A Blot in the Tourism Industry in Costa Rica – Pay up now!

Some birds for interest this week. Having doors open all day, we can’t avoid some flying through and hitting windows at great speed; it distresses us as much as it distresses them. There are three casualties here, all survived to fly away but we got rare ‘close-ups’ before they did!

Over the last month, John has been organising a holiday with friends arriving from the UK this weekend. Once again, we’ve hit a familiar problem with making reservations here – hotels that expect to be paid, in full, in advance of the visit, or hotels that won’t confirm a booking unless a signature is sent with a credit card number, either by fax or by email.

Some website information is ambiguous and ‘conditions’ only becomes explicit when you try to make a reservation.

To illustrate, this is from the Jardin de Eden in Tamarindo – to guarantee your reservation – “If you send the (booking) form by e-mail it will be better and faster, remember that you will need to scan the form because we need your hand signature in order to make the charge.

We remind you that we will charge 100% of the total amount due as soon as we receive the credit card authorization form and it is not reimbursable in case you cancel your reservation.

We have to find a scanner or go into town to fax their form – does this place really want business? From the whole tone of the transaction, just who is doing who the favour here?

By any business standard, this communication sends all the wrong signals, and I don’t know about readers, but we will not send our credit card number and a signature together over the internet where security can not be guaranteed. To add insult to injury…

“If we do not receive your fax in 24 hours we will cancel your solicitation.”

A last shot at ‘closing the sale’ – pressure that has the reverse effect, this kind of tactic is plain arrogance. When challenged, they said all hotels in Tamarindo have this policy – they do NOT and we are going elsewhere. I wrote (twice) and invited the hotel management to justify their reservation policies but they have declined to reply.

At least this demand is explicit. Two years ago, I had one that wasn’t. Booking a hotel whose reservations were handled by Discovery Travel, the agent was insistent to the point of irritation – harassing me to return the form with my signature.

Smelling a rat, I wrote clearly that the credit card authorisation was not to be used before the date of our visit. Faxed mid-morning, the total payment was claimed from our bank at 2pm. Having no wish to do business with dishonest people, I cancelled the reservation… a long story but it took six months and a formal complaint to Barclaycard to get our money back. Once bitten, twice shied!

We’ve travelled to over 40 countries around the world and never had this kind of hassle to secure a reservation. Having been the CEO of a US$25M company with 30,000 customers, I would LOVE to give them a course on customer care and effective communications – for now, we intend raising the matter with the Institute of Tourism.

Bad business and a blot on the landscape of beautiful Costa Rica – these hoteliers need to learn one simple business maxim – You never get a second chance to create a good first impression. There occupancy rates might be interesting??

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Written by VIP Member Sheelagh Richards. Sheelagh is originally from Scotland and her husband John who is from Wales are two inveterate British travellers who fell in love with Costa Rica, the beauty of the Talamanca mountain range and the perfect climate of the Rio General valley where they have established a small Bed & Breakfast called Casa de Los Celtas.

You can see more about John and Sheelagh’s very affordable B&B outside San Isidro here and photographs and prices here and you can also see a free online video interview with John & Sheelagh Richards here.

Please contact our Recommended Costa Rica Realtors working in the area: James Drews, Daveed Hollander and John Wieland, by using the simple form below and they’ll send you:

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.