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STAY AWAY FROM CHEAP CARIBBEAN AND THE GRAND SIRENIS! Below is the letter I sent to the president of Cheap Caribbean, Jim Hobbs. I received a letter back from a supervisor of customer service that had so little concern for their guests it infuriated me enough to expose the situation online.

Please, please, please...if you want an enjoyable vacation, stay away from the Grand Sirenis and NEVER use Cheap Caribbean to book.....here is what happened:

I am writing to inform you of the disastrous experience I recently had with your company. Unfortunately, this was our honeymoon and turned out to be a nightmare instead of what should have been an enjoyable and relaxing time for us. My booking number was 3013****.2. We booked our ground transportation through Cheap Caribbean. When we arrived at the airport we became aware that you have contracted this out to Olympus and no longer handled this in house. (Yes, this is the fourth time I have used your company!) Olympus promptly informed us that we were not on their list of approved vouchers and could not transport us to our hotel. After waiting over an hour they agreed that the voucher was valid and shuttled us to the Grand Sirenis. This hotel, the Grand Sirenis, is listed on your web site as a 4 star hotel. Upon arrival we came to discover that it is barely a 2 star at best. The grounds were unkempt and there was trash everywhere. We were taken to our room and upon entering you could smell the strong odor of mildew. Apparently the floor was wet due to the air not being on and moisture had built up significantly. As soon as I entered the room I fell flat on my tailbone and still have bruises. After being in the room for about 20 minutes we decided to try and make the best of this situation, sprayed the room, turned on the A/C and went to get something to eat. The buffet service not only left a lot to be desired, but we were met with curt rudeness when we asked for a glass of water. He couldn’t be bothered with your guests apparently and yelled at us to go out to the bar and get our drinks??!!! He finally brought us water after about 20 minutes, at a buffet where there were no more than 25 people. Disgusted with the burnt and/or dried up food we decided we may be better off ordering room service. Upon entering the room, the floor was still wet and the moldy mildew smell was still strong. There was no spray that was going to rid the room of this. We turned the water in the bathroom sink to discover that it was dark yellow. Thinking this might be an anomaly we turned on the Jacuzzi tub. Brown chunks that looked almost bloody came out of that faucet and was still dark yellow. We thought if we let it run it would clear itself up….an hour later, dark yellow-brown chunks still flowing. At this point we were so tired and disgusted with this hotel, all my husband wanted to do was lay down and figure out what we were going to do to salvage our honeymoon. The T.V. was not plugged in so he moved the entertainment center to plug it in. Any guess what we found? MOLD growing on the unit and the walls. I sat down on the bed to cry only to find the sheets and mattress WET from the moisture and mildew. There was mold growing on the curtains, the walls and the furniture!!!! Oh, and as for the room service….we ordered and were told 30 minutes. After two hours passed we still had not received our order. By this point, we are trying to get in contact with somebody from Cheap Caribbean. After being on hold for 28 minutes we finally get through and are transferred to Pam at the Help Desk. After explaining the situation to Pam she started to work on moving us to another hotel, and told us the new hotel was the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda, a 5 start resort. The beauty of that is that we had to pay out of pocket $37 to the taxi driver because Olympus would not accommodate. We asked Pam not once but twice about the arrangements from the hotel back to the airport at the end of our “honeymoon”. She assured us that is was being taken care of. Any guess where this is going? NO transportation!! The day before we departed I thought it prudent to double check Cheap Caribbean’s assurance that we would indeed have transportation. The gentleman from Olympus told us that we were NOT on their list for transportation back to the airport and that he didn’t have time in his schedule to get us there. After much prodding he “squeezed” us in. We now have a cell phone bill of $150 in international calls, trying to get through to Cheap Caribbean. Our total INITIAL hold times totaled 42 minutes!! How utterly unacceptable. Pam was nice enough to try and call us in our original hotel room, trying to save the cell phone costs. However, even she was met with rudeness from the Grand Sirenis. My husband and I actually went to the lobby and requested a room change, explaining our issues. I told the gentleman at the front desk that I had fallen due to the wet floor. He told me I SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL!!! Is this not the hotels fault in the first place?! He then promptly told us we could not have an ocean front room????? We didn’t ask for one! We simply asked for a room without mold and mildew and chunky yellow-brown water. He told Pam the same thing he told us. “NO….and all our rooms are the same” And THIS is what Cheap Caribbean calls a 4 star resort? While at the Blue Bay we were harassed with DAILY phone calls from time-share people. The first lady, Lisa, even went so far as to lie and tell us that she was the one who could arrange our ground transportation to the airport but we needed to meet her in the lobby at 4pm. After her “pitch” I politely told here we were not interested. She nagged on for about another 10 minutes before I interrupted her asking for our ground transportation information. At that point she told me she couldn’t handle that and I would need to see another representative. Nice….very nice. It got to the point that we were dodging them in person and via phone. So much for relaxing. The day of departure the van driver was late…ok, fine. At least he picked us up. It would have been even better if he had not been intoxicated and/or asleep at the wheel. He was driving off the berm of the road, almost into shrubs and bushes. Then he would correct himself….and drive straight down the middle of the two-lane highway!!!!! After this happened a few times my husband said something to him. He literally screamed at us that he knew what he was doing! I am assuming he doesn’t care much for paying guests either? Upon returning to the States I called Cheap Caribbean, again being on hold for 21 minutes before an agent finally picked up. I was informed by your agent that she could not transfer me to a manager…and I quote “they won’t take your call until you try and resolve this with me first” . I informed her that this was not acceptable and for her to let her manager know that either she would take my call or I would promptly go over her to somebody at the V.P. level. After being on hold again for another 12 minutes, she told me that her manager said I would have to fill out a form that they would email me…she wouldn’t even take the call!? The young lady went back to her supervisor with my third request to speak with somebody. Another 10 minutes or so and Alyssa Sheppach finally takes my call. That sure was a lot of work to get any level of service. I have reviewed your website information on both hotels. BOTH are 4 star resorts. However, the Blue Bay 4 nite stay is $499 and the Grand Sirenis is $699. So I am to understand that I paid more for, in reality, a 2 star, was transferred to an alleged 5 star that turns out is a 4 star…..and paid more? I do appreciate the help that Pam offered my new husband and me, however, there must be retribution. While most people will remember their honeymoon with happy memories, ours are filled with disparagement, frustration and regret. Please let me know how you will be addressing this incident.

Location: Columbus, Ohio

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Guest

i am havinfg the same exact problem as you , it was a mission to speak to a supervisor, i had a horrible experience at a resort and they could not care less,,,, unexceptably discusted!

Guest

Stay away from CheapCaribbean! I booked a family trip to Jamaica with Cheapcaribbean only to find out the night before the trip that they listed my 9 year old daughter and 4 year old son as infants.

They advertised the trip as being an ALL INCLUSIVE (flight and hotel) but failed to leave up to it. I was left scrambling with Jet Blue to find seats for my kids. I had to pay almost US$1600 more for the flight and hotel. I found out once we arrived in Jamaica that many customers had similar issues with CheapCaribbean.

I called the company's customer service and the person on the phone told me that he could not help me after midnight because their system shuts down at 12am which is very strange! I asked for the company to reimburse the additional charge I had to pay but I have not received any money so far.

Guest

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Guest

cheapcarribean is a rip off! you can book your own flights and hotels for alot cheaper! 60% lot cheaper!

Guest

I also had a bad experience with Cheap Caribbean. Please go to Yelp and write review!

They are a rip off and cost me over $1200 to cancel my trip which should have cost $350.

:(

Guest

wE LOVE gRAND sIRENIS...FAMILY OF FIVE, LOVE THE POOLS, KIDS LOVE TEH ICE CREAM BARS...DONT GO IF YOU DO NOT LIKE TO WALK...PROPERTY IS huge

Guest

My comment pertains to Yolanda. I definitely would also be bummed if the prices went down on a trip that I booked.

However, you are not quite sure you know what you are talking about and so I do not agree with you slandering CheapCaribbean.com\'s name because they are a GREAT company. I and everyone I know travels with them all the time and we have never had a problem with them. From your comment it is determined that you are not an experienced traveler. To start, a sales agent at an online travel company such as CheapCaribbean.com would have absolutely NO clue if prices are to decrease in 2 weeks or even 1 hour after you made your booking.

It is true that usually closer to one\'s travel dates the prices go up. CheapCaribbean would not have any control over airfares since it is common sense that they do not own the airline or fly the planes so they in no way can make the up prices for the flights. Sorry but you can\'t blame CheapCaribbean for the prices decreasing. Additionally, you should have purchased travel insurance just in case your dates needed to be changed.

Changing dates is not something that can or should be done so easily just because you say so.

Airlines are extremely strick ever since September 11th and I am VERY glad that they do not allow people to make changes to their flight schedules so easily. So, what it comes down to is that you are just being very dramatic and throwing a little hissy fit because you did not get what you wanted.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-198588

hissy fit? what's that?

Guest

I love cheapcaribbean.com, their customer service reps are so helpful and do their very best to help out in every situation. I would recommend them to any one of my friends or family.

I would recommend to people that are having problems with their hotel choice to do their research before booking a hotel you have never been too.

And make sure you verify all of your information is correct. Have a wonderful vacation!!!!!

Guest

I LOVE CHEAPCARIBBEAN.COM!!!!! MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS ALWAYS USE THEM AND WILL CONTINUE TO FOR ALL OF OUR TRAVELS.

HERE IS A HELPFUL TIP...TRY DOING YOUR RESEARCH ON A RESORT LIKE VISITING SITES SUCH AS TRIP ADVISOR BEFORE YOU MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO STAY THERE.

THEY ARE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES SO IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO PUT OUT THE EXTRA MONEY FOR THE BEST OF THE BEST THEN EXPECT SOME PROBLEMS. CHEAPCARIBBEAN.COM IS HERE TO STAY!!!!!!!!

Guest

Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya was the worst vacation I have ever been on. Horrible beach...

sand is rocky and difficult to walk on. Our room had water in it, freezing cold, no warm water, limited tv channels.

Guest

I booked another hotel, but had a bad experience with CHEAP CARIBBEAN even before leaving on the trip. Here's the story:

I'm VERY unhappy with CHEAP CARIBBEAN because one of the reps lied to me. I booked a package to Barbados first week in July at a cost of $1861 for travel on 9/7/09 for one week as a birthday gift to my Mom who will be 85 years old on our departure date. I commented to the rep that as time got closer, the prices would go down. The rep's response was that as time got closer, the prices went up. SHE LIED! One week after booking with CHEAP CARIBBEAN, the price went down by $100+ and two weeks later the same package is down by $700! I also called to ask a change of dates to leave 2 days earlier to return by 9/10 to take a State Licensing Test for which I received notice after the booking. No dice! Now, I have to wait 12 months before I can apply to take the test again!!! I know the conditions were in place when I booked, but whatever happened to flexibility with a frequent client so as to maintain loyalty. I WILL NEVER, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN USE or RECOMMEND CHEAP CARIBBEAN -- They are a cheap operation and they have certainly lost a good, regular client!!!

If enough people who agree with these posts, simply pass the word around not to book with CHEAP CARIBBEAN, as I am now doing, this would definitely make management implement a change in corporate responsibility. I am telling my story to everyone I know and even to strangers with whom a conversation develops.

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