Read the Smith Family Vacation Case Study.
Imagine that you are a manager at Family Fun World (FFW) and you witnessed the guest/employee interactions described in the Smith Family Vacation Case Study.
Write a 525- to 700-word paper that determines the following:
- Identify specific instances in which a FFW employee passed the moment of truth.
- Determine how you would show recognition towards the employees that passed the moment of truth.
- Identify specific instances in which a FFW employee failed the moment of truth.
- Write out the specific feedback that you would give to the employees that failed the moment of truth so that they can learn from their mistake and provide positive experiences in the future.
- Write out corrective measures that can be taken to minimize the chances that your guests will have these less than positive experiences in the future.
Smith Family Vacation Case
The Smith family had saved up their money for several years to go on a big family trip. Dad, Michael Smith, is a mechanic and takes extra jobs to help save money for their trip. Mom, Jane Smith, is a high school teacher who tutors students on the side in order to bring in extra income. The Smith children, Brad and Suzy, are in high school and both do odd jobs so that they can have spending money for souvenirs while on their trip.
The destination for the Smith family isFamily Fun World (FFW for short). FFWis a multi-theme park, multiple hotel vacation destination. The theme parks are complete with rides, attractions, entertainment offerings, cartoon character meet and greet experiences, food and beverage offerings including quick service, table service, and fine dining, as well as merchandise and special event offerings. There are several hotels at FFW, and the hotel categories include value, moderate, and deluxe. The value hotels are operated like motels and the moderate and deluxe are full service. All hotels have food and beverage offerings, with quick service predominately at the value resort and table service, and fine dining at the moderate and deluxe resorts.
The Smith family purchased a package which combines their entire stay into one large plan for their visit. Included in their visit is transportation to and from the airport, 5 nights at one of the moderate hotels on FFW property, admission to the theme parks, and three meals a day. Each day the family can make reservations for one table service restaurant and get two quick service meals at either the hotel or theme park. All taxes, fees, and gratuities are included in the original price that the Smith’s paid and the only incremental expenses would be merchandise that they would want to purchase.
The flight carrying the Smith family arrived at the airport. From there, the family got on the FFW provided transportation to get to the hotel in which the family was staying. The family checked in and proceeded to their room to unpack, freshen up, and change so that they could head out to one of the theme parks. When they family arrived to the room, Jane noticed that the room hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned after the departure of the last guests and voiced her concern to Michael. Michael went back to the front desk and let the front desk agent know of the problems with their room. The agent apologized and told Mr. Smith that he could move them to another room and gave him keys to a new room. Michael trudged back to the room and gave the family the news. The family repacked their belongings and headed to the new room where they would be staying for the next five nights, which was exactly like their original room but only cleaner. The Smiths were a little put out over their hour long delay in getting into the theme parks but their enthusiasm soon took over and all was forgotten.
The next night, the Smith family had dinner reservations at one of the table service restaurants in the theme park that overlooked the nighttime firework spectacular. When the Smith’s arrived at the restaurant, the hostess at the stand started to check their party in when she alerted them to the fact that the table they reserved was not immediately available. The previous party had taken longer than expected and still had not gotten up. The Smiths could move to another table to be sat immediately or wait to get the table they had originally reserved. The Smiths decided to wait and when they finally did sit down, the fireworks were over. The Smiths were disappointed with the situation but were happy to get food and at least they had a good view of the park while they ate.
On their fourth day in the park, the family decided to take it easy and did some merchandise shopping. The kids were excited about this part of the trip as this is what they had been saving up for months. Brad purchased some FFW t-shirts, a hat, and some sunglasses. Suzy had her heart set on buying a FFW princess snow globe to add to her snow globe collection. While the snow globe was quite beautiful, it was also quite expensive. Suzy was aware of the high cost and could rationalize the hard work she had doneafter school and on the weekends just to have this exclusive item added to her collection. After completing the transaction, Suzy was walking out of the door of the merchandise shop when she bumped into another guest and droppedher bag which led to her snow globe breaking. Poor Suzy started crying and balling when she thought about all of her hard work being wasted and her snow globe collection going incomplete. Fortunately for Suzy, one of the merchandise attendants saw what happened and handed Suzy a new snow globe, wrapped and placed in a bag. The nice merchandise attendant told Suzy that no one should every cry at FFW and that she hoped that Suzy and her family enjoyed the rest of their visit. The entire Smith family was touched by this act of kindness and spoke of it often when they returned home.
At the conclusion of their trip, the Smith family was ready to head home. Their bags were packed and they were heading to the FFW transportation center to get a ride to the airport when they received an alert from their airline that due to inclement weather, their flight was going to be delayed for 5-6 hours. The Smiths stopped at the front desk to advise them of the situation and asked if there was anything that could be done. The front desk advisor informed them that the housecleaning staff had already begun working on their room so they would not be able to return to their room. Not wanting to sit at the crowded airport for 5-6 hours, the Smiths sat in the lobby of the hotel with their bags waiting closer to the time that they would need to depart to the airport in order for them to catch their delayed flight. The Smiths finally arrived home tired and exhausted but with a lot of stories to share with their friends and family.