1 reviews | Active since Apr 2015
Kicked out to make space for bigger booking.
I am in the tourism industry, conducting motorcycle tours in South Africa. <br> <br> I have started my dealings with Asara in August 2014, when I made my first group booking for Nov 2015. All went well with the booking, so I booked another 4 dates with them. <br> <br> For my March 2016 booking, I booked 28 rooms in Nov 2014. I also got confirmation of the room rate at that time. In January my tour was sold out. I increased the booking to 31 rooms to accommodate my 50 paid clients, and received confirmation.<br> <br> In Feb 2015, I received an increased rate for my March 2016 tour. I queried the rate. I also set up a meeting to discuss the rates. After the meeting I requested confirmation of the rates we discussed, by telephone and by email. Both times the reply I got - We cannot confirm the rate without the authority of Pete Gottgens, the GM of Asara, hopefully in the next week.<br> <br> 1 Month later I received an email, not to confirm the rate, hopefully receive an invoice and then make the payment. No, Pete Gottgens had the audacity to kick out my confirmed booking without even checking with me, to make space for another booking, staying for a longer period. How is that for ethical practices.
We are sorry Mr Roux feels he was treated unfairly. Our T&C's state-a booking is only confirmed once a deposit is received. Mr Roux was aware of our booking & confirmation procedures as he had already made and confirmed a booking (by way of deposit). Our procedures have not changed. Provisional bookings can only be held for a limited period of time and will only be confirmed & guaranteed on receipt of a deposit. Not having a signed contract or having paid a deposit, Mr Roux's proceeded to sell the tour to his clients. A regular supporter in the meantime requested a much larger booking of 14 nights exclusive use and paid the deposit for the dates in question which we had to accept as it is a definite booking. We did request an alternative date to accommodate his group but he declined. Regrettably we were unable to hold the 2015 rates for 2016&2017 as requested by Mr Roux. Nor could we offer free venue hire for exclusive use dining. Unfortunately we have our prices and we can only afford to offer so much flexibility. We are truly sorry that we were unable to come to a suitable solution and compromise for Mr Roux to accommodate his requested rate and terms.
We are sorry Mr Roux feels he was treated unfairly. Our T&C's state-a booking is only confirmed once a deposit is received. Mr Roux was aware of our booking & confirmation procedures as he had already made and confirmed a booking (by way of deposit). Our procedures have not changed. Provisional bookings can only be held for a limited period of time and will only be confirmed & guaranteed on receipt of a deposit. Not having a signed contract or having paid a deposit, Mr Roux's proceeded to sell the tour to his clients. A regular supporter in the meantime requested a much larger booking of 14 nights exclusive use and paid the deposit for the dates in question which we had to accept as it is a definite booking. We did request an alternative date to accommodate his group but he declined. Regrettably we were unable to hold the 2015 rates for 2016&2017 as requested by Mr Roux. Nor could we offer free venue hire for exclusive use dining. Unfortunately we have our prices and we can only afford to offer so much flexibility. We are truly sorry that we were unable to come to a suitable solution and compromise for Mr Roux to accommodate his requested rate and terms.