Customer Response
11/15/2021
I encourage anyone considering using Isle Blue's services to read the negative reviews on Google Reviews.io and the customer complaints on BBB. After experiencing how Isle Blue deals with customer issues, it felt like a bait-and-switch scheme to me. It started with Isle Blue's misrepresentation of the rental property as a villa (including the pictures advertised on Isle Blue's website that do not match the actual unit) when it is, in fact, a studio. Then, Isle Blue misled us regarding active construction, despite us specifically calling Isle Blue prior to booking to confirm that there would be no construction the week of our trip. Isle Blue's subsequent stonewalling and poor customer service culminated in what I would consider an unethical upsell (or what Isle Blue calls an upgrade to remediate the issues). I do not recommend this company to anyone, and will book with reputable vendors, or directly with the villa operators/owners next time.Instead of acknowledging their role in causing the issues, Isle Blue continues to misrepresent facts in their response to my BBB review and I will address a number of points they made, beginning with their comments about the plunge pool. In their response posted on 10/8/2021, Isle Blue stated they describe the property as a suite with plunge pool. This does not make any sense, because there was no plunge pool at our rental unit, nor did we ever ask for one, or assumed we had one. I will now address Isle Blue's other misrepresentations with respect to (1) upgrade price; (2) construction; and (3) why we did not feel comfortable abandoning the property altogether.(1) Upgrade price. Isle Blue alleged that the client assumed they would have a large oceanfront villa with pool. We discussed at length with Isle Blue prior to booking that we were looking for a villa, similar to the multi-level villa we rented from Isle Blue on our two previous stays in Antigua (e.g., villa Oval). On both of our trips prior to this latest experience, we paid $400/night for that multi-level villa. This villa continues to be advertised on Isle Blue website at the same $400/night rate (note: it appears that villa has been renamed from villa Oval to villa Polaris as of the second half of 2021). You can Google villa Polaris, or locate them on Isle Blue's website, to validate the $400/night price. I think it is unethical to misrepresent that villas start at $750 per night when it is clearly not true. It is becoming obvious that Isle Blue is hung up on money more than anything else. Regardless, Isle Blue represented the rental property to us as a villa, when it was only a studio, with the kitchen and bed all in one small room. The only separate room is the bathroom. To dispel any further confusion for those reading this review, please Google Antigua Kingfish villa 1 bedroom with jacuzzi, and see what results come up. Please see for yourself how Isle Blue labels it as a villa on their website in the URL, headings, webpage source code, etc.(2) Construction. The construction was right in front of our rental unit. The Tamarind Hills pictures Isle Blue uses on their website are taken at an angle (i.e., at floor level) that conveniently does not show the large active construction site that, once you are on-site locally, is obvious and cannot be hidden. The construction was active six days out of the week we were there, from 8am to 5pm. I encourage anyone that wishes to validate this by either Googling Tamarind Hills and reading the Google reviews from the past six months, in which guests describe the ongoing construction, or reaching out to the Tamarind Hills local property management office directly to confirm.It appears that Isle Blue went a step further than just posting misleading photos, by misrepresenting in writing during the booking process that there was no active construction, aside from annual maintenance. Following our complaint on the first day of our stay, Isle Blue added a Special Notice to our specific unit, and no other Tamarind Hills properties, stipulating ongoing construction of new units and amenities. However, in their BBB response to my review, they are dismissing it as some construction that had no impact on their stay since the suite is set a good distance away from this project that was barely active. This is an ignorant response by someone who should not be working in a customer-facing role. Why mislead us by calling active construction, annual maintenance instead, when it has been ongoing for years, with Isle Blue seemingly being aware of it already? In Isle Blues response, they state The client then complained about some construction on the large multi-acre property as the resort builds out a beach bar restaurant. The construction had no impact on their stay since the suite is set a good distance away from this project that was barely active. This is yet another example of ignorance on Isle Blues part and misrepresentation of the facts.We reached out to both the local property management, as well as Isle Blue, immediately upon checking in regarding the construction and misrepresentation of the rental studio as a villa. Isle Blues Villa Specialist only responded to us on the third day of our week-long stay, with the following unapologetic response Thank you bringing this information to our attention and for supplying the photo of a new construction project. I had been lead to believe that the Club House construction was complete however it seems this is not the case. Were working on this and will follow up with you as soon as possible.Perhaps Isle Blue is swamped dealing with other customer complaints that the Isle Blue clerk responding to my review is confusing me with another customer. I intend on posting a review on Reviews.io with pictures. If Isle Blue continues to misrepresent in regard to our comments, I will also upload copies of the email correspondence. The Isle Blue clerk states that The construction had no impact on their stay. By simple fact that Tamarind Hills made a decision to refund $350 for that exact reason says enough about the validity of Isle Blues comment. I understand that Isle Blue wants to shamelessly take credit for that refund, however, their role was merely to facilitate the transaction. Aside from misleading us, Isle Blue took no accountability for the issues they caused.(3) Why we did not feel comfortable abandoning the property altogether. Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the government-mandated 8pm curfew in Antigua at the time of our trip, I feel Isle Blues representation that we did not abandon the property nor affected by any disturbance is callous. They expected the customer to search for alternate accommodations on a small island during COVID, when hardly any businesses were open. Where else were we supposed to go with hotel closures and a daily curfew? Isle Blue provided no help whatsoever... They did not provide outside options, nor did they assist with finding accommodations elsewhere. Why would I, or anyone else, trust Isle Blue to do the right thing and refund the customer's money in the event of having to abandon the property, as they say they would have done? Again, you can read the negative reviews on Google Reviews.io and formal complaints on BBB to get an idea of how Isle Blue treats other customers and refuses to refund money.