Getting an advertised travel deal is often a “bait and switch” experience. You must read the very small fine print!
I have become an expert at getting the best of all deals, but that’s only after learning from experiences where I was badly burned or overcharged, call it what you will.
Hyatt runs promotions like Sunshine on Sale. It is easy to understand as the requirements are clear and visible. Kimpton Hotels offered their In Touch Members a very self-explanatory ‘Stay 3, Get 1 Night Free Summer Promotion.’
Other promotions like Holiday Inn’s Kid’s Eat Free have the complete terms and conditions online, but it is of in fine print. If you read carefully, it stipulates the rules. Kid’s Eat Free when the child is under 12 and eating off the children’s menu. It also states that your child must be accompanied by a paying family member who is dining from the regular menu. Therefore, if you have an 11 year old with a hearty appetite or a 4 year old finicky eater, watch out.
If you don’t book online and/or you are not a detail-detective, beware! I once had a horrible experience with Super Clubs, from which I learned that some of the large vacation companies like Super Clubs often expect the guest/customer to know the promotion details. I learned no matter how well you have documented the chain of events, management can stand by the fine print online even if you never went online; even if you book your trip by phone
Here is what happened.
In August a few years ago, I called Super Clubs to discuss an upcoming family vacation in Jamaica, which incidentally turned into the site for my destination wedding. (Look for the tips on planning a destination wedding in a future post.)
I called the toll-free number and was immediately put on hold, at which time I tuned in to their recording, which stated that if you have been a cruise passenger sometime in the preceding 12 months, you would qualify for one free night as long as you would be staying at a Super Clubs property five or more nights.
This sounded great to me as we had all just taken a Royal Caribbean cruise and therefore seemed to qualify. Traveling with a blended family of 6 and needing 3 rooms, I am in the business of price comparison.
When the reservation specialist finally took my call, I asked exactly how to qualify for the recorded promotion. I was told that all I had to do was send proof that we took a cruise. I verified what they considered proof and I was told they needed either each person’s Sea Boarding Pass or our final bill that listed each person’s name.
I was instructed to fax in this proof to the operations office and was told that Super Clubs would apply the discount to our reservation immediately. I asked specifically if the fact that we would be traveling around Christmas made a difference and was told in typical Jamaican fashion, “No Problem, Man.”
In good faith, I booked the reservation, gave and her my credit card number for the required deposit. I then proceeded purchased 6 airline tickets which required coordinating flight times from various places in the country.
I rounded up all the documents required for the discount and within a couple weeks, faxed them off to Super Clubs so they could be applied to our reservations.
Two weeks later, I called Super Clubs to follow-up and make sure the free days were applied to all three of our reservations.
They claimed not to receive it. I re-faxed the required proof, waited a week, and called back. This is the first time l was told that the period in which we were traveling was during the Cruise Promotion Blackout dates.
By now they had our deposit money, we had invested over $2000 in airline tickets, and my (then) fiancé and I had decided that since we would have our four children with us, we should marry there.
In the time since we made our initial reservation, our wedding plans had been set; I had purchased a dress and we had hired and sent non-refundable deposits for a wedding coordinator located in Jamaica, a photographer, an off-property beachfront site for our ceremony, etc.
Since it was a financial mess, I began to work my way up the ladder within International Lifestyles office in Hollywood, Florida. Superclubs US representative was more concerned about their revenue loss than our covering their employee’s mistakes and what how the outcome affected us.
They told me I should have read the fine print on the website even though I never went to the website. They offered to discount our room by a whopping $100.00 and said they would grant us the ability to extend use of that promotion beyond the twelve month rule but we could not use it for our upcoming trip.
I appealed by mail to International Lifestyles, Ltd’s President of US Finance and Operations and was offered a refund of our deposit money. This was an insult to injury as by now it was far too late for this, it was November and there was no way we could change our plans. Our wedding was fully planned. We had to either pursue it by court, or let it go.
We did not want to allow this experience to ruin our wedding so as difficult as it was, we let it go.
What happened in the end, I consider poetic justice. The Superclubs property at which we were booked, Breeze’s Runaway Bay, had issues and they had to relocate every reservation for the end of December. I adamantly refused to go to some of the low-rated alternatives they tried to offer us. I insisted on an upgrade to one of their Grand Lido properties. After a lot of explanation and some negotiation, I spoke with an empathetic manager who upgraded our family to their Grand Lido Braco property.
I guess all’s well that end’s well, but I can’t end this post without telling you that they actually had the audacity to ask me if I would consider changing the venue of our wedding plans and use of their onsite wedding packages.
No Problem, right!