1. Treating customers w/ apathy– travelers will forgive many shortcomings in a guide except apathy. Guides who are suffering from apathy or lack enthusiasm should permanently look for other work
2. Brushing customers off– A guide who gives the impression that he or she would rather be elsewhere turns away customers quickly.
3. Being cold to customers– The failure of guides to be sin care and friendly and the lack desire to share one’s self w/ people express coldness toward the customers. Most travelers regard meeting people as the primary reason for travelling. Having a cold guide are on duty from morning to late evening
4. Treating customers w/ condescension– The attitude of treating customers as being on a lower level is a common complaint of visitors. A guide who talks to first year high school students in the same tone as he speaks to fourth grades of a guide who assumes that every senior citizen has hearing diff. and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease unknowingly insults her guest. Whether speaking to young, middle aged or elderly people, over implication are appreciated. Skilled guides have several ways to determining a group level of understanding including questioning, listening and encouraging participation.
5. Working like a robot– over the years, guiding has attracted many robots. Many guides adapted the “I can do this w/ my eyes closed” attitude. Such behavior is offensive because it show that lack of interest and boredom and is just a tiresome for the listeners as it is for the speaker.
6. Getting hung up on the rule book– several service industry leaders propose that guides should refrain from saying “Sorry, our policy…”If they are not convinced that deviating from the rule book is detrimental to any one.
7. Giving costumers “the run-around”- where a task falls outside the guide’s responsibility or expertise, his or her handling of the situation can make the difference between a visitor getting assistance or feeling as if he is getting the run-around. If the guide, on the other hand, extends a few min. of his time and energy by walking w/ the visitor to the concierge is not on duty, finds another solution, the results is excellent service and a satisfied customers.

Guides are often worried about how knowledgeable they are rather than how effective they are. Most travelers regard guide’s knowledge as less important than the commission of these seven basic sins.