This is Africa for you!!!

Five Star Hotel in Abuja

I was in the five star hotel in Abuja and among the things i found in the room was a very well placed list of the following;
Dear esteemed guest, The under listed items are not to be taken away but are for your comfort and convenience while you enjoy your stay with us.
Bed sheets, blanket, curtains, bedcover, pillow/pillowcases, all towels, kettle, tea trays tea cups/spoons, tea basket, stationary stand, ashtray, glass cups, remote control, television, refrigerators, mini safe box, tables/standing lamps, waste bins or trash cans, amenity tray, wall picture frames, room service menu...
What came to my mind as i read this list was that patrons of this hotel often took away hotel property i am surprised even the TVs are mentioned. What do you think about this? Do we do it here in Uganda? I know in many hotels people steal things, i do not think this is stealing to put it mildly it is robbery of the hotel. But the whole thing goes back to our upbringing, our values, our understanding because you have paid some dollars doesn't entitle you to take away hotel property. People normally take away hand lotions they've used but the blanket and TV, you are taking away the hotel. My friends a hotel is a temporary place of aboard and the things they are for your use and use of others. Please do not take them away.

Management Organizations and Customer Service

Sometime back I talked about a restaurant in Jinja where we were mistreated at as customers who wanted to eat something in the night. However, there are times when people are good intentioned but it just doesn’t work. Arriving at Addis Ababa at about 6am in the morning, there was a challenge. I shouldn’t say I was shocked but here was a man sleeping of the transfer desk! Of course with modern technology you are always looking at the screen to see where to go. So we left the man enjoying his sleep and we proceeded to the waiting lounges. As a frequent traveller, I have accessed some private lounges and I had access to the cloud 9 Ethiopian lounge. I have been to this lounge before and other than the free meals may be you should keep away from it. The lounge is visited by very large numbers of people; there are only two computers for internet access…Whenever I am there, either one of them is off or both. Luckily there is wireless so if you have a laptop you just get connected. What continues to amaze me is management organization of the customer service. It seems nobody cares about what takes place. There is no order about seats and you are all fighting for these seats as well. It is also said when there is no competition the customer will always get a raw deal. That is what you get when you get to this lounge. I guess because of the monopoly of the Ethiopian airlines at their airport, customer service is not a priority. As we boarded the plane, again the issue of organization showed up quickly. When they announced the flight, everybody went to the desk. There was no action for some 10 mins until when some sensible person told passengers to make a line. That is organization for you. If you are in business, please pick a lesson.