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