BBB Review of Unique Vacations in Miami, FL (aka, Sandals!)

BBB Review of Unique Vacations in Miami, FL

No surprise here, Sandals/their parent company received an "F" from the BBB with 48 complaints in 36 months, 1/2 of those complaints regarding sales practice issues!

Trip Advisor Review of Sandals Grande Ocho Rios Beach & Villa Resort

“Sandals Ruined our Honeymoon with Sickening Food & Invasive Staff”

Sandals Grande Ocho Rios Beach & Villa Resort

LuxuryExcluded    

Smithfield, Rhode Island

Our room included a bed and dresser each featuring broken wood. A mattress that was so uncomfortable and filthy it looked like it was 25 years old. An air conditioner that sounded like an attack helicopter (loud enough to wake us up in the middle of the night). A balcony door that was nearly impossible to lock/unlock without my husband's help. Mildew on the shower curtains. Ugly greasy stains on the ceiling from mold/mildew/god knows what. And ants *inside* the sugar packets for our in-room coffee.

Service? Well, there is no room service for a standard room. That was disappointing considering the rigid schedules for resort restaurants and eateries. The maids skipped cleaning our rooms at all for 2 out of the 7 days we were there. One day we did not receive any restocking of towels, called the front desk to request some be brought, none were brought (we had to swipe them from a nearby cleaning cart), and the following day we received FEWER towels, as if in retaliation. Same problem with toilet paper, which was at a premium since we were sick to our stomachs after *every* meal, no matter which restaurant we chose.

Staff was invasive, ruining private romantic moments with idle chit chat... starting a gas powered leaf blower 10 feet away from us after just getting out of the Garden pool, covering us with dirt & dust... waiter at the Reef Terrace made a suggestive comment about my chest after never bringing the remainder of our meal... Spa staff corners you into talking every time you walk by them in an effort to sell you a package at the spa that is NOT included... We had the same Sandals employee approach us 4 days in a row on our way to the pool attempting to sell illegal drugs...

I couldn't possibly begin to include all of the negative experiences we had while staying at the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Perhaps the worst of it all was that food quality was unpredictable. Breakfast buffet at the Bayside included a large steamer full of GRAY eggs and another with Bacon that was only partly cooked. The most authentic Jamaican food that was available was the beef patties and even those were stale and flavorless. The Arizona restaurant had a 45-90 minute wait every night, just to find out that the appetizer buffet within consisted of stale tortilla chips & bowls of sour cream & guacamole that were obviously scraped clean long ago from the hard crust around the edge of the plates. Frozen beverages (daiquiris & pina coladas) were handed to you without the alcohol being mixed into the frozen drink mix.

Glass bottom boat ride consisted of a 30 minute tour, of which 10 minutes was spent looking at the reef and another 20 minutes was spent showing us the other available resorts that Sandals has in the area.

All attempts to relay our experiences with staff members were met with feigned surprise, no apologies, and some simply walking away as you spoke.

I would note recommend a vacation at this resort to my worst enemy.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Follow Up to Sandals' Request for Information

Your request: In order to properly route your concerns to our Customer Service department, we do need you to provide your comment/complaint in writing along with your date of arrival, booking number (if possible), the name of the resort where you stayed, the names of the guests in your party, and your complete mailing address. Please send this information via email to customerservice@grp.sandals.com Our Initial (UNRESOLVED) Complaint: We have a complaint about Sandals. We booked our honeymoon and have a list of problems, from bugs in our room (in the sugar provided with our coffee, I have this on video), to a noisy air conditioner (also on video), to unprofessional and even vulgar behavior by your staff (also of course... on video). The food made us sick daily with diarrhea. The happiest day of our Sandals "all inclusive" (this is false advertising) vacation was the day we left. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. We would like to request a full or partial refund of the money we spent, there is no way this package was worth what we were charged. Credit or other Sandals offers for future trips is not desired, we would not consider visiting any Sandals resort after our experience in Jamaica. Failing that I can post the footage I have online and build a site about our Sandals experience for the review & consumption of the public. I would also provide this footage to local news stations who would be interested in the story (my cousin is a news reporter who has already expressed interest in an expose). You have my information. You have until Tuesday June 29th 5:00 P.M. EST to respond, after which I would turn my video evidence over to local TV news & will also post these videos on YouTube & begin construction of a site about our extremely disappointing honeymoon experience at Sandals. XXXXXX Smith Requested Information: Sandals Grande Ocho Rios Room Category: Riviera Luxury Arrival Date: 15/JUN/10 Departure Date: 22/JUN/10 Booking Number: 4771795  Guests: XXXXXXX Arenson, XXXXXX Smith Mailing Address: XX XXXXXX  Street, Smithfield RI, 02917 Please note that on your website, it shows this issue as "closed" and it is anything but. If we are not granted a significant refund for the egregious problems associated with our honeymoon we plan on making this as public as possible and would consider retaining legal counsel to assist in recovery of our expenditure for services not provided as described in your advertising. Please respond at your earliest convenience. XXXXXX Smith & XXXXXXX Arenson

Supposed "Answer" Posted from Sandals

Message
From:	- DBLAKE@UVI.SANDALS.COM
Date:	06/28/2010
Subject:	HOW TO ROUTE YOUR COMPLAINT/COMMENT LETTER
Thank you for your e-mail. In order to properly route your concerns to our Customer Service department, we do need you to provide your comment/complaint in writing along with your date of arrival, booking number (if possible), the name of the resort where you stayed, the names of the guests in your party, and your complete mailing address. Please send this information via email to customerservice@grp.sandals.com. Thank you for choosing Sandals and Beaches Resorts. Best regards, E-Sales and Marketing Department Sandals & Beaches resorts http://www.SANDALS.com Toll Free 1-800-SANDALS http://www.BEACHES.com Toll Free 1-800-BEACHES For current promotions offered at our Beaches resorts please visit http://www.beaches.com/general/specials.cfm For current promotions offered at our Sandals resorts please visit http://www.Sandals.com/general/specials.cfm This communication contains information from Unique Vacations, Inc. that may be confidential. Except for personal use by the intended recipient, or as expressly authorized by the sender, any person who receives this information is prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, and/or using it. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately delete it and all copies, and promptly notify the sender. Nothing in this communication is intended to operate as an electronic signature under applicable law.

Second Response from Sandals

From: info@sandals.com 
Subject: Sandals Operator Issue Response, issue_id:320391
To: GRAPHICDESIGN_RI@YAHOO.COM
Date: Monday, June 28, 2010, 4:11 PM

The issue you submitted has been answered!
You may view the response history on the ETS Response Center
at the following URL:
http://ets.sandals.com

Please remember that your password is case sensitive.

Copy of Response:
Subject: How to route your complaint/comment letter
Message:
Thank you for your e-mail.



In order to properly route your concerns to our Customer Service department, we do need you to provide your comment/complaint in writing along with your date of arrival, booking number (if possible), the name of the resort where you stayed, the names of the guests in your party, and your complete mailing address. Please send this information via email tocustomerservice@grp.sandals.com.



Thank you for choosing Sandals and Beaches Resorts.



Best regards,



E-Sales and Marketing Department

Sandals & Beaches resorts

http://www.SANDALS.com

Toll Free 1-800-SANDALS

http://www.BEACHES.com

Toll Free 1-800-BEACHES



For current promotions offered at our Beaches resorts please visithttp://www.beaches.com/general/specials.cfm



For current promotions offered at our Sandals resorts please visithttp://www.Sandals.com/general/specials.cfm



This communication contains information from Unique Vacations, Inc. that may be confidential. Except for personal use by the intended recipient, or as expressly authorized by the sender, any person who receives this information is prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, and/or using it. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately delete it and all copies, and promptly notify the sender. Nothing in this communication is intended to operate as an electronic signature under applicable law.

THE ABOVE CONFIDENTIALITY DISCLOSURE AT THE END OF SANDALS' EMAIL WAS NOT DISCLOSED TO US PRIOR TO RECEIVING IT NOR DID WE AGREE TO ANY FORM OF CONFIDENTIALITY WITH THEM, LEAVING THE ABOVE STATEMENT VOID.  THERE IS NO STATE OR FEDERAL LAW TO OUR KNOWLEDGE THAT PROHIBITS US FROM DISCLOSING, COPYING, DISTRIBUTING, AND/OR USING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY SANDALS IN ANY OF THEIR EMAILS.  THIS IS MERELY A SCARE TACTIC, A FORM OF TERRORISM ON THEIR BEHALF TO SCARE CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE MADE COMPLAINTS INTO THINKING THEY HAVE NO RECOURSE.  WE KNOW BETTER.

First Response from Sandals

PLEASE NOTE:  AREAS MARKED WITH X'S HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT OUR PRIVACY.


From: info@sandals.com
Subject: Sandals Issue confirmation
To: GRAPHICDESIGN_RI@YAHOO.COM
Date: Friday, June 25, 2010, 2:01 PM

               
                Thank you for contacting Sandals and Beaches Resorts!
                   
                A client profile and an issue has been opened for you with the following contact information:
                   
                Name: XXXXXX Smith
                Email: GRAPHICDESIGN_RI@YAHOO.COM
                Day Phone: 401-XXX-XX84
                Night Phone: 401-XXX-XX04
                Best hours to Call: Don't Call
               
                ==============================================================================================               
                You have been assigned the following ticket number and password. 
                With this password and your email address you can now log in to the Sandals and Beaches
                Email Response Center to keep track of your issues and responses.
                   
                Issue Ticket Number: 897320391
                Password: XXXXXXXX
               
                URL Sandals and Beaches Response Center ===>
               
                http://ets.sandals.com
               
                PLEASE ALLOW 24-48 BUSINESS HOURS FOR A RESPONSE TO BE POSTED.
                ==============================================================================================  
               
                The following is the Issue you created.
               
                Subject: Complaint and request for refund
                Message: We have a complaint about Sandals. We booked our honeymoon and have a list of problems, from bugs in our room (in the sugar provided with our coffee, I have this on video), to a noisy air conditioner (also on video), to unprofessional and even vulgar behavior by your staff (also of course... on video). The food made us sick daily with diarrhea.

The happiest day of our Sandals "all inclusive" (this is false advertising) vacation was the day we left.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience. We would like to request a full or partial refund of the money we spent, there is no way this package was worth what we were charged. Credit or other Sandals offers for future trips is not desired, we would not consider visiting any Sandals resort after our experience in Jamaica.

Failing that I can post the footage I have online and build a site about our Sandals experience for the review & consumption of the public. I would also provide this footage to local news stations who would be interested in the story (my cousin is a news reporter who has already expressed interest in an expose).

You have my information. You have until Tuesday June 29th 5:00 P.M. EST to respond, after which I would turn my video evidence over to local TV news & will also post these videos on YouTube & begin construction of a site about our extremely disappointing honeymoon experience at Sandals.

XXXXXX Smith
               
                Thank you for contacting Sandals and Beaches Resorts.
                http://www.sandals.com
                http://www.beaches.com
               
                

Our Original Complaint to Sandals

PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR ORIGINAL COMPLAINT TO SANDALS DOES NOT INCLUDE ALL DETAILS OF OUR DISSATISFACTION, AS WE BELIEVED THAT WE WOULD BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK WITH SOMEONE AND GIVE THEM ALL OF THE SPECIFICS.  IT WAS OUR FEAR THAT THE INMATES WERE RUNNING THE ASYLUM (SO TO SPEAK) AND THAT A COMPLAINT WITH TOO MUCH DETAIL MAY HAVE BEEN "LOST".

"We have a complaint about Sandals. We booked our honeymoon and have a list of problems, from bugs in our room (in the sugar provided with our coffee, I have this on video), to a noisy air conditioner (also on video), to unprofessional and even vulgar behavior by your staff (also of course... on video). The food made us sick daily with diarrhea.

The happiest day of our Sandals "all inclusive" (this is false advertising) vacation was the day we left.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience. We would like to request a full or partial refund of the money we spent, there is no way this package was worth what we were charged. Credit or other Sandals offers for future trips is not desired, we would not consider visiting any Sandals resort after our experience in Jamaica.

Failing that I can post the footage I have online and build a site about our Sandals experience for the review & consumption of the public. I would also provide this footage to local news stations who would be interested in the story (my cousin is a news reporter who has already expressed interest in an expose).

You have my information. You have until Tuesday June 29th 5:00 P.M. EST to respond, after which I would turn my video evidence over to local TV news & will also post these videos on YouTube & begin construction of a site about our extremely disappointing honeymoon experience at Sandals."

AND SO YOU SEE OUR SITE DEDICATED TO EXPOSING THE TRUTH ABOUT SANDALS IS HERE AND BEING READ BY SOME, MORE WILL FOLLOW... ESPECIALLY AFTER THE ANTS IN THE SUGAR VIDEO IS POSTED!!!