My new wife and I were on our honeymoon, driving up the coast. While driving through Gold Beach we spotted a sign reading "Ireland's Rustic Lodges, w / fireplaces." Thinking a room overlooking the ocean with a crackling fire might make for a romantic place to spend the night, we pulled in.
After waiting for a few minutes for the desk clerk to notice us, we told her we were on our honeymoon and that we'd like to rent a smoking room with a fireplace overlooking the ocean. The surly clerk indicated that they only had two room available and that they were not overlooking the ocean and they were non-smoking.
In response to my wife's dismay my comment was Well, at least we'll have a fireplace. The clerk sat two feet away, saying nothing. My wife, mollified by the thought of a warm fire that night finally acquiesced and we turned to the clerk and told her we would take the room. The room paid for and the room key in hand, we headed off to find our room.
Upon finding our room, our utter dismay soon gave in to anger. The room, though large and covered in wood, was little more than a wooden motel room of the seediest nature. The undersized double bed felt as though the coils were covered by perhaps a quarter inch of worn foam.
To compound our disappointment, there was NO FIREPLACE! This being the very reason we had decided to pay over one hundred dollars for a room facing a parking lot and dilapidated building, we were understandably upset. We immediately retuned to the front desk and expressed our concern that there had perhaps been some sort of miscommunication. The front desk attendant said, Oh my no. That room doesn't have a fireplace.in fact only a very few of our rooms do.
I apologized and told her that I was sorry for the inconvenience and that we had rented the room with the understanding that it did have a fireplace. She said that she understood, but that it was the policy of their motel not to issue refunds. I reminded her that we had checked in less than five minutes ago, and she stubbornly pointed to the fine print on the credit card receipt I had signed where it stated that All sales are final at time of check-in.
It is my belief that an establishment confident in its ability to attract and retain patrons based on the quality of the services it provides doesn't need to resort to trickery to trap people into utilizing and paying for these services. Throughout the rest of our discussion, the clerk simply shook her head and pointed to my receipt like a mental patient. This was the place that nearly ruined our honeymoon.
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