I was picked up the next morning at 5:15 AM…in a very cramped and crowded, all-terrain vehicle. There were 7 of us squished in… with luggage. It took approximately 3 hours to get to the port.
~ No wifi.
~ No cell coverage at all.
~ No credit cards.
~ No charge accounts.
~ No ATM’s.
~ No stores.…
Thanks for the heads up, Tao Travel… if I had been told any of this, I might have been slightly better prepared. Cash only… and although I’d been under the impression everything was all-inclusive, it was not.
Paola told me I needed to bring;
$50 each way for the vehicle transportation.
$15 each way for the water taxi transportation.
$20 entrance to the marine park.
$2 for entrance to the port.
On top of this, I owed the sailing charter another $360…
I needed a minimum of $512US in addition to the outrageous prices I had already dished out. And guess what?? I had actually already paid. They were draining me however they could.
The one thing I had requested when attempting to book accommodation, was to ensure I would be at different islands than those being visited during my sailing venture. Guess she didn’t understand that part… or just didn’t care.
For an all-inclusive, private sailing adventure, and a ship that had been initially describe to me as being quite large, it was definitely not large enough for four adults and two rambunctious young children. PLUS a chain smoker.
When I finally got off the boat and made my way to my island accommodation, my room could only be described as primitive… I had a thin sheet over a single mattress, a pillow… and that was about it. There was no heads up about this at all. Nothing else.
I was left alone at a decrepit part of the lodge, on the opposite side of the island... without any electricity... in the middle of a tropical storm... alone. In fact, it was so bad that I ended up leaving the next day. I was desperate to get out of there. Everything I had was soaking wet and I had nothing but a thin sheet to keep me warm.
I can handle a lot of roughing it and primitive conditions… but my comfort cannot be compromised to this extent… especially considering the price I had paid.
I packed up and left... first thing.
I was outta there...
I was still angry about my entire transaction with Paola… and decided to dive deeper into our previous conversations. Upon investigation and a closer look at my invoice, I discovered I had already paid for vehicle and boat transportation fee.
It was time to demand a refund.
Our correspondence had already hit an all-time low, but it was time to fall off the floor. I told her I was disappointed with my accommodation, the boat of children, her professionalism, her complete lack of attention to detail, her insufficient communication… and most importantly, her customer service.
Of course, the weather was 100% no one’s fault… but this woman had literally raped and pillaged at every angle. She continually shot back at my verified accusations with apathetic defence, ludicrous excuses and nonsensical protestations, which only served to annoy me further.
She tried to side-step her way out of absolutely every allegation, but when I proved how she tried to swindle me out of payments on more than one occasion, I had her backed into a corner and there was nothing more to discuss.
I got a $178US refund...