No to Virgin Beach, Laiya

This post was originally written at http://sexynomad.i.ph/blogs/sexynomad/2007/05/27/no-to-virgin-beach-laiya/#comments. All comments from 2007 are all there.

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I am posting an entry here to vent out certain negative feelings I am having about Virgin Beach Resort in Laiya, Batangas… It’s up to you to decide if you still want to patronize the place. I will, however, call them on Monday (since no one is answering their phone right now), to verify who this Grace person is who made such a huge mistake in terms of handling a customer properly.

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Mrs. Isi Kesner chanced upon my blog one time and inquired about Virgin Beach Resort:

ISI: hi! i found your blog thru google. well this is our first ever family vacation in laiya, since my husband and i got our one year old son and we want to have a beach vacation for our son to experience, we chose virgin beach resort. can you tell me more about the place? and most important the food? thanks so much and congrats to your upcoming wedding!

SEXY NOMAD: Hi Isi! Thanks for visiting my site. About Virgin Beach Resort, it’s really intended for families to enjoy. It has a wider beach area, therefore, more space to sunbathe, more privacy for the guests who want to be left alone, and more room for everyone to swim without bumping or getting in the way of other guests frolicking in the clear waters. They also have cozy cabanas and huts you can rent. Plus small open kubos you can hang out at by the beach. As for the food, to tell you the truth, we weren’t very satisfied when we went there. For P1,100, they served plated meals in small portions (appetizer, main dish, dessert). It’s not even very tasty and when they served us halu-halo, panis na yung ingredients. This is where La Luz Resort at the other end of Laiya has beaten them. Because at La Luz, for P900 each, you’ll have 3 buffet meals with 3-4 dishes to choose from per meal, and you can get your heart’s content. The only downside is, La Luz is a lot crowded because it’s not as big as Virgin Beach Resort.

Then Isi emailed Virgin Beach to inquire about some things. Her email was:

hi i have questions about your resort and since we already confirmed and paid half of the price, we just want to make sure about the rules and what you can do to accomodate these requests and questions we got:

can we bring in food and drinks for my one year old son? like wilkins water and his baby food snacks? if so, are we going to be charge?

can we request if you can put a note to the kitchen that my husband cannot be served food with shrimp and crabs and eggplant? are we going to be charged by this request of special food preference?

can we use your microwave oven, if you got one, for sterilization of my son’s milk bottles? it’s only for 4 minutes. if so, are we going to be charge?

i hope you can reply soon about this so we can prepare for this first family vacation we are going to have. we will understand if you cannot accomodate these request, or if we will be charge accordingly.

i have heard so many bad comments about your resort, but we are giving you the possibility that your resort is one of the best places we would be in laiya.
thank you very much for your kind consideration. we are looking forward to enjoy our stay in your beautiful resort.

Isi said she called the next day and she was told that they can bring in those things and they can use their microwave oven and took note of her husband’s food request. And today she checked her mail and this was the reply:

Dear Mrs. Kesner,

You seem to have started on the wrong foot based on your email dated May 23 pertaining to your planned stay at Virgin Beach Resort this coming June 3 to 5. Your comments smack of intimidation, negative criticism based on hearsay, and sarcasm. You haven’t been to our place yet, but you are already questioning our rules, sarcastically asking if we are that strict, and then finally telling us you don’t want us to spoil your vacation. With your approach and attitude, we don’t see any possibility that you will be pleased, no matter how hard we will try to please you. Therefore we will mutually benefit by your not proceeding with your planned stay. We are gladly refunding your deposit early part of next week.

Allow us to take this opportunity to explain about ourselves. We have a substantial market, and many are returning guests. What they find nice about our place is that they have peace and quiet. On the average, our guests are upscale, and decent. During times when the volume of guests is high, our guests still enjoy their privacy. Modesty aside, we have one of the cleanest resorts in the country. Our accommodations are generously proportioned, practical, and clean. Guests also find our food more than acceptable, in terms of flavor, portions, and presentation. Our staff are very accommodating, and dutifully attend to guests needs. Do not misinterpret this to mean that we are perfect. We do have our share of mistakes, but we do our very best to correct them and improve.

All of the above mentioned are not possible if it were not for our concepts and our rules. Would you not agree that we can all be tolerant at times, but without rules or the implementation thereof, our guests would lose the advantages they have found and the things they enjoy at Virgin Beach Resort. It would become just like most of the other places you can find all over.

By the way, you didn’t have to be sarcastic about the snacks. We do allow that, and we also go out of our way to provide special menus for guests who have special dietary needs. It would serve you in good stead if you took the time to understand more about our nature, then perhaps you’ll have some appreciation. Hopefully you will not approach others in similar fashion while you are in this country, otherwise you will never be able to enjoy your vacations.

Thank You.
Grace

Oh my God! WTF????!!! What an incompetent customer service staff!!! — untrained, sarcastic and so unaccommodating! To think I was considering it to be our beach wedding venue. Tsk, tsk, tsk. She has every right to be disappointed. Hell, I AM DISAPPPOINTED. This Grace person (even if she is the owner of the place) deserves some spanking. She lacks proper customer service skills (I should know, I worked in an international call center before and I am studying about it now in our Management Development Program in GSIS). The rules are simple: 1) CUSTOMERS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT. 2) IF CUSTOMERS ARE NOT RIGHT, REFER TO RULE # 1.

What do you think guys? Boycott Virgin Beach Resort?