HI,
Last week, I shared with you my ridiculous $5,563.00 mistake that I made while in Bali, and today I have part two (2) of the story for you.
But before I dive into the details, I wanted to check in:
Did you read the case study of how a smart entrepreneur sold $50,000+ worth of event tickets — with just 2,000 Instagram followers? Good I'm glad you did!
In a nutshell: Over a year ago, Sara Christensen and Elise had a one -on- one call to cover her business's Instagram tactics & strategy from head -to- toe... which ultimately helped her SELL OUT her high-end event in just a matter of weeks.
We're talking $50,000+ in ticket sales.
In Sara's words: "Instagram was pivotal in us being able to sell out this event."
...
I trust you read the, case study!?
Alright, alright, alright ( said in the Matthew McConaughey like, voice ).
Let's get on with part 2 of my $5,563.00 mistake. 👇
I felt a drop of anxious sweat dribble down my right temple.
The panic, mixed in with the sweltering Bali heat and humidity, was making the adrenaline pump, my heart rate rise, my hypertensive self and my skin cry from its pores.
Mr. Steve had just delivered the news: his hotel had every right to keep the $5,563.00 that was charged to my credit card for not cancelling my booking in time – according to booking.com's "policy"
< insert eye roll, sigh >. Is it time to goto expedia's Hotels.com?
The time had come to plead my case.
"Mr. Steve, I really appreciate you hearing me out. The thing is, right now I have a charge on my credit card for $5,563.00 which is equivalent to 'bout 58,470,885.00 rupiah. A huge fee for anyone living in any country. I've spoken to my bank about my options and I don't want to move this fee into a dispute case… I want to work with you and the hotel to mutually resolve this. My goal is for us to come to a reasonable understanding ( even if that means me paying a fee for one (1) to two (2) nights ) and I'd be happy to share with my social media followers how great and understanding Artini was in this whole fiasco, a booking.com mixup." < pleading smile >
Mr. Steve looked at me for a few seconds before finally saying, "Okay, Ms Elise. I will help you. It's not fair for the hotel to charge you for all 25 nights. I will talk to my GM and let you know. Are you on WhatsApp?"
Phew. A glimmer of hope.
Mr. Steve and I exchanged digits and off I went, back to hosting my retreat in Bali, shelving this little issue for now and hoping that Mr. Steve would come back with some good news.
A few days later, I got this message in a WhatsApp chat:
"Hi Ms. Elise. After speaking with the GM, the best that the hotel can offer you is a 50% refund and a 50% credit for a future stay at the hotel."
A $2,500 credit when I have no plans of coming back to Ubud anytime soon, I thought.
Nope, sorry. I'm not settling for that.
A few messages later, I had the GM's name and number. I was going to keep climbing up this corporate ladder until I could speak to the ultimate decision maker.
...Turns out, that wasn't the GM.
The GM kept talking about "the owner" – the mysterious 'owner' whose name I never got.
Since I couldn't meet the GM or the 'owner' face -to- face, despite my many surprise visits to their hotel, I decided to write a lengthy email with a proposal of sorts: Artini only charges me for 1 to 2 nights and I, in turn, share their amazing hotel to my online followers in the most positive light possible, including a photo-shoot at their hotel.
My proposal didn't get an answer. It wasn't even opened.
10 days after the charge showed up on my credit card, I was getting antsy.
Artini had stopped responding. My phone calls went unanswered. I was about to leave Ubud for good and I still had no resolution.
I decided it was no more "good cop." Time to bring out the "bad cop," routine.
I phoned up the GM on "WhatsApp" who declined my call and then messaged me to say he was in a meeting. He told me that Mr. Steve will make the final decision.
Ah, so Mr. Steve is the decision maker, after all.
A few stern, urgent texts to Mr. Steve later.... and I had a new offer from him: an 80% refund and a 20% credit.
Done. Sold. I agree. Let's do it.
It's still a $1,000+ charge that I won't get back... but I'll settle and sell that credit to someone who needs a few nights in Ubud Bali, Indonesia. #fingerscrossed, & #toescrossed (I should have stuck to my guns and gotten a full refund (after thought), but decided to cut -n- run, while I was still ahead.) (With Hotels.com it would have been a full refund, since we pay them and they pay the hotel and we're a Gold Member (for every 10 days booked, you get a free day))...
A few days later, I signed into my online bank account and voila – a refund of $4,428 was there on my credit card (and site credit for $1,000, if I returned to Artini. Wherein, I have no intention of going back, perhaps it's transferable!? We shall see.. ( may also need to look at travel insurance or booking insurance ).
To Your Success!
Now this is the part where I go into the "lessons learned" but to be honest, I'm chalking this one up to being one of the many costs of doing business. Maybe, I should get travel insurance. I have to look into that.
I *could* berate myself for missing the very important detail of cancelling my reso in time, but I'm giving myself grace on this one.
I had a lot going on.
International travel. Hosting a retreat. Internal business transitions. Client dynamics etc.
I spend all day, every day focused on the details. And I missed this big one. But it's okay. I'm choosing to forgive myself here, but not forgetting. so I don't repeat the same mistake again.
____
If Instagram is one of those "details" that you've been missing in your business... here's permission to give yourself some grace.
We can't do *all* the things *all* the time, right?
Give yourself grace if you're needing it and know that I'm here for you if you ever have any questions at all.
To Your Abundant Success!
To ease and revenue ,
~ João & JoAn Silva
P.S. Click HERE to read the case study of how a smart entrepreneur sold $50,000+ worth of event tickets — with just 2,000 Instagram followers.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Hey, it's Elise! <hi@elisedarma.com>
Date: Sun, Sep 22, 2019 at 11:29 AM
Subject: re: that (avoidable) $5,563 mistake
To: João <joaoa.dsilva2019@gmail.com>
From: Hey, it's Elise! <hi@elisedarma.com>
Date: Sun, Sep 22, 2019 at 11:29 AM
Subject: re: that (avoidable) $5,563 mistake
To: João <joaoa.dsilva2019@gmail.com>
~ ~ Elise Darma
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