The Hotel
Actually, it’s more like a love motel.
Bonnie, mom, sis & her 2 kids went to Ipoh to attend a birthday dinner last weekend. We arrived in separate cars at separate times and that wouldn’t have been a problem for most people, but as Clyde says, it’s always a drama for Bonnie.
Sis and kids arrived first and rented a room at what looked like a basic, simple hotel that turned out to be awful and haunted by morons with brocolli for brains. At RM89 per night, I expected a pretty decent bunk.
For starters, when I arrived I couldn’t get sis on my mobile because of coverage problem. So I asked the receptionist which room my sis was staying. It took 3 attempts before she got it right. And then I asked if we could get a room on the same floor for convenience sake and she said the floor was fully booked. So, we opted for another floor and I paid RM100 deposit in cash. I was told the remaining change will be returned to me when I check out.
We got the room card, went up and settled down. I called sis and got through. She says she pre booked a room for me. Hmm... why didn’t I know that?
I called reception from the room phone and explained the situation to some girl (whom I assumed was girl no. 1) that I am moving to my sis' floor and that I will return the key card asap. On normal circumstances, though I may not have uttered the word ‘cancel’ or ‘checkout’, I assume people will take “changing my room” as that.
Anyway, the room was horrendous because:
There were no air con controllers because, “Sorry miss. We only have one air con controller for the entire floor.” So that means everytime I wanna adjust the air con I have to call reception desk izit? ”Yes miss. This is our hotel procedure.” WTF.
Guess what used to be placed here?
Questionable stains all over the carpets
More stains
Hole-in-one, or better known as the bedsheets
I got my room card from sis and settled down. When we went out later, girl no. 1 was on the phone so I placed the key card on the reception desk.
The next morning, we checked out. Girl no. 2 said we have to pay for 3 rooms. Why? Apparently I did not ‘check out’ of the other room yesterday. I said I did and she said it was not registered on her pc. Like hell I care about their computer system. They tried to get clarification from girl no. 1but she couldn’t be reached. Sis and I argued with girl no. 2 and 3 for a good 30 minutes before they called their manager, whom was conveniently on leave. So a hotel can run without any supervision? Girl no. 2 poh peh-ed with manager and told us we still had to pay for 3 rooms. If post their ‘investigation’ that I had indeed cancelled the 3rd room, they will bank in our extra money into our bank account. But how can you trust someone who can’t even get room bookings right to have your best interests in mind? Sis had paid RM250 deposit in advance via credit card so by hook or by crook, we have to get this right. I spoke to the manager over the phone and he was rude, unhelpful and unreasonable. We were both so hot-headed so we didn’t hear each other out. I suggested to him that why don’t he give me the hotel’s bank account number so I can bank in the balance? We didn’t trust him just as he didn’t trust us. He also refused to give us a black and white. The fact that girl no. 2 checked my former room and found everything clean, intact and untouched is not a 'proof' that I did not spend the night there. FFS.
We did not reach a truce and we suggested one of his girls make a report at the polic station with us. He refused but he said he can’t stop us from doing so. In the end, sis called the police to come over so we can settle this or at least get a black and white on the account banking arrangement.
The cops came, spoke to the manager on the phone and advised him to get his fat ass here to talk to us in person. Mr Manager refused, saying he’s in Kampar. So what? Kampar to Ipoh is like driving from PJ to KL. Big black , hairy deal. He instructed the girls not to give their statement and the cops said they can’t do anything because this is not a crime or police matter. He advised us to settle this with the hotel proprietor. We said we would, if only he show up with his ugly mug.
In the end, we did not make a report, since the cops said they don’t wanna be involved. I got back my change. Sis cancelled her credit deposit and paid RM89 in cash and we left. The whole circus took about an hour to finish performing.
The day after our departure, girl no.1 called and insist she did not speak to me about my cancellation. Sure, but who did I speak to? The headless horseman? Scooby Doo? She said “Kita tak boleh tuduh antara satu sama lain so kita bereskan bil ini dengan night syif kita.” Whatever that means, coz I told her I will not pay for something I did not ask for. She aint getting no sympathy points from me. Not her or her malau manager.
