Having just spent the weekend at a hotel just outside NYC in NJ that allowed me to plug in to one of their exterior outlets where I charged for about 48 hrs at 12A, I have a few observations about this:
Firstly: Regardless of the reason a person in the Hospitality/Customer Service industry has for disagreeing with the action of a patron, treating them with respect and reasonableness is paramount if they hope to promote a positive reputation and engender customer loyalty. This was the manager's primary failure, IMO.
Secondly: There are a number of
legitimate reasons why a manager may have taken issue with this action. Several of them have already been outlined, such as insurance liability, etc.. Others might include:
- Plugging an "outdoor" device, which might be exposed to weather/water in to a non GFCI indoor outlet
- Use of an extension cord in a manner not recommended by the manufacturer
- Potential tripping hazard running an extension cord in a foot traffic corridor
- Potential need to run an extension cord in an unsafe manner (i.e. under a closed door, through a window frame)
- Potential need to modify premise equipment to run extension cord (i.e. removing a window screen, propping a normally locked door open, etc...)
Now, I'm not saying the OP did all of these, but he did at least some of them. The manager was likely not aware of a few issues (i.e. that Tesla recommends against using an extension cord), but the OP did them nonetheless, and apparently without permission... which he acknowledges, so we all live and learn.
There are likely
spurious reasons a manager might be concerned about this as well, likely due to ignorance:
- You are pulling too much power for the circuit
- The outlets are not designed to work with the car
- You are going to burn the place down
- You are costing me an excessive amount money due to energy usage
Thirdly: Given we live in the real world, some people are likely to have a combination of both legitimate and bogus concerns, so we can help alleviate them and at the same time make life easier for ourselves by putting in to practice a number of the suggestions that have been mentioned here:
- Prior to booking, ask about the availability of a "standard exterior outlet" near a parking space in order to plug in your car. If necessary describe this as "the same outlet you would plug a leaf blower in to" or similar
- Get the name of the person who confirmed with you on the phone that this would be ok. Make it a manager if possible
- Upon check in, reaffirm that you selected that facility BECAUSE "so and so on the phone when I booked" was able to accommodate your need to plug in. At this time ask where that location is.
- Don't do anything unusual (running extension cords, plugging in to non-exterior outlets, park in non-standard areas, modify any premise equipment, etc...) without prior personnel conversation. Again, get a name.
- Upon checkout, if all went well, let them know of your appreciation and intent to note it in the customer satisfaction survey and/or online review sites (including plugshare/recargo), and then follow through.
Now of course, some folks will simply be unreasonable, as this manager seems to have been. I actually cancelled reservations for the first hotel we had booked for our above-mentioned NYC trip simply because when attempting to ask about charging options over the phone, they seemed to not even want to TRY and figure out what I needed. Three calls and an attempt to speak with a manager or maintenance person didn't change their attitude.
That's when I found the Holiday Inn Express on plugshare.com and booked there instead, using the above methodology.... not only were they cool about plugging in, I ended up giving the front-desk attendant a tour of the car as we were checking out.
Thanks to the OP for posting his experience and all of the ensuing comments... it will help us all make more informed decisions, and hopefully help promote the idea in the Hospitality industry that accommodating us in is their best interests...