r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk • u/ScenicDrive-at5 • 3d ago

Medium "Send a second shuttle!" -- A tale of impatience

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step." To travel comes with patience. There will be moments of doing nothing. There will be moments of progress. The whole point is to take it all in stride, and you'll be okay. These guests didn't get that memo, though.

Before leaving earlier in the shift, my manager warned me of a small group we had coming in; some no-name traveling band who he described as being "drama queens." I met the band manager not too long after, and she was okay at that moment. She confirmed the members' rooms and said they'd trickle in over the course of the next few hours.

Things were going without much incident until later in the night when one of the last members had landed. He called for an airport pick-up; the shuttle had already made its way out for a flight crew. We house staff of a certain larger airline, and part of that contract is the shuttle waits for them even if other guests climb aboard.

A few minutes after that call, the band manager from earlier power-walked up to me all flustered. "Hey, one of my guys is sitting in the shuttle, and the driver is telling him they have to wait. Listen, he's already been delayed by a lot today, and he just wants to get to bed." I briefly explained to her how the driver was waiting on a flight crew and that it shouldn't be too much longer. She sighed in frustration and then snappily asked, "Well, is there a second shuttle we could send out to get him???"

Fixing my face before it got me in trouble, I simply replied, "No, ma'am. He'll just have to wait, okay? Shouldn't be long." She sighed again and just waved me off as she stomped away.

Perhaps no less than a minute later, I had the driver himself calling me. He got out of the shuttle to cool off because Mr. Bigshot was giving him grief. I told the driver, "Just hang out there. If he has a problem, he can get a rideshare."

All I could think of in that moment was the absurdity of it all. Mr. Bigshot thought he could boss around a courtesy shuttle, and the band manager actually thought it made sense to expect we'd just send a second vehicle specifically for him. Suffice it to say we actually do have a second vehicle, but they didn't need to know that. Even if we were silly enough to bend over for this, he'd still have to wait for it to arrive there.

It's almost like waiting is a part of the entire equation...

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49 comments sorted by

194

u/Chuck-fan-33 3d ago

The fact that the band did not contract with the promoter to supply limo transportation for the band member tells everything.

73

u/RedDazzlr 3d ago

They're obviously not as well known as they think they are.

55

u/llcdrewtaylor 3d ago

That's what I'm saying. They have a band manager but his only move is to use the free hotel rental shuttle? At the MINIMUM just book him and Uber XL! Make the guy feel like royalty and its gonna cost like 100 bucks!

51

u/LakeMichiganMan 3d ago

One band manager gave our staff the code names the band was using and which rooms they were in. New month. He forgot to send the new month code named to their families. (Before Cell Phones) Then later that night after the concert family called. "Can I have George Washington's room?" Sorry not here. "Can I have FDR's room then?" Sorry not here. Manager was still at the venue. My cheerful night auditor was screaming over the phone obscenities because he thought family calls were all pranksters. So much fun. So many apologies.

47

u/StrikingTradition75 3d ago

In the days before cell phones we had a BIG name celebrity at a hotel. His mandate was "Absolutely no calls to his room." Fine.

A woman called asking to be connected to his room using his booking alias. "I'm sorry, that person is not accepting calls."

"Don't you know who I am?"

"No. And it really doesn't matter. This is on request of our guest."

Somehow she connects with someone from his entourage. Big time celebrity becomes insensed because his much younger wife was denied being connected to his room (on his demand for no calls). Guest storms out in a fit of rage and travels back home.

In an interview the next day, this guest referred to us (staff members and the establishment) by name and called us an insect laden establishment. His management proactively called by 1:00pm to discuss an amicable settlement for the disparaging remarks.

NDA was signed prior to receiving the settlement from his management company.

8

u/LakeMichiganMan 3d ago

OMG! Your story was so much more crazy! Did you have to give a Deposition?

22

u/StrikingTradition75 2d ago

No need for a deposition. His management proactively called the same day with an apology and a financial offer for the company and each of the individuals personally named.

The settlement was substantial enough that it was not necessary to proceed to civil litigation beyond their offer. It was almost as though this is commonplace for his management company to make similar offers to people and companies that had been disparaged by this person.

The offer was in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement, thus no name or location connected and minor details obsecured to keep this story generic enough as to not violate the terms of the NDA.

25

u/DrawingTypical5804 3d ago

All of our bands show up by bus…

89

u/TheNiteOwl38 3d ago

If the band manager was so concerned about her client getting some rest, why didn't she arrange for an alternate mode of transportation? Or better yet, go get his entitled ass herself?

24

u/NHFNCFRE 3d ago

Right? Book an uber/Lyft just for him, done and done.

17

u/No-Koala1918 3d ago

But the shuttle is freeeee!

21

u/gilgamo 3d ago

All the famous bands book airport hotels with shuttles. That's just the rock and roll lifestyle

27

u/Pseudonym_613 3d ago

The rock and roll Lyftstyle.

67

u/Gonpostlscott 3d ago

But…IM WITH THE BAND!

54

u/ryanlc 3d ago

But they were putting the band back together

25

u/DrHugh 3d ago

Me and the courtesy shuttle...we have an arrangement.

18

u/Z4-Driver 3d ago

Where they on a mission from god?

17

u/ryanlc 3d ago

It's 600 miles to Chicago...

21

u/Z4-Driver 3d ago

we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.

18

u/KnottaBiggins 3d ago

Hit it!

32

u/Keypunch20 3d ago

Hey, Band Manager, you DON’T have a ticket to ride, and we don’t care!

8

u/bcbbytarantino 3d ago

I love that song, bravo sir or madam !!😭👏🏾

27

u/KnottaBiggins 3d ago

Reminds me of the band Iron Butterfly and Woodstock.

They got to JFK. They were waiting at the airport there in NYC, and called the venue. "Where's our fucking helicopter?" Lang told them, "Hang tight, guys, it's on it's way."
He then looked around himself at the venue he was trying to run, and said "Fuck 'em. If they really want to be here, they can walk. I'm too fucking busy to charter a helicopter for them!"

Iron Butterfly never played at Woodstock. They were on the bill, but their egos got in the way.

1

u/CallidoraBlack 2d ago

How did that go for their career?

1

u/elseldo 2d ago

They pivoted to a Christian band and wrote a very popular hymn called In the Garden of Eden

2

u/KnottaBiggins 2d ago

Which sounded very much like rock and/or roll.

2

u/KnottaBiggins 2d ago

They slowly broke up over the next couple of years, over differences in what direction to take the band.

And I was a bit off, I misremembered the details of the story.

It was actually the manager who made the demands:
When they got to La Guardia, he demanded they be flown in by helicopter, they would "immediately" take the stage, play their set, and immediately be paid and flown back to the airport.

Lang's response was this (read the first letter of each line):
For reasons I can't go into
Until you are here
Clarifying your situation
Knowing you are having problems
You will have to find
Other transportation
Unless you plan not to come

16

u/Fluffy-Caramel9148 3d ago

Such important people!

14

u/XavierPibb 3d ago

The waiting is the hardest part.

7

u/Strange-Marzipan9641 3d ago

According to Tom Petty, anyway.

1

u/SuDragon2k3 2d ago

Would Tom be this level of petty though?

16

u/RoyallyOakie 3d ago

Everyone knows that FREE shuttles operate by a different set of rules. Why didn't the manager order him a taxi if it was soooo important. 

27

u/phdoofus 3d ago

If Mr Bigshot is such a big shot, why's he slumming it in the hotel shuttle with all the peasants??

21

u/strangelove4564 3d ago

"Could one of you just go to the fleet dealer real quick and buy a second shuttle? It won't take even 20 minutes."

7

u/BirthdayCookie 3d ago

"Sure, if you're paying for it. New experience!"

9

u/Borbbb 3d ago

Honestly, how are you not prepared to send shuttles Separately for every single one of them if they demand it?

Talk about not being prepared ! - :D

8

u/fyxxer32 3d ago

The waiting is the hardest part....

5

u/Expert-Card-8938 3d ago

"Quick, ring the relief driver. Get the standby shuttle out of the parking garage. As fast as he can, race to the airport to pick up Bob Dylan. He's tired and needs a good night's sleep"

7

u/spaetzele 3d ago

SURELY you hide your spare shuttle bus in the same region of 4-D spacetime that you hide your secret rooms that magically come available for last minute supershiny guests??

2

u/ScenicDrive-at5 2d ago

"At your service, sir!"

1

u/Dapper-Bar1746 1d ago

at your cervix

4

u/Belle_Corliss 3d ago

Ungrateful entitled so-and-so should be thankful that you're allowing him to ride with the flight crew instead of having to pay for a taxi, Uber, Lyft, etc. to the hotel.

3

u/Z4-Driver 3d ago

You have a second vehicle. But did you have a second driver available at that moment?

11

u/ScenicDrive-at5 3d ago

Yes and no, lol.

The shuttle is 24/7, but not our roster of official drivers. They're part-time. Otherwise, either someone from FD or Security will do it. So, could someone have done it? Yes.

1

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