HELOISE: Need to reserve a hotel? Be prepared

Dear Heloise: Please help sales representatives. I am a sales representative for a major hotel and speak on the phone daily with guests wanting to make reservations. They do not realize that I have a “quota” of calls to make every hour.

Before picking up the phone to make a reservation, please know the following information:

The name of the hotel, including city and state.

The dates when you will be arriving and departing.

The number of people in your room.

If you are attending a meeting or a convention, please know the name, and ask for any corporate rate or other discount.

Please don’t call when your children are in the room yelling or you are holding an infant.

Please do not eat food while you are trying to make a reservation.

Above all — please have your credit card ready. Don’t put me on hold to go out in the garage or search through your house looking for your card.

We are here to help our guests, and we don’t like to rush through the reservations, but if you aren’t prepared, it makes our job a lot more difficult and stressful. Thank you for your help.

A Reader, via e-mail

Good hints, and helpful to both parties! Readers, please be prepared, and it will make the experience better.

Heloise

P.S.: When you get a representative who does a good job or goes that extra mile, ask to speak to a supervisor to give a compliment. I always try to do this, and it’s amazing how few people do.

Dear Heloise: I always put my original receipt (for appliances — Heloise) in the accompanying owners manual on the opening page. I staple it, then I put it in my home-appliances file, where I can find it for the serial number, new parts, where to send it for repair, etc.

Judy A. in Indianapolis

Judy, this is a good hint. Here’s a Heloise Update: Many receipts are printed on heat-sensitive paper, and the printing may fade over time, so make a copy, just to be safe.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: My shower head is fixed (no hand-held extension). It has been a huge frustration to deliver rinsing water to the tiles and glass that I have scrubbed. The solution: an outdoor garden/yard pump sprayer purchased at a home-and-garden retail outlet for around $12. Simply fill the receptacle with water, pump the handle to create spray pressure and spray away.

Patti in Ingram, Texas

Dear Heloise: The very best way to clean any brush is to use an old toothbrush. A few swipes with the toothbrush, and all the hair is out — and it’s easy to pull it off the toothbrush.

D.M.A. in North Carolina

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate