Fantasy Island

[RTBDiver]

After SEVERAL attempts trying to contact FI saying my trip was paid, I got in contact with Rich. He then offered to move my reservation. .

What proof do you have that FI WAS Paid? Are you going simply by what Rich told you? Maybe they were not paid and your money that was supposed to go to FI is now paying for Media Luna

 

[DandyDon]

We really don't know, and are not likely to ever know at any time.

A closer comparison would be the all too common problem travelers incur when Reservations are not honored on arrival - the hotel claiming to be in a surprise oversold situation and simply unable to accommodate. There is actually not much one can do really. In most cases travelers are offered a paid booking at a sister hotel, but complaints are common that they were not as nice.

I carry pretty good Trip insurance when I leave the country, but I am not sure how they would handle that, especially if I had to pay more. It is a very good idea to confirm your reservation and paid status directly with the hotel, not just trust the booking agent - altho I usually haven't. I will now.

 

[lionfish-eater]

miketrance Sorry you were caughtup in all this mess. Have you asked for proof that FI was paid from rich? Did you get a refund for the money that was supossedly sent to FI. Did you call your credit card co and dispute the charge to rich's agency or did you let rich keep your money and use it to pay media luna? I am not trying to blame you or anything like that, I know how frustrating it must be and if I were in your position I would have accepted the move to the new hotel. As to why rich would hold the money from FI and then "move your reservation", it is because he has started a new relationship with HM resorts and wants to get off to a big start by bringing as many guests as possible. What does "move your reservation" mean? Where did the money come from to pay media luna?

Cajun Diva In your earlier post you spoke of all of rich's awards and accolades. That is how people spoke about Bernie Madoff before he made off with the money. Industry awards say nothing about what rats do when fleeing a sinking ship.

Were you asked to pay an additional $500 as if the acknowledged your original payment, or were you asked for $500 each as payment for the week. It is my understanding that the resort only receives $500 for each guest on double occupancy from the amount charged by Rich. It sounds like the latter

 

[miketrance84]

What proof do you have that FI WAS Paid? Are you going simply by what Rich told you? Maybe they were not paid and your money that was supposed to go to FI is now paying for Media Luna

The only proof I have is common sense. Why would Rich go through all this trouble when he was getting paid commission for FI too? Remember, FI sent out the first set of emails, not Rich. Seems to me, if FI was honoring their end of the bargain, it would be easier to send them the money and get paid. Rich's emails were a reaction to FI's emails.

 

[castaways01]

What proof do you have that FI WAS Paid? Are you going simply by what Rich told you? Maybe they were not paid and your money that was supposed to go to FI is now paying for Media Luna

Yep, agree RTB. Rich has such a good heart he took all the money out of his kid's college fund and gave it to HM Resorts to pay for everyone's reservation! Just kidding of course. But he certainly was the shining knight to conveniently find another resort for his clients. This whole thing sounds like a soap opera. Just like Rodraid, I also received an email from Rich's company and I never booked with them either. I do know I was on a mailing list at FI. Sending me the email tells me they were trying very hard to discredit Fantasy Island.

FI Sales Mgr Patricia's version is the total opposite of Rich's. Yep, someone is lying. Even with the significant discount HM Resorts gave Rich for booking these guests, it still adds up to a ton of money - we're talking at least a four star AI. So, where did the funds come from? The prime goal of the booking agency is to make money. You don't do that when you fork over big bucks for people's vacations.

I'm sure the truth will surface soon. Its just too bad that FI has to be tried and convicted on a message board. They may very well be the victim.

 

[Mike]

The only proof I have is common sense. Why would Rich go through all this trouble when he was getting paid commission for FI too? Remember, FI sent out the first set of emails, not Rich. Seems to me, if FI was honoring their end of the bargain, it would be easier to send them the money and get paid. Rich's emails were a reaction to FI's emails.

Holy crap dude, seriously?

Follow the money -

You book, you pay Rich money.

Now where is the money? Does Rich have it or does FI have it? You tell me, take your pick.

If FI has it how does Rich pay for your trip to the other resort? You tell me.

If Rich has it, why does he have it? If he still had it why weren't you offered a refund? No money spent anywhere yet, FI doesn't have it, nobodies got any expenses attached to your money, no deposit sent... why doesn't Rich offer you a refund? Instead, he offers to say the day by 'booking' you with another resort. What a hero.

There's way more to this story then has been revealed. Both sides haven't come clean yet and that's probably telling of that the truth lays somewhere in between.

Doesn't sound to me like there is any angel in any of this.

 

[miketrance84]

miketrance Sorry you were caughtup in all this mess. Have you asked for proof that FI was paid from rich? Did you get a refund for the money that was supossedly sent to FI. Did you call your credit card co and dispute the charge to rich's agency or did you let rich keep your money and use it to pay media luna? I am not trying to blame you or anything like that, I know how frustrating it must be and if I were in your position I would have accepted the move to the new hotel. As to why rich would hold the money from FI and then "move your reservation", it is because he has started a new relationship with HM resorts and wants to get off to a big start by bringing as many guests as possible. What does "move your reservation" mean? Where did the money come from to pay media luna?

Cajun Diva In your earlier post you spoke of all of rich's awards and accolades. That is how people spoke about Bernie Madoff before he made off with the money. Industry awards say nothing about what rats do when fleeing a sinking ship.

I was stuck airfare is non refundable. Rich told me that the owner of HM, and himself were sharing the cost. I understand what you're saying about a big start, but that seems like an awful lot of work. Also it doesn't address the fact that FI sent out the first email to me, not Rich. Cajun Diva was offered to stay at FI for an ADDITIONAL 500 dollars, why if the resort wasn't payed would they accept this? If it was FI's attempt at taking care of customers, why wasn't everyone offered this same deal?

Also, I'm sure you would agree that as a booking agent, image is very important. Trust in who your booking with matters, as it should. Why, if Rich was starting a new relationship with HM, would he put his credibility up for debate for a few bookings? It seems that electing to do something like that would be foolish for someone starting a new relationship with a different set of properties. Remember if FI was keeping their end of the bargain, as well as Rich, they would both have been paid for NO extra effort.

I cannot speak for Rich, as I am not him nor affliated with him, but it seems he recognized a problem and took care of it the best he could. I have to go with Occams razor on this one. It was easiest for Rich to simply send FI the money, and get paid his comission. Either that or take the money and go out of business. Well he isn't out of business so stealing doesn't make sense, and moving the reservations to curry favor with HM seems like a zero sum game. (people now questioning his credibility).

Also, if your customer contacted you, as their booking agent, and said the resort claims they wern't payed and they're demanding money, what would you do? If you did send the money what would you do? How would you take care of your guests? Would you send MORE money to the resort, if so how could you be sure they would use that money? Would you try to move the guests to a different property, in hopes that the short term loss would help your guests and create repeat business? Or would you close your business, or simply ignore this and let the customer deal with the resort?

If FI were paid, these seem to be the only options available to this booking agent. I honestly don't know what I would do. I'm grateful he offered to move us at no cost to us.

 

[DandyDon]

I wonder why nothing about this is showing up on TripAdvisor...??

 

[silvernotch]

I think it's time to let this thread die. Nothing good's going to come out of it and all anyone can do is just speculate with the limited details that have been released. It's starting to turn into a whole lot of heated bickering and accusations from a lot of people that aren't even involved in our ordeal.

CajunDiva and myself will gladly report back with our experience with Media Luna and Aqua Adventures at the end of next week.

 

[Stout]

Did this place recently change hands ? I could have sworn I saw it listed about a month ago for $42 million but when I search the listing now, I can't find hide nor hair of it. It wasn't listed as FI specifically but the description they gave left little doubt about this being the property currently discussed.

Back in December, I was killing time and since FI is such a popular SB topic, I brought up their website, made a faux booking, just to see what the rates were and I got something like $152/night.

Now, when I bring up the brand new website, i don't have the option of simply checking their rates, I have to request a quote. I'm not giving out my email address so I went agoogling, ended up on expedia and...lo and behold...it's now $225/night.

Or five hundred bucks a week

Coincidence ?