This girl, Amanda, is attempting to SMEAR my friends, Gecko Trail Adventures, Hotel Banana Azul and Easy Ride Shuttle Service on the internet.
Here's what happened:
We received this email yesterday from some girl named, Amanda. For this post she will now be referred to as, 'The Whining, Complaining, Gringa Bitch' or just 'Bitch' for short. Here's Bitch's email:
"If you are considering using the services of Gecko Trail Adventures, here is my experience, so traveler beware.
They insist that you pay in advance by credit card and they issue a voucher. For example travel is $40 per person from San Jose to Puerto Viejo. My flight was delayed and I called to move the shared shuttle to the next day and they refused to honor thevoucher. They claim when you call them that its because they have independent contractors providing the shuttle service, but I think that's a poor excuse.
This company works with Banana Azul in Puerto Viejo. I strongly recommend avoiding them. Of course the best way to not get ripped off is to not pay companies in advance, but to pay cash for services rendered. This was a special circumstance, my brother's honeymoon, so I wanted to make it hassle free for him and pay everything in advance. I have learned my lesson with Gecko. I hope you will choose not to use them and go with a more reputable provider."
I won't bother you with the details but the bottom line is, 'Bitch' didn't read the cancellation policy of Easy Ride Shuttle Service and tried to switch shit up last minute and fact is, Gecko Trails did try to accommodate but it was just too last minute. Therefore, no refund. Could you imagine trying to run a shuttle service where people were attempting to change the schedule last minute... and then demand a refund when things don't go their way? And then have the audacity to threaten a 'battle' on the internet by emailing everyone associated with said event (like us) and attempting a 'character assassination' on sites such as TripAdvisor?
First and foremost, we LOVE constructive feedback and it is VERY much appreciated but what we don't like is when people don't take responsibility for their irresponsibility and attempt to BLAME others for it... and then 'threaten' when they don't get their
way.. Since we work exclusively with Gecko Trail Adventures because we LOVE them, we happen to know they go OUT of their way to make things right, sometimes breaking their own rules and policies in order to do so. *We've got countless emails praising Gecko Trails and thanking us for recommending them, this is the FIRST negative one in over 14 months. So, when Bitch attacks them and thinks we will automatically back her without finding out the facts (which we did), we take it personally. Bitch may as well of called MY mom a bitch. Oh, I almost forgot, she also mentions one of our favorite hotels in ALL of Costa Rica, Hotel Banana Azul in Puerto Viejo,like they should be avoided because they're associated with Gecko... BITCH PLEASE
Please, go on TripAdvisor or other websites that post reviews: Nine and a half times out of ten, both Gecko Trails and Hotel Banana Azul receive glowing reviews, hopefully making Bitch's gripe, irrelevant. But yes, I'm sure both have screwed-up in the past and when you work with people EVERYDAY, that's inevitable but in the overall BIG Picture- both are top-shelf companies and go out of their way to please and make things right.*Yeah, follow Bitch's advice and tell the Shuttle Service you promise to pay them when you see them, then let me know how that works for you. Credit Cards/PayPal are pretty much used universally to 'book' things and furthermore, Cancellation Policies are also pretty much the same in the travel biz.
I'll probably be accused of being too mean to 'Bitch', but trust me, I've seen all the emails and I just don't like her threatening manner and besides, if my mom happened to be a bitch, I would admit to it. But I'll bet anything Bitch is a bitch at a restaurant.
Here's our VIDEOS of Gecko Trail Adventures and Hotel Banana Azul in case you never saw them:
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