Thursday, December 15, 2011

Pelican Hill Resort - WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE EVER!


We held my sisters wedding at Pelican Hill in October 2011.  I don't know the exact final bill, but I know that with Pelican Hill alone, we spent over $100,000.  The venue is beautiful to be sure, but for that type of money, I expect perfect customer service and Pelican Hill delivers anything but that.  Here is the Cliffs Notes version of what happened:
1. Rehearsal Day: The Event Planner was supposed to have the Coach pick up the wedding party from our Villa to take us down to the Event Lawn.  The Coach never came.  Finally, after the Coach was already 20 minutes late, we decide to drive ourselves down to the Event Lawn in order to keep the Rehearsal somewhat on schedule.  Because the Coach was already 20 minutes late, we had to park in the Fire Lane Turnaround/Valet area of the Event Center.  A Manager immediately approaches me and tells me that I cannot park there and that I must move my vehicle "immediately."  Rather than ask me what the situation is first to determine a proper solution (like sending a Valet), he recuses me first.  Not exactly what I would expect of a Five Star Venue.  In fact, he actually never offers to get a valet to park the car so I can go to the ceremony.  I had to solve this by the Event Planner radioing to Security to NOT tow the car.
Maid service was not done one day because no one told us they would not come in with the dogs inside

2. Welcome Bags were not accepted by the guy at the main hotel reception and wanted to charge us (there were less than 5 bags).  The contract for the wedding already took care of this issue for us at no charge, but again, the front desk clerk wasn't properly informed and didn't try to get proper information.  Per Irvine Company Policy, he instead just tried to charge us even though we prepaid the entire wedding.

3. My elderly (85+) relatives were locked out of their villa and security took 20-30 minutes to come let them in (it was cold that night and they had to sit in their car in the garage to keep warm).

4. Maid of Honor had to send a package FedEx OverNight to the wedding b/c she couldn't make it (she was having her baby).  The package never got delivered to my sister and her husband.

5. My iPhone and a pair of Oakley JUPITER sunglasses was stolen out of the Bridal Suite while it was being guarded by Pelican Hill staff.  Oakley staff - NEVER GO TO PELICAN HILL, they could care less about the value of Oakley products.  Value: $1000.

In the aftermath of all of this, Pelican Hill offered me a complimentary one night stay in a bungalow (worth about $500).  After they promised this to me, they never actually mailed it out.  I had to call the General Manager (Donald) to inform him of this and that this offer was inadequate given the totality of both what we spent and what was lost.  He adamantly stated that it is Irvine Company and Pelican Hill's position that they would not be offering me any remedy for my stolen iPhone or Oakley sunglasses.

I will be sure to NEVER patron Pelican Hill ever again and I will ensure that nobody I know who is in the market for a Five Star resort patrons their venue either.  The Customer Service and execution was THAT BAD.  Try the St. Regis or the Four Seasons - they ALWAYS deliver.  Grand Hyatt's are awesome too if they are available.