Lakeland Village Beach & Mountain Resort

Review: I booked a reservation with Aston Lakeland Village sometime in December to stay in January. It turned out that we needed to change the reservation so I called and they changed the date for me. We ended up having to change it a few more times. We finally decided on September 14th, 2014. After much discussion we decided due to uncontrollable circumstances that we were going to need to cancel the reservation all together. I called to cancel on Friday, June 6th, 2014. They informed me that I cannot be refunded my money because my original reservation was CHANGED outside the 30 day notice required to cancel. I did not CANCEL the reservation, I merely CHANGED the original reservation. Nowhere in their cancellation policy does it state that it must be 30 days prior to the arrival of the ORIGINAL reservation. This is exactly how their cancellation policy reads in the email I received: "30 days prior to arrival date for all townhomes, and 14 days prior to arrival date for all lodge."I hope this explanation is not too confusing. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.Desired Settlement: I simply wish to be refunded the full amount that Aston Lakeland Villages has charged my credit card $221.88.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted] and Revdex.com, We appreciate being able to respond to your concern about your reservation deposit. Your original reservation was booked for last winter, and you needed to cancel within our cancellation period which required a one-night deposit forfeiture. We were able to keep the deposit on hold for a period of up to one year for you to use for a future stay, but not refund the deposit due to your original date within the cancel period. You were able to book a date in September 2014 to use this deposit and this reservation is still in our system with the deposit. Your request to now cancel this September 2014 reservation and obtain a refund is not possible due to original reservation change being within our cancellation period. If you would like to look at any additional dates to move your deposit from your September 2014 reservation, we would be glad to assist you with this. Please email or call us if you would like to do this for your reservation. Sincerely, Aston Lakeland Village

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: The cancellation policy says nothing about moving the reservation within 30 days, it only says the reservation be must CANCELLED within 30 days. There are 2 different words and definitions in the english language for each situation because MOVING a reservation and CANCELLING a reservation are two different things. If the policy had said 30 days to move or cancel a reservation I would not be arguing with you, but I did not say that. Please refer to cancellation policy's exact verbiage, it reads: "30 days prior to arrival date for all townhomes, and 14 days prior to arrival date for all lodge units." This is unacceptable to me and your cancellation policy should be reworded. I would like a full refund of my money.

Thank You,

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted] and Revdex.com,

We appreciate being able to respond to your concern about your reservation deposit. You are absolutely correct that our cancellation policy says nothing about moving the reservation. If we adhere strictly to the cancellation policy, once a reservation is inside the cancellation period, if the guest cannot make it, they forfeit their deposit. Your reservation was booked for arrival on January 5th, 2014. This means on December 22nd, 2013 your deposit became non-refundable. When you called us on 01/02/14 to let us know you were not able to make it on 01/05/14 we should have forfeited your deposit at that time. In this case, as a courtesy, we applied the non-refundable deposit to a new reservation date instead of strictly adhering to the written policy. The reason our cancellation policy does not stipulate Move or Cancel is because if our cancellation policy allowed our guests to change their dates to outside the cancellation period and then cancel with a refund, there would be no point in having a cancellation policy. We are not able to refund your deposit, but as a courtesy, if you would like to look at any additional dates to move your deposit from your September 2014 reservation, we would be glad to assist you with this. Please email or call us if you would liike to do this for your reservation. Sincerely Aston Lakeland Village.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: the deposit says nothing about being non refundable.