In the first part of this post, I will share a personal experience of an actual service recovery that was less than ideal in execution. In Part 2, I will identify the gaps in recovery and possible improvements for better customer experience.
I had the opportunity to take a short break over a weekend towards the end of May at a hotel property along Orchard Road. Upon checking-in to a Deluxe Room, several service delivery gaps were identified.
1. Shortage of a bottle of drinking water
2. Shower amenities were missing (i.e. shower gel, shampoo etc)
4. Unacceptable Baby Cot Standard (i.e. missing mattress & pillow)
5. Unsecured Glass Coffee Table Top
The best is yet to come. In the middle of the night, I discovered a cockroach while using the bathroom. As my family was still asleep and that I'd managed to 'tame' the insect, I'd decided not to make a fuss until later in the morning.

At about 9.30 am, I rang up the Front Office requesting for the Duty Manager's presence in the room. The
DM promptly arrived and I'd showed him the 'tamed' insect. He was shocked and was extremely apologetic. I also took the opportunity to inform him on the unacceptable status of the baby cot. He asked if there was anything further that he could be of assistance and at that point in time, we simply asked for an
extension of the check-out time since we wanted to take the opportunity for some family bonding.
He promptly agreed but did not leave his business card for us. As the room was booked under my wife's name and we decided to leave her business card for the DM's retention when we were on our way out for our breakfast.
At about just before noon, we received a complimentary fruit basket and a bottle of wine. While the fruit basket was a nice gesture, the bottle of wine was totally inappropriate. We were with our little one and with both of us being light drinkers, we certainly would not be able to enjoy the wine. As we also would not want to bring the bottle of wine back with us with our other belongings and stroller (we do not own a car), we returned the wine.
So the on-site recovery was that. We wrote to the management on the incident and the General Manager promised to reply at a certain date which he didn't. We had to write to him to follow-up and below is excerpts of his reply:
"We would like to apologise for the untoward incidents your experienced during your stay from xx to xx May 08.
We sincerely regret the unpleasant experienced you encountered. Rest assured that the service which you received was definitely not in line with our standards of service.
I have personally taken up the roach incident with all concerned and have immediately informed our Contractor, xxxxxx Pte Ltd to conduct a detailed investigation in Room xxxx. For your information, xxxxxx Pte Ltd is a highly reputable pest control in this industry and has been appointed by xxxxxxx Hotel to conduct a regular preventive treatment on a monthly scheduled on our guestrooms and hotel premises. An audit of the services provided showed no emissions or lapses in the preventive treatment. As you will surely agree despite all efforts to eradicate, these incidents do occur even in the best kept homes especially in tempered climates.
Please allow me to reassure you that this is an isolated incident.
As a gesture of goodwill due to the inconveniences you experienced, we would like to extend you a Buffet Dinner for Two persons at our Cafe."
We wrote back declining his kind offer and that the other service lapse were not addressed in his reply. The Room Sales Manager promptly follow-up and arranged for a meeting between the hotel's
DOSM (Director of Sales & Marketing) and us to try and close the recovery.
I must say she handled the meeting very well, putting her more than a decade of
hositality experience to good use. But again, the follow-up action is bad. It has been about a week and a half since the meeting and we did not receive any follow-up communication on the meeting and status update on the agreed recovery arrangements.