Here’s an interesting little ditty for you…
 
After I wrote it, I made the joke to my lady, “It’s the blog for the day.” Then, I started to think, why not?
 
I guess I should have seen this coming… Seen it coming, if I were to have been following the signs and all of that kind of thing. It all started when my audience with The Pope got cancelled a couple of months ago. …I wrote about it here. But, I keep my plan for going to Rome in motion. Then, I received like five (or more) messages from Lufthansa that either my flight number or my seats had been changed. I've flown Lufthansa to Europe many times, and this never happened before. But, other than that, all was going along fine. My lady and I were all packed and ready to go. Then, yesterday afternoon, I get a text from Lufthansa that my flight got cancelled. Their pilots apparently went on strike. I was set to leave tomorrow. But, nada. I scrambled to find another flight but no Business or First Class available. I couldn’t get there on time. So, as you will read, I contacted the hotel where I had already paid for my reservations, but they will not give me a refund. Not cool!
 
The following is the piece I wrote for Yelp and Tripadvisor.
 
You know, there’s all kinds of things you can read into a situation like this. There are all kinds of conclusions, mystical and otherwise, that you can find. But, in the reality of the reality, sometimes things just do not go the way you want them to go. And, there’s not a god damned thing you can do about it.
 
It’s kind of like at the very end of the documentary I made about Donald G. Jackson, Diary of a Michigan Migrant Film Worker, where he’s all upset and claims that this one lady says, “Everything happens for a reason.” He then exclaims, “But sometimes, I think that reason is just to fuck you up!”
 
Read on…
 
Beware! This Hotel May Steal You Money!
 
Be warned, this hotel refused to give me a refund for a seven night stay I had booked and paid for several months before when I was unable to arrive in Rome due to the fact that the pilots from the airline I was flying went on strike.
 
As you can see from my reviews about hotels on this site, I travel a lot. So, I understand the way a good and honorable hotel will treat their customers. And, this is not it!
 
To tell my story, approximately thirty-six hours before I was to fly to Rome, I get a notice from Lufthansa Airlines that they were experiencing a strike, and my flight had been cancelled. As this occurred last minute, I could not find another flight to get me to Rome on time. Due to this fact, I contacted River Palace Hotel with this information and asked for a refund. Here is their reply.
 
“Thank you for your message and for informing us about your situation.
 
We are sorry to hear about the disruption to your travel plans due to the flight cancellation. Unfortunately, according to the terms and conditions of your booking, the reservation is non-refundable.
 
However, we can provide you with a confirmation of your booking, including all applicable terms and conditions. You may use this documentation to submit a claim with your travel insurance or the airline in order to request reimbursement of the costs.
 
We understand the inconvenience this situation may cause and remain at your disposal should you need any further assistance.
 
Kind regards,
 
Tetyana Filyants
Deputy Manager”
 
As nice as that message sounds, this means they are keeping approximately two-thousand dollars of my money. I believe we can all understand that is simply the wrong way to do business. There is absolutely no reason that they cannot refund my money. And, no excuse they claim will make their decision just, decent, or acceptable. They are STEALING my money simply because of a situation that was completely out of my control!
 
Keep this in mind, as it may happen to you if you book a room at this hotel.