Serving customers vs. being technically correct

One of my good friends was recently recounting his experience in Italy. That was his first trip there and he had made all the bookings online and was hoping that everything would be as promised. The topic that is of interest was the hotel room which was supposed to have an air conditioner. I know you all must be thinking that why are we even discussing about an air conditioner. Let me explain.

My friend told me that that once they checked in to the room, they found that it was pretty hot and it didn’t take long to realize that the air conditioner was not ON. When he looked around, he found that the air conditioner was situated somewhere on the top, not easily accessible. He went down to the receptionist to find out where the controls were for the air conditioner.

This is where everything got interesting. The receptionist told him that he could provide a remote control for the air conditioner but that would cost an extra $10/day. The rest of the story is not that important.

The hotel was technically correct by saying that there was an air conditioner in the room. However, from a customer service standpoint, it is right for the customer to expect that whatever was promised would be present and in a working condition!!!