Closing Early

I have to tell you about some of the worst service I received this week.

Back in August my DH and I scheduled a four day cruise out of Port Canaveral, Florida. We decided to make a full weeks vacation out of it so we planned on staying two extra nights upon our return from the cruise. Coincidentally, we went to the Home Show in Tampa where we were offered a free night (with a $20 deposit to be returned when we arrived) at the Ron Jon Cape Caribe Resort in Cocoa Beach if we agreed to the 90 minute sales tour of the resort. We signed up (obviously), and we were excited about extending our vacation.

We spoke to the sales rep, Phylis, a few days before we left. We confirmed our stay and went over the dates a second time. We told her that we were going on a cruise prior to our arrival and that is was only a four day, so we triple-checked our dates. We then told her that we were going to spend a second night, and she advised us to book the room at that point because there wouldn't be any guarantee that a room would be available if we waited too long. We agreed and she put our names in to the computer.

Our cruise left on Sunday and we spent a full four days at Sea. It was wonderful, and when we returned we were looking forward to the amenities at the Ron Jon resort that we had heard so much about! After getting in to our car to head to the result, I found out that my phone had seven messages on it, all from the sales rep, Phylis, asking us to return her call in order to confirm our stay! Each call sounded increasingly urgent, and by the seventh call I got the feeling that there was going to be a problem even though we had confirmed our stay previously. We returned her call right away but all we got was a voice mail, so we headed to the resort.

We got to Ron Jon's by 10:30am and went to the desk to check in. After about five minutes of searching my DH and I began to realize that there really was something was amiss. The registration staff member could not find our names on the registration list, nor could he find any record of us at all! When we told him that we had spoken to Phylis twice before to confirm, he didn't know who Phylis was, nor did he know how we could find her. The staff member, Everett, made three phone calls to see if our reservations could have been somewhere else (?) but he had no success. Finally he called the Outside Sales Office and spoke to the manager, Yvonne, who had no idea about our scheduled stay. She did provide us with the original sales representative's phone number which we called to leave another message on her voice mail, but as for any assistance towards our stay? Nothing. Everett searched his computer again and found us a room for the first night, but they were booked for the next. My husband refused, explaining that we had extended our stay because our first day was going to consist of the tour and we wanted the extra night as an "end" to our vacation. Everett was apologetic, but there was little he could do.

After about forty-five minutes of standing around while someone tried to figure out what was going on, my DH and I left and got back in to our car. We called Phylis again, and then began to drive around Cocoa Beach to burn time. After an hour of sitting in a Publix parking lot and about four more messages to Phylis, we decided to go home.

About 15 minutes down the highway we got a call from Phylis. She was surprised at the trouble we had and asked what happened. When we explained, she said she didn't know what the problem was because she had "put your names in the computer for the night. I don't know why it didn't show up!" DH relayed the whole story again, and told her that the reception desk staff member had even spoken to her boss! She then told DH that she had no idea we were on a cruise, and that the extra room we had wanted couldn't be confirmed until the Thursday before. DH was aghast and asked how that worked since we had supposedly booked the night while on the phone with her two weeks prior, but she couldn't answer that question.

The conversation went on for over seven minutes, with my DH repeating himself over and over again. Finally she said she would call us back, so we pulled over on the side of Interstate 95 and waited. She called back and said that her boss "was working on getting a room" for the extra night and she would call us back to let us know. A few minutes later she called back again as promised and advised us that we had a one bedroom for the night we had originally paid the $20 deposit for, and for Friday they "found" a studio for us to stay in.

At this point we were done. We pulled back on to the interstate and continued our drive home. DH told Phylis that he was disappointed in the resort, our treatment, and the obvious lack of communication. He requested our $20 deposit back and she told us, are you ready for this?, that we had to go back to the resort and give them the card that came in the mail to prove we had been there! DH was beyond pissed off and asked how we were supposed to do that when we hadn't been home in a week to get the mail? He also told her, "It's obvious we were there; I just told you every ones name!" They spoke a little while longer while she refused his request for the deposit to be returned, until DH finally started to laugh and said, "Keep the twenty bucks. It doesn't mean that much to me. I can assure you that this doesn't stop here though, because this is the worst treatment I have ever received, especially from someone who is trying to sell something!"

So, this entry is my first step in making sure that people contemplating a stay at the Ron Jon Cape Caribe Resort in Cocoa Beach know what they are potentially getting in to! I even found a bunch of reviews about the resort that were less than favorable.

My advice! BEWARE! The left hand certainly doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Make sure you enjoy your vacation: Don't get caught up in something like this!