Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/04) */
On July 17, the client purchased a trip to Maui for his family (adults and kids)Around June we started quoting this client various trip options including cruises to different destinations and various properties in MauiThe Maui
properties we originally quoted were out of his budget (but had included air conditioning)Several weeks went byThe client then came back to us with a recommendation he received from another travel agency for a condo in Maui that does NOT have air conditioning and he said he was interested in booking that propertyWe suggested another property that has a higher trip review rating and is on a beach for almost the exact price and he decided to book and pay for the nonrefundable tripAt no point was air conditioning discussedBecause the property he said he was interested did not have air we did not know that air was a priorityThe trip was in days (booked on July to travel on July 29)Early the following week the client contacted our office and said he discovered the condo did not have air conditioning and he wanted a place with airAs a goodwill gesture we offered to pay the two night penalty of $(which was well in excess of the amount of commission we made on this booking) to get him out of the condo we booked him in but I advised the client he would be responsible for paying the difference to move to a property with air conditioning as that is what we originally quoted him and he declined due to costThe cost to move to a condo with air was going to be at least $and was subject to availability when we made the changeAvailability was limited because he had five people and this is high season in MauiThe client said he was not going to pay ANY additional money but would take the tripThen on Thursday, July at 10:38PM the client emailed the following "- I discussed the no a/c with my wife and we are simply not comfortable taking this trip staying in a condo without air with projected temps at degreesI have a yr old going on this trip and I'm not going to subject him to thatHeat tends to sometimes cause his asthma to flare upNor should I be without the option of being comfortable if I choosePlease discuss this with your managerI spoke to her a few days ago and she gave me the option of being re-assigned to a different propertyAlso I don't feel that I should have to pay any differencesI appreciate your prompt response to this." This email was the first time the client advised us of his son's conditionI replied with the following email on Friday, July 25- "Today the travel agent called the tour operator and there are no available condo options in your price range with air conditioningYour priority when you came to us was price drivenYou provided a property to us that you were interested in booking that did not have air conditioning (after we had recommended options with air conditioning that you said were out of your budget) and we were able to provide you a significantly better property for that price range you were looking forIf you are interested in a property with air conditioning the additional cost will be in excess of $which you have indicated you do not want to pay so regrettably we are unable to assist you any further with this issueWe sincerely hope you have a wonderful trip in Maui." His response was, "This is not an acceptable solutionI am not going to jeopardize the health of my son due to the lack of communicationI will contact the Revdex.com or any other agency to file a complaint for that matter." I did not further respond to his emailOn Saturday, July he again emailed the agent but this time about a spelling error he had made on one of the travelers which we proceeded to correct with the airlineHe asked questions about what travel documents were needed for the kids and we advised what he needs to bringWe continued to work professionally with this client until he arrived at his condo in MauiWe ordered a gift basket to be delivered for his first day and then I received a letter from the Revdex.com with the complaint that the travel agency should have paid 100% to move him to a room with air conditioningThe client says in his complaint that he was misinformedI can say with 100% confidence that we did not misinform this client of anything and we did go above and beyond by offering to pay the $penalty to go to another property but the client was unwilling to pay anything to change
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/08/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is not an acceptable responseAs I stated in my complaint, prior to departure, I knew the lack of air conditioning was going to be a problemWhen I brought this up to the agency, I was basically silenced, and told I had no choice other than to pay thousands of dollars more after already paying $for the tripThe solution would have been to re-assign us and not have me bear any additional costsMy issue with the agency is they assume no responsibility for my comfort, satisfaction with this tripThey did no background work on the type of accomodations my family and I would stay inThe room was hot (as I expected) dirty, very sub-starndard accomdoationsTo add insult to injury, my flight was delayed by hours causing me to miss out on hours of the tripI realize the fact there was mechanical failure with the aircraft was not the fault of agency, however this only made matters worse by insisting that I take this trip to stay in a condo I knew was going to be uncomfortable to begin withI pleaded with this agency to make other arrangements for this trip but it did no goodThey sent me a complimentary basket to the condo but that did not ease the fact that my family and I were miserable during our stayAfter paying five thousand dollars to go on a vacation that I saved for and be treated this way is absolutely unacceptableThis agency needs to take responsibility for sending me on this trip, no opportunity to get my money back is not rightI told them the air conditioning issue was going to be a problemAnd they did nothingI actually think a full refund would be the right thing to do, in light of the fact I told the agency my family and I wanted basic accomodations (a unit with air conditioningSending me on this trip could have jeopardized my son's health
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/08/10) */
This is simpleFirst, we made recommendations for properties in Maui that had AC, but which exceeded the client's budgetHe then contacted another travel agency, who provided him a quote with a property in his budget - without ACHe brought that quote to us and said he wanted to book that propertyWe THEN suggested a property with a higher trip rating and on a beach for essentially the same price, which also does not have ACHe booked and paid in full - the trip was in daysThe client now alleges that we "misinformed" himThe client provides no specifics about this - nor could heIf anyone was misinformed, it was usBy identifying a property without AC as a desired property, and then - after booking a non-refundable trip, AC suddenly becomes a "life and death issue"
The client complains he was "silenced"I talked to the client; we communicated by emailI DID offer to pay the $two night penalty to get him out of what he agreed to book, to put him again in the position to be able to book a property with AC if he so choseYet, he again was unwilling to spend what those properties cost & he demanded that my agency pay for an AC property for himThat's ridiculous
Let's add this up: (1) non-stop airline tickets to Maui in peak season days before departure (2) a rental car and (3) a 2-bedroom condo on a beach in MauiHe acts like he paid $5,for a bedroom condo
Flight delays are toughNobody - including us - wants somebody to lose vacation time at an airportBut again, this is another example of this client's failure to appreciate what is and is not our faultWe continued to talk to the client that day checking on status of when he would arrive and advised how to get into condo, what time rental car agency closes and what to do in case they arrived after the car rental agency closedWe have been nothing but professional & it is disappointing to be treated so shabbilyThis client has acted completely unreasonably & fails to accept responsibility for his own decisionsShame on him!
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/08/11) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Clearly this agency does not understand the source of my frustration and reason for complaintThe airport situation was brought in to this as an "yet another" thing that went wrong with this tripI realize it's not their fault for the mechanical failure of the aircraftObviously this agency this agency is treating me in a "you got what you paid for" mannerWhatever I ended up paying for, it wasn't with the intent to stay at a dirty run down condo without airportThe essence of this complaint is that I antcipated this problem with the air and tried to work with the agency to change itI just don't feel that I should have to pay any more money because of itThe trip was set up without any investigation on the actual unit, condition of the place, etcI basically had to do all of my discovery on my ownSince that was the case, I could have simply booked the trip myselfAnd to add insult to injury, I was told that a car was booked to accomodate peopleWell maybe it would have accomodated five yrsThe reality is that I was traveling with children which included teenage boysThe car class that was included in this trip did not accomodate us, particulary with luggage and leg speace, hence causing me to spend an addtional $for a vanAn unforseen expenseAgain, based on my original complaint and conversation with this agency, when I raised the question of not wanting to spend nights in a hot and humid condo that they did no background check on, I was simply reminded of tradewindsWell there were no tradewinds, the ceiling fans did not offer too much more cool air and the condo was old, dirty, and not fit for a homeless personFurthermore I had to ask the management office if they could send a couple of floor fans, which they were able to doInstead of this agency simply focusing a price of $and acting like I got the deal of the century, they should really consider why I'm complainingThis complaint even prior to me taking the trip had the potential to end up this wayThey knew how I was feelingSo this is no surpriseThe agency sent a gift basket as a tokenI am not sure what the token represented to be quite honestIt acutally only insulted me moreThis agency has made no compensatory concessions as a symbol of good and flexibility in light of the disaster tripShame on them! By no means is this complanit resolvedSo with that, I continue to request my full refund of $
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/04) */
On July 17, the client purchased a trip to Maui for his family (adults and kids)Around June we started quoting this client various trip options including cruises to different destinations and various properties in MauiThe Maui
properties we originally quoted were out of his budget (but had included air conditioning)Several weeks went byThe client then came back to us with a recommendation he received from another travel agency for a condo in Maui that does NOT have air conditioning and he said he was interested in booking that propertyWe suggested another property that has a higher trip review rating and is on a beach for almost the exact price and he decided to book and pay for the nonrefundable tripAt no point was air conditioning discussedBecause the property he said he was interested did not have air we did not know that air was a priorityThe trip was in days (booked on July to travel on July 29)Early the following week the client contacted our office and said he discovered the condo did not have air conditioning and he wanted a place with airAs a goodwill gesture we offered to pay the two night penalty of $(which was well in excess of the amount of commission we made on this booking) to get him out of the condo we booked him in but I advised the client he would be responsible for paying the difference to move to a property with air conditioning as that is what we originally quoted him and he declined due to costThe cost to move to a condo with air was going to be at least $and was subject to availability when we made the changeAvailability was limited because he had five people and this is high season in MauiThe client said he was not going to pay ANY additional money but would take the tripThen on Thursday, July at 10:38PM the client emailed the following "- I discussed the no a/c with my wife and we are simply not comfortable taking this trip staying in a condo without air with projected temps at degreesI have a yr old going on this trip and I'm not going to subject him to thatHeat tends to sometimes cause his asthma to flare upNor should I be without the option of being comfortable if I choosePlease discuss this with your managerI spoke to her a few days ago and she gave me the option of being re-assigned to a different propertyAlso I don't feel that I should have to pay any differencesI appreciate your prompt response to this." This email was the first time the client advised us of his son's conditionI replied with the following email on Friday, July 25- "Today the travel agent called the tour operator and there are no available condo options in your price range with air conditioningYour priority when you came to us was price drivenYou provided a property to us that you were interested in booking that did not have air conditioning (after we had recommended options with air conditioning that you said were out of your budget) and we were able to provide you a significantly better property for that price range you were looking forIf you are interested in a property with air conditioning the additional cost will be in excess of $which you have indicated you do not want to pay so regrettably we are unable to assist you any further with this issueWe sincerely hope you have a wonderful trip in Maui." His response was, "This is not an acceptable solutionI am not going to jeopardize the health of my son due to the lack of communicationI will contact the Revdex.com or any other agency to file a complaint for that matter." I did not further respond to his emailOn Saturday, July he again emailed the agent but this time about a spelling error he had made on one of the travelers which we proceeded to correct with the airlineHe asked questions about what travel documents were needed for the kids and we advised what he needs to bringWe continued to work professionally with this client until he arrived at his condo in MauiWe ordered a gift basket to be delivered for his first day and then I received a letter from the Revdex.com with the complaint that the travel agency should have paid 100% to move him to a room with air conditioningThe client says in his complaint that he was misinformedI can say with 100% confidence that we did not misinform this client of anything and we did go above and beyond by offering to pay the $penalty to go to another property but the client was unwilling to pay anything to change
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/08/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is not an acceptable responseAs I stated in my complaint, prior to departure, I knew the lack of air conditioning was going to be a problemWhen I brought this up to the agency, I was basically silenced, and told I had no choice other than to pay thousands of dollars more after already paying $for the tripThe solution would have been to re-assign us and not have me bear any additional costsMy issue with the agency is they assume no responsibility for my comfort, satisfaction with this tripThey did no background work on the type of accomodations my family and I would stay inThe room was hot (as I expected) dirty, very sub-starndard accomdoationsTo add insult to injury, my flight was delayed by hours causing me to miss out on hours of the tripI realize the fact there was mechanical failure with the aircraft was not the fault of agency, however this only made matters worse by insisting that I take this trip to stay in a condo I knew was going to be uncomfortable to begin withI pleaded with this agency to make other arrangements for this trip but it did no goodThey sent me a complimentary basket to the condo but that did not ease the fact that my family and I were miserable during our stayAfter paying five thousand dollars to go on a vacation that I saved for and be treated this way is absolutely unacceptableThis agency needs to take responsibility for sending me on this trip, no opportunity to get my money back is not rightI told them the air conditioning issue was going to be a problemAnd they did nothingI actually think a full refund would be the right thing to do, in light of the fact I told the agency my family and I wanted basic accomodations (a unit with air conditioningSending me on this trip could have jeopardized my son's health
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/08/10) */
This is simpleFirst, we made recommendations for properties in Maui that had AC, but which exceeded the client's budgetHe then contacted another travel agency, who provided him a quote with a property in his budget - without ACHe brought that quote to us and said he wanted to book that propertyWe THEN suggested a property with a higher trip rating and on a beach for essentially the same price, which also does not have ACHe booked and paid in full - the trip was in daysThe client now alleges that we "misinformed" himThe client provides no specifics about this - nor could heIf anyone was misinformed, it was usBy identifying a property without AC as a desired property, and then - after booking a non-refundable trip, AC suddenly becomes a "life and death issue"
The client complains he was "silenced"I talked to the client; we communicated by emailI DID offer to pay the $two night penalty to get him out of what he agreed to book, to put him again in the position to be able to book a property with AC if he so choseYet, he again was unwilling to spend what those properties cost & he demanded that my agency pay for an AC property for himThat's ridiculous
Let's add this up: (1) non-stop airline tickets to Maui in peak season days before departure (2) a rental car and (3) a 2-bedroom condo on a beach in MauiHe acts like he paid $5,for a bedroom condo
Flight delays are toughNobody - including us - wants somebody to lose vacation time at an airportBut again, this is another example of this client's failure to appreciate what is and is not our faultWe continued to talk to the client that day checking on status of when he would arrive and advised how to get into condo, what time rental car agency closes and what to do in case they arrived after the car rental agency closedWe have been nothing but professional & it is disappointing to be treated so shabbilyThis client has acted completely unreasonably & fails to accept responsibility for his own decisionsShame on him!
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/08/11) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Clearly this agency does not understand the source of my frustration and reason for complaintThe airport situation was brought in to this as an "yet another" thing that went wrong with this tripI realize it's not their fault for the mechanical failure of the aircraftObviously this agency this agency is treating me in a "you got what you paid for" mannerWhatever I ended up paying for, it wasn't with the intent to stay at a dirty run down condo without airportThe essence of this complaint is that I antcipated this problem with the air and tried to work with the agency to change itI just don't feel that I should have to pay any more money because of itThe trip was set up without any investigation on the actual unit, condition of the place, etcI basically had to do all of my discovery on my ownSince that was the case, I could have simply booked the trip myselfAnd to add insult to injury, I was told that a car was booked to accomodate peopleWell maybe it would have accomodated five yrsThe reality is that I was traveling with children which included teenage boysThe car class that was included in this trip did not accomodate us, particulary with luggage and leg speace, hence causing me to spend an addtional $for a vanAn unforseen expenseAgain, based on my original complaint and conversation with this agency, when I raised the question of not wanting to spend nights in a hot and humid condo that they did no background check on, I was simply reminded of tradewindsWell there were no tradewinds, the ceiling fans did not offer too much more cool air and the condo was old, dirty, and not fit for a homeless personFurthermore I had to ask the management office if they could send a couple of floor fans, which they were able to doInstead of this agency simply focusing a price of $and acting like I got the deal of the century, they should really consider why I'm complainingThis complaint even prior to me taking the trip had the potential to end up this wayThey knew how I was feelingSo this is no surpriseThe agency sent a gift basket as a tokenI am not sure what the token represented to be quite honestIt acutally only insulted me moreThis agency has made no compensatory concessions as a symbol of good and flexibility in light of the disaster tripShame on them! By no means is this complanit resolvedSo with that, I continue to request my full refund of $