My Horrible Vacation Experience!

A Lesson in Customer Service and Common Courtesy!

My wife, Jayme, our 15-month old son, Neil, and our dog Lady went on vacation last weekend to Taylor Park, CO. I have been going to Taylor Park my entire life, and it is my all time favorite place to spend time! Unfortunately, we had an awful time! Here is the whole story:

We made the mistake of staying at "Holt's / Eibert's Guest Ranch." This outfit has not been in Taylor Park for very long (relatively speaking), and it is my opinion that it won't be there for much longer given the horrible customer service that I received!

We arrived on Friday, August 18. When I scheduled the reservations we originally were not planning on bringing the dog. So I told them it would be my wife, my son and myself. They said they had a "perfect" cabin for us... 3E. So I reserved it. Little did I know that it was a one-room, 250 square foot structure that was literally falling apart! For the privilege of staying there we would spend $75 per night plus "fees" (it ended up costing me over $200 per night - see below!).

We called back when we decided to take the dog, and they explained that it would be $5 more per night (added to the $75 per night already). We said that would not be a problem. Apparently, she forgot to make a note about this, because on the third day they accused me of sneaking in an "undeclared" pet and trying to pull a fast one over on them (see below).

If you have not been to Taylor Park, let me explain that it is way up in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. One year, I camped there over the Fourth of July weekend to wake up to four inches of snow! It is breath-takingly beautiful, but it can and does get very cold at night. This is not a place that I would willingly bring my 15 month old baby without heat in the cabin! Yet, that is exactly what I did!

Every time I asked about getting the heat in my cabin turned on, I was treated with what I can only describe a downright meanness. These people were downright mean! Now I am a patient, laidback, easy-going kind of guy. I can let an awful lot of things go, and I did for two whole (cold) nights.

On Sunday morning, we still had no heat. I finally was able to shame them into sending a guy over to look at it. According to him, he was not even told that there was a problem with my cabin until a few minutes before he came over. In fact, he went on to chastise me for not letting them know sooner! The lady at the front desk, on the other hand, had a completely different story! According to her, she had told him the first time I mentioned it.

Then she lit into us for having the dog! I explained that we called back after our initial conversation to let her know that we were bringing the dog. She stood in front of me and insinuated that I was lying to her face. That was the final straw for me. She ultimately was able to "recall" the second conversation. By that, time, I was ready to go.

Believe it or not, they begged us to stay. They even offered to upgrade us to a nicer "mobile home!" Whoopty Doooo! Why would I want to stay at a place where I have been so severely mistreated for three days and two nights? They acted like they were doing me a favor by allowing me to stay!

They refused, by the way, to refund me my money for the unused part of our stay (they charged us in advance for the whole five nights). This means I spent over $200 per night for a "Ted Kosinsky" like cabin.

This woman continued to say that she would do whatever it took to make us happy. She was not willing to refund us the three nights we did not use, so I guess she must be a habitual liar. Unfortunately, there is not much that I can do about it.

Experts say that if you are treated poorly by a business, twelve people on average will hear about it. In this case, it is my goal to multiply that by 1000 times. I have a lot of work to do to reach this goal, but I am very determined!

Sincerely,

Jay Haynes
Sensei