Extreme Disappointment

   

[black]Me and my boyfriend were looking to go on a romantic getaway. We were extremely disappointed, considerly we spent S$5k for the entire trip and what we got was pure waste of time.

Both me and my boyfriend were at Kani from 20 to 24 July 2006.

First, we arrived at Male International Airport at 9.45pm on 20 July 2006. It was only at 11.45pm that we left Male for Kani. We reached the village at about 12.15am. We were extremely exhausted and waited till 1plus in the morning before our luggage was transported to us. The first impression of the village was definitely ruined by the lack of efficiency of the GOs.

Second, we opened our eyes next morning, expecting fishes to be swimming everywhere. Unfortunately, we did not see fishes. We only saw dead pieces of coral and a seabed of seaweed killers (in fact this was really scary cos of the prints). This is unlike the scenery that was pictured in the brochure that we obtained.

Third, we wanted to reserve a slot for sailing but we were told by the GOs that we could only reserve slots on the same day we are sailing but "tomorrow afternoon" slots are all taken. We were aghast that we are unable to book a day in advance and yet the GOs can tell us that "tomorrow afternoon" slots are all taken. We sense racism in their conduct. Nonetheless, we did not pursue the same as we do not wish to spoil our holiday.

Fourth, we went on the Robinson excursion. We must say it was not up to expectations. The lobster served during lunch was soggy and not fresh. The quality of the food served was in general substandard.

Fifth, on the day of checkout, we discovered that US$150 was missing from our wallet which was kept in the safe all this while. Even though the frontdesk GO told us that she would follow up on this with an email after I signed a declaration form, I have not heard from her since. This is extremely frustrating because we are kept in suspense as to how Club Med intends to deal with our loss bearing in mind that we have already paid $60 as membership fees which covers the loss of property.

Sixth, after we touched down on 25 July 2006, we wrote about our dissatisfaction with our experience in Club Med and transmitted them via Club Med's website. The only response we obtained is only a standard automated reply which is reproduced below:

"Hi donaldck,

Thank you for sending in your comments to Club Med.

If you have some photos to share with us on your holiday to Club Med, please reply to this email with the photos attached.


Club Med Singapore"

Right, I'm sure I would want to share photos if I were extremely disappointed. I really wonder if Club Med even bothers to read through the comments that were posted. Can you imagine the amount of angst in me when I received such a reply?

There was no response after the automated reply on 25 July 2006. So on 6 August 2006, I searched for the name of Kani's Chef de Village. I found it and invented his email address based on the Singapore's sales assistant's. I sent an email to him voicing my comments, the email got through, because I did not receive any failed delivery report. Well, no response.

So on 12 August 2006, I again emailed Gilles and told him that I would appreciate a reply from him. Again, no response. But this time round, surprisingly, I received a failed delivery report claiming that there was no such email address. I wonder if anyone has tampered with the system. But well, I will give Club Med the benefit of the doubt. So I went online to search for an alternative feedback email address; hoping that someone will look into my comments.

No luck, so I went back to the general form and posted my comments again on 13 August 2006. Again, I received an automated reply I reproduced above.

I am so tired of searching for someone to look into my disappointment; especially as to how they intend to deal with the loss of our money in the safe; bearing in mind that we paid S$60 each for membership fees which we were told would cover insurance.

I am truly upset. At this moment, I supposed I have no choice but to go to Club Med's office in Singapore directly.

IN SHORT, stay away from Club Med Kani; you would be disappointed.

   

Write to Club Med Singapore (or Asia) Headquarters via SNAIL MAIL. Explain most especially that this is your first time in Club Med and that it was your honeymoon. Duly sign your courrier. This is very french, but CM doesn't seem to take emails seriously. Plus, if loss of property is covered in the insurance fees, then by all means you have the right to claim damages.

That and talk to the travel agent who booked your holiday, so you can get a small refund or a discount towards future trips (although it's understandable if you won't want to go to a CM again).

   

Donaldck,

Next time try the Westin/Hyatt/Hilton... you are not right for ClubMed and ClubMed is not right for you.

"first impression of the village ruined by lack of efficiency of GOs"
GO's are not servants. They are there to help you enjoy your vacation not carry your luggage.

Sorry nobody explained the ClubMed concept to you before your vacation.

   

Gotta agree with you Mike. Wow I wonder what complaints some would of had it things were as they were 20 years ago

C'est Bon Pour Le Moral!

   

Mikeski,

I don't completely agree with you on your response. I mean, really try to see what Donaldck wrote from their point of view and not just take one comment and base your whole impression of them on that. There were things I can agree with in their post, and things I disagree with.

First, they had to wait at the airport for TWO HOURS before they left to head off to the village. I would have been very upset by that. Especially being that it was nighttime, and they'd been travelling and were tired. Why a 2 hour wait to first be met and taken from the airport? That's insane! I agree that it is unacceptable!!

Now, on the other hand, Donaldck, a 45 minute wait for luggage is not necessarily a long wait. How many people arrived at the same time as you? If there were others, you are not the only one the GO in charge of the luggage has to arrange for. And maybe the others were on the other end of the village, and you just were unlucky to be the last ones to be brought luggage. Someone's gotta be last. Plus, at that hour, it's not like they have a whole bunch of GOs to take the luggage. I always bring a change of clothing in my carry on, so I'm not stuck waiting for my luggage to go do whatever it is I want to do (even if that would be to go to sleep).

As for the fish, well, this kinda goes with the same philosophy I have with people who get annoyed about the weather being too cold or too rainy. NEVER blame Club Med, nor the GOs for nature! That's definitely out of their power to do anything about. Now if the brochure has the general landscape portrayed very differently than what you got, you can definitely complain about that. But remember, the brochure is only going to show the MOST WONDERFUL aspects of any village. And this is not just for Club Med, this is ANY travel brochure.

As for reserving a slot, every village works the same in that respect. You need to reserve the spot the day that you want to do it. But if you're saying that you were told that, but then in the next breath told that the next day was already booked, well, then that is just wrong. If they're making you reserve your spot on the day you want to sail, they should do that for everyone. But I have a question. Why would you think this is racism?

Some excursions are good, some aren't. I used to work on cruise ships, and I can tell you, it's that way no matter where you go. Some are good. Some are not good.

Where was the safe that your wallet was in? In the villages I've been to, the safes are in the rooms, and you program the code yourself. If that's the case, I'm not sure how anyone would be able to get into the safe and take money out of your wallet. If the wallet was at the reception (as it used to be in all villages, back in the old days) then I would pursue that with corporate. If that happened to you, I'm sure it happened to others, and they will want to follow up on this!

Don't just give up with corporate. Write another letter. Keep at them. I've always gotten a response, eventually. It sometimes takes some time. But write again and say in the letter that you are sending a SECOND email, since you did not hear back, and would expect them to respond.

Good luck and keep us posted!

- Lisa (a.k.a. FlyGirl)

   

Yes, thanks for reminding me CM sucks at times.

It's true. For the many years that I've been to CM, the local admin/sales office hardly took feedback / complaints seriously. The latest was this year when i lost a gold chain at one of the clubs. All i did was emailed asked if they could check with CMV if they found it. But my email was never answered.

The old time i got decent service from the corporate office was when I knew the sales manager ( a fellow countryman) whom I met while visiting CMV with his family.

Well, it seems the CM Maldives 'conspiracy" is true afterall. GMs flying in from Singapore do actually wait for 2 hours after arrival in Male. I believe that the reason is to wait and gather more GMs for the speedboat transfer. These GMs arrive about 1+ hour later from Europe.
Sad to say, the situation remains the same after all these years.

I think it would be useful for the GOs to give GMs an indication of how long your luggage would arrive. My recent trips to Phuket & Bali CM seem to reinforce this - when the GOs did tell us to expect our luggage within x minutes.

Well, i emphathise with donaldck whom i suspect is from the malaysia or singapore timezone. This would mean that they would have been kept awake till about 4 am (singapore time) while waiting for their baggage to arrive and change into something comfy.

I can understand how one would feel if one was on honeymoon !

   

it's really a shock for me to read Donaldck's experiences (or bad luck? )

i had been to cm villages in maldives 8 times (5 times in faru, 4 in kani, there was one overlapped), and it seemed everything went so smoothly when i was there.

if you lost money in your room, you'd better call local police to obtain a report in order to get your indemnification from the insurance company. my personal advice is, put your money in the bank of the village (you can do it at the front desk), the safe in your room is not that safe as you thought.

according to my experience, the waiting time at the airport (to get to kani) is getting longer and longer and the major reason for that is it seems there's always someone lost his/her luggage!!! sometimes we waited till the whole airport is empty (approximately 2 hrs after landing) to take the speedboat to get to kani. i was furious when this kind of thing happened, but i wouldn't blame kani or cm, 'cause it's not their fault. blame singapore airlines or airport ground service people.

as for racism, i think you¡¦d better protest on spot (to the go or chef of the village) instead of complaining it later.

and i think robinson excursion is cool, it's the best excursion in kani. i had been on that trip twice, and i saw a huge manta ray while i was snorkeling on one of the deserted island. in my opinion, the essence of that trip is snorkeling on remote islets, not lobster lunch.

*~ I love Faru ~*