We rented this villa as an all inclusive vacation - including food and drink. When we arrived at 4:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, there was nothing in the house to eat or drink except for some sweet bun and tin cheese, even though we had advised that our arrival time would be early afternoon. Since there was no food for dinner until the housekeeper went shopping, dinner was not served until after 9:00 that evening. Since we were traveling with small children, this was completely unacceptable and not what we agreed to in our contract. Additionally, since we were traveling with children, including a year old baby, we stressed the importance of and were guaranteed that there would be a gate around the pool and a pool alarm to help ensure the baby's safety. Imagine our dismay when none of these safeguards were in place. During dinner, the electrical wires coming into the house broke and caused a fire outside the house - resulting in barely any electricity, including no air conditioning - causing everyone, especially the children, to have an extremely uncomfortable night. Additionally, the live wires were left unattended right outside the house. This was not repaired until mid-day the next day. On Monday, the food situation continued to be a problem until the housekeeper finally went out at 5 PM to purchase groceries. We had a telephone discussion with Susan, the local manager, that night stating our displeasure and during that conversation, she arbitrarily cancelled the all inclusivity of our contract. The next day, while we were out, she unlawfully trespassed into our house without our knowledge or permission and took out whatever food and alcohol that was remaining in the house and left $300 on the table as a "refund" for the food. To add insult to injury, and as a way of rationalizing her actions and the amount of the "refund", Susan also said that she did not include meals for the 1 year old baby in the rental rate. She then stated that she withheld an additional $350 for gratuity for staff which was already supposed to be included in the rental of the villa. Interestingly enough, when we mentioned to the staff what the gratuity included in the rent was, they were shocked. Apparently, they do not receive all of the gratuity that is supposed to be allocated to them if they receive any at all. Susan had also promised before arrival that $250 of our rent would be refunded for the airport transfer that we did not use since we rented a vehicle. She later refused to refund this money. The incident of her entering the house without permission was reported to the police. However, she has been unable to be found by local police. Oasis Places, the English company, based in London, that controls this and many other villas in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, and Negril, point blank refused to refund us any of our money. Additionally, the Jamaica Tourist Board stated that they could do nothing to enforce the contract. My advice if you go to Jamaica and rent a villa is to be careful about where you are renting at - to do research and get recommendations from other people who have stayed there. Especially, avoid any vacation destinations controlled by Oasis Places. If you are unhappy with your stay or if someone has trespassed into your rental, you will receive no assistance from the Jamaica Tourist Board. Because the controlling company is based in England, you will receive no satisfaction unless you are willing to travel and arbitrate in England at an additional trememdous cost. You might want to consider renting from an American firm, where you at least have a fighting chance of receiving satisfaction if displeased.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
15 October 2010
response:
The guests made a complaint to the police which was investigated, it involved taking witness statements from the villa staff about the availability of food and prepared meals; the police found there was no case. It is not true that the police cannot find the manager who has been in contact with the police in relation to this matter.
It is untrue to say that the Jamaican Tourist Board were unable to take action. In fact, the JTB visited the property unannounced to inspect the quality, they spoke with the staff about the guests’ stay and the complaints that were made, they have had sight of the Contract and the various communications that clarified the price breakdown and inclusions – they looked for the problems that the guests said were experienced, lack of baby equipment for one and found that the allegations were unfounded; they confirmed that they would be taking no further action.
The rental agent inspected the villa immediately following the guest’s departure – they undertook a health and safety audit, requested to see the food purchase receipts, they undertook interviews, and even a statement from the wholesaler which confirmed the dates and times the food was purchased. The agent spoke directly with the sergeant of the local police; the agent was unable to uphold the guests’ allegations.
The facts are:
The meal plan was available from the arrival time; food was replenished periodically to maintain the plan; the guests insisted on requesting items outside of the plan which the villa staff provided, with the managers permission; the evening meal was not ready when the guests arrived late afternoon and they were provided with a snack of spice bun, cheese, fruits, juice and bottled water they were served their evening meal between 6.30 and 7.30pm. Wholesale quantities of food were purchased commencing the day before arrival. The documented availability of food, the range and amount of food/drink/snacks has been at odds with the guests’ account.
There was an incident on the arrival night involving electrical wires in the garden area, an electrician attended that same night to ensure things were safe and returned the following day to complete the work – there were certainly no live wires left unattended.
All baby equipment was available from arrival (baby monitor, high chair, crib) save the pool alarm which was provided on day 2; this was due to an oversight and we can agree with the guest here that there was a period of time (1 day) when they did not have the pool alarm which was immediately provided when the guest indentified the omission with staff.
The report found
The expectation of the guests to purchase a discounted all-inclusive plan and yet expect a full price refund of each element of the plan was unreasonable.
It was unreasonable to expect a refund in relation to meals and yet continue to consume the meal plan.
The guests were in agreement with stopping the meal plan.
The refunded pro-rated food costs were correct.
The suggestion that staff are not paid their gratuities (in part or at at all) has been verified with the staff themselves as being untrue.
Wynfield villa is available for rent via a number of agents including some in the US the villa has served guests from the US, Canada, UK, Germany, China, and Korea.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
