If at first you don't succeed, ask for help. Then ask again.

So I did something brilliant this past week (insert sarcasm here). In a rush of impulsivity I booked a hotel in Canada for our family for spring break.  We are leaving on our trip tomorrow and we are VERY excited!  So this morning I checked our reservation to make sure everything was in order and that's when I realize my mistake.  My horrible, terrible, super depressing mistake.

We are going out of town tomorrow.
Our reservations were for last week.

Last week!

We missed it!  A vacation ruined! Hundreds of dollars wasted!

Somehow in my hurry to be fun and impulsive I booked a hotel room for the wrong week.  And we missed it!  After the initial heart attack, I calmed down and decided to call and see if I could fix it.  We booked through an online travel website, so I called them first.  I spoke with them, they put me on hold while they called the hotel, then they delivered the bad news.  The Hotel was unwilling to budge, so there was nothing the travel company could do.

So sad.

But... if at first you don't succeed, ask for help. Then ask again.

I got the number of the hotel and called them directly.  I explained the situation and they knew exactly who I was because they had just spoken with the online travel rep.  The hotel representative told me they were so sorry but because the travel company wouldn't budge, there was nothing they could do.

????

So the travel companty says its the hotel's fault. And the hotel says its the travel company's fault. I was caught in a round of my least favorite game, "Pass the Buck."

I explained to the hotel employee that the travel company was blaming it all on him.  He then got very busy helping me. It took about fifteen minutes of trying before he gave up and brought in his manager. The manager was very courteous.  After I explained the situation he said, "If I have to choose between taking your money and not having you stay with us vs. taking your money and letting you stay with us, I definitely would like you to come stay with us." He then happily changed our reservation to this week.

The great thing about people is that they usually do want to be helpful. If you just ask nicely (and repeatedly) you can usually get what you need.  Just ask.

Happy spring break!


Marcia