Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The Elizabeth Pointe Lodge was booked on April 14, 2023 for first intended stay in May 2023. Due to sudden serious illness in a family member, the stay was delayed until September 2023. Elizabeth Pointe Lodge has engaged in an overtly false advertising campaign with a very strong suspicion of fake reviews to bolster confidence in online bookings. The entire place seems to be mold infested. The front desk worker on arrival admitted to false advertising as she led off with “now when I personally book this room in ***** ***** I make sure people understand there is no view of the ocean.” The accommodation itself was awful--old and dirty with a bad odor. The place was unrecognizable from the online images. The tub was rusted and contained a bug. The outdoor furniture was in terrible shape. We were shown several frankly tiny rooms as alternatives in the Lodge which were incredibly small. ALL smelled strongly of the mold which has likely infested the entire building. A dehumidifier literally in the middle of the upstairs hall is a violation of code and lodging safety. We were polite but told the agent that our accommodation and the whole Lodge were not as advertised. She said “Oh well yes some of the furniture is different now.” The agent who deteriorated into unprofessional telling us her troubles with her colleagues said “I cannot give you a refund.” I am formally requesting a refund for a false pretense of service and accommodations that could not be provided by Elizabeth Pointe Lodge as it is at present. The alteration of the pictures and planting of reviews are beyond the pale. I am happy to provide actual images as a comparison for the marketing images. We have sent numerous emails and made phone calls, all unreturned.

  Business response

  10/23/2023

  To whom it may concern, 

  *** ******* booked her stay for May 5, 2023.  On May 3, 2023, Elizabeth Pointe was contacted by *** ******* at which time she informed the Front Desk Agent that she would need to cancel because her mother had fallen and needed her support. 

  Under typical circumstances, a guest cancelling 2 days prior to their date of arrival is responsible for the entire cost of their stay because such short notice does not allow the Inn to rebook the room.  Unlike large, branded hotels with a national or global, Elizabeth Pointe is a small 25-room Inn that relies on revenue from each room to remain in business.  This is particularly important in the current environment of soaring costs for insurance, labor, *** supplies and property taxes.  Elizabeth Pointe was unable to rebook the rooms that had been blocked for *******.

  Despite the preceding facts, Elizabeth Pointe agreed to provide a credit to *** ******* that allowed her a one-time rebooking of her stay within 3-months with full credit for the amount of her original stay.  *** ******* expressed her gratitude for our understanding and generosity.  Shortly thereafter, we were contacted by *** ******* and told that her schedule would not allow her to rebook within 3 months and asked if she could book a stay in September instead.  Elizabeth Pointe management agreed to this request and *** ******* rebooked a stay for September.

  In September, *** ******* arrived at Elizabeth Pointe for her stay and was taken to room she had booked.  Without entering the room, *** ******* declared that she could not stay in this room.  The staff member accompanying *** ******* offered to show *** ******* any other room that was available for her stay as an alternative.  *** ******* refused to look at any other room and demanded a full refund, which she was told would not be possible because of the previous circumstances described above.  

  In the days that followed, *** ******* was told by the Manager of Elizabeth Pointe that a full refund was not an option due to her cancellation in May and subsequent reschedule.  *** ******* threatened to leave bad reviews all over social media and contact the BBB, which she has since done.  She also had a friend contact Elizabeth Pointe on her behalf, but Elizabeth Pointe could not discuss this with anyone but the guest (*** *******). 

  Ultimately, it is our belief that Elizabeth Pointe went above and beyond what most inns or resorts would offer under these same circumstances.  It is unfortunate that *** ******* has chosen to intentionally misrepresent the facts and circumstances surrounding this sequence of events in an effort to damage Elizabeth Pointe.  

  Customer response

  10/24/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: ********

  I am rejecting this response because:

  The information provided by Elizabeth Pointe in response is factually incorrect.

  The statement that I did not enter the room I was staying in for inspection is a complete fabrication.  I have all of the pictures I took of the interior of the room to prove that one and I will provide as an attachment.  To avoid copyright infringements by taking pictures from their website you may compare the pictures I am sending to the room and especially the patio for "Ocean Breezes."  You will see an incredibly dramatic difference.  

  The statement that I did not look at other rooms is also a fabrication.  I will send a picture I took of the dehumidifier sitting in the hall of the upstairs level of the main lodge for proof of that.

  I absolutely in no way demanded a refund.  My companion and I simply said "we cannot stay here."  The frazzled unprofessional woman at the front desk screaming at the phone over her colleague being late simply said "I cannot give you a refund."  There was absolutely no discussion.  

  In the "days that followed" the manager of Elizabeth Pointe returned ero phone calls and emails.  I can attach all of the sent emails and I can attach a call log of calls which went unreturned.  Elizabeth Point has never again returned any messages to me.  Yes, my friend and traveling companion did try to contact them as well as she was supposed to have stayed with me and was witness to the whole situation.  Once again I had an acutely ill parent.  But she also said she was contacting on my behalf and asked that Elizabeth Pointe please correspond with me which again they did not.  

  Yes.  It is true that I did say if I did not hear from them to discuss that I would notify the Better Business Bureau, I would leave negative internet reviews, and finally I would pursue chargeback with my credit card company as a last resort.  

   

   

   

   

   

  Regards,

  ********* *******

  Customer response

  10/24/2023

  Please see the detailed *********** review for Oct 16 user *************.  I left far more details than I am able to in this space.

  If necessary I can also send all of the correspondence sent to the manager AND owners none of which was ever returned.  Yes my traveling companion who was with me AND paying for half of the trip sent some emails on my behalf while I was dealing with a sick parent, but they were urged to contact me and never did.

  I will include all of the pictures I took both of the upstairs of the lodge (dehumidifier in the floor) proving I did look at other accommodations and I will also send pictures of the Ocean Breezes inside of the room, bug in the bathtub, and porch that completely disprove Elizabeth Pointe's claim that I never entered the accommodation.  I will not include comparative pictures from their website due to possibility of copyright infringement, but you will see for yourself the incredible difference between the awful weathered furniture even on the porch versus the website.  We were told "oh maybe we have changed the furniture some."  If Elizabeth Pointe still wants to claim even with photos that we never entered the accommodation, I have additional pictures and I can also do side by side comparisons of their website images to show with 100% confidence we were there, inside, and the place was fully inspected.

  I have already included for you the log of calls and emails which were not returned.

  I am sorry that businesses struggle, but consumers do as well.  Elizabeth Pointe is not as advertised at all which is not fair for the incredible expense of it.  Truth seems very much to be lacking by this management as you can tell from the allegations that I never set foot in the accommodations and the implications that they ever talked to me afterwards.

  Business response

  10/25/2023

  I am rejecting *** *******'s response.  This entire situation can be summarized very easily.  *** ******* cancelled her original reservation within 2 days of her scheduled arrival.  At the time she booked her reservation, *** ******* agreed to Elizabeth Pointe's cancellation policy which states she is responsible for the entire cost of her stay with no opportunity to reschedule when cancelling within 2 days of arrival.  While Elizabeth Pointe granted *** ******* an exception to the policy and provided her a credit for a future stay, Elizabeth Pointe did not waive *** ********* responsibility for the entire cost of her stay making her no longer eligible for a refund.  This was explained to *** ******* when she cancelled her stay.

  All other details are superfluous and irrelevant to *** *******'s eligibility for a refund.  They are simply *** ********* fabrications and are a transparent attempt to extort Elizabeth Pointe.  Elizabeth Pointe showed grace towards *** *******, but we will not allow the Inn to be extorted and a refund will not be granted.  

    

  Customer response

  10/25/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: ********

  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have the pictures of the room that prove that Elizabeth Pointe overtly lied about what happened the day we arrived and inspected the rooms.  This is not extortion.  This is bad business practice.  Elizabeth Pointe would have been better off sticking to the original premise of no refunds than to lie about events for which camera phones with time and location and date stamps can prove their are lying.  Multiple emails are time and date stamped as well and all easily proven.   Even the interesting timing of “positive” reviews on the travel websites clearly written to immediately explain the bad ones does not bear close inspection and has actually been pointed out by others guests as well. The whole place is in desperate need of renovation likely to get it up to safety code )not just cosmetics)  as I’m sure the dehumidifier in the floor is unsafe and would point any inspectors to a huge mold infestation.  I will continue to pursue other recourse for lodging I would NEVER have booked if it were not for blatant false advertising.

   

  Regards,

  ********* *******

• Initial Complaint

  04/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  4/2/2022. $500/night stay. Majority of flights leaving from NYC LaGuardia via JetBlue were cancelled, including ours. We waited for hours and once we heard about the cancellation, we alerted the hotel. They are refusing a refund and any sort of credit as we told them we would be in Florida after we finally got out the next morning. They’ve been claiming that they aren’t going to assist in any capacity because of their “policy”. But this circumstance makes their policy completely unreasonable. It has been impossible to get management on the phone- on Saturday the concierge told us they’d be out until Tuesday. It’s now Wednesday evening and we still have no resolution. We aren’t asking for our money back, we understand that hotels, especially small businesses, have these policies in place to protect themselves. But at the same time, we put our money into this stay and the flight cancellation was completely out of our control. We are simply asking for the hotel to be reasonable.

  Business response

  04/15/2022

  To whom it may concern, 

  As a small business, we cannot afford to block 1 of 25 rooms for a guest stay only to have a cancellation made on the same day as a guest's scheduled arrival.  It is inevitable that the room remains vacant for the length of the guest's scheduled stay.  If we grant a complimentary reschedule, our Inn is sufficiently small that we would have had another guest paying to stay in that room.  Nevertheless, we will often offer the complimentary reschedule and accept the financial damage it causes.

  While we empathize with *** ********* situation, we received an email on April 2, 2022 at 12:06 pm indicating his JetBlue flight from New York and scheduled to arrive that morning in Jacksonville, FL had been cancelled (see attachment).  When we visited the JetBlue website, there were 2 flights from New York to Jacksonville.  As of 2:15 pm on April 2, 2022, one had arrived on time and the other had been delayed, but was scheduled to depart at 3:00 pm and arrive at 5:30 pm (see attachments).  No flights had been cancelled as *** ******* indicated in his email.

  It seems *** ******* did not want to wait for his delayed flight to depart and chose to cancel his visit to Florida.  While that decision is entirely his own to make, I decided these mitigating facts made *** ******* ineligible for a complimentary reschedule.  I don't believe my company should suffer financial losses in this case because *** ******* had the option to arrive later in the day and stay at the Inn.  

  This is an unfortunate situation and we do everything possible to give our guests the best possible service and experience.  In this instance, we simply wish *** ******* had chosen to take the later flight or understand that choosing not to take that flight meant he could not receive a complimentary reschedule.

  Best regards, 

  ******* ******

  Owner, ********* ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩