No such thing as a free lunch

The people from Tinian involved in the reservation and night stays at the Chalan Kanoa Beach Hotel should be reminded that there is no such thing as a “free lunch” when you consumed someone’s services and resources.

On the other hand, the hotel manager was not blameless for part of the deal as well. Had the manager confirmed the reservation with a credit card, this whole thing should be a no brainier. So, in this sense, what is the manager who approved the reservation thinking? A little problem here and there concerning the reservation and stays of the guests from Tinian could have been averted had the manager confirmed and authorized the reservation with a credit card. The credit card should be valid and pre-authorized for the entire stay. The rest is the final settlement of the credit card, or the manager could have pre-paid the entire stay with a good credit card, debit card or cash.

Caveat to business owners and hotel operators, watch out for this kind of dealings and people representing someone’s status. I had the unfortunate incident myself. After offering a person whom I knew, but not as a good friend, a ride at the commuter airport on Saipan, and taking this supposedly nice person from Tinian to San Antonio, we stopped at a store in Koblerville. I followed the person into the store because I needed something myself. As I approached the cashier, he also stacked up several things that he wanted including beers, soft drinks, chips, and also asked the cashier for four packs of cigarettes. I told the cashier that only two items were mine, but the guy insisted that I include his and we would total the amount that represented his purchases.

I bought the whole thing thinking that I would get reimbursed as soon as we get to the destination somewhere in San Antonio, somehow I began to feel uneasy. When we got to San Antonio, my riding friend hurriedly gathered all his purchases and swiftly walked to the resident behind a house where we parked. I waited, and that was the last I have seen of this guy. About two months later, I met my ghost friend on Tinian, but he seemed to have forgotten everything that happened on Saipan. Not a word nor at least a “thank you.” So now, this incident of the Chalan Kanoa Beach Hotel, it just made me wanting to express a similar situation. This recent situation hurt the Chalan Kanoa Beach Hotel, the only difference this situation to my incident was that the hotel here got paid, in my case I did not get a penny. I am pretty sure that many of your readers have horror stories just like mine, but I thought I give you heads up as this may not be the end of this kind of trickery in the books.