I AM A VICTIM

Of a vicious vindictive customer. I will spare you some details and not give out names due to the ridiculous nature of the event.

In my spare time, I like to help small businesses with their advertising needs. One of my favorite customers (for lack of a better word) owns a property on the beach which I advertise and in many cases deal with the customers from beginning to end. A few weeks ago, I had the delight of being contacted by a nice family who wanted to stay at the property for a few days. Deal was closed, family came over and the nightmare began. There were many red flags I missed. The guy was a little intense, asked the same question 20 times, did not mind calling at one in the morning to say the internet was not working...but, since I have very high customer service standards I let all of this go and took care of him.

The big issue took place at the time of check out. The property owner did a routine inspection before returning the guest's security deposit. Hell broke loose when the tenant was advised $40 would be withheld due to the many luggage scratches on some cabinets, the dirty condition the unit was being returned in and the water spilled on the couch (cleaning the couch alone could cost $50-$80). The tenant went wild, said he should have been paid for staying at that unit, got feisty...you get the idea. He ended up leaving and agreeing to the $40 charge as he had to catch an international flight.

Two days later I get these nasty-grams from one of the sites where I advertise and my own blogspot!
The guy went nuts, dared to call us scum bags and rip offs! He, of course, trashed the unit down with his reviews, put our characters on the line and threatened to make us regret every penny we took form him.

While I thought his word choice was very poor and demonstrated lack of objectivity and perhaps education, I understood this was a hurt customer trying to express himself. I cleaned up his mess and moved on. Now, when I say I cleaned up the mess I mean that his reviews were deleted. I don't mind bad reviews as long as they are objective, being called scum bag does not qualify as objectivity in my books.

Surprise, surprise. A week later he contacted my customer's employer and filed a list of ridiculous charges which of course generated a lot of commotion. Please someone tell me when was the last time you broke and entered your own property after being invited by your own tenant. Furthermore, since when does a $40 fee count as extortion? Is it me, or does this sound like pure madness?

A few words of advise for all vindictive customers out there:

1. Make sure your reviews are fair, objective and factual. Lying in a review shows lack of character. Poor language, name calling and subjectivity make you sound bitter and crazy. 
2. Pointing a positive aspect of you rapport with the vendor in question increases your chances of a resolution and being taken seriously. 
3. Keep in mind that some reviews are dismissed by third parties if deemed questionable or inappropriate. 
4. Choose your words wisely. Spam filters will block reviews using bad words and adjectives such as scum bags. 
5. Let it go. You did your duty. You posted a bad review about this vendor in hopes of alerting other customers about bad business practices. The point of a review is to share your experience with others not to tear the business or the business owner apart. 
6. Let it go. Bitterness hurts you more than anyone else.
7. Beware of vindictive vendors. The internet is a two way street!

DAYS INN - OUT AT NIGHT!

Days Inn Forbidden City - Beijing, China

Being the caring and loving lady I am, I volunteered to book a hotel for my bf’s first night in China (why he is there and I am not calls for a whole different blog). I looked up some options and was of course overwhelmed by Chinese characters and foreign currencies. Add to that the horror stories some people share on the web regarding their visits to other countries and you can imagine how challenging I felt this quest was. Well, that was until I saw the Forbidden City Days Inn Hotel!! (http://www.daysinnforbiddencity.com) We have all seen the Days Inn hotels on the side of the road; they look like motels with high aspirations. I, of course, booked the first room I could get since it was a familiar name and their staff speaks English according to their advertisement. 

Well, my poor hunnie gets to China at midnight, asks someone to translate the hotel’s address to Chinese characters, takes a cab to the Days Inn, is dropped off in a dark alley (get your popcorn out this sounds like a horror movie already) and wanders through the streets for a while not finding the infamous hotel. With his gullible smile he tries to find someone who speaks good enough English to give him directions (perhaps you should know he only knows two sentences in Mandarin: How are you? And I don’t speak Mandarin), this takes a while but he finds some sort of officer guy who walks him to the hotel. Surprise, no one opens the door at the freaking hotel, no one! Want another surprise? My card had already been charged for his stay. Anyway, after knocking on the door for some time he gives up and the officer guy takes him to a hostel nearby where he checks in and happily shares the night with another five travelers…not what I envisioned for him after 20 hours of travel. I was livid when he called to tell me the story, was my late arrival note not clear enough? I proceeded to pick up the phone and call the Days Inn customer line to be put on hold for 45 minutes and then be told I had to deal with the property in China directly as it is independently owned. Independently what? Not my problem lady, I said, it is advertised as a Days Inn property therefore it is you I am dealing with. Why would I want to deal with a property that closes its doors at night to expected visitors? (by the way, I checked the website, not a word about doors being closed at a certain time)  http://www.daysinnforbiddencity.com. Now I have to wait three business days for a reply to my concern…oh I emailed them too letting them have a piece of my mind in the politest of ways. I am not looking for shares in their company as compensation but I want my money back and then some. 

Will keep you posted.