but that's not faaaaiiiirrrrrr

[katzklaw]

gotta love getting crap from people who aren't even customers....

took a call just a little while ago from a guy asking what our cancellation policy was if someone had a family emergency... uh. well. it's the same as any other time at any and every Big Yellow campground in the US and Canada... we need 2 days notice for sites, and 7 days notice for cabins to get any refund at all, and there's a $10 cancellation fee. If we have less than enough notice, the one night's deposit is lost. Apparently this wasn't simple enough, because he's like "ok, if i make a reservation, and then cancel it two days later, i get everything back, right?" i explained again, stressing the fact that there's a $10 fee, even if he were to turn around and cancel the very next day... whereupon he uttered the phrase which makes my title... *eyeroll* on the bright side, i am slowly getting better at dealing with irate customers, so i managed to keep my cool and just said "i'm sorry sir, but that is the cancellation policy in every single Big Yellow campground in the US." he says back "well you have my word i am NEVER staying at one then!" "I'm sorry you feel that way sir." he whined a bit more... can't remember what he said... i told him he could change his reservation without a charge... he whined some more... i told him to have a nice night, and he hung up

individual parks can bend the rules on a case by case basis, but i am not the person able to make that judgement call, but if you just whine at me, and then tell me you are NEVER going to be my customer, well... where's my motivation to provide you with good customer service? ah well. it was fast, i handled it well, and i increased my confidence, and whiner didn't get what he wanted. win win in my book.

[MoonCat]

Seems to me if someone is that concerned about a possible family emergency happening during their camping trip, they might have reason to be worried: Great-Aunt Bertha is about to expire, Aunt Bitsy and Uncle Figgy are screaming about a divorce, their kid just decided to convert to FSM and is dropping out of school to become a pasta chef...whatever. Just wait for the potential emergency to be resolved before making reservations! Is that so hard?

[RealUnimportant]

Sounds like they were trying to get a verbal agreement that they could then leverage into compensation, whether or not they ever intended to stay with you.

[earl colby pottinger]

Industry wide

And there are policy that are industry wide, because all the companies have been equally burnt in the past and when one company started a policy all the other companies thought it was a good idea and followed.

Example: I go cruising, all the large cruise companies have the policy that if you cancel more than 90 days you get 100% of your money, but if you try to cancel less than 30 days without a medical/death certificate you get back 0%.

It does not matter how much you whine, you can threaten to go elsewhere, but the rules will not change elsewhere.

[Minflick]

There can be exceptions to even that, as I found out. TG!!!

Mom had dementia, and had been moved in to assisted living about 8 months before, and was very much in the denial and sneaky stage of dementia. As a long time member of a group, she found out about a cruise in the Eastern Med of historical/Biblical archeology sites. $4500 for the cruise, which did not include air fare or hotels at each end of the cruise. Which DID include 14 hours a day of steep stairs, etc, with no hand rails. NOT for the infirm, which Mom very much was. She thought we'd go together, and I could help her physically. I couldn't, for valid reasons, and said we'd have to think about next year, sorry. She then said her roommate would help her. Her unknown roommate, who would have paid full fare all unaware of the treat in store for her.

2 days later she bought the trip, which bounced the rent check, which was not small. I had kittens. Couldn't call the trip organizers, as they were in England, and I had a crap pre-pay cell plan with no roaming, and no land line. Dug out their email contact, and emailed them, explaining the dilemma. Got a physical exam form for her Dr from them, got it filled out, sent it back. No joy. "We need her to say she's not going before we can refund any money". She's not going to do that, she has dementia and sees no problem with her taking this trip! "Sorry, we still do need her to admit it...".

Tried to find trip insurance to help fly her home once she'd hurt herself, which was going to be inevitable, given her frailness. Couldn't buy trip insurance, because the trip was already paid for. Discovered it had been paid for AFTER the cutoff for refunds!... Emailed organizers again, laid out my problem re insurance, asked for advice on what to do... Got a panicky email back telling me their lawyers didn't want Mom on the trip, nope, couldn't be liable for her well being. Duhhhhh. Asked for the refund. Got sent a fancy and complicated physical exam form, which I hand carried to the Dr, and explained my dilemma with Mom and with trip organizers. Dr filled out the extensive form, with stern words on the face page regarding Mom's complete inability to understand or to undergo said trip's demands.

A few days after sending in the second form, I got an email back telling me they would be refunding the money, minus a $300 handling fee. I did a happy dance, and praised them highly. And said thank you. I really think it may have been their first time dealing with a client with dementia, as they had NO procedure to tell them what to do.

That was when Mom lost her debit card. Major fights and bitching ensued, but also, no more bounced rent checks!