SERVICE FAILURE AND RECOVERY:

EVIDENCE FROM THE HOTEL

INDUSTRY



by: Barbara R. Lewis and Pamela McCann
Manchester School of Management, UMIST, Manchester, UK

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management Volume 16 Number 1 2004 pp. 6-17
GROUP 7
NORJANNAH BINTI RAMLI 214246
MOHD FADHIL BIN MOHD NOH 214413
TAN YOUNG ZHI 214446

MARKETING SEMINAR
This paper is focused on service failure and recovery in the
hotel industry in the UK.

PURPOSE OF THE ARTICLE
The objectives of the research were to: assess the types and
magnitude of service failures experienced by hotel guests;
evaluate the service recovery strategies used by hotels and
their effectiveness; and discover whether or not there were
differences in attitudes and behavior between business and
leisure guests
MOTIVATION
IMPORTANT TERMS AND KEYWORD
United
Kingdom
Quality
systems
Hotels
Service
Improvements
Service
Recovery
Strategy
Service
failures
THEORY
OF
JUSTICE
Distributive
justice
Interactional
justice
Procedural
justice
THEORY
The research was take place at four-star hotel with
120 beds in a North-west town of United Kingdom.
With 149 usable completed questionnaires were
returned, 58 from business guests and 91 leisure
guests
The questionnaire , together with a personal letter
from the hotel manager and the researchers, was
handed out by hotel receptionists to guests.
METHODOLOGY
Types of service failures
The most common problem experienced was slow restaurant
service, followed by inefficient staff for business guests and
slow check-in/out for leisure guests. Another problem related
to reception and other staff, food and beverage services,
room not ready, and items in the room. Business guests were
more likely than leisure guests.

Magnitude of service failures
The most failure was the room not being clean, missing
reservation, unfriendly and unhelpful staff, other staffing
issues, poor locks, poor quality food and beverages, and
incorrect bill. Suggesting the importance of the attitudes and
conduct of staff in hotels.

DISCUSSION
Types of service recovery strategies used
An apology was the commonly used strategy, followed by correction
of the problem. There were no differences between business and
leisure guests.

Effectiveness of service recovery strategies
Overall, respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the hotels
response to their problem. This was higher for leisure guests than
for business guest. One in four guests was dissatisfied.

Satisfaction levels affect future action
Satisfied guests, both business and leisure, were more likely than
dissatisfied ones to say they would recommend the hotel to family
and friends.

DISCUSSION
Quality attributes
Each guest is very concerned with quality and comfort. So the
hotel must ensure that each room is in good condition and all
appliances worked well.

Type of service failure
The hotel should ensure their services such as the check in /
check out, and in the restaurant are further enhanced so that
guests do not feel waiting. And also have to train each of their
employees to be more customer friendly.

CONCLUSION
Magnitude of failures
The service failure considered to be the most serious for both
business and leisure guests was room not clean, confirming
the importance of a clean and comfortable bedroom.

Recovery strategy
An apology is the most useful strategy in the face of a
recovery and effective in ensuring that guests feel relieved
and satisfied in term of dissatisfaction.





CONCLUSION
Effectiveness of recovery strategies
Leisure guests are more satisfied than business guests that
hotels attempt to recover from service failure.


CONCLUSION
Thank you
Q & A