Beaches vacation goes bust, but how about that ticket promise?

Jen Knight’s family was looking forward to an all-inclusive vacation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, until the resort sent her some bad news: Her hotel, Beaches Boscobel, would be closed for renovations.

A Beaches representative verbally agreed to rebook the family at a sister property, Beaches Turks and Caicos. She was also told the company would cover the difference in airfare as well as the fees for changing their tickets from Jamaica to Turks and Caicos.

Case closed? Not quite.

It turns out that neither of the airlines on which she’d booked various family members — JetBlue and Airtran — flies to Turks and Caicos, nor do they codeshare with anyone who does. But both airlines will allow them to cancel their reservations and receive a credit for the value of their flights that must be used within a year, less applicable change fees.

That’s when she hit a snag.

When I called the Beaches agent back to let her know the final tally of the change costs, she told me that Beaches will cover the difference in airfare between what I paid before and what I will have to pay to buy new tickets, but that it will not reimburse me for the change fees because I am flying on a different airline than the one on which I had originally booked. If I had originally booked on an airline that served both Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, they would cover the change fee as well as the difference in airfare.

Now, the resort at Turks and Caicos is much nicer, and Beaches is paying us a substantial amount for the increase in airfare. But this still strikes still as unfair. My family is going to be out $425 because of a change Beaches made, and only because I happened to book on certain airlines and not others.

Am I being unreasonable in expecting them to pay the change fees in this circumstance? I am awaiting a call back from the supervisor to discuss this issue further. Is there anything else I should do?

I don’t think Knight’s request was unreasonable, but her methods left something to be desired. As far as I could tell, all communication with Beaches had taken place by phone. That means Beaches could deny anyone offered her anything, because there was no written proof of its initial offer.

I recommended that she put her request for a refund in writing and begin a paper trail, which she did. Knight sent a thoughtful, polite and well-reasoned letter to Beaches.

Here’s how it responded:

Thank you for your recent correspondence in reference to the two reservations above.

We would first like to thank you for your patience in receiving this response. We are happy to inform you a refund in the amount of $1,058 for booking #5999023 and $1,321 for booking #5999009 is being processed to the credit cards on file, the amounts should be reflected in your account in the next four to six business days. We look forward to hosting you at one of our resorts in the not too distant future.

I love a happy ending! Remember, start a paper trail and stay off the phone. Your case may move a little slower, at first, but you’ll be happier in the long run.

(Photo: Ro b In h00d/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Brooklyn

    Some people (especially retirees) may not use the internet or have e-mail accounts, yet they enjoy travel and, like the rest of us, would prefer not to be taken advantage of. And what about problems that arise after the vacation has begun? Many people don’t take laptops with them on vacation because their personal computers are desktops, their destinations have a high risk of theft or they don’t want to risk damage from leaving the laptop in a hot car for hours. In such situations, what is the “second best” way to document problems?

  • SirWired

    While certainly Beaches should pay up here, how do they monitor that the airfare credit goes unused? It certainly wouldn’t be fare to Beaches to pay for the airfare, and then have the OP still use the credit to go somewhere. (I’ve kind of wondered how trip insurance deals with this too…)

    @Brooklyn: Fax is the answer. At home, the machines are so cheap they are almost free. While you are on travel there may be some fees associated with receiving faxes, so it’s a tossup between that and a phone call. If you are traveling domestically, (and in a jurisdiction that allows it) having your cell phone record calls can also be helpful.

  • Caren

    My family also got clipped by the Beaches Boscobel shutdown. It worked out all right in the end, but only after Beaches tried to send us to their “economy” property (Beaches Sandy Bay in Negril)-without offering us any discount off what we’d paid for Boscobel! After my sister-in-law complained, we were changed to Beaches Negril instead. I wonder if they were just counting on people to not object?

  • Lark

    I am glad Beaches did the right thing & refunded the airline priceing difference. Should have done it upon the first request, but good for them that they made traveler whole again. Actually they made traveler more than whole. Having stayed at Beaches {Negril} & studied all their resorts on their website & with trip advisor, I would love to book a trip to Boscobel & get transfered to Turks & Caicos. It is twice the resort, and costs alot more to go there. But it was not the travelers fault that Beaches took their reservation & then wanted them to change locations.

  • http://www.sanibel-rentals.net Sylvia

    Good for Chris and for this traveler. Really, all arrangements need to be put in writing. Though this column is an advocacy for the traveler, I more often sit on the other side of the fence owning 2 vacation rental properties on Sanibel Island. On occasion, a rental guest will indicate I said something (usually a better price or that I omitted fees/taxes in my quote) I did not. Having an email trail has been critical in those cases. Get it all in writing is the mantra.

  • BucksterSF

    I wonder if a paper trail is more of a peace of mind item. If a resort, or car rental company or hotel or any service, was going to deny you something or cost you money and you have it in an email what good does that do? If the company decides to do you like that it’s pretty much over. They know you’re not going to travel there and sue them.

    So if a company’s going to do the right thing you don’t need a paper trail, and if they’re not having one doesn’t much help.

  • http://www.sanibel-rentals.net Sylvia

    @BucksterSF….most companies, even teeny, tiny ones like my vacation rental company, do not want public criticism. If a customer can “prove” that the company did not do the right thing, it is an easy task to take to the internet and criticize them. No one with a modicum of customer service awareness wants that to happen, so IMO, the paper work— whether emails or hard copy—- are more than just peace of mind.

  • Joe Farrell

    Why not just get a refund from Boscobel and then rebook a resort on the same island and times? I mean there is choice C here . . .

    I imagine that in 6 months we are gonna read Horror Story #25 about how crummy Boscobel T&C is with bugs and mosquitos and it being too humid or something like that and they’ll want a full refund.

  • MVFlyer

    Instead of shifting them to a Beaches property on another island, the company should have booked them for a similar (better) property elsewhere in Ocho Rios. While I understand why Beaches would want to keep a customer by using their own properties, this seems to be an undue hassle for the customer. And isn’t a renovation scheduled far in advance, and bookings cut off for that property?

    I’m glad it worked out–I hope that people read this and see Beaches does do well by their customers.

  • dkbldvl006

    We had a similar problem with a Sandals (owner of Beaches) resort last year. Less than week before our trip, we received a call to tell us that our hotel would be closed for renovations for the next 3 months. We were rebooked at a different property on the same island and didn’t have to deal with airline issues, but the flexibility to choose where we wanted to go would have been nice.

  • Louise

    Please, kind sir and lady, what the devil is an OP? An Out Patient? Out of Print? On Parole? Our Problem? Oh Pooh!

  • http://www.island-breeze-travel.comp Mark

    It is too bad you couldn’t make it to Beaches Turks & Caicos. It’s a wonderful property and Grace Bay is beautiful.

    Jet Blue begins service from JFK and BOS to Providenciales (PLS) on Feb 17th.

    Continental Airlines also starts air service to PLS soon.

  • Carver

    @BucksterSF

    I assure you that a paper trail is much more than peace of mind. A paper trail establishes exactly what was said and what was promised and not promised. If a matter needs to be escalated to a supervisor or third party, say the courts, the paper trial eliminates much of the he said, she said problems.

  • Mike Z

    Good on Beaches to do this. Also good on them to want to keep the customer on property, even if it does cost them more. I am sure that the money they gave up moving them to a different property will now pay back many times over. Also, by moving them to their own property, they have more control over the customer and don’t have to refund the entire stay as they would have otherwise. Last, what if the customer would have been shifted to a different brand hotel on the same island that didn’t have the same amenities, service, or room conditions? I’m sure they don’t need or want those types of complaints.

  • Jesse

    I often like to NOT deal with people over the phone, it takes time and it is easier for me to just shoot an email to someone and get things done.

    Zappos has a great model for customer service, why couldn’t other companies follow that model?

  • Michelle B.

    @Louise, OP I believe stands for “Original Poster” or the person who started the whole topic to begin with. You may also run across “PP” which means a Previous Poster, but not the original. And an @ in front of a persons name or “handle” means referring to that person (blame Twitter for that one).

  • Lianne

    @ Louise

    OP is internet short hand for “Original Poster,” generally used to refer to the first poster in a message board thread. In the Elliott blog, it is used to refer to the person who originated the story by “posting” the complaint to Christopher.

    Hope that helps clear up confusion :-)

  • http://www.roamingtales.com Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

    @Brooklyn You don’t need email to create a paper trail, it’s just the fastest method. You can write a letter and send it by fax or post. You may want to use certified mail.

  • http://www.roamingtales.com Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

    @Louise OP = original poster. In this case, it’s the person with the travel problem.

  • Preston McKinney

    The client booked directly with Beaches instead of using a travel agent. The world wide booking and marketing arm of Sandals and Beaches is Unique Vacations. I am a Preferred Sandals and Beaches Specialist who rarely used Unique Vacations to book any of my clients because it is even difficult for me to deal directly with Sandals and Beaches at their Miami office and much easier to work with my tour operators working out problems such as this client experienced. It is also true that the client got considerable more value in going to the Turks and Caicos. If the client had used a professional travel agent, they may had more advanced notice of the closing of Beaches Boscobel and more time to make alternative arrangements. I also encourage all clients to take out travel insurance which may cover the additional cost of the air.