Old world hospitality

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was going to have a word with Amex when I got home about my accommodation in Dubrovnik. It’s the one time in years and years of using their travel service that the delta was so huge between what was promised in their listing and the booking confirmation and what I actually experienced.

Not to put too fine a point upon it, the whole thing pissed me off.

So last Wednesday I gave them a ringy-dingy, because I’d worked up a narrative with photos documenting my issues and I wanted an email address to send it to. Turns out Amex doesn’t do emails. It took me a while to get to the right place (which is Vendor Disputes, if you’re asking). Before I got there, I was on the line with Amex Travel for some time, as the agent listened to my story and then tried to contact Dubrovnik Old Town Apartments. She had no more luck than I did while I was there, so she connected me with Larry in Vendor Disputes. He also took down the broad strokes of my complaint and outlined the process (they investigate, get the vendor’s input, make a decision). What I wanted was a refund of the money I paid Dubrovnik Old Town Apartments.

Late Wednesday I received a couple of emails from Amex, which seem to indicate that they’ve accepted my complaint and that Amex Travel credited my account with the money.

Well, I’m feeling a bit like Sheriff Obie, sitting in the courtroom with his eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one is, and watching the judge come in with his seeing-eye dog. (Children—if you do not get the reference, go here.) I had all my corroborating evidence lined up and Amex didn’t even want it. So I’m going to share it with you. Viz:

Based largely on the description on the Amex Travel site, I booked a stay at Dubrovnik Old Town Apartments, 24-27 October. It’s described as a bed & breakfast, with photos depicting sunny, open accommodations.

This is the description of their cleaning practices:

This is the description of accessibility:

And here’s how my room was described in the booking confirmation—note “ground floor”:

I knew it was not a hotel, but I expected it to be a professional operation; it was listed on the Amex site. However, the property address itself, 12 Zamanjina ul, is a vestibule. It is unstaffed. When you arrive there, you’re expected to call the manager, who called himself “Ante”, so he can sort you out. (Although I do not know how I was supposed to know that, since it’s not mentioned on their site, on the AMEX site or in my booking confirmation.) Aside from the first contact, he was completely unresponsive.

The “ground floor” room I was given was at the top of these 14 stairs:

I would not characterize that as “ground floor”. Moreover, these stairs were, in turn, located next to the metal chair in this photograph; meaning—up scores of steps (without banister) from actual “ground” level.

That would not be part of my definition of “accessible”.

However, my major issue with the room was the bathroom, and specifically the shower, which had black mold on multiple surfaces:

Moreover, the bath rug had clearly not been vacuumed or even shaken out:

(Which I get: you'd have to haul a vacuum cleaner up and down those stairs to clean this.)

I contacted Ante about this and got exactly zero response:

Given the delta between what I expected (based on the Amex listing) and what I received, I’d like you to refund the money I paid for my stay there.

According to Amex's latest email, I got the credit, although Ante has until January to respond. I just wish they'd remove the provider from their listings.