On Fri, Aug 01, 2008 at 11:52:03AM +0200, Peter D. wrote:
I am really fed up with this asshole smudging my name.
And my integrity.
Your name calling does little to redeem you.
I allmost like to go for a Zed S. like rant.
First off all.
We both have been the victim of a Double Three screw up.
I can’t comment on what the DoubleTree did or didn’t do, because I
didn’t
witness most of it. When I arrived at the hotel and picked up the key to
my
friend’s room I checked to see that my credit card had been replaced on
the
reservation at check-in, and it hadn’t. I did ask them to insist on
getting
a new credit card to pay for the stay, and it seems that that didn’t
happen. Beyond that, I don’t know whether they failed to ask for a new
credit card at check-in or failed to enter it properly or what since I
wasn’t there. Of course, it should have been taken care of when the
reservation was transferred, but again I don’t know if they failed to
ask
or entered it improperly.
I don’t attribute the incorrect charge to malice on anyone’s part,
though
I’m not prepared to just blame the hotel for screwing up. I have been
particularly impressed with their willingness to work things out and get
this resolved.
So if Gregory after two weeks notices that his creditcard has been
charged he is pissed.
Not pissed, just surprised and distressed. And the charge showed up a
month
later than I would have expected.
But base this on facts and approach somebody with some sort of tact.
But here is the first email from Gregory:
I never saw you at RailsConf, but it seems the DoubleTree has charged my
credit card for the room. Did you ever give them your credit card? Did
you ever pay for the room? I’m glad to have been able to help you out
with the reservation, but I’m not so charitable as to pay over $500 for
you to stay there.
It seems my attempt at humor there failed. The last sentence was tongue
in
cheek, but that didn’t come through. The rest, though, is just trying to
figure out how I had been charged. I initially thought it was possible
that
the hotel had charged both accidentally.
Hotel and not me.
[rest of message elided]
This is the first thing you’ve said or done that is genuinely deceitful
and
not attributable to just a mistake. Your email, properly quoted, said:
Hello Gregory,
I am on vacation at the moment and not at home.
If there has been a problem with payment its a fuckup from Double
Tree Hotel and not me.
Note “fuckup” rather than “screwup” in the second full sentence, edited
away for public consumption. If you are going to publicize the email you
sent, be accurate and truthful.
He replies:
I’m going to be disputing the charge with my credit card company, so
things will be fixed on my end when the DoubleTree cancels the charge on
my account.
Then after this attitude he asks me for making a longdistance call.
No way.
Attitude? I explained what action I was taking on my end. You also
failed
to post the first sentence of my reply. In fact, here is what I wrote
(in
the interest of brevity, I am leaving out the quoted message and only
including my text; I’ve also blanked out a name and phone number for the
guy I spoke to at the DoubleTree for his privacy):
[quoted message]
Sorry, I don’t mean to sound accusatory. I’m sure we’ll get this
resolved quickly.
[quoted message]
I’m going to be disputing the charge with my credit card company,
so things will be fixed on my end when the DoubleTree cancels the
charge on my account. I left a message with their accounting
department and actually received a call back as I was typing this
message. It turns out that they never took down your credit card
information.
I spoke to H* L*, and he can be reached directly at 503-XXX-XXXX. I
told him to expect your call after you get back from vacation, so
he is keeping the information handy through Monday. You can, of
course, call before then if you have the opportunity. He just needs
your credit card information and everything will be fixed.
I gave him my phonenumber asking them to call me.
Um, not exactly. The message I quoted above was sent on July 8. On July
14,
the day you said you’d be back from vacation, I sent the following:
I hope you enjoyed your vacation, and I’m sorry to have intruded on
it. Please remember to call the hotel today, and let me know when
it’s all set.
Thanks,
–Greg
[quoted message]
After no response for over a week, I sent the following on July 22:
It has been over a week since I sent the reminder below and I have
heard nothing from you. I just called the hotel to check on it and
you have not provided them with your credit card. I want to trust
you to take care of this, but so far you haven’t. Please do so and
get back to me.
–Greg
[quoted message]
Only after that did I receive the following response (phone number
masked,
though I posted it previously):
[quoted message]
I have been up to my ears in work.
They fucked up and I am not gonna make an expensive long distance
call to California.
If they want my credit card they can call me.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX is my telephone number in the netherlands
31 is country code
Let them call during daytime ( nine hours difference )
Peter
Is that so weird?
Yes, it’s weird. There are three parties involved: you, me, and the
hotel.
I was motivated to get things resolved because otherwise I am out a
chunk
of money. The hotel has no motivation to get things resolved, since
someone
will be paying them one way or another. You should have been motivated
to
get things resolved simply because it’s the right thing to do,
especially
since if you don’t put in the effort it screws the guy who did you a
favor
in the first place.
So, yes, expecting the hotel to make an international call to you, with
a
nine hour time difference, and insisting that they call during the
daytime
and specifically referring to the time difference, is weird and
unreasonable.
Are there landlines cut off at the ocean for not making a call to me?
Its a hotel for christ sake.
One could apply the same to you.
Now in hindsight would it have been better for making the call?
Shit yeah.
Ya think?
Was I reluctant because of his attitude in the first place.
Damn straight!!
That would be 1) a (understandable) misinterpretation of my attitude,
for
which I 2) apologized in my reply (see above).
But then he says the following and I am pissed again:
No, you insisted that they call during the day in Amsterdam, which would
mean they might just barely catch you if they called on the dot of 8am
Pacific time. The accounts receivable department’s day doesn’t start??
that
early.
So i sent this private message to Gregory.
True. Well, almost, except for a little editing for public consumption.
I
didn’t feel the need to respond to it privately at the time, but if it’s
being made public I suppose I’d better respond below.
I meant every f#cking day of the week they can call me you peace of
shit.
The message actually said “fucking” rather than “f#cking” when I got it.
Show me the email where I said that they could only call on the day in
Amsterdam
You don’t have that.
Actually, I do. See above.
It would have been resolved if the hotel would have put some effort in
it.
They are not motivated to make an international call on my say so. You
should be.
And I certainly don’t want an apologee from you on the list bumping it
up again
to the top of the list.
If you do that i will put everything on the site how you approached me
in the first
email almost calling me a thief and lyer knowing how the hotel fucked
up.
Because of that approach from you I was not in a hurry let me tell you
that.
I never called you names in personal correspondence. I have since called
you deceitful, that this latest message of yours backs that up.
Peter
[for clarity, this is the end of the quoted private email]
Now, do I care if this is all in Google.
Now way. I am glad setting the facts straight for somebody reading this.
They can make up there own minds.
I agree. I expect anyone reading this to consider what both of us have
said and how we dealt with this and to form an opinion of each of us.
I know my integrity is rock solid.
Its a pity that someone chooses this forum for his problem.
It was a last resort, and I agonized over doing it. When I had to face
the
fact that bringing it to the Rails list was the only chance I had of
avoiding paying for a room I didn’t stay in, I did it. If I had not been
dealing with a foreign national I would have used small claims court,
but
that only has jurisdiction within the United States.
Do you think that if I can afford a trip for 10 days in California
that I am gona rip off somebody for $500.
Not likely is it?
I wouldn’t think so, but it took weeks of calls to the hotel and email
correspondence, then public exposure, to get it resolved. I’d like to
believe that no one in this community would deliberately, with malicious
intent, try to rip me off. Inaction, however, has the same ultimate
result.
With regards
Peter D.
–Greg
