I just got back from an otherwise nice vacation to Hualien, Taitung (Chiben), and Kenting. In Kenting we stayed at the Toong Mao Resort Hotel. I STRONGLY URGE EVERYONE HERE TO AVOID THIS HOTEL LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!
On Friday, August 6th, we asked them at the front desk if they would be able to book airline tickets for us back to Taipei, and they said no problem, we could even get a flight out of the new Hengchun airport which was only 14 kilometers away. They gave us a list a flights to choose from and we chose a 3:15 PM flight on Sunday. They took down our ID card #'s, names, etc. and told us that the tickets were booked, all we had to do was show up at the ticket counter at the airport on the day we were leaving, show them our ID’s, and pay for the tickets there. We spoke with the reception desk several times afterward to confirm that our tickets were in fact booked, and each time they said yes, they were already booked and we definitely had seats.
On Sunday afternoon, they called a taxi for us (which wasn’t even a taxi but some guy’s car that cost us NT$300 to go to the aiport, they didnt tell us that there was a bus we could take from RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL for only NT$30). We arrived at the airport in Hengchun and were surprised to see no one there. A customer service representative from Mandarin Airlines came out and asked us what we were doing there. We told her we had a flight for 3:15, and she said that was impossible, because they didn’t have any flights for that time that day. We told her that the hotel had booked the seats for us, and she checked and said there was no record of the hotel booking seats for us, and since the flight they booked didn’t exist (they even checked to see if they had mistakenly booked us at Pingtung, which they hadn’t). She called the hotel and got in an argument with the people at the hotel who kept trying to blame the airline when it was obviously the hotel’s fault. They didn’t even have a confirmation number, so how could they have booked the tickets? Their attitude to the woman from Mandarin Airlines was evil, and they just kept trying to blame everyone else they could think of.
Anyway, they sent a car to take us to Kaohsiung. We had originally planned to be back in Taipei by 4:30, but didn’t even get to Kaohsiung until nearly 6:30. The hotel was rude to us on the phone and said none of this was their responsibility. They dropped us off in Kaohsiung and said it was up to us to find our way back to Taipei. They wouldnt pay for our airline tickets, any other kind of compensation, not even the NT$300 we wasted on the taxi to the Hengchun airport that they arranged for us.
Later on the phone, we asked to speak with the manager, and they refused to get him to come to the phone. Their attitude throughout was terrible, and they cursed at both me and my Taiwanese friend. All we wanted was for them to pay the NT$4000 for the two plane tickets to compensate us for all of the trouble and delay that THEY caused because they screwed up. They just kept lying, saying that it was Li Rong airline and not Mandarin (Li Rong had no flights for that day at all). Then they said that we mixed up the times and dates which was also impossible since they knew what time we were going to the airport because they were the ones who arranged the car to take us there, and there was no mix up since there was no record in the computer of a reservation for us for any day, time, or airline in Hengchun or Pingtung. Finally, they just got even more nasty and hung up the phone on us.
We are seriously considering getting an attorney to sue for the amount of the airline tickets, as well as a refund of the NT$10,000 that we spent for three nights there (the service was awful the whole time, they were the rudest people I’ve ever come across in my more than 3 years living here), plus the NT$300 taxi fare that was wasted.
Anyway, if anyone is thinking about staying at any of their hotels (they have quite a few across Taiwan), DO NOT … you will get screwed over. I strongly urge all foreigners (and Taiwanese for that matter) to avoid this hotel chain.
And … if anyone knows of a good lawyer to talk to, please send me a PM … I’d really appreciate it!
:fume: :fume: :fume: