What's up with Desire Management?

[desireaddict]

The upswing in pricing has been discussed here.
Capitalism says you charge as much as the market will bear.
But we've had a couple other unfortunate experiences that concern me.

After getting home following our Sept trip to DRM, there was a new charge of over $900 on our credit card posted on our day of departure.
We made a deposit on the day of booking. We paid in full upon arrival. There should have been no other charges.
I have been nearly a month disputing this through the credit card company and cannot get a refund from the resort.

Despite that.......I was about to book for January.
Pretty steep rates (peak season) but they have been advertizing 15% off for Int'l Swingers Month if booked by Dec 1.
Today the promotional discount is gone when you go to the booking page, tho still there on the promotional page.
I called reservations and they say they cannot honor it if it doesn't "pull up" on the reservation section.

It just doesn't seem the way to build customer loyalty.
We've been to the various Original Resort properties nearly 20 times.
Trust me, if there was any other such place....or if Hedo II would do some serious upgrading......

Anyone have the problems of erroneous charges, overcharging, etc?

[CokeMann]

The ISM promo for Desire RM posted on the forums works, just tried it .....

Desire Riviera Maya Promo for ISM - Note: For January 2015 only

[EmptyNesters]

Trust me, if there was any other such place....or if Hedo II would do some serious upgrading......

Have you seen the newly remodeled rooms at Hedo II? The ones that they used the Desire Pearl designer for. Have you tried the food in the past two years?

[desireaddict]

Trust me, if there was any other such place....or if Hedo II would do some serious upgrading......

Have you seen the newly remodeled rooms at Hedo II? The ones that they used the Desire Pearl designer for. Have you tried the food in the past two years?

A dozen trips to Hedo III, but only have been to Hedo II on one occasion, although I say "twice" -- first and last time.
It was a dive and frankly the crowd was much to aggressive (I realize the crowd changes every week).
Plus the single local men they allowed in on day/night passes were offensive.
It was always a "Cash Cow" for Superclubs, as it likely is for the new owners, so I suspect change will be slow IF they have ANY incentive to do much change.

Have you been recently and seen some improvements?

[desireaddict]

I just realized that out of about 17 or 18 trips to DRM & Cabo, we've only had troubles with erroneous credit card charges when we booked directly with the resort recently (twice). Every other time we have booked through a Travel Agent. I'd suggest having a TA as the middle man. JMO (I'm not a TA)

[HedoAntique]

Hi Desireaddict,
We had a similar experience with about a $200 charge for an erotic massage we never had. We noticed it the day we were leaving. I remembered from other posters suggesting that any dispute be settled while you're there. We did and all seemed fine. On the next credit card bill there was the $200. A call to Desire and the credit card company seemed to straighten it out. You can imagine the feeling when the charge appeared again on the next bill. That's when a call was made to Desire telling them that we were considering fraud as a motivation and would make sure the credit card company considered that too. With that the problem was resolved. These kinds of things shouldn't happen, but worst of all, it makes the place we like so much look very bad.
Good luck and don't give up.

[CokeMann]

Anyone have the problems of erroneous charges, overcharging, etc?

Yes erroneous charges happen. We where at Desire all last week and at checkout time there was a erroneous charge on our bill for a beach bed rental that we didn't use.

If you are onsite it is very easy to correct since any additional/extra things you order on site you have to sign a receipt for - ie any extra charge food/beverage, any spa service charged to your room, etc. and are collected and physically added to your guest billing package.

At the front desk these receipts are part of your guest billing package and when I indicated that we did not use the rental beach bed we had been charged for, they looked at the attached receipt and realized that it was not my signature on the receipt for the rental of the beach bed - the erroneous charge was immediately removed - btw they where very busy with checking our 45+ couples but the issue was resolved promptly.

[desireaddict]

. . . . . worst of all, it makes the place we like so much look very bad.

HedoAntique, I couldn't agree more!
The fact that you're trying to dispute something with your bank card company that happened in another country and correspondence is in a different language just complicates things even more. If the dispute were with a USA based travel agent, I suspect you have much greater protection under the law and the terms of the credit card agreement.

Considering that this happened to us twice -- the only two times we actually made our payment directly with the resort while in Mexico -- tells me that either 1)there are some dishonest things going on there, or 2) I should run out and buy a lottery ticket. How many guests might completely overlook such additional charges, esp when hubby & wife might both be using the same card.

Yes, it makes the place we like so much look very bad.
Getting f**ked AT Desire is a totally different thing than getting f**ked BY Desire.

[EmptyNesters]

Trust me, if there was any other such place....or if Hedo II would do some serious upgrading......

Have you seen the newly remodeled rooms at Hedo II? The ones that they used the Desire Pearl designer for. Have you tried the food in the past two years?

A dozen trips to Hedo III, but only have been to Hedo II on one occasion, although I say "twice" -- first and last time.
It was a dive and frankly the crowd was much to aggressive (I realize the crowd changes every week).
Plus the single local men they allowed in on day/night passes were offensive.
It was always a "Cash Cow" for Superclubs, as it likely is for the new owners, so I suspect change will be slow IF they have ANY incentive to do much change.

Have you been recently and seen some improvements?

Yes I have seen it firsthand. I was there the night the new owners took control. The following day, their new head chef started Chef Anthony Miller. They brought him in from Dallas. You can read all about him online, see his awards and watch his videos. Food taste change the day he started. Now, over two years later, he has vastly improved the food. One night in February, the buffet included roast suckling pig, roast quail and vegetable risotto all on the same night. Oh, they still grill lobster tails every Friday night. The new rooms are wonderful and I dare say better than any room at Desire RM.

The new owners are longtime guests. One of the owners put up $40M USD to buy it and another $10M USD for repairs and renovations. Since our first visit in 1994, we have never had problems with any single men, local or otherwise.

[SJCrazy]

Getting f**ked AT Desire is a totally different thing than getting f**ked BY Desire.

Forum quote of the year!

[desireaddict]

Getting f**ked AT Desire is a totally different thing than getting f**ked BY Desire.

Forum quote of the year!

Gotta admit, that does make me smile about the whole mess a bit.

But as a precaution, I'll never book direct with the resort again (USE A TRAVEL AGENT) nor give them a credit card for deposit. (CASH ONLY). It's hard to write it off as coincidence when it's happened twice now. Most concerning is it's been over 6 weeks and still no credit.

Life is Good!
DA

[jackie]

Hi,
How much is the cash amount for the deposit?

[Gemini Rose]

We've booked all 8 of our visits online directly with the resort and have never had any issues.

[desireaddict]

Hi,
How much is the cash amount for the deposit?

I don't know since I've yet to do that.
Obviously a credit card is so much simpler and you assume so much safer.
I can totally ignore an erroneous charge on one occasion -- it can happen.
The first time it was just a few hundred bucks.
Someone accidentally gives wrong room number at the spa or whatever.

Most recent event was almost $1000. How does that happen?
I used two different credit cards - one for the deposit over the phone and a different one for the balance upon checking in.
It was the card I had used over the phone that had the disputed charge.
And once again I'd just say "Shit Happens", but how can you excuse them not correcting it yet after SEVEN WEEKS?
From now on, I'll have a replacement card issued with a new number after we return from international destinations.
This kind of thing really puts a damper on all the great memories we brought home. Still............

Life is Good!
DA

[SJCrazy]

If your bank has good customer service, you'll never have to worry about credit card deposits or unauthorized charges. Cash deposit? They can take that in a heartbeat and there's nothing you can do about it.