Happy holidays

Happy holidays

I and a group of colleagues decided to escape Jakarta and
spend the Easter weekend at Pondok Dewata Seaside Cottage (PDSC)
in Pelabuhan Ratu, where I had stayed on numerous occasions and
had an enjoyable time.

Several telephone calls and faxes later I had managed to
secure five bungalows, three of which requiring an extra bed,
with a special weekend rate and a 10 percent discount, bearing in
mind I was a regular and reliable customer.

However, four days prior to departure the PDSC office
telephoned to inform me that an extra amount would be required
per extra bed, plus tax, that the 10 percent discount was for one
night only and that should we pay our bill by credit card we
would be charged three percent, instead of two and half percent
extra. I stressed that I had already agreed to a rate, which had
been confirmed by fax. Upon reflection this may have been a sign
of things to come but I decided to continue with my "break"
nevertheless.

Sure enough that was only the beginning. Upon arrival, there
were no extra beds in the bungalows, as we had to first confirm
that we would pay the extra costs. When booking I had also
requested a cot, as one couple had a ten-month old baby, which I
had been informed was not available, now it apparently was, but
at a cost, naturally.

We then proceeded to order lunch in the restaurant. This not
only took over an hour to serve, but even then, not all of us at
the same time and some even received the wrong order. It was the
same story later that evening when we came to order dinner,
despite the fact that we had decided to make it a little easier
on the kitchen staff by ordering only Indonesian dishes, even the
sate was raw.

In fact two members of our group, who had waited over one and
a half hours decided to cancel their order due to loss of
appetite. Quite a new advertising angle for PDSC, "When all else
fails, why not try the Pondok Dewata Seaside Cottages diet,
guaranteed to work in losing those extra pounds!"

While killing time I happened to notice the owner and her
group, who entered the restaurant 45 minutes after us, had
ordered, eaten and left within 30 minutes.

Throughout the weekend we were not given clean towels and
three of the five bungalows were not cleaned. Reception even
inquired as to whether we would be extending our stay although we
had clearly stated in our fax how long we would require the
bungalows.

On our last morning we decided to go for a dip in the PDSC
pool, only to find the filter had not been switched on and as a
result there were some very strange "things" floating in the
water. There was no pool attendant and no towels available; and
trying to obtain a drink was almost impossible.

The final straw came when we checked out. For each night, 10
percent tax plus 10 percent services had been added; extra beds
US$ 10 plus plus. Although we had been informed we would not be
charged for the sate, it was on the bill.

After numerous discussions with reception, including the
assistant manager, we did agree to pay the 10 percent tax but not
the 10 percent service charge, for what I believe are obvious
reasons. In desperation we asked if the owner could be telephoned
in Jakarta, to no avail.

Finally, PDSC agreed to drop the three percent credit card
charges, although while we were settling the bill the assistant
manager threatened to call security. Were we going to be forcibly
removed for querying the invoice, or forced to pay at gunpoint?

PIERRE D. HAGENBEEK

Jakarta