jlm_mi

derryanddonnan - You'd be amazed at what people have the time for. Just keep reading here, and you'll see more than you ever wanted to know.

I also agree that we definitely benefit from having negative reviews posted here, as long as they are legitimate and people feel comfortable that they are - if a legitimate gripe comes off as fake, it doesn't help, so that's just unfortunate.

Dick

<If their website clearly advertised an email address, and I used it, I wouldn't constitute that as a "mess up" or negligence on my part.>

If their website showed availablity of rooms and you made a reservation by email.... would you you just show up at the hotel ..or would you expect a confirmation of your reservation.

When it comes to cancellations, you need to receive a confirmation.

derryanddonnan

Well folks this has been enlightening, but I must get home to my husband and 2 dogs. Trust me or don't - it's up to you. But I'm just a frustrated (and now weary) little traveler who thinks this was the right place/forum to let other travelers know my experiences. Hope it helps.

Patrick

I think the most interesting question asked above was "why did you cancel twice?" This is such a good question. If you cancelled and thought the cancellation had gone through, why would you do it again? And if you suspected the first one didn't go through or you were suspicious because you didn't get a response, then why would sending a second one without a response be any more "definite".

I agree, something's fishy here. There's a very easy way on most servers to click for an automatic response when someone receives the email. While that still may not be legally binding, it sure helps if you print that out and you have a record that they did receive your cancellation. But I never cancel anything without getting a definitie cancellation number or written confirmation of the cancellation.

derryanddonnan

It's a moot point. If the proprietor admitted to me that he checked his emails regularly, then he should have (i didn't receive any kick back saying message undeliverable) received the emails - regardless if I sent 1 or 100. And what he did with them when he opened/recd them is out of my control. None of us can speak to that -only him. And what is so wrong with sending several emails to be safe? I do it all of the time and blind copy myself to make sure the email was indeed sent, and to keep copies for my own records. Most smart business people make that a standard practice.

LoveItaly

The thing I am confused about it that on the other thread a poster posted the website for the Oxford Inn and it stated that they accepted Visa, MasterCard and Discovery. But you say that you are going through AMEX to get this worked out.

I went to the Oxford Inn wesbite just out of curiosity and that is what their websites states. That they accept Visa, MasterCard and Discovery.

So unless their website is not uptodate regarding the credit cards they accept I don't see how you used AMEX.

derryanddonnan

I noticed that too. Looks like they updated their website on 8/30/05, too. And my complaint occurred around 8/30/05, too. Now THAT seems fishy. Feel free to call them yourself and ask why they stopped accepting AMEX.

ronkala

uh-oh, no stars for Derry.

Patrick

"And what is so wrong with sending several emails to be safe?"

Huh? Safe from what? You seem convinced that if you send one email there is no way they didn't get it. So what is safe about sending a second one? Now, I do understand the idea of sending another one if you got no response from the first. But if you sent the second one BECAUSE you feared they didn't get it since they didn't respond, I still DO NOT understand how sending a second one and still not getting a response is any "safer".

And again, a good question above is -- if you sent two emails asking for a reservation and you never got a response, would you show up at their door KNOWING that they had your reservation anyway? (I sure wouldn't!) Why is a cancellation any different from a reservation?

ronkala

none for Patrick either.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

Just because you send an email doesn't mean it was received. Unless you clicked to "request read receipt" and actually RECEIVED it can you be sure the email was opened; and even then it may be been opened but not actually read.

I provide email services for some of my customers and I can state with 100% certainty that not all undelivered mail gets a "bounce" message, and some people will accidently, or even intentionally configure their mail to send some questionable mail (eg: from hotmail, yahoo, mail.com, etc) directly to the trash or to ignore it completely.

I too wonder why a second cancellation was emailed. I would always expect some sort of reply or confirmation of a reservation OR a cancellation.

If nothing else, maybe this thread can serve to warn readers to CONFIRM EVERYTHING!