I’m in San Francisco for the LinuxWorld conference (watch the Rackspace blog for conference coverage coming soon.) While I am here, I’m staying at a Starwood hotel. I’ve stayed at various Starwood properties in the past, enough that I am part of their loyalty rewards program.

Today it became apparent that the normal checkout time of noon wasn’t going to work - I needed to extend the checkout to 1:00. No big deal, right? I’ve done this a couple of times before, and it’s never been an issue.

I went to the front desk and politely asked if it would be possible to extend my checkout time by an hour. The response I received back has been running through my head ever since.

“As a one time courtesy, I’m going to extend your checkout time.”

Now, on the surface, it looks like this response is perfectly reasonable. I asked for something, and they said yes. However, when it comes to customer service, phrasing makes a huge difference.

“As a one time courtesy …” communicates to the customer that you are going out of your way to help them, and you’d better not ask again. I’d expect this sort of response if I was asking for my room to be comped. I would not expect it when I am asking for a one hour checkout extension in a hotel that is only 70% full.

If I ask for a late checkout in two months, will I get denied? Does Starwood keep a database somewhere of favors that I owe them?

(Obligatory Godfather reference): “I will extend you this courtesy of a late checkout on this, the day of my daughters wedding. One day, I may require a favor from you.”

So, how could the same message be communicated in a way that is more customer-friendly?

“No problem! I’ve gone ahead and changed your checkout time. It’s usually noon, but you can checkout at 1.”

It communicates the same information, but in a way that sounds less like the DMV, and more like a customer-centric hospitality business.