customer"... What's with the newspeak? ...who are we fooling? The customers? Sorry for the digression... I thought I liked the term "guest", but it just hit me that guests don't pay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest manwest Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 In the service industry, a guest is charged for service, and because he /she is paying you treat them respect and do whatever you can to help them. You smile, make small talk and give personable service. Westjet gives its *guests* friendly personable service at a fair price. At some *other* carriers you pay for the service and you get rude, lack lustre service. I think therein is the difference. This is partially why most agents charge a *service fee*. We sell our serivce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spinnaker Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 So does that mean you are a customer in Air Canada's 'Hospitality Class'? Or a guest? Does that mean I don't have to pay next time I fly AC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted March 19, 2004 Author Share Posted March 19, 2004 I'll ignore the dig.... If a fee is charged for "hospitality", is it still "hospitality"? Or is it an expected *service* in exchange for the fee paid? If the argument boils down to a definition of "hospitality", I think it's a done deal... a "guest" doesn't pay. You call me a "guest" and ask me to pay, suddenly I'm not your "guest" at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Ace Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I'm in my hotel room right now looking at the TV. One of the options says - you guessed it _ _ _ _ _ services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I know you love the digs because you are as much a Westjet fan as I am an AC supporter. However, in fairness, you might want to point out that FlyerTalk, a website which you often quote, has had a lot of compliments from AC frequent flyers recently, especially on long haul international flights. They like the service as well as the food. Occasionally, you do run into a bad crew, or mechanicals, but so does every airline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tri-spool Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I suspect that in the future Westjet won't be calling the money they receive from their "guests" as fees but rather "donations". See a guest is permitted to make a donation and still be called a guest without making the transition to a customer. Customers may want to make a donation if the hospitality is exceptional, but that would be above and beyond the fee they paid. As a former PM put it so elequently: "The proof... the proof is in the proof .. and if the proof has been proven then the proof is proof" What am I say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spectator Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 The way this industry is going, soon they will be "guests" in the true sense of the word, not paying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Mitch: Ever been a guest at a resort or a hotel? I bet you paid.(even if you did get an airline discount) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted March 19, 2004 Author Share Posted March 19, 2004 Yikes, I don't even know if "hospitality class" equates to cattle class or the snoots up front... I guess it's the former... that'd just mean the "hospitality" aspect of that is the class of service you get... wouldn't it? Like, if you get service, consider it a hospitality, cause you didn't pay extra for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted March 19, 2004 Author Share Posted March 19, 2004 Hmmm... twisted meanings again I think.. I've never stayed at a hotel where I didn't pay, so I'm inclined to say "no, I've never been a guest"... but I guess they'd have called me one... It is just marketing newspeak I think... a psychological ploy to get people to equate their experience with more pleasant notions. But I maintain, a "guest" to the rest of us has a different meaning... and I don't think we should swallow that crap and let folks peddling stuff re-write the meaning of words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest manwest Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Yes your right I do post quotes from flyer talk, I also have posted positive feedback that I have received personally from Air Canada and what I have found on line. Many on here complain of the lack of positve AC news so I try to drop a few of the positves when they are out there. F>Y>I Westjet does drop the ball at times too, its not a perfect world. I appreciate receiving good service, and I enjoy providing good service, may just be why I am still around in this *buggywhipless* world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Mitch, you can call me a guest or a client or a customer in a hotel. It's what the hotel calls me that matters, it's how I perceive of my presence there. If I felt like a guest, I probably wouldn't have the cahones to call up at midnight to complain about the moaning in the next room or the lack of towels in the room. If you were a guest at a friend's place, would you wake them up at midnight with some relatively minor complaints? No. I'm paying at a hotel, so I feel I have every right to be demanding. That's the difference between being a customer and a guest. Maybe the use of the term "guest" is a subliminal way to discourage complaints. If they call you a customer, you are more likely to behave like one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Mitch, at a hotel, they can call me a guest or a client or a customer but it's how I perceive of my presence there that matters. If I felt like a guest, I probably wouldn't have the cahones to call up at midnight to complain about the moaning in the next room or the lack of towels in the bathroom. If you were a guest at a friend's place, would you wake them up at midnight with some relatively minor complaints? Not on your life. The house would have to be on fire before you disturbed your hosts. I'm paying at a hotel, so I feel I have every right to be demanding. Within reason. That's the difference between being a customer and a guest. Maybe the use of the term "guest" is a subliminal way to discourage complaints. If they call you a customer, you are more likely to behave like one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Yup. It's just a new term for someone who pay's for a service. Check out this definition from my dictonary; :-) guest (gest) n. 1 a) a person entertained at the home of another; visitor a person entertained by another acting as host at a restaurant, theater, etc. 2 any paying customer of a hotel, restaurant,or Westjet airlines 3 a nonmember receiving the hospitality of a club, institution, etc. 4 a person who appears or performs on a program by special invitation 5 inquiline adj. 1 for guests 2 performing by special invitation [a guest artist] vt. to entertain as a guest vi. to be, or perform as, a guest SYN. visitor Etymology [ME gest < ON gestr, akin to OE gast, Ger gast < IE base *ghostis, stranger, guest > L hostis] ©1995 Zane Publishing, Inc. ©1994, 1991, 1988 Simon & Schuster, Inc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted March 19, 2004 Author Share Posted March 19, 2004 Please tell me you invented line 2 ?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 couldn't resist...:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest M. McRae Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Over the years Mitch, hotels have always called their customers "guests". They even have what is called a "guest register". Cheers Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambucca Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 You sure have turned up the volume and frequency of your posts as of late.I have often wondered why you are such an enthusiastic supporter of AC and so worried about the outcome of their "situation". Financial reasons or otherwise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Call me a concerned and informed citizen. I have no ties to AC, no investment in AC (except for some Aeroplan points and even there I don't have special status), no business relationship with AC, no family at AC, some friends though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chockalicious Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I think the use of the term "guests" may be for more internal reasons than external ones. Re-enforce in the agents minds to treat the people like guets rather than passengers. I doubt most of the flying public notices a difference what they are referred to as. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest M. McRae Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I agree, the only thing that the majority of the flying public is concerned with is "COST" and then a distant second..... service. IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaEH Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 A person flying on Westjet is a customer. We refer to them as guests because it's polite. Passengers you have no interest in, whereas guests you want to spend time and personalize their experience with. If you make them feel like you actually care, that feeling goes a long, LONG way. What we NEVER forget is that these "guests" are the ones paying our salary, without them we are nothing. Consider the fare that they pay a bottle of booze that is brought, as a guest, to a party. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted March 19, 2004 Author Share Posted March 19, 2004 Well it did seem to provide a momentary distraction... I doubt I'm the only one who'd love to have such trivial worries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TrollyDolly Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 You should charge them a "guest" fee, since you are charging them to provide them with "service, and because he /she is paying you treat them respect and do whatever you can to help them." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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