La Mer Beachfront Inn

Review: Last year we stayed at the hotel and booked ahead for this year oct 2 and 3rd. Unfortunately, Hurricane was heading up East Coast, NJ was in a State of Emergency and Cape May was in midst of severe flooding. A house even fell into the Bay in nearby Wildwood. Not time to commute into this obviouslly. I understand they cannot control the weather, but in conditions like this should at least work with you a little more. Please note that there are 3 very similar complaints to mine posted on trip advisor for this hotel in last 3 days.

Hotel has a 25% fee for changes and loss of deposit (one night) for cancels. I already had to pay a change fee from changing from 1st/2nd to 2nd/3rd. Now hurricane/state of emergency declared and I cannot obviously go the 2nd either. I called to say obviously we cannot come Friday, but we are hoping by Sat maybe a little better and perhaps we can come sat afternoon. They tell me if I don't show up friday the whole reservation will be canceled, that's their policy. I said well I understand under normal circumstances, but this is not normal. You know I cant' come tonight and I already have to still pay for the night, so please do NOT cancel me out for saturday night until we see if it's feasible to come saturday. They outright refused and said I'd have to rebook for Saturday as they'll cancel me if I don't show up friday. I said ok, then if we decide to come Sat, you will rebook me at the current rate? NO!!! They then wanted to charge me the CURRENT rate which was like $100 more than I paid already. So now it's not bad enough I already paid $60 for change fee, then lost $170 because we couldn't make it Friday..now instead of honoring the RESERVATION I ALREADY HAVE, you want to CANCEL ME AND REBOOK ME AT 100 HIGHER!!!! Smells like price gouging to me! Again there are 3 similar complaints on trip advisor for similar issues for this weekend. I fnd their practice quite frankly disgusting.Desired Settlement: I either want my deposit back or a free Sat night for same class of room I had booked

Business

Response:

I'm so sorry to hear of the issues you are having with our establishments policy. We do require a one night deposit to hold a reservation, and it is 75% refundable outside of 14 days prior to arrival, within 14 days prior to arrival any cancellation/modification will result in the forfeiture of the deposit. I do see we extended the change fee of 25% to change your dates, and as a one time courtesy we even kept your rates the same. The governor did issue a "cautionary" state of emergency which is put in place so in the event that a hurricane was to head towards us, the state of emergency would then be upgraded to include a travel ban and evacuation plans. Fortunately we only experienced a rain storm, not a hurricane. I would like to address the information that you would need to cancel and rebook at current rate? This is not our policy, I do believe this to be a miscommunication, if you reached out to us and knew you would not be arriving till Saturday, we would then explain you will still be a responsible for Friday night, and we at that time could Pre register you, so you could arrive Saturday at any time and your room would be ready because your two night reservation was still in place, and your were responsible for both evenings payments.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: 1) There was absolutely NO MISCOMMUNICATION about being told we would automatically be canceled if we did not come Friday. As a matter of fact, I was initially told it was fine if we didn’t come Friday but still wanted to come Saturday, since the policy was to lose one night depositand we would already lose that on Friday. The woman then told me she had to putme on hold to confirm with the manager. When she came back she CHANGED THISDECISION and then told me that I would automatically be canceled for notshowing up Friday and I would have to rebook. I then said I assume availabilitysince others probably canceling, and I also assume she would rebook us at samerate. She then said YES on availability but NO on rebooking at the same rate,and told me the NEW RATE . How is this miscommunication if I was given a newrate? I repeatedly asked, are you seriously going to tell me that when Ialready have a reservation and am telling you due to state of emergency we arenot coming tonight but still want to try for tomorrow, you are going to CANCELME AND MAKE ME PAY MORE? And sherepeatedly said THAT IS OUR POLICY. Please do not insult me or outright lie by saying this was amiscommunication because now you have several complaints and you’re afraid of beingaccused of price gouging.2) YES I get your policy is one night cancel. And Iwas even going to accept that, although I don’t agree with it considering theweather. By bigger issue was #1. But againdon’t be insulting or misleading with your info. There WAS a state of emergency. See here[redacted]

AND AS YOU VEREY WELLKNOW THERE WERE INTENSE FLOOD AND STORM WARNINGS IN CAPE MAY…so again your “itwasn’t a hurricane” is a cop out. Your own person told me to stay away [redacted]

And you also know a house got washed away.And once again, I am not the only person complaining! Thereare two other complaints on trip advisor for the same weekend, and I’m sure thereare more if I browsed other sites. Regards,

Review: On 6/4 I went online to book a room for Sunday 6/8 for one night at La Mer Beachfront Inn. I tried to call and book but no answer. I did it online and somehow the date was set at 6/4- I assume it defaulted there not sure if it does that after remaining idle. I paid $318.06 to my Visa. The next morning I played a message from La Mer which was asking me what time I would be arriving which confused me. I called at 8:30- no answer. That afternoon around 4pm I saw my email confirmation and noticed it said 6/4 (the night previous). I immediately called as spoke with Ms. [redacted] who said I was out the $ because I did not show up and the room could have been booked to someone else. I was upset at the reaction and did not see how they could have turned someone away in a matter of a few hours on wed night in early June at a large hotel that was not filled. I was put on hold and then told I could still come Sun night but would be charged a change fee of 25% of the paid amount. I was upset at the offer and emailed the General Manager, Ms. [redacted] and received no response. My email is copied below. I have never experienced such poor customer service before and am frustrated by the response or lack thereof. Thank you

Ms. [redacted],

........(I cannot fit the entire email here but can provide it if you like).........It was an honest mistake that I was trying to rectify in 24hrs and I thoroughly doubt any business was lost in a matter of a few hours last night.

My request is that you allow me a reservation Sunday night with no extra charges or a refund of the amount that is currently pending on my credit card.

Thank you,Desired Settlement: Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide. I am hoping La Mer will refund the full amount to my credit card.

Business

Response:

Response:

I have spoken with Ms. [redacted] and we are refunding the full amount to her card. thank you.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

In regards to the above complaint I sbmitted I would like to send a update. I spoke with Ms. [redacted] today who was very friendly and stated that a one time courtesy discount would be extended and that she would refund the full balance to my credit card in the next day or two. I thanked Ms. [redacted] for her courtesy and I appreciate your attention to my compalint.