scenario

[Dr Rick Daris]

a  friend of mine has a job where different companies will occasionally call on him or send a rep by to show him their product. the companies (around six total) will occasionally offer to send him places to train him on their products also.

he recently took one of them up on it and they flew him to florida. he decided to go down a couple of days early to kind of make a vacation out of it. he made sure to print out a previous email they sent him w/ the date of the training on it, but when he went to go check in to the hotel that the training was being held in, they gave him a sheet at check in outlining the reception, training, dinner, etc. and this sheet had dates one day earlier then what he printed out and what was earlier emailed to him.

he is now at the hotel and still hasn't talked to anyone from the company and can't access his work emails to get their contact info. what should he do? find out a way to get in contact now or just wait til he gets home and forward the email w/ the wrong date and a couple of sentences of what happened?

[pissclams]

doesn't the hotel have a business center where he could access his work email and find the contact info?

is he considering skipping the training b/c it now interfere's with his vaca schedule?

confusion abounds, terrible descripto of situ.

[Dr Rick Daris]

doesn't the hotel have a business center where he could access his work email and find the contact info?

is he considering skipping the training b/c it now interfere's with his vaca schedule?

confusion abounds, terrible descripto of situ.

he got an email a few weeks ago saying that the training was feb 22 (monday). he printed this off and has it w/ him. he came down a couple of days early w/ some friends and went to the beach. then drove to the hotel where the training was at last night. he checked in and was given sheet saying that the traing was on feb 21 (sunday). so the training was already over by the time he checked in. he has a computer but due to where he works, he can not access his work email from anywhere but work (weird, i know).

[steve dave]

When does this guy fly home?  I would just head back to the beach until then.  When you get home forward the e-mail with a big WTF!? and ask when the next all expenses paid training trip is so you can schedule that one. 

[Dr Rick Daris]

When does this guy fly home?  I would just head back to the beach until then.  When you get home forward the e-mail with a big WTF!? and ask when the next all expenses paid training trip is so you can schedule that one. 

he's headed back this evening and that's what he was planning on doing but he still kind of feels bad and stuff like maybe he is the one that messed up, but then the next minute he's like "hey,  i shouldn't feel bad at all. these bozos are the ones that messed it up."

 the hotel has a super nice pool, etc so he'll prob just kick it there and then to the airport later today.

[pissclams]

Crazy.  I'd contact them asap and ask what happened.

[_33]

When does this guy fly home?  I would just head back to the beach until then.  When you get home forward the e-mail with a big WTF!? and ask when the next all expenses paid training trip is so you can schedule that one. 

he's headed back this evening and that's what he was planning on doing but he still kind of feels bad and stuff like maybe he is the one that messed up, but then the next minute he's like "hey,  i shouldn't feel bad at all. these bozos are the ones that messed it up."

 the hotel has a super nice pool, etc so he'll prob just kick it there and then to the airport later today.

I know he's your friend Rick Daris but this guy sounds like a total loser.  I mean, he didn't even check with the company just to make sure on the dates?  And did he ever think about getting to the hotel a littler early just in case?  Your idiot friend sounds like he is totally at fault here.  Time to cut ties with this moron and make some new friends RD.

[Dr Rick Daris]

When does this guy fly home?  I would just head back to the beach until then.  When you get home forward the e-mail with a big WTF!? and ask when the next all expenses paid training trip is so you can schedule that one. 

he's headed back this evening and that's what he was planning on doing but he still kind of feels bad and stuff like maybe he is the one that messed up, but then the next minute he's like "hey,  i shouldn't feel bad at all. these bozos are the ones that messed it up."

 the hotel has a super nice pool, etc so he'll prob just kick it there and then to the airport later today.

I know he's your friend Rick Daris but this guy sounds like a total loser.  I mean, he didn't even check with the company just to make sure on the dates?  And did he ever think about getting to the hotel a littler early just in case?  Your idiot friend sounds like he is totally at fault here.  Time to cut ties with this moron and make some new friends RD.

he's not a very detailed oriented guy when it comes to stuff like that. pretty amazing person all around though. also, getting to the hotel earlier was not possible because he and some friends were taking alligator air boat rides and shooting machine guns at some place where they let you shoot machine guns. get to the hotel early??? you can't be serious?

[Dr Rick Daris]

Crazy.  I'd contact them asap and ask what happened.

-he does buy a lot of their stuff, so even if he was in the wrong (which i don't think he is)...i don't think they would want to make him mad or anything.

-he can't access the email he got from them until he gets home. the email is the crux of his "don't blame me. you guys screwed up." argument.

[CNS]

When does this guy fly home?  I would just head back to the beach until then.  When you get home forward the e-mail with a big WTF!? and ask when the next all expenses paid training trip is so you can schedule that one. 

he's headed back this evening and that's what he was planning on doing but he still kind of feels bad and stuff like maybe he is the one that messed up, but then the next minute he's like "hey,  i shouldn't feel bad at all. these bozos are the ones that messed it up."

 the hotel has a super nice pool, etc so he'll prob just kick it there and then to the airport later today.

Your friend should try to find the contact info(google perhaps?) and give a big WTF call while down there.  

They won't jump him through the training given that he has already missed most of it.  The call while still down there will make it seem more genuine than doing so when he returned to work.  It would also make the other company rep feel worse than if the call took place later.  That way the other company feels like the jackass, and doesn't have some small part of them thinking "did that ass just fly to FL and sit on the beach on our dime"?  

Calling while there and during the inconvenience is def the better way to go.

What would your buddy expect one of his clients to do in a similar situation?  That is what he should do if he would like to get a second all-in training session.

[Ghost of Stan Parrish]

When does this guy fly home?  I would just head back to the beach until then.  When you get home forward the e-mail with a big WTF!? and ask when the next all expenses paid training trip is so you can schedule that one. 

he's headed back this evening and that's what he was planning on doing but he still kind of feels bad and stuff like maybe he is the one that messed up, but then the next minute he's like "hey,  i shouldn't feel bad at all. these bozos are the ones that messed it up."

 the hotel has a super nice pool, etc so he'll prob just kick it there and then to the airport later today.

Your friend should try to find the contact info(google perhaps?) and give a big WTF call while down there. 

They won't jump him through the training given that he has already missed most of it.  The call while still down there will make it seem more genuine than doing so when he returned to work.  It would also make the other company rep feel worse than if the call took place later.  That way the other company feels like the jackass, and doesn't have some small part of them thinking "did that ass just fly to FL and sit on the beach on our dime"? 

Calling while there and during the inconvenience is def the better way to go.

What would your buddy expect one of his clients to do in a similar situation?  That is what he should do if he would like to get a second all-in training session.

Great points.  Especially if it turns out he's in the wrong, this helps him argue it was a mistake, instead of just a free trip to Florida.

[pissclams]

I bet your friend is pissed and wants some sort of payback for those idiots wasting his time, etc. 

[Dr Rick Daris]

When does this guy fly home?  I would just head back to the beach until then.  When you get home forward the e-mail with a big WTF!? and ask when the next all expenses paid training trip is so you can schedule that one. 

he's headed back this evening and that's what he was planning on doing but he still kind of feels bad and stuff like maybe he is the one that messed up, but then the next minute he's like "hey,  i shouldn't feel bad at all. these bozos are the ones that messed it up."

 the hotel has a super nice pool, etc so he'll prob just kick it there and then to the airport later today.

Your friend should try to find the contact info(google perhaps?) and give a big WTF call while down there. 

They won't jump him through the training given that he has already missed most of it.  The call while still down there will make it seem more genuine than doing so when he returned to work.  It would also make the other company rep feel worse than if the call took place later.  That way the other company feels like the jackass, and doesn't have some small part of them thinking "did that ass just fly to FL and sit on the beach on our dime"? 

Calling while there and during the inconvenience is def the better way to go.

What would your buddy expect one of his clients to do in a similar situation?  That is what he should do if he would like to get a second all-in training session.

Great points.  Especially if it turns out he's in the wrong, this helps him argue it was a mistake, instead of just a free trip to Florida.

he does have a print out of the email stating that the training is on the 22nd. when he arrived the night of the 21st, they game him something at the front desk that said it was the 21st. can't really see how he's in the wrong. dunno. nightmare scenario for this guy though. he's gotta do something about it and doesn't really want to.

[Dr Rick Daris]

I bet your friend is pissed and wants some sort of payback for those idiots wasting his time, etc. 

yeah. he doesn't want anything like that. just wants it to all go away and maintain a good relationship w/ these people so that he can go to a training type thing again later down the road.

[WildcatNkilt]

1)  Don't understand why he wouldn't have the person's phone# in the email.  Thought that was a given, especially when traveling.


2)  Who the eff does training on Sundays?

[Trim]

Surely the hotel is in possession of the contact info for the training company's idiot who handled the booking/scheduling.  

[CNS]

If they are still training today, grab the trainer during a break and get the info from him.

[Trim]

If they are still training today, grab the trainer during a break and get the info from him.

 

[steve dave]

He should send them an e-mail when he gets home with no explanation but pictures of the alligator airboat rides and machine gun shooting extravaganza.  The e-mail should be titled, "Thanks for the training!"

[CNS]

Express to a spot on a gov watch list.

[Dr Rick Daris]

Surely the hotel is in possession of the contact info for the training company's idiot who handled the booking/scheduling.  

probably, but that seems like a lot of talking to people and stuff and my friend would rather just email his rep about it. he's met her a few times. they're on good terms. she's not the one that sent him the bad email date. hopefully this won't be a big deal. worst case scenario is that he has to pay for the flight, etc. he should know by tomorrow.

[CNS]

Worst case is that your buddy may now be changing his business relationship with one of his suppliers from a trused relationship to one that is not.

[Trim]

Your friend should get one of those souvenier mini-alligator heads.  I got one on my desk and people like it.  The rep probably would too.

Surely the hotel is in possession of the contact info for the training company's idiot who handled the booking/scheduling. 

probably, but that seems like a lot of talking to people and stuff and my friend would rather just email his rep about it. he's met her a few times. they're on good terms. she's not the one that sent him the bad email date. hopefully this won't be a big deal. worst case scenario is that he has to pay for the flight, etc. he should know by tomorrow.

I think your friend should make token efforts though of calling the person whose info the hotel has, even it's just leaving a confused wtf message with somebody.   That'd show your friend was taken completely aback today and is just trying to figure out what's best to do for them while you're stranded there.

[Dr Rick Daris]

He should send them an e-mail when he gets home with no explanation but pictures of the alligator airboat rides and machine gun shooting extravaganza.  The e-mail should be titled, "Thanks for the training!"

they saw three alligators!!!  

[pissclams]