This is pretty simple it seems.
1) Communication it seems could have been better it would seem prior to the trip
2) however, it seems the primary complicating factor is simple…. You “expanded” and brought family (which is great) but it added a wrinkle outside of “the package” that was included in what was promised as part of the auction
3) Airport arrival… it seems YOUR room was booked appropriately but the EXTRA room was not. NOTE: you directly contradicted your original statement/complaint where you claimed it wasn’t booked at all… there clearly was a room just not TWO. Thankfully, it was addressed quite easily it seems. I’m sure it created momentary anxiety…so you booked the extra room at the “walk up rate” …financially speaking…so what?? This seems like it caused some anxiety but clearly no financial issue. It couldn’t have been that bad because you knew what hotel, that it was clearly booked (or you wouldn’t have been there and it clearly was) just not two rooms
4) Victoria Falls… you say you were “downgraded” but you never listed the hotel you were “downgraded to”. It’s incredibly easy to see how “two adjoining rooms” may have indeed not been available. Again, your added wrinkle seems to be the root issue. I can easily see there being some disappointment…A Zambezi Lodge, however is NOT an expensive lodge. Again…what were you downgraded to and what perceived financial impact was there???
So….in summary… You paid a third party a significantly discounted rate for an auction…
You added a need (for good reason) above and beyond what was to be included and paid for by the donating party (The Outfitter)
As an adult who has traveled, you likely know that booking say two rooms and arranging separate payments under one reservation (him paying for one and you needing to pay for the other) could likely lead to this very type of issue and certainly that an adjoining room may also not be available
BUT…most importantly….you ultimately assert you were FINANCIALLY harmed and he should have come to some agreement with you to presumably REFUND YOU money paid to a third party for HIS DONATION
FOR WHAT? FOR HOW MUCH??
YOU FILED A CREDIT CARD DISPUTE ON ALLLLLL OF IT!!!!! Who gets hurt?.. DSC or SCI or Ducks Unlimited?…. GTFO of here….this is crazy….
Maximum financial impact if it even exists is like $100 a night x 3???? Make a public stink and do your best to harm someone and screw over some conservation org over your feelings and $300 bucks
Got it…
Unfortunately, you are incorrect on a number of your understandings and statments there.
1 - Communication from outfitter could have been massively better.
2 -The "expanding" as you call it was not a complicating factor when the outfitter invited it and encouraged it. So if it were a complicating factor, they should have raised it. They never did and they said the only thing that would change is that I'd have to pay for the 3rd, which I understood and did pay for.
3 - There were two separate lodgings booked - one to be upon first arrival in to Johannesburg before being with the outfitter and one being between being with the outfitter and flying to Victoria Falls. You claiming I contradicted myself is incorrect, please read all to better understand.
The hotel upon arrival was claimed to me to have been booked but was not a confirmed booking and the supposedly booked hotel had no record of my name for any reservation.
The hotel between time at the outfitter and the trip to Victoria Falls was noted to have been booked for 3 people but was invalidly booked.
4 - Was downgraded to Waterfalls Hotel. And, as I stated above, two adjoining rooms were available at the other property which was waterfront. The impact was on the amenities and experiences expected vs delivered. Waterfalls was a lower price property.
Are you trying to say that the fact that one purchases an auction should mean that they are treated differently by an outfitter and expect to receive sub-standard service?
I did not file a credit card dispute for all of it, never said I did that. I filed a dispute for just the amounts that I paid directly to the outfitter for the items that they were supposed to have booked that were either not booked correctly or not at the level promised. That was less than 10% of the total amount paid to them, so they still profited handsomely.
I know it's pretty normal on the internet to jump to the attacks on people like you did, but your statements are completely uneducated and unfounded.
