Editor’s Note: The original story was updated to include the full and complete statement from Sandals Resorts.
The decision to spend vacations in an all-inclusive resort located on the paradisiac Montego Bay, in Jamaica, has turned out as a nightmare for an American couple. Using her TikTok account to report that she and her husband were scammed in during their stay at Sandals Resort in December 2021, Alex Robinson’s video (@alexx_robinson) has received over 1,7 million views so far. since the video was posted on May 11. She said she decided to post the video about how she was ‘scammed’ in the resort on TikTok as her last resort after waiting five months for a solution to her problem.
According to Robinson, she and her husband booked just for only one couples massage for $340. However, Robinson revealed that they had been double charged by the resort on her husband’s banking card. In addition, Robison’s card was also charged $680 for the same service provided by the resort. The total charge – $1,360 – is equivalent to four couple massages. “Enough for eight people,” she said on the video.
Firstly Robison tried to solve this problem directly at the resort. But the employees said that this situation would only be reversed if they contact the resort’s customer service.
Then, she contacted her credit card company. It did not work either. According to Robison, the resort argued that the charges were due to the cost of the stay, which was not true, Robbinson said.
With all the fuzz caused and reported on TikTok, followers expressed empathy for the couple. Some people commented that they decided to cancel their stay in the resort because it was creating problems to refund Robinson and her husband.
A spokesperson from Sandals Resort has confirmed the occurrence, saying that the couple was right about the overcharged bill and that they were refunded in February, within 14 days of being notified of the occurrence. See the full statement below:
“Thank you for the opportunity to respond and correct the story Mrs. Robinson shared via TikTok, as she had already received a refund at the time of her posting. Customer service is the foundation of our resort experience, and we will always act in the best interest of our guests.
Following please find a timeline of the events:
– Mrs. Robinson and her partner, Mr. Lee stayed at Sandals Montego Bay in December 2021. While already on resort, instead of contacting the spa, Mr. Lee booked two couples massage treatments through our online portal on his credit card, totaling $680 ($340 per treatment).
– On December 28, the couple enjoyed the treatment however due to a system issue, the online charge was not recognized at the spa and an additional $680 charge was placed on Mrs. Robinson’s credit card, which was the card held on the room for incidentals.
– When the couple realized they had been charged twice upon returning home, Mr. Lee contacted us on January 18, 2022 and we immediately began the process to refund $680 on his card, which was completed on February 1.
– On March 11, although the couple had already received a refund on Mr. Lee’s card, Mrs. Robinson filed a dispute with her credit card; the credit card company ruled in favor of Sandals Resorts on March 28.
– On May 2, Mr. Lee contacted us again to inform us that he intended for the massage to be a gift for his partner and wanted to pay for it himself and asked us to issue the credit on Mrs. Robinson’s card instead. We were happy to make this change on his behalf, which was completed on May 4.
– Upon reviewing the case further, we noticed the couple only used one of the two booked massages and never cancelled the second booking. Although spa treatments are only eligible for refund if cancelled before 24 hours of the service, we extended an additional refund of $340 for the inconvenience of the duplicate charge, as well as 5000 Sandals Select points.
We were surprised to see this addressed on social media as we already corrected the issue, but are confident the charges have been resolved, despite her post.”
