Executive Summary
In the hospitality industry, good quality management is a crucial issue because it impacts a company’s success. The most valuable commodity in the hotel industry is money and services, thus businesses must guarantee that their offerings meet the expectations of their customers. Customers have expressed their dissatisfaction with Travelodge Restaurant, as indicated by the numerous bad reviews posted on Facebook and Trustpilot. Customers complained about issues with refund requests, filthy bedsheets, unfriendly employees, and nighttime noise. Some clients complain that the bed sheets are filthy and that human hair clogs the bathtub. Others claim they have yet to get refunds following the cancellation of their reservations by the company. Travelodge Restaurant now fails to achieve quality standards in areas including tangibles, empathy, assurance, reliability, and responsiveness. For Travelodge Restaurant to increase its fortunes, benchmarking is the ideal strategy.
Introduction
A service, according to Fitzsimmons, Fitzsimmons, and Bordoloi (2014), is defined as interactions between customers and service personnel, and it is usually used as a solution to customer concerns. Although services are perishable and intangible, they are critical to the economy. Quality management in the hotel business comprises offering high-quality services and addressing consumer needs. The definition of quality has changed throughout time, with the emphasis shifting from inspections to complete quality. In the past, the operative works were inspected, which helped to determine if the product should be accepted or rejected. The statistical approach was later applied to quality management. The development of overall quality as the cornerstone of quality management occurred in Japan during the second half of the twentieth century, as a result of advancements that led to the manufacturing of low-cost, high-quality goods. The Japanese used complete quality control, which has since become the global standard for quality control, to emphasize overall quality in an organization (Dale, Van der Wiele, & Van Iwaarden 2013). Because of its current circumstances, Travelodge Restaurant is an example of a business that requires complete quality control. Customers are unhappy with Travelodge’s services, indicating the necessity for quality control measures to increase the company’s competitiveness.
Findings and analysis
Factors affecting the company
One consumer complains about “stained linens, unclean washcloths hidden between clean towels, grime and hair in the shower” on Trustpilot (2021). Another complainant claims that the sink in their hotel room was clogged with human hair, and that the hotel’s showers were faulty, forcing them to shower with cold water.
Another issue concerns reservations and cancellations. When it comes to bookings and cancellations, one consumer claims that speaking with customer support representatives is worthless. The customer says that after making plans in 2020 that were later cancelled owing to the pandemic, they made bookings for January 2021 that were also later cancelled and for which they have yet to get compensation (Facebook 2021). Despite the client’s repeated requests for refunds and rebookings, the company has yet to do so, and the customer has pledged never to utilize the company’s services again. During the coronavirus pandemic, most consumers indicate that their reservations were canceled and they were not refunded. Other customers report that they arrived at the hotel after booking their rooms only to discover that their rooms had already been sold to other customers since they were delayed by a few hours.
Poor customer service is also a complaint. Customers find the company’s employees to be unpleasant and unfriendly. After paying for the accommodation and their pet, one client claims that the hotel personnel broke into their room at midnight while they were sleeping and forced them to leave.
Another customer claims that the employees are uncaring and condescending. Another consumer claims that their reservation was canceled because they had a concealed impairment that prevented them from wearing a mask. Customers were escorted out without being refunded after the receptionist accused them of feigning disability and intending to murder others for not wearing a mask during the coronavirus outbreak. According to Trustpilot (2021), the customer service staff is unprofessional and inexperienced. Another customer who has been at the hotel for more than 100 days over the course of two years claims that they were not granted a refund and is unhappy with how they were handled despite being a long-term customer.
Customers have also complained about noise at night. The majority of customers claim that drugs are sold in the hotel, and that drug users disrupt people’s sleep (Facebook 2021). According to one customer, they only had a good night’s sleep two nights out of four at the hospital. The noise created by drug users in the hotel inhibits individuals from getting a good night’s sleep. Another client claims that after a few hours in their hotel, inebriated guests began slamming doors, causing a noise that forced them to check out.
Service quality dimensions
Service quality is divided into five categories: tangibles, empathy, assurance, dependability, and responsiveness (Johnston, Clark & Shulver, 2012). The tangibles dimension includes the physical appearance of buildings that deliver services, as well as the equipment and people who provide those services. In this dimension, the physical facility’s cleanliness and how guests behave while there are two significant factors to examine. Customers have complained about the Travelodge Restaurant’s noisy and dirty environment,therefore it doesn’t fit this criterion. The majority of clients report that the bedsheets are discolored and that the water baths are clogged with hair. Other guests complained that they couldn’t get a good night’s sleep since other customers were making a lot of noise and appeared to be inebriated. The prevalence of drug users in the company’s hotels demonstrates that Travelodge Restaurant is not concerned with ensuring that guests enjoy a comfortable stay.
Another level is empathy, and this is about providing customer-centric services. Empathy entails qualities such as empathy, approachability, and the ability to comprehend a customer’s needs. In this dimension, Travelodge Restaurant fails in a variety of ways. Despite the fact that one of the customers was disabled and thus unable to wear masks, the receptionist threw them out without verifying their story. The personnel is also unapproachable and unfriendly. The organization fails to meet this criterion because its employees are inept at providing customer service. Assurance is a different level that focuses on employee etiquette and how they inspire confidence and trust. According to Johnston, Clark, and Shulver (2012), assurance entails staff being courteous and respectful of customers, having efficient customer communications, performing services competently, and having the mindset that employees seek to meet customer demands. The personnel at Travelodge Restaurant’s communications with clients cannot be described as effective. Employees are unable to communicate effectively with clients because they do not reassure them that their demands are being met.
Reliability refers to a company’s ability to deliver on its promises of dependable and accurate services. Meeting client expectations, performing duties on schedule and in the same manner, and avoiding errors, according to Johnston, Clark, and Shulver (2012), are all part of delivering trustworthy services. Reliability also includes record keeping and billing. Travelodge Restaurant has failed horribly in this department. Customers book accommodations, but when they arrive at the hotel, they are told that their rooms are already taken (Facebook, 2021). The Failure to keep proper records has resulted in a huge number of dissatisfied customers eager to spread the word about the company’s services. Helping consumers and providing fast services is what responsiveness is all about. According to Johnston, Clark, and Shulver (2012), responsiveness entails not holding clients waiting for no reason and avoiding activities that lead to bad opinions of the company’s services. If a company’s service fails, it should respond immediately and fix the problem to maintain positive opinions. Response time is a major concern for Travelodge. Some of the company’s previous clients have complained about a lack of response. Due to government restrictions on travel and congregations to prevent the virus’s spread, their plans to use the hotel’s services were thwarted. Customers have not been compensated after their reservations were canceled owing to travel restrictions, and they have been told to be patient, which does not sit well with them..
Recommendations and conclusion
For the organization to improve its ratings and on how customers view them, Travelodge Restaurant must undertake numerous modifications. Improving the company’s customer service operations is one suggestion that could be beneficial. Many customers have expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s customer service. According to Al-Azzam (2016), client happiness is critical to a company’s success. Customer pleasure has been the core of marketing since ancient times, according to Stranjancevic & Bulatovic (2015). This emphasizes the significance of customer service in a company’s competitiveness. As a result, in order to boost client happiness, Travelodge Restaurant must improve its customer service. This can be accomplished by teaching employees how to interact with customers.. Most customers complained that the employees were rude to them, which shows the need for the staff to be trained on how to relate with clients.
Conclusion
Quality management is an important idea since it improves the competitiveness of a company like Travelodge Restaurant (Mishra-Patricio 2020). Over the last five years, Travelodge Restaurant has received low reviews.For the previous seven years, Premier Inn has garnered good feedback. Travelodge Restaurant diners have complained about anything from bad service to a filthy environment. These complaints paint a poor picture of the company, thus benchmarking at Premier Inn is vital to learn how to run a business that fulfills consumer expectations.
References
Al-Azzam, A.F.M., 2016. The impact of customer relationship management on hotels performance in Jordan. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 7(4), pp.200-210)
Fitzsimmons, J., Fitzsimmons, M. and Bordoloi, S., 2014. Service management: Operations, Strategy, Information Technology, 8th ed. New York, US: McGraw Hill Education.
Johnston, R., Clark, G. and Shulver, M., 2012. Service Operations Management: Improving Service Delivery, 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited.
King, J. H. and Cichy, R. F., 2006. Managing for Quality in the Hospitality Industry. New Jersey: Pearson Education Limited.
Mishra-Patricio, N., 2020. Managing Quality in Hospitality, Tourism and Events, (Custom textbook), Pearson: Harlow. (Available on Kortext)
Stranjancevic, A. and Bulatovic, I., 2015. Customer satisfaction as an indicator of service quality in hospitality and tourism. International Journal for Quality Research, 9(4), pp.689-704.
Travelodge. 2020. Our Company – Travelodge. [online] Available at: <https://www.travelodge.co.uk/about/our-company/ > [Accessed 12 February 2021].
Trustpilot, 2021. Trustpilot. [online] Available at: <https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.travelodge.co.uk> [Accessed 13 February 2021].
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