Great Customer Service, Horrible Customer Experience: A Cautionary Tale

On our wedding anniversary, we checked into the downtown Hyatt Regency in Denver. A beautiful hotel. The service, as always, was exceptional.

After making the reservation online, I was impressed that they not only sent a confirmation email but followed up the day before with a thank-you letter, directions for getting settled in, and announcements for the Independence Day celebrations.

Then we arrived.

The Service Was Perfect

We were warmly greeted and politely informed that we could unload our baggage, but would need to drive a few blocks away to park (free parking, rather than the $39/day valet fee). So while I drove, parked, and walked two city blocks, my wife watched other guests check in ahead of us.

When we reached the registration desk, we were greeted with a genuine smile, polite professionalism, and a "Happy Anniversary!" The very nice clerk informed us that the only room with a king-sized bed was on the 27th floor—"the views are spectacular"—but the room was across from a big nightclub, so "it does get a bit noisy at times."

It had been a very long week with only a few hours of sleep. We hesitated.

The astute clerk, seeing our hesitation, immediately and graciously offered an alternative: one of their rooms with sleeper sofas. No bed—just a sleeper sofa.

My response: "A sleeper sofa? For $200 a night?"

Our extremely professional and customer-oriented clerk, obviously embarrassed, sincerely apologized and did everything in his power to make things better. We were lucky enough to encounter a guest who was extending his stay but could switch rooms if they gave him the one on the nightclub floor.

Every interaction was pleasant. Every staff member was professional. The service was genuinely excellent.

The Experience Was Terrible

Despite all that great service, here's what actually happened:

• We had to split up immediately upon arrival
• One of us had to park blocks away and walk back
• We waited while others checked in
• Our options were noise or a sleeper sofa
• We ended up depending on another guest's flexibility

None of this was anyone's "fault." Every employee handled their piece well. But the overall experience—the sum of all those pieces—was frustrating.

The Lesson

Customer service and customer experience are not the same thing.

Customer service is how individual interactions are handled. It's training, attitude, professionalism in the moment.

Customer experience is the entire journey—how all the pieces fit together, how the system is designed, what the overall feeling is.

You can have excellent service and terrible experience. Every touchpoint can be handled well, and the overall journey can still be frustrating.

What This Means for Your Business

It's not enough to train your team to be friendly and responsive. You have to design the entire experience—looking at how pieces connect, where friction exists, what the journey feels like end-to-end.

Questions to ask:

• Where do customers wait unnecessarily?
• Where do they have to repeat information?
• Where are handoffs clunky?
• What happens when things don't go perfectly?
• How does the complete journey feel, not just individual interactions?

The Hyatt staff was wonderful. But the system put them in positions where wonderful service couldn't create a wonderful experience.

Great service matters. But experience trumps service every time.