Bahama Drama Part 2…

(For part 1 of this story, scroll down or click here)

So, now that we had our airline ticket situation under wraps, it was time to book the hotel. This was a seemingly easy task. In late June, I found an all-inclusive hotel* for $253 a night, which was an unbelievable deal to us. Upon reserving the room, the confirmation stated that my card would be charged immediately…of course, this information was not shared until I actually made the reservation and gave my debit card info. I contacted the hotel’s reservations line, and the agent I spoke with told me that my card number would only be used to hold the room and that actual payment wouldn’t be required until we arrived at the resort…so I left it at that…

Cut to 2 weeks before our departure (mid-October)…I went back to the hotel’s website….just playing around the reservations section…and I discovered that the hotel had reduced the price of the room to $189 a night. Yep, they were gonna try and get over on me…but oh, no…not the kid. I IMMEGETLY called and had them give me the room at that reduced rate. Another crisis averted…

The day before we left…I was at work…and went online to access my bank account. I pulled up my account summary, and discovered I only had $94 available. WTF?!? I opened my statement and there it was…the hotel had charged my debit card for the full amount of our stay…two whole eff’n days before we even arrived. Needless to say, I was H-O-T! I called the hotel’s reservation line and was informed that their policy allowed them to charge my card up to 72 hours in advance. This did not sit well with me at all because 1) it’s a wack @ss policy and 2) they did not disclose this policy when I made the initial reservation, nor when I changed it. I felt totally hoodwinked and bamboozled. Had they properly informed me of this policy initially, I would have been able to plan better, and they denied me the opportunity to make an informed decision. Lucky for them my account did not overdraw because of this…somebody woulda had to quit their job and seek therapy after I finished getting in they shyt.

That first agent I spoke with wasn’t telling me what I wanted to hear, so I hung up and called back in hopes of speaking with someone else. The new agent pretty much gave me the same song. I tried to tell her that the website did not make me aware of this policy, but she kept saying that the info “should have” been there. Plus, she was not even able to pull up anything that verified this bass ackwards policy. She then transferred me to “customer care”.

[sidepocket] The term “customer care” is a oxymoron…I swear those heartless bastids they have working in that department are a total waste of protoplasm.[/sidepocket]

This chick in customer care pretty much brushed me off like, “oh the eff well, we got your money now bytch, ain’t shyt we can do about it…” (that previous quote was not an actual recount, but it might as well had been!) She was also unable to provide proof of this 72 hour advance payment policy. It was at that point I decided that I was done speaking to these fools…I’d take care of it when I got to the hotel. I sent a strongly worded email to the hotel’s feedback website, but interestingly, the email never submitted…hmmmmmm…

The next day, we arrived at the hotel. Problem #1: the hotel only had a reservation for 2 guests in the room…we had 3 people (this is yet another issue I’ll get to later). Problem #2: my name was misspelled on the reservation. I’d made the reservation online, so I don’t know how these discrepancies happened. Before I even accepted the keys to our room, I explained to the desk receptionist my concerns. She quickly passed me onto their customer care (them d@mn customer uncare folks again ) located in the Dominican Republic. I explained to the supervisor my complaints, but she just went back and forth with me…trying to defend her customer care position and blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada…all these unnecessary things that were irrelevant to my concerns. I’d had enough of the bull. I cut the convo short and point blank demanded an upgrade to an oceanview room. She had to play the “let me see what I can do role,” but I got my d@mn upgrade. These mofos seriously need to respect my gangsta…

The front desk rep gave the keys to our original room to Heavenly and CoCo** without my knowledge, and they went off exploring while I spoke to customer (un)care. So, when I received the keys to the new upgraded room, they were nowhere to be found. I wasn’t gonna go traipsing around the resort looking for them, so I just went to the room. About 5 minutes later, they came around. They told me that our original room only had 1 bed in it, and had a lovely view of a barb-wire fence. The view was to be expected, but I’d reserved a room with 2 queen beds, not 1 king-sized bed. THEM MOFOS EFF’D UP MY RESERVATION!!! After all that, they didn’t even have my reservation correct, which explained why my name was misspelled and why we only had accommodations for 2 people…BASTIDS!!!

I let that one slide since we now had a room with a GORGEOUS view…and 2 beds (I did file a formal complaint with the company when I returned home). The remainder of our stay was wonderful. The resort was beautiful and the entire staff made us feel welcomed. No more drama…

That is…until we were ready to leave paradise…(dun dun dunnnnnnnnn!)

 

(to be concluded tomorrow…)

 

* said hotel shall remain nameless due to the fact that I will not plug their establishment on my blog