How you handle adversity will define you

[mjmjr25]

Amazon sent me an email, "Your subscription for [item] is not currently in stock. We apologize for the inconvenience. You will not be charged. We will notify you when the item is back in stock if you would like to continue the subscription."

Conversely, I went to cancel our trip to Wyoville as my employer is not allowing out of state travel (we can travel, but face a mandatory minimum unpaid 14-day quarantine if we choose to travel out of state). We were going to the Everglades and Dry Tortuga for spring break.

Went to cancel on VRBO - the property owner agreed and refunded his portion, VRBO will not refund their portion, $275 worth as I did not purchase travel insurance.

That's fine - i'll see if my credit card will fight it, if not, it is what it is. Here's the rub - they literally CHANGED their Book with Confidence Guarantee to include the following phrase: it does not cover cancellations due to events outside of our control such as disease or government actions.

The epitome of tacky and I won't us them again (owned by Expedia if you didn't know...).

 

[RAZO]

Yea, that's some bullshit right there.

 

[evil wasabi]

So no force majeure? Interesting.

Hope the credit card company can talk them some sense.

 

[LoneSage]

Hang tough, mj.

Everyone will need to make sacrifices for the coming month.

My grandfather, my last grandparent, died while I was contemplating coming back home.

Yesterday I felt vindicated in my decision to stay here as an outbreak has occurred in America, and I could have contributed to it if I had come back.

 

[evil wasabi]

Hang tough, mj.

Everyone will need to make sacrifices for the coming month.

My grandfather, my last grandparent, died while I was contemplating coming back home.

Yesterday I felt vindicated in my decision to stay here as an outbreak has occurred in America, and I could have contributed to it if I had come back.

Sorry for your loss. I would ask if you were close but I don’t think he lived in China.

 

[LoneSage]

We were very close. We were neighbors when I was a child, and when I visited home in 2016 we reconnected. Last year when I visited again, he moved into my mom's house as his health deteriorated (he was 91, but just had trouble walking and was sleeping most of the time, still mentally sound). I feel very lucky to have spent every day with him, and during that time was able to confirm his direct lineage to a famous architect (he was uncertain if he was his great-grandfather or great-uncle) which brought closure. I video called in late January to say I was coming home, but as the situation worsened I realized there was a possibility I could get the virus and unknowingly transmit it, so I had to make a tough decision for the benefit of society and my family. I feel guilty that I was not there for my mom when she needed me.

No one needs to say condolences or anything, I don't want to steer this thread into that direction, I'm just illustrating what needs to be done during this global pandemic. No one thinks it's a big deal until it happens to them.

It has been a very, very tough 40+ days living alone, but starving the virus out is the only way to defeat it. Props to mjmjr25 for making one of those hard decisions.

 

[rarehero]

LS, I'm sorry about your grandfather. Please accept my condolences.

 

[rarehero]

Mjmjr, I'm not advocating the business practice that VRBO did, but I know they laid off 3k workers. A majority of them here in Austin. Good luck with the working with the credit card company, it sounds like your best recourse.

 

[RAZO]

Sorry to hear about your Grandpa bro. 91 is a good long life. Bet he had some good stories to tell.

 

[Karou]

Interstate travel banned by an employer...

Didn't it use to be a mild infection?

 

[Heinz]

Sorry for your loss Sage, mine died a few weeks ago also. Sad times indeed.

 

[Lastblade]

Sorry LS, don't beat yourself up over it.

 

[fake]

Wait, your employer can mandate an unpaid quarantine if you travel on your own time? Is that legal? I mean, it's the right thing to do in this case, but...it seems weird.

Edit: Sorry for your loss Sage. That must've been a tough decision. Glad you were able to talk to him via some modern technology.

 

[evil wasabi]

Wait, your employer can mandate an unpaid quarantine if you travel on your own time? Is that legal? I mean, it's the right thing to do in this case, but...it seems weird.

It does feel a little classist for the wealthy to protect themselves by mandating that people not work, or WFH, when many hourly employees cannot simply WFH, so they just go without money, and get poorer. Then you have the service industry, where restaurant owners are like "get into work on time and serve these people, and smile even when they cough and sneeze, or you're fired. Also, you're fired if you get sick." I have heard of expectant single mothers who are also too underprivileged to stop working and have to power through the virus and their pregnancies through and after delivery, because we don't really support them. But definitely make sure we bail out banks and TARP the fuck out of automakers.

Obviously no one wants to get sick, but people still need to feed their families and pay their rent.

 

[LoneSage]

mj if it makes you feel any better, you are far from the only one getting fucked on this. The world has stopped and many countries aren't allowing foreigners inside now. I'm reading about people who spent a year saving up only to cancel, and others who aren't getting refunded a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. Hope you can get your money back through your credit card company.

 

[RAZO]

One of my friends is still waiting to hear if his Argentina trip in early April is a go. He said it's most likely not going to happen and he's over 5g's in for the whole family. He didn't by the travel insurance. Hopefully they'll hook him up with some sort of 1 or 2 year voucher.

 

[mjmjr25]

mj if it makes you feel any better, you are far from the only one getting fucked on this. The world has stopped and many countries aren't allowing foreigners inside now. I'm reading about people who spent a year saving up only to cancel, and others who aren't getting refunded a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. Hope you can get your money back through your credit card company.

Oh, no doubt - not sweating a couple hundred dollars. I'm fortunate and the impact of this is certainly less on me and mine than many others. More pointing out the tackiness of adding that disclaimer to their "guarantee".

 

[ForeverSublime]

I've used another company for booking with the same ownership as VRBO.

It's interesting the email on their policy regarding current cancellations does not match your experience. It's hard to tell where one company starts and another begins. For instance, I didn't even book the property through the website - I used Expedia. And, when I arrived the owners thought I'd used VRBO (which I also didn't - and by talking with them I'm not even sure if they were aware of the site I used - I think since Expedia owned all 3 sites, they just copy/pasted available properties). When I've had to contact customer service, VRBO responded. It's strange.

Anyway, I've been noticing these little differences in how companies pick and choose which banner to parade under at any given point when you use their services. Looking forward to the next election/data breach issue to be with Instagram, and policy enforcers pretending they aren't dealing with Facebook for the Nth+1 time.