Booking problem questions that show whether you won the guest back
Ask guests whose room or table went wrong what happened, how the team responded and what would make it right. Each question below comes with when to ask it and what the answer tells you.
What service recovery survey questions tell you
Service recovery survey questions ask guests whose booking went wrong what happened: whether the room or table was ready, what went wrong with the reservation, how they found out, how long it took to sort out and what the team did to put it right. A guest who was moved to another hotel and handled well can still come back, while one who was left waiting tends to say so in a review.
Send these questions only to guests you know had a problem, within a day of it and once the immediate fix is done. Put the link in a short email from the manager who handled it, or send the survey to the affected guests now with Usertick's email. Pick four or five questions; the open question for what happened and the one for what would make it right matter most.
Each written answer gets a category, a theme, a sentiment and an urgency, so the most upset guests rise to the top of the inbox with an owner and a status. On every plan, workflows can send answers to Zendesk or Intercom for guest relations teams that work there.
- Questions
- 14
- Best asked
- Within a day of the problem
- Industry
- Hospitality
- Where to find them
- From library in the Usertick survey editor, on every plan
The 14 when a booking went wrong questions, with when to ask each
Grouped by what they tell you. Use them as they are or change the wording.
What went wrong
Start with the facts of the problem and the guest's own account, so the manager reads it before calling.
- 01Yes / No
Was the table or room you booked ready for you?
A yes or no on whether the room or table was ready. Select No in Results to see which kinds of problems left guests without a room or a table on arrival.
- 02Multiple choice
What happened to your reservation?
One pick for what went wrong with the reservation. Results shows a donut with each share; a growing share of bookings missing from the system points to a channel or sync problem.
- 05Multiple choice
How did you find out about the problem?
How the guest found out, from before arrival to later. Guests told before they arrived have time to adjust; a large share who had to ask points to a gap in how the team warns guests.
- 09Text
Tell us what happened in your own words
An open question for what happened in the guest's own words. Each answer gets a theme and an urgency, so the account reaches the manager with the details the guest remembers.
How the team put it right
These show what the team did, how long it took and what the guest still needs, so you can judge the recovery.
- 03Multiple choice
What did we do to put it right?
Lists what the team did to put it right, with several picks allowed. Results shows a bar per action; read it beside the likelihood to book again to see which fixes win guests back.
- 04Dropdown
How long were you kept waiting while it was sorted out?
How long the guest waited while it was sorted out. Results shows each share and count; every guest whose problem was never sorted out deserves a call from the manager that day.
- 06Stars
How well did staff handle the problem?
A star rating for how staff handled the problem. Results shows the average and the share who rated 4 or higher; a good rating here can outweigh the problem itself.
- 10Text
What would have made this right for you?
An open question for what would make it right. Read it before you call: some guests want an apology and an explanation, others a refund or a new date.
How the guest feels now
Two questions that tell you whether the recovery worked and the guest will book again.
- 07Emoji
How did the mix up leave you feeling?
How the mix-up left the guest feeling, on a row of faces. Results shows each face with its share; give every answer at the very bad end an owner in the inbox.
- 08Big scale
How likely are you to book with us again after this?
How likely the guest is to book again after this, from 1 to 10. Results shows the average and a column per step; it is the clearest measure of whether the recovery worked.
The booking and a way to reach the guest
Collect the date, the party size, the confirmation and a contact, so the follow-up has every detail it needs.
- 11Date
When was the booking for?
Lets the guest pick the date of the booking on a calendar. Results shows a calendar of picked dates, so a cluster on one night points to an overbooking or a system outage.
- 12Number
How many people were in your party?
How many people were in the party, from 1 to 30. Results shows the median and the middle half; a problem for a party of twelve needs a different fix from one for a table of two.
- 13Contact
Who should we call about this?
Collects a name and an email for the call back. Results lists them in a table; give each one an owner in the inbox and call within a day.
- 14File upload
Upload your booking confirmation
The booking confirmation, attached to the answer. It shows the dates, the room type and the price the guest was promised, so the team can check them against your system. File upload is on every plan, 1 per survey on Free.
Tips for asking about when a booking went wrong
Small choices that get honest, useful answers.
- 01
Ask once the fix is done
Send the survey within a day, after the immediate problem is solved. Asked in the middle of the problem, the survey reads as one more task.
- 02
Send it from a person
Put the link in an email from the manager who handled it, so the survey feels like part of making it right.
- 03
Call the lowest scores first
Read the inbox by urgency and call the guests least likely to book again before anyone else.
- 04
Look for patterns by date
When several problems share a date or a booking channel, fix the system behind them before the next busy weekend.
Add these questions to a survey
From the library to the first answers.
- 1
Open the library
In the Usertick survey editor, choose From library, filter by industry and topic, and add several questions at once.
- 2
Or paste your own list
Paste questions reads up to 10 questions from any text on Free, 100 on Starter and 200 on Pro and above, keeps your wording and picks an answer type for each.
- 3
Choose where it runs
Show the survey on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.
- 4
Read the answers
Results counts every score and choice, and Usertick reads each written answer and files it by topic, on every plan.
Templates and more questions about when a booking went wrong
Full surveys that ask about the same things, and neighboring topics in the library.
Templates
Browse all templatesFrequently asked questions
Within a day, once the immediate fix is done. Put the link in an email from the manager, or send the survey to the affected guests now with Usertick's email.
Send them only to guests you know had a problem, so the questions fit what happened. Your regular stay survey covers everyone else.
Four or five: what happened to the reservation, what the team did, how likely the guest is to book again, the open question for what happened and the one for what would make it right.
Yes, on every plan. Add the file upload question (1 per survey on Free), and the confirmation arrives with the answer in the inbox.
Yes. The question library comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.
Yes. Once a question is in your survey, reword it, change its options or its answer type, and add logic to skip it for some answers.
Yes. The library is translated into Usertick's built-in languages, and in any other language it shows in English for you to translate.
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