And If I Wasn't Having A Bad Enough Day...

... I get a "personal" letter on official Capital Hilton stationery in the mail from everybody's favorite asshat, Brian Kelleher:

Thank you for your letter. We first want to emphasize that Hilton Hotels Corporation is deeply grateful for the service, sacrifice and devotion of our troops and their families.

Our business relationship with Fran O'Brien's has come to an end effective May 1, 2006, due to their refusal to pay rent and make necessary improvements in order to comply with the terms of their lease.

We fully support our troops and have offered to host and sponsor the dinners moving forward. We recognize and salute the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and will continue to demonstrate our gratitude to them.

Sincerely,
Brian Kelleher
General Manager
Capital Hilton Hotel

Dear Mr. Kelleher --

It's Ms., not Mrs., you do not really thank me for my letter, you want me to go away and pretend this mess of your own making never happened. And to send business back, thank you very much.

Your response is, once again, nothing but spin, spin, spin. But thanks for the blogfodder. Really.

If you were truly grateful to our troops... and to your lessees, I wouldn't be finding things like this and this and this out in the blogosphere.

Thank all that's holy that it appears Fran's will reopen in a new location -- somewhere far friendlier to both the troops and the lessees.

Hal and Marty will continue to generate very positive experiences for our wounded troops, as well as positive PR for their own business, while you, sir, will never be able to do that. You are a Jedi Master in the art of opening your mouth only long enough to change feet -- in fast-forward... and in living color.

Clearly the higher-ups at Hilton corporate have backed your actions, or Fran's never would have closed their doors. Therefore, I'm not only extending my own boycott of Hilton's properties, I'm vigorously encouraging every other consultant in my company to do the same (and we are a global consulting firm).

Personally, I hope another hotel chain does lease an appropriate space to Fran O'Brien's. You can be absolutely sure that I will throw as much business their way as I humanly can.

Leslie Spiller

P.S. -- A salutation and a signature would have been a sign that you actually "get" the meaning of public relations. But it's you I'm talking about/to -- I know I shouldn't be holding my breath on that one.
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Hit 'em in the pocketbook, folks.
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