Woohoo!  I posted yesterday that while I really like (ok, love) the Club Carlson Big Night Giveaway, I was very disappointed that they had posted on their Facebook page that existing reservations would count before the promo launched, only to then delete that post and say that only reservations made after the promotion started on May 15th would count.  This means that some folks now had non-refundable reservations that wouldn’t count toward the promotion.  Somewhat surprisingly, there was actually a fair number of folks who were upset that I had posted about Club Carlson going back on what they said.  However, as I said in that post, I feel if I am going to post good things about companies and promotions, it is only fair to also post the negative things.  Additionally, some folks didn’t know that the “rules” had changed and that their pre-existing reservations no longer counted.

I was also somewhat hopeful that if enough attention was brought to this issue that Club Carlson might do the right thing and at least make some exceptions for folks who had made reservations based on what they had read on the official company Facebook page.  Deals We Like and Loyalty Traveler also wrote similar posts about the issue in the last 48 hours.  Other bloggers and upset customers have also been emailing, Facebooking, and Tweeting them with this same issue.  I want to be able to trust the social media presence from a company, and I wanted them to do what was (in my mind) the right thing after some incorrect information was communicated.

I have no idea what caused Club Carlson to reverse their position, but I am very glad that they did.  Here is what their Facebook page now says:

We would like to apologize for some confusing information about the terms of the Big Night Giveaway. The promotion was intended to be for new reservations only, however we inadvertently communicated it would be valid on existing reservations.

Guest satisfaction is a major priority for our brand. As a result, we have decided that all existing reservations as well as new reservations for stays completed by July 15th will be eligible for the promotion. Thank you for your feedback and continued loyalty. Please visit www.radissonbignightgiveaway.com to learn more.

In my mind, they have now gone above and beyond in counting all pre-existing reservations.  Mistakes happen, and I firmly believe it is how someone responds to the mistakes that really matters.  In this case, Club Carlson has responded very well to the accidental error, and that is what matters to me in the end.  Though it did seem to take a bit of pushing from unhappy customers……

Thanks to Club Carlson, and for all of you who voiced your concerns to them.  Let the bonus points start coming in for everyone!

Thanks to @JeffTheWanderer (aka Indulge the Wanderlust) for Tweeting me with this good news!  Though as he points out, the official terms have not yet been updated, so let’s hope the FB page is correct. 

I posted a few pictures of the Hyatt Lost Pines earlier this week.  I pointed out in that post that we basically had the resort to ourselves, and that trend continued for the duration of our three day/two night stay.  Going in the middle of the week just before summer break was the perfect way to have great weather, affordable rates, and enjoy the resort without any crowds.  There were a good number of business folks there for a conference, but we hardly saw them.  I would occasionally see some groups of golfers, but there were very few people doing any of the activities that we were.  There were a handful of other very nice families, but I could count the number of kids we ran into on two hands.  However, the staff at the hotel was still on their A-game despite the sparse number of leisure travelers.

This is my fourth visit to this resort in the last year, and it has never disappointed me.  On this particular stay, Little C and I were by ourselves during the day while my husband was doing work in Austin.  This was my first time at the resort by myself with her for long periods of time.  She is a very active and opinionated toddler, but this resort just makes it almost easy to keep even a two-year-old happy.  Here are a few shots of the grounds of the resort that highlight how awesome it was to have the resort practically to ourselves.

In addition to just enjoying the peacefulness of the resort, we did a bunch of fun activities.  For families, the availability of activities is one of the core attractions for this resort.  Keep the kiddos busy!  We had planned a pony ride for C, but it was too muddy for the ponies so that was cancelled.  That was a bit disappointing, but we were more than occupied with activities like sidewalk chalk drawing, swimming, an indoor “game room”, and wagon rides.  In fact, she did three laps on the wagon ride due to the light load.

One of our big activities on this trip was a “Mommy and Me” pedicure at the Spa Django that was a Mother’s Day present from Little C and my husband.  For weeks C and I talked about getting our toes painted, and she was very excited.  Of course, it is a little ridiculous for a two-year-old to get her toes painted, but it was also ridiculously fun.  They even had sparking juice in “fancy glasses” for us.  Her pedicure just consisted of a brief foot rub and some sparkly pink polish (as that is all she was interested in), but I got a regular fantastic pedicure.  For those worried that a toddler would ruin the pedicure experience for other guests, there were no other folks there.  Normally they do have a separate “kid’s spa”.

For weeks she had said she wanted blue polish, but when she saw the vast array of color choices she quickly went for “pink sparkley”.

I certainly don’t plan on getting my two year old pedicures on a regular basis, but she did a great job this go round!  Many thanks for the patient and accommodating spa employees who went with the flow and made it a great experience for both of us.

While I was in the spa area, I snapped some quick photos of the adjacent gym.  Like most areas of the resort while we were there, it was empty.

We used one of our Diamond confirmed suite upgrades and had a junior suite.  It is the same type of room we were confirmed into last time we used an upgrade as well.  It is a true two-room suite and it was perfect for the three of us.

The only “hard” part of the stay was when it came time to check-out.  We got late check-out of 1PM and swam right up until it was time to go.  As I was loading up the room, I could not keep my toddler from passing out.  I knew it was nap time and I wanted her tired for the drive home, but I was really trying to avoid having her fall asleep before I could get her in the car.  It is really hard to check-out and manage bags with a passed out 30-pound toddler.  Luckily the bellman and valet helped get the bags and vehicle ready, but I still didn’t have enough arms to manage cashing a check at the front desk (for tips for the helpful bellman and valet as I had run out of cash) and finalizing the bill with a 30-pound sack of potatoes in my arms.  So, judge if you will, but here was the only solution I could find to the passed-out toddler problem.

Yes, that is my toddler on the floor in front of the check-in desk where everyone’s dirty feet go.  Oh the joys of traveling by yourself with a little one.  For the record, she slept an additional 1.5 hours in the car on the way home.  It made for 1.5 hours of peaceful driving – a great way to reflect on an enjoyable mini-vacation.

As you likely already know, Club Carlson just launched a terrific promotion where if you stay one night at a Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, or Park Inn you can earn 44,000 – 50,000 bonus points.  I am a huge fan of this promo, and even hosted an #antislumberparty Twitter party for those who wanted to stay up until midnight to register right when the promo started.  However, I am very much not a fan of an anti-customer stance they have taken regarding reservations made before the promotion started.

Last week on their official Facebook page, Club Carlson was asked this question -

Will the reservation made before May 15 but check in/out during the Big Night Giveaway promotion period, is that eligible for this promotion?

The Club Carlson said -

We don’t want to give away too much information, but to answer your question, yes.

Thankfully Infamous DX saved the screen shot below showing the initial response.

That seems pretty darn clear to me, and given that it was information provided by Club Carlson, it certainly seemed official enough for some to go ahead and make reservations.  As you can see below, after a little while (before the promo launched, and the full terms and conditions were released), that post from Club Carlson on their Facebook page disappeared.  Not a good sign.

Then, when the promo launched, the terms and conditions stated that “Promotion is not valid on existing reservations and is subject to availability.”  Clearly it was not a good situation that Club Carlson had stated one thing on Facebook and another in the official terms, but I know many of us had hopes they would do the right thing and make exceptions for those who made reservations based on the info they received on the Facebook page.  In my view, at the very least they should allow people the opportunity to cancel those reservations without penalty regardless or the regular rate rules.

In some ways, this brings up a bigger question – can you trust a company’s “official” social media presence?  The Club Carlson Facebook page has over 47,000 “likes”, so that is a bunch of people to misinform.  I totally understand that mistakes happen, and that this could very well have just been one employee (or heck, even intern) who made an honest mistake.  I actually even feel bad for whoever it was that posted that misinformation.  However, in my opinion, it is a company’s job to do the right thing when that happens – especially when that error causes people to spend money that they otherwise may not have.  Many family budgets are tight these days, and the thought that someone could have locked in a non-refundable rate for the purposes of this promo only to have that reservation not count, makes me pretty angry.

To be clear, I did not make a reservation before the promo launched, so this post is in no way about my own needs in regards to this promo.  I just don’t think it is right to only post about how great the promo is, and ignore the fact that this issue is being poorly handled.  I know several folks including Deals We Like, Infamous DX, and myself have been Tweeting and posting on Facebook to try to convince Club Carlson to make exceptions for some folks who made reservations based on the info they were provided by Club Carlson.  We have all been met with a polite and firm “no”.  Deals We Like even has a similar post to this one on her site today.  I’m sure posting about this will get me taken off the “Club Carlson Christmas Fruitcake List”, but like I said, if you are going to post the good, in my mind you gotta post the bad.  I still hold out a shred of hope that Club Carlson will reverse their position and make exceptions for those who believed what was posted on Facebook.  I mean, if you can’t trust a company’s official social media presence, what is the point of even having that presence?