VIPRide International, LLC
85260,#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, April 16, 2012
This particular client booked a 3-week long multi-state western United State tour in one our VIP Executive Conversion/Sleeper Coaches with luxurious living room style amenities (a $1,000,000 vehicle) with 2 drivers to take them tour to Utah, Arizona, Neveda, California to see national parks, Grand Canyon, etc. This was booked months in advance thru American Express Travel and our agents worked for months with AMEX agents designing a custom tour for this client.
Less than 30 days to go, Amex agent called and cancelled due to business reasons. In the meantime, we had turned down a $60,000 multi-state political campaign bus tour as well as many other requests.
Our response to the cancellation was we can either reschedule the tour for after the client has taken care of his business commitments or try to re-book with other potential clients in an effort to recover the revenue loss and will issue refund accordingly.
One thing this client failed to understand is that due to the nature of the events these VIP buses are used for, they are typically booked months in advance by political campaigns, athletes, bands, entertainers, etc. A cancellation of less then 30-days to go meant the bus in all likely hood will just sit idle and it will be a complete loss for us and our driver's lively hood, which in fact it did.
Being a customer oriented company, we still wanted to work with the client and find a solution that works for both of us, however while we were in midst of working with the American Express Travel agent on a satisfactory solution, client decided to dispute the charges thru American Express Card, in which case due to our merchant requirements we had to provide all documentation, including contracts, our cancellation policy, and details of our loss to American Express for their review. After American Express reviewed all documentation they sided with VIPRide and rejected client's dispute.
It is unfortunate when our clients have to cancel for whatever reason it may be, however just like any other business such as Airlines, we have certain policies that are clearly stated and initialed/signed by clients to ensure they are well informed of the consequences. As a business we do need to protect ourselves as well.
Lastly, we are still willing to work with this client to offer them any reasonable solution to remedy this situation, however as of today this client has never contacted us directly to give us the opportunity to do so.
Please send any questions to [email protected]