Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Threats work!

After our honeymoon, April and I went down to southern Utah to see Zion and Bryce, and to participate in a family reunion. We spent a few days in a small cabin near Zion, and had planned to spend one night in a nicer cabin in Tropic, closer to Bryce and the family reunion. I made reservations, and everything was good to go.
The cabin in Tropic, where we were only going to stay for a single night, had sent me a receipt, stating that if we wanted to cancel, we had to notify them at least three days before the reservation. They would still charge $25, but we would get most of our money back. Well, April and I decided to skip that cabin and go home a day early. We called four or five days in advance to cancel.
And then the nightmare began. When we didn't receive a refund, I started calling, leaving messages, and emailing. Nothing worked. The owners were away for a family emergency. The owners weren't in right then. They never returned messages I left...including both phone and email. I called over a dozen times. Finally, this last Friday, almost two months after we made the cancellation, my patience ran out. I emailed them, telling them that if I didn't hear from them within a week, I would report them to the Better Business Bureau and write three negative reviews of them on the web. I was serious. Sometimes, revenge is not only sweet, it's necessary.
The threat worked. Monday I got a call from the owner, and, supposedly, our refund is on its way.

2 comments:

Cougarg said...

I'm not surprised. Nothing is more important to a business (well, small and medium ones anyways) than how it's percieved. Our sales guys will bend over backwards to keep a a customer from making a stink about us.

Christine said...

Ooooh, I needed that advice about a year ago when we had some serious issues with a business. Hope the refund comes soon!