“Happy Birthday! Sorry you're ill. We're keeping your $$$.”
For years now, I had been desiring a romantic overnight getaway with my husband. This year (and in this tough economy) we managed to save up enough money for 1 night at a nice B&B as a very special birthday present. We had someone who was available to watch our children, so all was set for my birthday getaway. We were both very eager for this rare 'vacation' (the last B&B visit we had was on our honeymoon 13 yrs ago).
We would have loved to stay at Limerock Inn, but, unfortunately, I fell ill with a very nasty flu and spent my entire birthday (and the subsequent 4 days) in bed with a high fever and frequent sneezing & hacking cough. My husband called them ASAP to resell the room. It did not sell, and apparently they do not offer ANY refund under ANY circumstance. We lost a full room rate - my entire birthday present.
Of course, I do understand the business aspect of a late cancellation and the costs involved of running a business. However Limerock Inn is a very successful business with 5-star ratings, strong bookings and high rates. They are certainly not struggling, yet I wouldn't expect them to give a full pass to anyone who cancels a room for any little reason. But part of being a good Maine business is showing good faith when necessary. I would have happily offered up a doctor's note to prove my illness. They lost nothing with us absent - no electricity used in that room, no extra water, trash bags, toiletries, cleaning upon checkout, and no breakfast lost in the morning. Had we never booked, that particular room (which we booked only a few days before) would have likely sat empty anyway. (Frank disagrees.)
Now on their behalf, I did call them and Frank was polite but kept stating policy of no refunds, and buyer beware. He actually told me that next time perhaps I ought to book a cheap room at a Hilton instead!! How condescending. They knew upon booking that it was for my birthday, and that it was a special, rare splurge for us. I ended up grovelling to Frank (in tears, no less, for I was still very sick) for at least a half refund or a coupon, or comped night - something, anything! In the end, Frank said all he could do for me was lower the rate a tiny bit to a cheaper room rate. OK, thanks, but far, far from adequate given the circumstances.
In the case of illness, accident or death in a family, a coupon for a free night in an equal-priced room (low season, mid-week) is the very least of what Limerock should do. I didn't choose to get sick, we truly wanted to go but if hubby did drag me out of bed and to Limerock Inn, I would have spent the entire time in bed, hacking and coughing & sneezing all night, spreading flu germs throughout Limerock Inn. Not good for their business and I'm sure the other visitors would not have appreciated hearing me hack & cough all night.
Hence, for keeping a huge chunk of my only birthday present, no good will, no comped room and for condescendingly telling me to go to a cheap Hilton next time, LImerock Inn earns one star. BTW I work in Rockland and encounter many tourists - I will no longer be steering business to Limerock Inn.
Room Tip: Buyer Beware, unless you can afford to lose all your money.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
4 December 2011
At LimeRock Inn, we strive for 100% customer satisfaction, and we learned from this experience that even after 7 years in the affirmative this may not always be possible. We received an internet reservation request for our last room for the Saturday night of a sold-out holiday weekend. Note: This review was written by the wife of the individual we have recorded as making the reservation. Here is our cancellation policy as prominently displayed on our reservation request form which also requires an online signature acceptance of terms prior to booking.
“We are a small facility and cancellations greatly impact us. Reservations cancelled greater than fourteen days prior to arrival will be subject to a $25 administrative fee. If you cancel within fourteen days of your arrival, you will be responsible for the full amount due. During festivals, weddings, or other special events, additional restrictions may apply. Please contact us for details. “
Late morning of the arrival date, the husband called to cancel stating the wife was ill. We assured him we would do our best to resell the room, but it might be difficult with only five hours before check-in. We also confirmed and he acknowledged our cancellation policy. Despite our best efforts, the room did not resell. So, we charged them the amount due and sent them an invoice. This prompted the wife to call. She stated that this was her birthday present. She suggested that we rescind the cancellation fee as she could “work it off” doing cleaning or housekeeping. We cannot accept that responsibility, and we are truly owner operated having no outside staff. So, this was not possible.
We view our cancellation policy as a contract with the customer. In the week prior to their arrival, we did receive additional call requesting rooms for Saturday night. However, we declined based on this contract with this guest. Offering a gift certificate for a future stay creates a pre-paid booking which requires special accounting that we do not do because of the additional cost associated. To clarify her “Hilton” reference, she stated that she was unaware of and considered our cancellation policy to be too restrictive despite being similar to most area small inns. We suggested to her that she consider staying at a larger hotel, like Hampton Inn which is in our area, if she required a more flexible cancellation policy.
In concluding our conversation with the wife, we agreed and reduced the cancellation fee to our lowest published rate (a 25% reduction). At the time, the wife stated she was satisfied leading us to believe this matter concluded. We are disappointed that she chose this public forum to vent despite our efforts to resolve this situation amicably.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
