HIGH POINT, N.C. — Many of us have a favorite vacation spot. A place you visit almost every year. That spot for Vickie Barts and her family is Myrtle Beach.
“We have been coming down along with extended family probably 15 years, every year,” Barts said.
Through the years, the family vacation has grown from about five to now sometimes more than a dozen family members. Barts and her family almost always stay in the same condo/resort complex, but the units will vary, depending on availability.
A recent family vacation would include almost 15 people, so two units were needed. Barts' daughter booked one for her family and Barts booked the other unit. The condo was reserved and paid for almost six months before the planned vacation.
“This was taken care of well in advance,” Barts said.
'We are sorry, but your reservation has been canceled'
Three days before the family was planning to head to Myrtle Beach, Barts received a call from the resort. It was a call she never expected - a manager had some bad news.
“'We are sorry, but your reservation has been canceled,' I was like no, no, no,” Barts said.
The unit’s owner apparently decided to use it himself or let a friend use it, so the reservation was canceled by the management company. Barts spent several hours trying to get the issue resolved. She spoke with representatives at the resort on several occasions.
“This is not OK. You need to call the owner back,” Barts said.
Barts would also reach out to the Better Business Bureau and News 2 for assistance.
'It's not what I paid for'
About 48 hours before Barts and her family were scheduled to leave, she did hear back from the resort and was told it booked Barts at a different resort.
“I didn’t know where it was, how big was it, was it on the beach,” Barts said.
The unit was about the same size, but it wasn’t really close to the rest of the family and it wasn’t on the beach.
“It’s not what I paid for,” Barts said.
With no time to make any additional plans and wanting to go on the trip, Barts had no other choice but to stay in the unit provided.
'It was directly because of you he was made aware there was a problem'
News 2 called the company about the situation and asked to speak with the CEO of the management company. It took a few days, but eventually, our call was returned. We explained the issue and wanted to understand better how something like this could happen and what was being done.
To our surprise, the CEO had not been aware of the issue but promised us he would investigate. A few days later, he called us back and reached out to Barts.
“It was directly because of you he was made aware there was a problem,” Barts said. “When he called me, we talked about what happened, he was over-the-top apologetic.”
The CEO offered to reimburse Barts for half of the cost to book the condo which was around $1,000. He also offered her an additional night for free the next time they visit.
“I felt that was reasonable,” Barts said.
The family is still planning to visit Myrtle Beach next Summer and tells News 2 they will most likely stay in the same resort.