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.
