I got someone fired, but I couldn't stand by and not say anything.....

[travel-mum]

Here's what happened: My husband and I went on a trip with another couple to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, leaving at the end of March, 2012. We had planned this trip for years, and each couple had spent a lot of money for this trip.


We booked the night before our flight (March 30th) at a Hotel, and paid for our car to be left in the outdoor parking area for the two weeks we would be gone. The hotel staff were very nice, and we enjoyed our stay there.



When we arrived back in Canada on April 15th we caught the shuttle from the airport back to the hotel.



When we got to the parking area, my husband realized that all we had on us was Moroccan Dirhams (which you can't exchange in this country). He hopped out of the shuttle and was looking for Canadian money in our car to give the shuttle driver a tip. Unfortunately, the driver left before we found a $5 Canadian bill.



When we were packing the car, I asked my husband about our camera bag. He realized that in his haste to find Canadian money to give the driver a tip, that he had forgotten the camera bag under the seat in the shuttle.



We immediately went up to the front desk at the hotel and asked the gentleman there if he would ask the drivers if anyone found a camera bag. A few minutes later a call came back that, indeed, a camera bag had been found and it would be brought up to the hotel. I was so happy, because that bag contained an expensive camera and video camera with over 1,000 pictures and three hours of video tape of this once-in-a-lifetime trip!



I went outside to the front of the hotel to wait for the driver. When he pulled up I saw a woman get out and go into the hotel, and two young teenagers started pulling luggage out of the back of the van. The driver just stood there at the back of the van, watching them with an angry face while they took very heavy luggage out by themselves. Then he started telling them what a "b**ch" their mother was. I couldn't believe my ears! I just stood there in shock that someone could speak to those poor, young kids like that! or if the mother hadn’t given him a tip, but it doesn’t matter. There is no possible excuse for him to speak to them like that!



Then he pointed an angry finger and scowled at me:"Lady, I want to see you down in the garage!"

I said "Pardon me? Did I do something wrong?"

He yelled: "I said you have to come down to the garage!"

He then jumped into the van, and drove to the rear of the hotel where the garage is .



I was nervous about going down to the garage with this big, angry man, but I didn’t tell my husband what had happened. We drove down to the garage and I went inside. There was a gentleman sitting at the desk, and the shuttle driver was standing in front of the desk. He pulled out our camera bag, and said "Is this your bag?"

I said “yes,”and started giving him my name so he could verify it with the luggage tag on the bag.

He wouldn't listen to me though, and started yelling over me, saying that my husband hadn't given him a tip, so he could keep our camera bag. I was shocked! I truly believe that most people are kind and honest, but his behavior made me start shaking in fear.

I tried to tell him that we were looking for money for a tip when he drove off, but he just kept talking over me, saying that I'm lucky that he didn't keep the bag, and he can do that if people don't give him a tip. He even told me he wanted a witness to all of this, and pointed to the gentleman behind the desk.


He was so angry, and bent over me, pointing his finger at me while he was talking that I was afraid. I'm a small woman, less than 5 feet tall, and he intimidated me a great deal. I was alone in a garage with these two men, and the whole time this happend the black gentleman behind the desk didn't say anything or stand up for me.

I told the shuttle driver that we had finally found a $5 bill in the car for a tip, so I threw it down on the desk (in hopes of distracting him), grabbed my camera bag from him and ran. I was shaking so much that I just told my husband to drive away as fast as he could.

I was still shaking and upset about the incident when I called the hotel manager two days later. I don’t understand how someone could treat people like that, especially people who pay for his services and ultimately pay for his wages. I told the hotel manager what had happened, and I was still so upset about it that I was in tears on the phone. I told him that I wasn't doing this for only myself, but for other people who had to deal with that man. I could stay at any other hotel in the airport area, but I couldn't stand the thought of him treating another person the same way.

I got a call back from the hotel saying the man had been fired. We both felt bad about this, but the manager told me he already had several complaints about him, and this was just the last straw.

The hotel also sent me a voucher for a free night's stay.

I am not the kind of person who complains about every little thing. It takes a lot of bad service for me to speak up, but I just couldn't hold my tongue this time.

Do you think I did the right thing? I found out after that the man is fighting cancer, and is having a rough time of it so I feel every worse now.

[hollyquaiscer]

Yes you did, frankly I'm surprised that you are second guessing yourself. This man has no right to treat anyone in the manner he did. He is a bully and certainly doesn't deserve to be in the customer service field. You have saved many, many people from his bulling ways and you are to be commended for your actions. Do not worry, you did a great justice and stood up to him in a way many people before you should have done. I say KUDO's to you!
WTG!!!!!

[Patty Smyth]

You were 100% right to report him.

[MortgageQueen]

There's really no question at all you did the right thing. Having a disease is no excuse to terrorize people. I think the other man should have been reprimanded too for not intervening.

[VeeVee]

Oh my Goodness! I am not a small woman and believe me I would have made that man scared if he did that to me NO ONE has a right to treat anyone like that. HE gets paid for his job, NO WHERE does it state he MUST get a tip. You absolutely did the right thing and GOOD that he got fired! I hope he doesn't get another job until he learns to treat others properly!

[xox2010]

Is there a reason why you had to mention the gentleman behind the desk was black? His ethnicity doesn't seem like it should be important to the story.

Nevertheless, the shuttle driver sounds like he was very rude and had no right to demand a tip.

[AmberLab]

Absolutely, you did the right thing, good for you for standing up for yourself. His being sick gives him NO excuse to treat other people badly.

[travel-mum]

Thanks for your support. I just wish the incident had never happened.

[travel-mum]

The only reason I mentioned the man behind the desk was black was because this is pretty well the only thing I remember about him.
The hotel manager wanted me to e-mail him what happened. I just took that e-mail and used it as a draft of my story to my fellow SC'rs.
I also gave a description of the shuttle bus driver to the hotel manager, but I edited that out as I didn't think it was relevant. I just forgot to edit out my description of the man behind the desk.
Sorry to any African American people on this site. I didn't mean anything by it!

[glowworm2k]

I am glad that you reported the incident. The man has no right to do that to you and anyone who treats other people, let alone one's customers, with that level of cruelty, aggression and disrespect certainly should not be working with the public in any way, shape or form. Good for you for standing up for yourself!

[Lynn49]

He deserved what he got, period. It seems that this was the final straw for the hotel management, but I wonder why it took so long, after other complaints to kick his can to the curb! No one on earth has the right to treat any other human being that way and you should be proud of yourself for having the backbone to report your experience with him, saving others from such abuse and humiliation.
Good on ya, Lady!!!

[vibrantflame]

Absolutely you did the right thing. It is sad that he's fighting cancer, but there is *never* an excuse for that type of behaviour.

[DaveP]

What a bloody lunatic!

And from the sounds of it a bully. You say you're under 5' tall - I'll bet he wouldn't have the nerve to try to intimidate a man his own size like that. Bully and a coward.

[abbasgirl]

There is no reason whatsoever to feel bad about reporting him. He was obviously in the wrong line of work. Now that he's gone a more suitable person can be found to do his job and he can move on to something he has the skills for (hopefully not in the service industry!)

[DH666]

I feel that he got himself fired by his actions. You did nothing but report his actions, which in any situation, were inappropriate.