At least that’s what online travel agency Loveholidays customer Kim Antrobus found out on a frustrating recent trip. Her experience living in Costa Da Caparica was disappointing. Antrobus and her friend Louise Edlin spent more than $500 reserving a “side sea view” room. Soon after moving in, they found out that the beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean they had been shown was not so beautiful.
As Antrobus walked into the meeting room, she was met with a discouraging sight. Instead of the beautiful blue ocean she had envisioned, gray concrete city blocks greeted her. She said the scene was like “Beirut or inner city London.” While we welcome her as a new person joining the fight, it’s clear that her frustration goes beyond this.
Antrobus tried to sort the matter with Loveholidays directly, but it was near impossible to contact an agent. Loveholidays’ defense against her complaints was to try and argue the room had a sea view. As they noted, it took “a bit of acrobatics” to enjoy the view from that altitude. In the company’s defense, the company’s clarifying statement stressed that all of this was only “with a stretch.”
Antrobus was not satisfied with Loveholidays’ response. That’s not a sea view room!” She continued to claim, “The brochure doesn’t say anything about ‘side sea view with a piece across the balcony’. She mentioned that the trauma has made her unable to feel joy during the holidays. She said it was a “nightmare” trying to receive help from the travel company.
After being contacted by Antrobus about her complaints, Loveholidays made a goodwill offer to her of a partial refund. They refunded her €30 for the upgrade she had already purchased. The company understood, though. In response, they continued, “While every hotel has flexibility to define their room types differently, we empathize Ms. Antrobus’ sentiments. In the spirit of goodwill, [we’ve] refunded her the supplementary Euro 30 she had to pay to upgrade to full sea view room.”
Despite these move, Antrobus says the settlement didn’t go nearly enough to rectify her complaints. It was a great experience to see her just light up and immediately respond when she saw the room. We moved rooms immediately. I was not sleeping in that room,” she said. In an interview, she reflected on her experience. It just didn’t seem like we were on vacation by the ocean. That wasn’t the picture I had in my mind,” she shared.
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