Sir,
I’m
sorry, but you note is incorrect.
When
Samantha sent you a list of available dates, you
selected three dates, your first, second and third
choice IN WRITING, then signed and returned the
form. Your first choice was October 18. I have
previously told you IN WRITING that your first choice of
dates, October 18, as shown on the form you completed, was
reserved for you until you wrote demanding a refund. At
that point it was released, as we have told you in writing
previously.
Why
some of the dates are the same as Virgin Vacations? I
don’t know, and frankly, why should anyone care? It’s
probably because they are good travel dates. As I have
told you previously, in writing, we don’t use Virgin
Vacations, and if we did, what would that matter? I’m
sorry, but I don’t understand the fixation on Virgin
Vacations. We have an obligation to provide the trip as
described in writing on the certificate you were given,
which you signed and returned to us. It was also the same
description as was included, word for word, in the program
each attendee received.
Why
you chose to be so focused on suspicions regarding us from
the outset; I don’t know and cannot address. I have
answered each of your emails on an immediate and through
basis. All I can say is that in thousands of travelers,
we have never had any traveler interaction even remotely
resembling this.
We
did not say your October 18 date was or was not available
again. I specifically said it might be, but we could not
check while the vendors were still honoring a possible
refund request. I believe that concept is very easy to
understand.
We
do not have “ploys,” or anything of that nature. For
example, as we have pointed out to you previously, the
time it took our agents to completely assure all elements,
(air, cruise, hotels, etc,) of your trip were available
was the exact same number of days it took you to call your
Foreign Service friend to learn when was the best time to
travel to China. All this occurred 4 months before you
wished to travel, so there was obviously never a time
emergency. I’m sorry that Samantha did not stop
everything else to just handle your trip, but she has
other timely responsibilities…. and I often get rave
reviews of her work.
There
is one and only Samantha. She has communicated with you,
including the telephone call you did not receive because
you turned your cell phone off.
With
all respect, this foolishness has occupied way too much of
our time, and more importantly, the time of the officials
at the Orchestra who have better things to do than read a
whole series of quarrelsome and overwrought emails. We
have gone out of our way to accommodate you, even
arranging a refund for you, and getting you your first
choice of travel dates. This is the last reply we will
make to this ongoing series of emails. We will not
continue to be buggered into endless conversations about
suspicions and complaints. I believe this is clearly a
case of buyer’s remorse and will not continue to engage in
a non-productive series of emails regarding it.
The
situation is very simple. You purchased a trip. We have
been and are prepared to provide that trip exactly as
described, and is taken by dozens of people each year. At
your request, we obtained a refund authorization for you.
It had a time limit set by the vendors. We even arranged
for that time deadline to be extended for you. We
notified you of this in writing in each case.
Samantha
will mail you another set of available dates. Hopefully
it will include your October 18 choice but that is not
within our control. You will know when you receive them.
When you complete it, like every other traveler does, we
will then process your trip, as we do for every other
traveler. If you wish the refund we previously were able
to obtain, we will ensure you receive it even if we must
work with the vendors again to ensure it is given, but
that choice must be made within the next seven days. That
is certainly a reasonable time. We hope you take the
offered refund, as I doubt we can please you in any case.
Those are the two options open to you. Endless emails are
no longer an option.
This
concludes our special handling of this matter, and we will
not respond to further object-less emails, nor ask
Orchestra officials to read them. We will accept an email
regarding your desires for a refund as described below.
Feel free to send all the emails you wish, but we have
moved on to those actions which advance the trip or obtain
the promised refund for you, not argue about the trip or
our agency.
We
thank you again for your support of the Orchestra. You
will receive your new list of available dates within 7
days. If you wish the refund we specified, please send me
an email to that effect prior to 4:00 PM, EDT, on Friday,
June 8, 2012. Time is of the essence in your request for
a refund.
Sincerely,
Wade
West