You're Not Preferred

You're not preferred. What does that mean?

This was the message we got from the assistant manager from the not to be named hotel when we arrived to check into our room that we had booked weeks ago. So apparently if you are not preferred that means when you show up after driving all day from South Carolina to Cincinnati and you go to check into your hotel in Covington,KY that you don't have a room. What did we're not preferred mean to us? It meant that at 9:30 p.m. at night that we had to go riding around looking for a hotel room because Holiday Inn chooses to treat their customers horribly(I could use other words here but I am proud that I did not lose my cool). What did you're not preferred mean to us? It meant that I will file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and that Holiday Inn(which we have used many times on our trips to Cincinnati) will never see any of my money ever again.

Thank goodness for the Hyatt. They were life savers. We tried several hotels before finding the Hyatt which was more than happy to accomodate us at a lower rate than the not to be named hotel.

This got me thinking. The not to be named hotel would rather cater to a "select few" of their "preferred customers" than to reach out to a new customer base. They allow their "prefered customers" to come in at the last minute and bump other people out of their rooms even when they have reservations long in advance. Basically they allow a select few to keep them from attracting a new customer base.

The sad thing is that the same thing happens in the church as well. Many times we will sacrifice reaching new people for Christ all for the sake of keeping the "select few" happy. They may be the big givers or those who run particular ministries in our churches and many times we tip toe around them in order to keep them satisfied. Many times rather than doing the right thing, we do the easy thing at the expense of seeing new people come into our churches and receiving Christ. I am so thankful that StoneBridge doesn't operate that way. You guys are way more better than the not to be named hotel.

P.S. I don't know if that sentence is good grammar or not but you guys are definately the Hyatt all the way.