Country Goose is run by Joan, who manages a Bed and Breakfast, as well as a series of rental homes in the area around Volcanos National Park, Hawaii. We needed a place to stay for one night (December 26) and the options for one night in Volcano, Hawaii are *really* limited. Volcano is a very small town, and most places require that you rent for at least two nights. So, after extensive research, I felt really lucky to find Country Goose and Joan. Through my research I also found out that Volcano gets very cold at night in December (50s at night), and was told by another rental agency to make sure to bring warm clothing. This is important, as you'll find out later.

PREPARATIONS:
I planned WAAAY ahead. I started this journey back in July for our December trip. I searched the Country Goose website and found the cottage we wanted (Kelehua cottage) because it was the right size, and it was one cottage with a HOT TUB (yes!). I was willing to pay more for the hot tub because of the aforementioned very cold temperatures at night. I figured also that it would be romantic and my husband and I were looking forward to sitting out in the hot tub in the lush tropical night sipping wine.

I booked and paid for our December 26 one-night rental in July. That's five, count them five, full months ahead of our stay. On July 12, 2011, Joan sent me an email confirming our payment and our stay, with directions, and asked me to call the day before (yeah, Christmas) to confirm that we were coming.

WHAT WENT WRONG?
I called Joan on December 25, and wished her a Merry Christmas and confirmed that we were coming the next day for our one-night stay. She said nothing at this point about a change of accommodations. That came the day we arrived.

After driving all day, we arrived at Country Goose before dark, as Joan recommended. The place is indeed hard to find, and I imagine even harder in the dark. When we arrived, Joan informed us very off-hand that she had "overbooked" and put us in a different cottage. No apologies, no I'm sorry to inconvenience you. My husband asked it if had a hot tub, and Joan replied that it had a jetted tub. We were put-off, but figured we would check out the place first to see what was up before we made a fuss.

BAIT AND SWITCH
We got to the cabin and our jetted tub was a 1980s mauve special that my husband could barely fit in by himself. The cabin was freezing (no heat in the bedrooms at all - only a fireplace and heater in the main room). After taking a look around and talking it over for a few minutes, I called Joan. I told her we were unhappy and I asked her exactly what had happened and why we did not get the cottage we had booked. Again, Joan repeated she had overbooked, and again no apologies. I asked her if the place we were in rented for the same amount as the cottage I had originally rented. She stated that the place we were in actually rented for more, as if that was some kind of fix for her screwing up. She again offered nothing in the way of an apology or compensation for her mess up.

Because we were so tired and it was raining, my family ended up staying in the cottage Joan assigned us. The stay in the cottage was okay. As I stated before, the bedrooms were freezing and the only source of heat was in the main room. The upstairs loft area was dirty like it hadn't been cleaned in a while. The dishwasher didn't work, though we didn't care because we were only staying for a night. EVERYTHING is musty smelling. Uggh.

NO CUSTOMER SERVICE
I guess what we are most upset about is Joan's lack of customer service here. We booked more than 5 months ahead of time. If she overbooked, it's a pretty good guess that the guests she overbooked came after us. Why didn't she apologize for screwing up? That would have gone a long way toward mitigating this situation. Instead, she ignored her mistake and made us feel like we were bothering her when we called about not being happy in the cottage she assigned us after she screwed up. Shame on you Joan.

DON'T TAKE A CHANCE, STAY SOMEWHERE ELSE
Maybe this won't happen to you when you stay there. I never thought it would happen to us. If I had to do it again, I'd pay the extra money and stay at the Volcano Village Lodge. It is really nice - we visited it while were were there. You won't be sorry.