deepsea21
Contributor
In any event, bringing airline policies into a discussion on dive resort policies is a diversion. We shouldn't accept such policies with dive resorts, where they are not the norm, just because we lost the battle a long time ago with the airlines. Which points out why we should push back now on BA policy because if they get away with it then others may follow suit. Perhaps we should have pushed back harder when the airlines started their nonsense.
I believe BA's screwy new refund policy is about the worst hospitality management decision I've seen in pandemic times. Management is layering another level of financial pain on the operation on top of the pain caused by the pandemic. The resort is self-admittedly struggling financially per the email to the OP but I believe the vast majority of travelers (who don't even know about these issues) are not going to risk booking accommodations and putting down a hefty deposit under these screwy terms for fear of losing it totally and not being able to ever see it as a future credit up to 2 years out on a future stay... Not when other establishments allow one to book without this risk. This new refund policy is going to steer travelers away from booking at BA to booking at other establishments at the very time BA desperately needs people booking for future stays to generate the future cash flow that can dig itself out of the current financial hardship it is in.
Reefhound is absolutely right... Resorts should be following some of the airlines' latest practices to eliminate every obstacle possible that could dissuade a potential customer from booking. That means you don't increase deposits or worsen refund policies, you decrease/eliminate deposits and improve refund policies. If I were a resort manager and I looked at my bookings/reservations 3 months out and saw I was at 30%, 20% and 10% respective occupancy (which is probably highly generous right now) I'd be taking reservations right and left with a nominal deposit that is fully refundable with 24 hours notice for anything I could book. Once I achieved 80% booked occupancy for those respective months I'd institute perhaps a slightly more restrictive refund policy with say, 7 days advance notice to receive a full refund or forfeit it to fill the remaining 20%. I mean, I'm pretty sure BA could take every reservation it receives right now with no deposit and it won't achieve 80% booked occupancy over the next 3 months so what is there to lose?
In my opinion BA management is shooting itself in the foot with this screwy refund policy change. The very fact that management has gone this route decreases the odds that it will still be in operation a year or 2 from now, it doesn't increase them as it serves to reduce bookings, not increase bookings.
Again, worst decision I've ever seen made in hospitality during pandemic times. Some may say, "It's not your business and not your decision". That's fine and you're right, BA isn't my business nor would I want it but with these management practices it could easily be someone else's sooner than later if/when it shuts down and goes up for sale. There is capital everywhere waiting to pounce on mismanaged business that they can buy at less than 50 cents on the dollar hard asset value. Remember the Great Recession and all those foreclosed homes? Remember who bought them at 50 cents on the dollar of building them new? Very smart, very patient investors who put their capital to work when the blood is flowing. Pretty sure there are plenty of wealthy CRE investors in Coz that would be picking up the BA in a fire sale. As far as respecting the terms of all those existing deposits to be cashed in sometime later... In Mexico it is a failed business and a sale of hard assets, that's all.