You might have cut some of your vacations short because you weren't enjoying them. But I'll bet you never stayed just 15 minutes, as my wife and I did last Sunday.
PLACE LOOKED GREAT ON WEB SITE
Oh sure, the place looked great on the Web site of Cabins of the Smoky Mountains. Taught me how unreliable color photography can be.
Even had a catchy name, "Almost Bearadise."
WHY WE CRANKED THE CAR BEFORE THE ENGINE HAD COOLED
This story could be a long one, yet I will just let three photos do my talking.
Here's the screen that should be protecting us from insects while we sat on the cabin porch:
Not only could mosquitoes get to us, I believe a buzzard could have come in.
Now for the year's worth of dust on the bottom of the refrigerator:
As for the furniture, look at the downstairs sofa:
Yep, we were gone in a mere 15 minutes.
GOOFY OFFER
When I returned home to Gainesville, Georgia and wrote the manager a complaint letter, one of the reps called to tell me they'd give me only a token of what I paid as a refund--truly a laughable token.
Yet the biggest chuckle came when she said, "I'll e-mail you a statement that you'll have a 20% discount next time you book one of our cabins."
As you'd predict, I replied: "Don't bother sending the discount offer. You can be sure we won't be back."
LEVEL OF CUSTOMER CARE
I have taught many Customer Care seminars, and will continue to. Next time I do that for a corporation, I will describe this botched vacation as a prime example of how not to treat customers.
Oh, consider another reflection of this company's approach: If you book a cabin, you can't get a refund unless they can fill the cabin occupancy you'd create. No exceptions, even for weather, family emergencies, or death! (None of which you planned, of course.)
Wow!
Exception: If you booked more than thirty days ago, you could reschedule later (reschedule, not get a refund). That is, after your family had recovered from hurricane Irma, the Las Vegas shooting, or whatever else prompted your "no show."
DON'T VACATION THERE
Obviously, I highly recommend that you avoid Cabins of the Smoky Mountains. On their Web site you can read my complaint, and other strong ones.
True, the card that welcomes you to your cabin promises,
Our goal is Total Customer Satisfaction.
If so, in football terms they have 99 yards to go before they score.
COMMENT ABOUT YOUR SHORTEST VACATION EVER
Wouldn't surprise me at all if you, too, have stories to share about your shortest vacation.
I'll welcome your comments--now!
UPVOTE AND RESTEEM
If you found my vacation report meaningful and helpful, I'll be very grateful for your Upvote and Resteem
Thanks for taking your Steemit time to visit with me today!
Cabin photo came from Pixabay.
Nice to meet you, @bizcommunication!
I have two accounts I would like to bring to your attention.
!OriginalWorks should upvote original content while the next is a customer support.
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STOPIt's no good when you think something is better than it is once you finally see it. :)
Yes, Michael, we can apply what you said to many events in life that don't match our expectations. The key to success is handling those twists and turns creatively.
It really is all about how you handle these situations. It can make or break you :)
You reminded me of Chuck Swindoll's marvelous passage about Attitude, which I memorized long ago and quote frequently.
I don't know that one.
Here is Charles Swindoll's magnificent message on Attitude:
Charles R. Swindoll
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
Thats a wonderful message indeed! Attitude really is everything.
"When your thoughts are right, the facts don't matter."