I had booked transport from the Ritz Carlton at South Beach to Orlando Disneyland and the pick up time by the bus was supposed to be 6.00am. We waited for more than an hour, the bus DID NOT SHOW UP and Miami Tour Company not only did not compensate us for additional costs incurred, they even REFUSED A REFUND!
Both my young daughter and I waited from 5.45am for the bus, the road was in full view at all times. The doorman at the Ritz Carlton was with us as well looking out for the bus with us on Lincoln Road.
At 6.10am, I asked the hotel reception to call the number provided. The operator called the bus driver and said the bus would arrive in 10 mins.
At 6.25am, still no sight of the bus. The Ritz Carlton reception called again and was told that the bus was enroute and that we should just wait.
At 6.50am, there was still no sign of the bus. The hotel called again and we were told that THE BUS HAD LEFT WITHOUT US!!!
Both we and the hotel staff were all appalled that this could have happened. The staff at the Ritz Carlton were excellent and was even trying to find a way to get us to where the bus was....wherever that may be, but we were told the bus was already on its way to Orlando – WITHOUT US!
At 7.15am, my husband and the operations manager of the Ritz Carlton spoke to the office for a solution. None was offered except to put us on the 2.30pm bus or the next day because the bus left us behind! This was not an option as my hotel and tickets in Disneyworld were already booked and paid for.
My mobile number was on the order form. Both the operations manager of the hotel and my husband left their numbers for their staff to call us back to resolve this matter. We never received any calls. When I wrote to the company a day after, Michelle replied to say it was the first time she heard of the matter.
As a result of the NO SHOW by Miami Tour Company, we had to incur the cost of US$703.30 by hiring a private car to take us to Disneyworld. We were running on a tight schedule and could not afford to lose the day in Orlando as our tickets and hotels were already paid for.
Miami Tour Company claimed that the bus did arrive and picked up 2 passengers from the hotel. However, conveniently, for that particular day:
- it so happened that the bus did not have the GPS
- the passengers that they claimed to have picked up did not have a date or time stamp.
In short, the company had no evidence that the bus was indeed at my hotel.
On my part, I had several witnesses from Ritz Carlton hotel (I had even provided the names of the relevant staff for verification), that we were at the required location for more than an hour with full view of the road but no bus arrived.
I am stunned that, not only did they not compensate us for the extra costs that we incurred, they even REFUSED A REFUND! I would never have thought that this could happen in the US.