teammelli8080

Hi all,

Had a problem and was wondering what advice you would suggest. I had booked a 5 night stay for myself and my wife (under my wife's name); it was basically two free nights + two purchases night + 3rd night free with the suite upgrade applied to the two free nights (suite not available the other nights). Around a week before our trip, my wife's grandmother fell ill and is in the ICU passing away (my wife is the health care proxy and so needs to be bedside). We called to cancel the trip and discussed various options given the two-night fee (came out to ~$1000) and whether we could simply delay the trip to a later month and not pay the fee, but the CSR told us it would be better to cancel it now to retain the two free nights, pay the fee, and then submit a letter from the hospital to specifically the Mayakoba. The letter was very specific about our need to be at the bedside and our inability to take the trip. We did this, and almost immediately got a reply back saying that the fee could not be refunded and suggesting to contact travel insurance if we had bought travel insurance (we did not).

Any ideas or options about what to do in this case? It seems unfair to pay such a high fee in the setting of a personal emergency, especially as it is not a high season and the hotel has many open rooms and did not really lose anything in terms of an opportunity cost. Should we retry talking to Fairmont Mayakoba or perhaps Fairmont itself, or maybe even disputing through the CC company? Or is this a lost cause from the get go?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Often1

I would take a close look at all available insurance here. Hopefully you've got some policy for this, or the CC you used to pay or your homeowners has one of those giveaway riders. Some employers even have it and it extends to employee personal travel. For this amount, it's worth doing the homework.

If the hotel is sticking to the t&c, a chargeback gets you nothing other than heartache and zero chance of any acommodation.

I would call the property directly. Find the name of the GM, Sales Manager or somebody in authority. A bit of research should yield that. Call that person directly and propose specific dates when you could be there. Asking for a refund or a credit will be tough in light of the history. Asking for a specific date change isn't as hard as the property can do that without showing anything on its books.

It's water under the bridge for OP, but this is a good lesson for others. Bad and unforseen stuff happens. Travel interruption insurance is dirt cheap, even on a one-off basis. Just read it carefully as being the spouse of someone who is a health proxy for their grandmother might not be covered under most policies. When you are looking down the throat of significant penalties, even a simple broken leg or kid with appendicitis gets in the way.

PointWeasel

Having just left the Mayakoba yesterday, there are some great people there and if you have Fairmont status, they tend to be very accommodating, to their credit. That being said, speaking with the regular front-line staff will get you nowhere.

I would call the property and request to speak with Christopher, Front Desk Manager (his surname escapes me right now).

From what I gather from your post, this would solely be on a compassionate basis with the property, so you need be aware that they may still say no.

The property is packed right now, so you are not seeking a cancellation of the charge taken but simply a deferment of the monies paid. I can not really see why they would not accommodate this request on an exception basis.

Good luck.

Fairmont Mayakoba

Dear Teammelli8080,

We have received your message. We are sorry to hear that you are going through such a difficult time. We just sent you a private message, please contact us at your convenience so we can discuss in detail and find the best possible solution. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,


Fairmont Mayakoba

PointWeasel

I am impressed by your outreach.

This is why your property remains one of my Fairmont properties worldwide.

It appears as though the OP has not been online the past week or so, but hopefully he will follow up with you directly.

teammelli8080

Just wanted to close the loop.. I called back in on PointWeasel's advice and asked to speak to Christopher, who was not in but spoke to someone in the reservations department (Ivan). After some discussion, they were able to offer us a generous alternative that still lets us take advantage of the money we paid for the two paid nights (which is equal to the cancellation charge). I was impressed at both the flexibility of the hotel as they could have easily just said "no means no" and pocketed the fee. Instead of being bummed and simply out $1000, we're now really looking forward to our upcoming vacation. I was even more surprised by the online follow-up. I feel like treating guests this way is incredibly rare these days, it makes us feel like the hotel sees us as real people and not merely customers. I'm a huge fan even before I stay there! ^

PointWeasel

I am pleased to hear that the property was more flexible this time around and everything worked out to the satisfaction of both parties. ^

Enjoy your upcoming stay.

trubador

You did a good thing here. I will be staying at your hotel in the future. I like how your treat your guests.