Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Biras Creek

My wife and I are avid travelers. We have been traveling for 11 years on a regular basis. We try and get away quarterly with a two weeks stay in April. This trip we usually reserve for the islands. Two years ago we visited Biras for a two week stay. Anyone pricing that trip knows it doesn't come cheap. We loved it. So much that we re-booked for last year. Here is the part I think people really need to know. Biras hired a new manager named Michael Nidjam. Our stay last year was one of the poorest in all our years traveling. The service was terrible. Many of the staff were rude. They ran out of food, portions were smaller, service was non-existent just to name a few. When we asked some of the staff we had gotten to know from the year before, they frankly told us that they didn't like the manager. They felt he treated them poorly. I can't say since I am not around during staff meetings, but what I can say is that I addressed these issues personally with Michael. Based on our lack of service, I asked for a refund on our service charge of a few hundred dollars and he agreed. He said, it was the least he could do. After our stay he was committed to earning back our business and as a business owner myself, I was pleased. I personally wrote a two page summary of our experience and submitted it with recommendations. So much so, Michael was actually talking about hiring me to help him. I work with businesses and their people on improving. After submitting him the summary, Michael failed to follow up with me. After a few attempts to contact him he did not respond. I let it go. A month ago, my wife and I were looking into our next trip and we were talking about how much we liked the property at Biras and wondered if any changes were made. We sent a summary to Caribe Isles (the Biras reservation company) of our experience along with a question as to whether or not Michael was still on property. We made them aware that we were not at all pleased with his inability to follow up or through and if that was his style, it was no wonder the staff was unhappy. Apparently, they forwarded it to Michael. We received a follow up from him and here is a quote. "To be quite honest though, the tone of your e-mail reads such that we would find it difficult to welcome you back warm heartedly." Now to summarize: 1. We were the ones who overpaid by thousands based on the extremely poor service we received. 2. We are the customers who not only had a poor experience for our vacation, but instead of simply complaining, we tried to help Michael and Biras and he turned it back on us like we were the bad guys. 3. Becuase we are honest, we are not welcomed back. I hope you don't see this as a rant. I hope you see it for what it is - merely some useful information which people should have when they are planning on spending thousands of their hard earned dollars to vacation, relax and be treated like guests. The best decisions are made when you have all the facts. Hopefully you will see the value in publishing this type of feedback as well as the "oh what a great trip we had feedback." With this knowledge, it will either force Biras to treat their guests the way they should be treated, or make sure people who are looking to have a great trip, go to the place that is capable of giving it to them. In life, it is not the mistakes we make, but how we react to them which defines who we are as people. These actions speak for themselves. Dean Ferrara President, Freetime 101