Spitting Mad

[MikeL]

This sort of thing annoys me beyond belief.........

Soldier refused hotel room, for being a soldier.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7596798.stm

Hopefully if enough people here about it then nobody will go and stay there.


Mike

 

[imadoofus]

On the fase of it it may seem unreasonable, but bear in mind squaddies do give themselves a bad rep when in groups...

Hotels (and pubs and bars and clubs et al) have the right to refuse entry to anyone they choose. The hotel had the right to refuse to let this man stay, and that may seem unreasonable, but if that's their policy, then that;s their policy.

 

[Benzowner]

I can't see the problem, the article states "He spent the night in his car after being told it was management policy not to accept military personnel" If it is management policy it is management policy. But surely that was not the only hotel in the area, smacks a little of media sensationalising again.

 

[gina2201]

You would have thought he could have gone to another hotel and remembered not to tell them he was a soldier!?!

 

[MikeL]

If it is management policy - it ISN'T mentioned on any of their websites.

Plus, does the UK now operate a policy of guilty until proven innocent? Because he is a squaddie, he might cause a problem.

Agreed the media may be jumping on the bandwagon - but if any members here had been turned away from a Mercedes dealership because it was policy, I'm sure we would have heard about it?

Mike

 

[MikeL]

Had to post this

Quote from their website:

With a small executive management team, we believe our success depends fore-mostly on the quality of our Centre Management and their teams, without whose efforts, the creation of an experience that customers will wish to return to again and again, would not be possible. (My italics)

Mike

 

[imadoofus]

If it is management policy - it ISN'T mentioned on any of their websites.

No, but I daresay that they don't mention that you'll be kicked out for setting fire to the bed, or that you'll be expected to pay if you smash the toilet with a brick (not suggesting the squaddie would do any of those things, merely that they aren't obliged to list all their policies)

Plus, does the UK now operate a policy of guilty until proven innocent?

No, but the management of the hotel is entitled to act in whatever it may see fit. That doesn't necessarily assume guilt.

if any members here had been turned away from a Mercedes dealership because it was policy, I'm sure we would have heard about it?

I'm sure you're right. But if it was me, I would have gone home and found another garage, rather then camped in their carpark all night.

 

[mattc]

Mental note to self never to book a room at Metro Hotel, Woking. If you are down that way and need a room be sure to tell them they lost your custom as a result of their policy. ONly thing businesses understand is when they are kicked where it hurts - in the wallet. Policies go out the window when it comes to cash.

 

[W210 Fan]

its their right not to let him in, maybe they have had problems with squaddies before, I have played a lot of their drinking games with them through work and socially and they can be a handfull, some of their games are also disgusting to civvies and may have caused the hotel some expense after their stay, but put yourself in their shoes and you can understand their behaviour, I feel for both sides, I class myself as a militarised civvie

 

[x332race]

Strikes me that this is discrimination.
Just think what would have happened if the Hotel tried to turn away a disabled person or one from an ethnic minority....its the same thing.
I seem to recall a similar case against a Hotel in the past few years that refused a couple because they were Gay....I seem to remember that the hotel lost the case in that instance.
Hotel should be taken to court over this for discrimination....presumably they were happy to take him before they asked for identification

 

[crockers]

On the face of it this sounds bad .......... but I await the hotels reply before making any judgements.

 

[Crazyjester900]

gee it really surprises me that you guys aren't more proud of your service men and women. I don't really agree or disagree with the war, but i sure as hell know i couldn't do what they are doing. I have a few mates in Afghanistan and the stories they tell are horrific.

I have great respect for them and i would be appalled if that happened to them. Absolutely disgusted.......

 

[W210 Fan]

gee it really surprises me that you guys aren't more proud of your service men and women. I don't really agree or disagree with the war, but i sure as hell know i couldn't do what they are doing. I have a few mates in Afghanistan and the stories they tell are horrific.

I have great respect for them and i would be appalled if that happened to them. Absolutely disgusted.......

I agree, I am proud of what the guys do under awful conditions, I make a lot of kit for the current conflicts so deal with the MoD a lot, they do however make a bad name for themselves over here because our society only accepts itself and just cant comprehend what they guys go through and thus looks upon them with its own eyes, if they even walked a mile in a squaddies shoes they would understand why they fight a lot and are agressive, some are prolific drug takers and abuse alcohol a lot, so would you if your best mate blew up from a roadside bomb beside you and you had to wipe them off your face before picking up the remains to take back to his parents, fighting, boozing and drug taking is how they get away from the horrors of war, always has been, and while we continue to put them through hell, always will,

 

[MikeL]

gee it really surprises me that you guys aren't more proud of your service men and women........

British apathy at work I'm afraid.

Mike

 

[Crazyjester900]

i agree some make mistakes here in Aus too.
but the thing that made me feel real respect for them is:

I picked up my friends from the airport after severing in Afghanistan.
Anyway i put the windscreen wipers on to clean the windshield and
he almost jumped out of the car for cover.
"geez man warn me when your going to do that"

That made me feel real respect for what they do, as it effects them SOO
much great blokes gee it effects them tho....

 

[W210 Fan]

We had a program over here recently which I believe was staged by the MoD, Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, Ross used to play a hard man in a grotty english soap, since leaving he has made a name for himself by making hard hitting programs about gangs etc as he takes care of himself physically, he joined a platoon his father was in and did a tour with a camera man out there, it was all a bit staged and hammed up for telly, anyway give the guy credit he did go someway to show what the guys go through out there, the full horrors of war, which is what drives the guys mental will never and I repeat NEVER make it to television, thats why there is a gulf between squaddies and civvies,

link if you missed it

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...SKK1NIyqiwKfpOSaCQ&q=ross+kemp+in+afghanistan

 

[imadoofus]

My views with reagrd our servicemen and women are irrelevant to my responses in this thread. I have made no personal judgements, and I am not going to; I was merely defending the rights of the hotel management to make whatever choices they wish. I continue to defend those rights, just as I would to any individual or organisation. And no, it's not discrimination

I think we should all consider what our reactions would have been to this news report if the offended customer had been:

a) You
b) A pikey
c) A drunkard
d) An Afghan

 

[Crazyjester900]

My views with reagrd our servicemen and women are irrelevant to my responses in this thread. I have made no personal judgements, and I am not going to; I was merely defending the rights of the hotel management to make whatever choices they wish. I continue to defend those rights, just as I would to any individual or organisation. And no, it's not discrimination

I think we should all consider what our reactions would have been to this news report if the offended customer had been:

a) You
b) A pikey
c) A drunkard
d) An Afghan

So if they refused a black person, would that be ok?

no personal judgments just trying to see what the deal is?

 

[imadoofus]

So if they refused a black person, would that be ok?

no personal judgments just trying to see what the deal is?

In the UK there are laws against discrimnating on the grounds of race, religion, age and gender. If they had a 'policy' that stated they didn't admit black people, then that wouldn't be OK.

There aren't any such laws concerning discrimination against soldiers, chimney sweeps, clowns or diamond prospectors, to the best of my knowledge.

I'm afraid that we're getting into the realms of insisting that every business, of any description, be obligated to accept anybody as a customer without any opportunity to refuse. That simply isn't on.

The hotel has a policy. Why should they bend it for this person just because he may be regarded as a greater asset to society than somebody else.

I'm not going to get dragged any further into a political discussion about the definition of discrimination. I have defended the rights of the hotel to turn away everybody, if they so wish, and that's that.

PJ

 

[Dieselman]

I'm not going to get dragged any further into a political discussion about the definition of discrimination. I have defended the rights of the hotel to turn away everybody, if they so wish, and that's that.

PJ

It's not the hotel making it political, it's here.
The hotel chain is a commercial business and would only have rules in place with respect to safeguard itself due to previous issues or costs with such occupants.
They will simply be making a commercial decision.