FEATURED COLUMNIST
Travel Troubleshooter
Can I get a refund for my canceled hotel stay in Mexico?
By Christopher Elliott
Bernadette Cieslak’s spring break trip is washed out by the pandemic. But her allinclusive hotel won’t give her a refund, and her online travel agent is powerless to help. Is her $844 lost forever? ••• : I booked a week at the Senses Riviera Maya by Artisan in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, for spring break. The pandemic happened and we had to cancel our vacation. I contacted Expedia and it helped me get a refund for my flights. But the hotel will not issue a refund. An Expedia representative said I should get a refund for the hotel, too. But the hotel will not give me my money back. Interestingly, my brother had reservations at the same hotel. The hotel refunded him. I tried to dispute the charges on my credit card, but my bank sided with the hotel. Can you help me get my $844 back? — Bernadette Cieslak, Hamilton, Ohio ••• f the hotel refunded your brother, it should also have refunded you. Actually, it should have refunded anyone who had to cancel because of COVID-19. On the day you were supposed to fly, the State Department issued a “do not travel”
Q
I
advisory, urging Americans to stay home. You did the right thing by canceling. Most hotels offered a no-questions-asked refund after that, but some tried to keep their customers’ money. At a time like that, you can and should lean on your travel agent to help. But even Expedia was having some trouble persuading Senses Riviera Maya by Artisan to return your money. Why did the hotel refund your brother, but not you? The answer may lie in its current refund policy. It offers the ability to cancel on certain (more expensive) rates but not on all of them. It’s possible that your brother had booked a different rate, which the resort considered refundable. I like your idea of a credit card dispute and am sorry that didn’t work. A credit card dispute is typically the last resort for getting a refund. I’d say you were there. (By the way, I think it’s time for you to find a new credit card. Your bank is definitely not on your side.) You could have reached out to an executive at Expedia. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of Expedia’s customer service managers on my consumer advocacy site, https://
w w w. e l l i o t t . o r g / company-contacts/ expedia-customerservice-contacts/ The next time you make hotel reservations, I encourage you to pay attention to the cancellation terms. If you think you might have to call off your trip, consider a travel insurance policy that will cover your loss.
I contacted Expedia on your behalf. It reached out to the Senses Riviera Maya by Artisan. But the hotel still refused to return your money. Expedia refunded your $844. n ••• Christopher Elliott’s latest book is “How To Be The World’s Smartest Traveler” (National Geographic). Get help by contacting him at http://www.elliott.org/help © 2021 Christopher
Valentine’s Day
ACROSS
1. “You’re the ____!” 5. Horse color 8. Interesting person, acr. 11. * Feeling of the heart 12. Nevada city 13. City in Belgium 15. Use a whisk 16. Greek H’s 17. *Popular Valentine’s Day delivery, pl. 18. *”Love means never having to say you’re sorry” movie 20. Ballpark calls 21. Strong adhesive 22. Greek letter N, pl.
23. Lord’s subordinate 26. Given to drinking 30. Ovine mom 31. Old storage medium 34. Fairy-tale beginning 35. Politician Pelosi 37. Tokyo, once 38. Bone hollows 39. Sky bear 40. Fitted with a name tag, e.g. 42. “Ever” to a poet 43. With more seeds 45. Attic 47. Summer sandwich? 48. Fraternity letter 50. Medieval headdress 52. *Only day more popular than Valentine’s for card giving 56. Like blue sky
57. Walk the Pacific Crest Trail, e.g. 58. Samoan money 59. *Dionysus’ pipeplaying companion 60. Affirm 61. Give off 62. Plays for pay 63. *Color of Valentine’s Day 64. *Lovers’ reunion
10. Part of T.G.I.F. 12. Like an abridged classic 13. Tiler’s paste 14. *”I Will Always Love You” singer 19. Stupefied 22. Us, in Mexico 23. *Cupid’s mother 24. In the know 25. Common thing? 26. Smoke plus fog DOWN 27. Lay to rest 1. Cry like a baby 28. Rocks at mountain base 2. Canyon sound 3. Convict’s weapon 29. *Symbol of Valentine’s Day 4. Conical dwellings 5. Get on juice diet, e.g. 32. Infantry’s last row 6. Opposite of binary 33. Roulette bet 7. Like a gossipmonger 36. *Chocolatier, pioneer 8. Exterminator’s target of the heart-shaped box 9. Change for a five
38. ____ apple 40. Risk something 41. Between eggy and eggiest 44. Feeling worse than before 46. Gave away 48. Thin piece 49. Annoyed 50. Russia’s alternative to caesar 51. Aries or Taurus, e.g. 52. Burn to a crisp 53. MADD member, colloquially 54. Climbed down, as from a carriage 55. Fill beyond full 56. Pharaoh’s cobra © Statepoint Media
Answers on 31 »
www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / February 1st 2021 / 25
