1 reviews | Active since Jan 2023
Desperate for money in Graaff-Reinett
Early December 2022, we booked and paid for the 19th of December 2022, at "Toerboer cottages" in Graaff-Reinet, as an overnight stopover for our family, on the way to our vacation destination in Mosselbaai.
We arrived at our “Toerboer” unit at approximately 17:00 on the 19th of December 2022. About 30 minutes after our arrival, we realised that there wasn't any running water at the unit. We were not able to flush the toilet, shower or even wash our hands. This was very disappointing, to say the least. We were never warned about this, prior to our arrival.
We then phoned the lady (Lien) at the “Toerboer” office to ask when the water would be back. She explained that the whole town was without water and that she did not know when the water would be back. I phoned around and booked alternative lodging, in the same town, with running water, for me and my family for the night. Running water was a non-negotiable necessity for us and we could not work on a “maybe”. We phoned Lien again and told her that, as a result of the water issue, we have made alternative lodging arrangements and that we would not be staying there for the night, as originally planned. Upon asking her about the refund, she said that she would take it up with the owners, as they were not there. We left the unit after about an hour, at approximately 18:00.
We then immediately contacted Booking.com and explained the situation and asked for refund, after which they said that they would take it up with the owners and revert.
The feedback from the owners were that they are NOT going to give us a refund due to me, allegedly, swearing and mistreating their staff.
I can categorically state that not me or my wife, ever mistreated or swore at any of the “Toerboer” staff at any time whatsoever. These claims are totally false and unfounded and as a result, cannot be proven. It seems like the claims were fabricated by the owners, in an attempt to justify the non-payment of the refund due to us.
On our return trip, on the 5th of January 2023, we stopped over at Graaff-Reinet for lunch. We thought that maybe we could go to the “Toerboer” office in order to hopefully meet the owners, in order to resolve the matter. Instead of the owners, we met “Lien” in person, for the first time. She was very friendly and polite. She seemed surprised and she claimed that she did not know about any claims of swearing or misconduct. She confirmed that there was never any hint of animosity between us. It is maybe worth mentioning that there was a camera in the office. All the conversations could subsequently be verified, if the owners had any desire to resolve this matter (which we can guess they don’t).
We also tried to contact the owners, on several occasions, in order to resolve this matter. They did not want to answer their phones as they were apparently also on holiday. Instead, they chose to send us whatsapp messages, dismissing our explanations and only reiterating their false claims.
This ordeal came as a complete shock to us, as we have used booking.com on many occasions, both locally and overseas, and have never had any bad experiences. What is even more shocking is that someone in the tourism industry would fabricate a story and falsely accuse their customer (fellow Afrikaner) of swearing and misconduct. This all in an attempt to save a measly ZAR 1262.00. Maybe they are desperate for money…? Clearly these people do not belong in the tourism industry and, as a result, would probably not last very long. What comes around, goes around….. I take exception to their false accusations, I am disgusted with the way that they handle issues in their at their establishment and, as a result, I would definitely discourage anyone to make use of “Toerboer”.
We're not surprised to read your review accompanied with the lowest score possible as we've engaged with you and your wife telephonically. Your review is not only untruthful, but also disrespectful, as we expected taking into account your verbal abuse of our staff and threats made to us and our staff. All of which can be verified by witnesses. This is definitely not the first time you're doing this as you were very careful not to put anything in writing. We've been in the travel industry for more than 15 years, we've survived the COVID pandemic and we're still going strong despite your ill wishes. I've learned that in some cases the client is WRONG, and that we as hospitality business owners need to stand our ground. I would love to take you on, on every point, but I don't operate on your level Mr Smit. I would just like readers to note that you failed to mention the following in your review;
- We COULD not communicate with you directly, or take calls as we were out of the country. We asked you to email us your complaint so that we could attend to your complaints and request for a refund when we got back. We're still waiting for your email.
- There was a filled 10l purified water container in your unit that could be used for washing hands and filling up the toilet whilst the problem was being addressed. Lien, our manager, did everything in her power to get water to the unit for a shower. She succeeded and the water system was up and running in less than 30mins after you left. You left the unit in less than an hour after checking in, despite our efforts to sort the problem out.
- The whole town did NOT have water. Your alternative accommodation was at a BIG 5* property in town with other resources than most of the other establishments in town where you pay R1200 for 4 people per night.
- As explained to your wife, we will not allow anyone to intimidate or verbally abuse any of our staff members. If you approached Lien and the situation with some respect we would have had no problem to negotiate the refund with you.
We're an owner managed establishment in a small town dealing with municipal issues that's completely out of our control, but we always try to address and solve the issues in a professional way. We value our business and staff and deal with guests with the respect and decency they show to us.
We're not surprised to read your review accompanied with the lowest score possible as we've engaged with you and your wife telephonically. Your review is not only untruthful, but also disrespectful, as we expected taking into account your verbal abuse of our staff and threats made to us and our staff. All of which can be verified by witnesses. This is definitely not the first time you're doing this as you were very careful not to put anything in writing. We've been in the travel industry for more than 15 years, we've survived the COVID pandemic and we're still going strong despite your ill wishes. I've learned that in some cases the client is WRONG, and that we as hospitality business owners need to stand our ground. I would love to take you on, on every point, but I don't operate on your level Mr Smit. I would just like readers to note that you failed to mention the following in your review;
- We COULD not communicate with you directly, or take calls as we were out of the country. We asked you to email us your complaint so that we could attend to your complaints and request for a refund when we got back. We're still waiting for your email.
- There was a filled 10l purified water container in your unit that could be used for washing hands and filling up the toilet whilst the problem was being addressed. Lien, our manager, did everything in her power to get water to the unit for a shower. She succeeded and the water system was up and running in less than 30mins after you left. You left the unit in less than an hour after checking in, despite our efforts to sort the problem out.
- The whole town did NOT have water. Your alternative accommodation was at a BIG 5* property in town with other resources than most of the other establishments in town where you pay R1200 for 4 people per night.
- As explained to your wife, we will not allow anyone to intimidate or verbally abuse any of our staff members. If you approached Lien and the situation with some respect we would have had no problem to negotiate the refund with you.
We're an owner managed establishment in a small town dealing with municipal issues that's completely out of our control, but we always try to address and solve the issues in a professional way. We value our business and staff and deal with guests with the respect and decency they show to us.