I must admit that i got the feeling that the OP was unhappy with the holiday first and foremost. That she was going to complain any way and just threw the claim for compensation in as an after thought.

I would be very cross indeed if the maid left the door to my room open not once but twice. It only takes one person with an eye for an opportunity and your whole holiday is ruined. Why should a maid who cannot be bothered to do her job properly leave you open to that risk.

The OP may get a token voucher off her next holiday. But at least that would show that her complaint was taken seriously.

That is the main thing that some one has listened to us.

wendywu
I agree with you about the maid leaving the door open, although it's not clear if the door was left WIDE open or just unlocked.
Neither is acceptable but I personally would have been much more annoyed about the former than the latter.

It's not clear either from the OP's posts whether they actually complained to hotel management about their room door being left open.

Cleaners had long left the room when the door was open, it was late on in the day both times.

Door left open, do not care if I am in the Caribbean or not I did not pay nearly 3K in a 5* resort to find my room door left open twice-no excuses for it!!

Although the OP makes the valid point that there is no excuse for housekeeping staff leaving a room door open (I can't see why she makes the point about a 5* hotel holiday costing £3K - if I was staying in basic studios that I'd paid £300 for I would be annoyed if the maid had left the door open) if she didn't complain how can she expect management to do anything about it.

I think we are possibly being a bit harsh on a new member who was very angry when she returned from her holiday, having paid a considerable sum of money for it and felt that she had been disappointed, and who may have posted what might have been a rant in the guise of a complaint in this forum.

She may have worded her posts unwisely, but we are all human and may have done so in the past in similar or other situations.

The points of contention about her post have been made. Let's not discourage new members or new posters, and I am sure that both the OP and any other new members who have read this post will have learned from the points raised along its course.

The points of contention about her post have been made. Let's not discourage new members or new posters, and I am sure that both the OP and any other new members who have read this post will have learned from the points raised along its course.

I second that Alsacienne

100% agree with you Alsacienne, very difficult to step back and take a deep breath when you are cross

I agree to a degree with the comments mde by Alsacienne, shirley h and shrimper but also with keela1eva2 who said:

[In my opinion you have brought this situation about not the people who have tried but obviously failed to give you constructive advice.

The OP got on her "high horse" with fwh who (IMHO) provides excellent, constructive advice on this particular sub-forum.

The facts are that she DID mention seeking compensation at least 3 times BEFORE she said she didn't really mean it.
If she had stepped back at that point and explained that she was angry & jet-lagged and posted in a rush instead of going on the offensive, I'm sure she would have recieved much more sympathetic responses.

I'm stepping back from this thread now as I'm bored with it.

The question in my mind is what exactly do people want or expect when they post. I personally subscribe to very few forums so cannot compare on a like for like basis.

HT is, in my limited experience unique in that most of those who post comments and advice answer the question rather than spend their time commiserating with the person who posts.

As Prettypollycat said;

People 'scrutinise' posts closely as they are going to be offering advice based on the information you provide.

We can only reply to what has been said, we do not make assumptions. On several occasions I have asked if the original post is a rant or a request for help. Not to offend but I am well aware that in some cases the poster just wants to get rid of their frustration. We do try to elicit further information but often the poster fails to give the information, instead replying that we are not trying to assist and often suggesting we are more sympathetic to the TO than them. If they think we are being hard then I wonder how they would/will go on if their case ever comes before a court.

I do believe that the very helpful members of HT have assisted far more people than they have supposedly offended and long may they continue to do so.

For anyone coming here with a problem for the first time there are, in my opinion, some simple rules to follow.

Tell us your story, expect to be asked questions, read and carefully consider the answers, and remember there are always two sides to any story. If you do that then you will have a far better chance of a successful conclusion to you problem.

When you have done all that then don't forget to say thank you and let us know how it finishes. Then put the expertise you have gained in resolving your problem to work and help others here on HT. Remember most of us have already been there before.

fwh

I am not sure how many people have read the OP review! Yes it does seem that they had a good holiday as they speak so highly of many things.
Their room door being left unlocked does warrent complaining and yes the correct place to do this is at the time and to the Hotel.
Their expectations seems to be so high. Many of the issues are so tiny like the fruit etc not being in the room but rather delivered to the room just after they arrived etc etc.
We would all like to live in a perfect world or stay in a perfect hotel but in reality this is an impossibility.

Sue

Yesterday I sent rilou81 a PM just to let her know that Holiday Truths is a great forum for those in the UK and not to let her first experience on here put her off. I told her that I had read posts from her on another forum and believed her when she really just wanted to complain. I suggested she stayed an active member as her caribbean experiences would be really useful for other members with questions.

Keep in mind this is a young lady who has not complained before and has no experience on how to make a complaint or word a complaint.
Alsacienne I think got it right with his post especially when he said " she may have worded her posts unwisely,but we are all human and may have done so in the past in similar or other situations"

This is part of her reply to me :

"I have no desire to get into debates and arguments,
I felt totally bullied to be honest and feel members that all know each other just get on a roll and don't know when to stop, leaving genuine people like me feeling bad. Its not nice."

In her posts on the forum along with everything else she also said:
sept 9th 10:44 "my post is not really about compensation just complaining...I only ever wanted the holiday company to know what happened and the resort to know."
Also her reply to Glynis said "it was never about that"....meaning compensation

I believe we could have given better direction with our answers to give an inexperienced new member more guidence.

Instead... although it was unintended, we made her feel bullied and upset

rilou81 has told me she has now stopped reading the posts on on here but she might return at a later date when she feels less upset.
I hope she does because she has alot of useful knowledge on the caribbean areas she has been to

I agree with Alsacienne when he said :
" Lets not discourage new members or new posters "