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Thread: RE: Trials and tribulations from the County

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Unity, Maine
    Posts
    3,874

    Default RE: Trials and tribulations from the County

    Just doing some venting here.

    ---

    I'll try not to make this a long-winded post, but I just got back from The County and it was one of those good news-bad news weekends.

    The good news . . . I was able to get in several miles of snowmobiling in.

    The bad news . . . We cut our trip short since it was pouring out when we left. (Subliminal message -- Don't go to the Crown Park Inn.)

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    The bad news . . . The (insert really bad swear name here) at Crown Park Inn gave away my reserved room. After a 4-hour ride (9 hour ride for my brother-in-law and his friend) we arrived at 11:30 p.m. (when I made my reservation I told them we would be getting in late) to find the frazzled hotel clerk sitting there and before I could say anything she announced, "We don't have any rooms." No problem thought I, "I have a reservation that I made this morning" to which she said very condescendingly, "Sir, you don't understand. We have no more rooms. We over-booked." Well, excuse me . . . but isn't the whole point of calling ahead to reserve a room on your credit card to insure you'll have a room. Needless to say I was a bit upset (and tired) and the most "help" she could offer was to call up two hotels and tell me they were full and then offer the use of her phone to try calling other hotels (which were also full.)

    The good news . . . At 12 midnight Chief Wiggim (a non-sledder incidentally, but one heckuva nice guy who had a buddy do some geo-caching with him a year or so ago) gets a phone call from yours truly wondering if he would mind having three people stay at his house. I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT HOW THANKFUL I AM FOR FOLKS LIKE CHIEF WIGGIM AND HIS WIFE-TO-BE. They went out of their way to blow up an air mattress, pull out some blankets, etc. Because of the Chief I was able to a) not stay in the truck for the night, b) have a place to stay on Friday and Saturday and c) get some great breakfasts . . . and I even got a good deal on some new wheels for my quad.

    As for the Crown Inn . . . I make this solemn oath. I will never reserve a room there even if it was the last room in town. It was bad enough that they gave the room away, but the issue that really ticked me off was the clerk's attitude.

    ------------


    The good news . . . The trails seemed to be holding up well and on our trip back Washburn was firing up their groomer. As always, County trails are nothing short of incredible.

    The bad news . . . As we left town it was raining hard and when I returned home the 3-4 inches of "base" that was still here when I left on Friday was completely gone. This was almost as disappointing as the fact that the Crown Park Inn apparently routinely "over-books" and gives away hotel rooms.


    -------------

    The good news . . . No one ran out of gas or oil and there were no break downs (except for Mark2 . . . Mark1 being my brother-in-law . . . since Mark2 was about ready to have a melt down when he learned that the Crown Park Inn had given away the hotel room . . . as it was he called the clerk a not-so-nice name).

    The bad news . . . I learned the hard way that it never pays to rush things when you're filling up. Even if there are six other sleds waiting in line to gas up, take the time to make sure everything is all set and ALWAYS make sure the gas cap is on . . . unless you enjoy having your groin area burn as though it was on fire for the next three hours . . . and having to make sure no one smoked too close to you or risk going up in one big Richard Pryor-like fireball.


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    The good news . . . I got a great price on some new ITP aluminum rims which should make my Honda ATV look like a pimp mobile when I put them on this Spring . . . just need some fuzzy dice now . . . and if I ride my ATV up in Caribou I will not be getting a room at the Crown Park Inn since they really, really ticked me off.

    The bad news . . . My wife doesn't know that I bought them and will probably be rational and see them as a "non-necessity." Ah, what does she know . . . heat is over-rated and I could afford to lose some weight so I guess I don't have to grocery shop this week.




    By the way, did I mention how I really dislike the Crown Park Inn?
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  2. #2
    d’76 Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by firefighterjake
    Just doing some venting here.

    By the way, did I mention how I really dislike the Crown Park Inn?

    That really blows man. You handled it much better than I would have.
    My suggestions and that is all it is .

    Call during normal buisness hours when you can talk to some one that is in charge and mention that you where really put out by this situation and ask them what they are going to do to make this situation right. Dont tell them that you had a great night after all. Make it a point to tell them that bad publicity travels fast. If they wont make the situation right by means that make you content then tell them straight up that you will never have anything good to say about them and while you are there in the county drop a few bad words about them.

  3. #3
    d’76 Guest

    Default

    Wait..... Duhh....

    What am I thinking, Your a firefighter. If your not happy with them, Light a non traceable fire and walk away. Score one for Jake and see if the new management is better next year.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Standish, Maine
    Posts
    140

    Default

    Thanks for the info!!

    Their site http://www.crownparkinn.net/ has an email addy hehehe

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Bangor, ME
    Posts
    3,968

    Default

    so the crown royal in the park is a bad idea??? i thought crown royal altogehter was a bad idea, i'm allergic to the stuff... seriously, every time i drink it, i break out in handcuffs.

    heh, yeah, and dave, thats a good idea, jake if ya need help planning that one out i could probably get ahold of some old navy flares (ya could light a fire with 4 balls of magnesium from 400 yards! )

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Solon, Maine
    Posts
    5,965

    Default

    Obviously you didn't book through Travelocity! LOL!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Unity, Maine
    Posts
    3,874

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Hiram357
    so the crown royal in the park is a bad idea??? i thought crown royal altogehter was a bad idea, i'm allergic to the stuff... seriously, every time i drink it, i break out in handcuffs.

    heh, yeah, and dave, thats a good idea, jake if ya need help planning that one out i could probably get ahold of some old navy flares (ya could light a fire with 4 balls of magnesium from 400 yards! )
    One word: cardboard.

    It's the secret to my success whenever I want to burn a brush pile no matter how green the wood is.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  8. #8

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by dave1976
    Call during normal buisness hours when you can talk to some one that is in charge and mention that you where really put out by this situation and ask them what they are going to do to make this situation right.
    Absolutely. I find myself on the other end of these calls once in a while when the people are clever enough to obtain the corporate office number for our hotels. We do EVERYTHING possible to make it right. We always put them up at another hotel free of charge THAT night because we already know we overbooked. If it does happen to slip by and they do call, we comp them another stay to give us another chance. The manager is well aware of the situation and does everything to make sure their stay is an enjoyable one. This type of situation that you experienced is unacceptable. Don't settle for anything short of a couple of comped nights. Let them know the power of word of mouth advertising...

    Did they charge you for the nights as a no-show?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Unity, Maine
    Posts
    3,874

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    Quote Originally Posted by cameoooooo
    Absolutely. I find myself on the other end of these calls once in a while when the people are clever enough to obtain the corporate office number for our hotels. We do EVERYTHING possible to make it right. We always put them up at another hotel free of charge THAT night because we already know we overbooked. If it does happen to slip by and they do call, we comp them another stay to give us another chance. The manager is well aware of the situation and does everything to make sure their stay is an enjoyable one. This type of situation that you experienced is unacceptable. Don't settle for anything short of a couple of comped nights. Let them know the power of word of mouth advertising...

    Did they charge you for the nights as a no-show?
    To be honest one of the biggest reasons I was so upset was the cavalier attitude of the desk clerk who obviously wanted to go home and didn't want to spend any time helping us out.

    I have heard from you and another person in the business (at a snowmobile site) who said that they try not to overbook, but when it happens they offer to put the person up in another hotel free of charge, comp their next stay or even reimburse the person with a free meal, gas, etc. The desk clerk never offered any of these options . . . the only "help" I had was her offering to call two hotels and then handing me the list containing local hotels and phone numbers and telling me I could use the phone in the back office. So much for the "hospitality."

    This is a small hotel so I don't believe there is a corporate office and to be honest at this point I wouldn't want to stay there even if I was given a free week stay. Instead I have taken the liberty to send them a complaint letter (and e-mail) as well as a letter to the Caribou Chamber of Commerce, Aroostook County Tourism Association and Maine Innkeepers Association . . . it takes a lot to get me angry (I've got an Irish temper . . . slow to anger, but when I'm riled I stay angry for a very, very long time), but to quote David Banner, "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Oh yeah, I also posted my not-so-wonderful experience on-line at several forums . . .

    I sincerely hope I'm not charged as a no-show . . . if I am charged I may have to go on a roadtrip with Hiram and Dave . . . and yes, I'm kidding.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Bangor, ME
    Posts
    3,968

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by firefighterjake
    I sincerely hope I'm not charged as a no-show . . . if I am charged I may have to go on a roadtrip with Hiram and Dave . . . and yes, I'm kidding.
    hehe yeah, good joke ( seriously man whenever you "don't" want to go up there i "won't" go talk to my buddy who "doesn't" have a few pounds of black market military grade c-4 that he "wouldn't" sell to me at a very cheap price for the life saving favors i provided to him, but that's another story... you get the idea)

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