I know that this is a little late but my heart wasn't into it and time has been so busy, but I thought that you might like to hear it anyway. The first instalment is as a warning to those of you that like to book things yourself over the net.
My friend Jenny and I normally go every year to Bali as a time out for me from my husband and children and our business. I have a daughter with Cystic Fibrosis and two sons, all within three and a half years from first to last. Therefore, I desperately need a break from the physio and anxiety and just purely mother stuff.
We had said that the boys could come this time if they pay for it. So we all did pamphlet delivery for a year to pay for it. Hard work. Then their Indonesian teacher heard that we were going and wanted to come with some other students. We had planned to stay at the Rumah Bali villas in Tanjung where we had stayed last year and were thoroughly impressed. But with all of the others coming we needed something for us all to have on our own. I searched the forums and kept coming back to Canggu Sunset villas. I had written to someone who had stayed there and couldn't rave enough about it. Owned by an English couple called Lyn and Paul Harvey. I proceeded to write to this couple and thought that Lyn was extremely helpful. She gave me a wonderful deal for all of us. Then as I was to pay the deposit, I got a 'wait' email from her. She later wrote that they had sold the villa but were to stay on as managers of the villas. They were actually building more in Jimbaran. The new owners wanted to stay at the villas for half of our holiday and wouldn't change their mind, so what would we like to do? She was again very helpful with where we were to stay and finally came up with the idea that we could stay at Canggu for half of the time and stay in their new villas for the rest of our stay. Wonderful!!! So I paid our deposit...$1000. With the rest to be paid when we got there.
Then the renewed travel warnings came that meant that the students couldn't come.
I was so very grateful for all that the Harvey's had done, so I decided that even though it was a lot of money for us, we would still go. My word is my word. It was to be one of my son's 15th birthday and she was organising a cake and a special dinner for him. WOW!
We continued to have very friendly correspondence. I hadn't heard from them for a while and a few weeks before we were due to leave, I wrote making sure that all of the arrangements were still fine.....Nothing. A week later I wrote again....Nothing. As I only had an email address, it was all I could use and then they started coming back to me undelivered. I panicked. I tried all over to get a contact number. Finally... I got Paul's mobile number. It seemed as though his wife and kids had gone back to England and the Jimbaran villas weren't finished!! The phone call cost me a fortune. He told me to ring back the next day....No answer. He text me the following day saying that he was sorry but Jimbaran wasn't finished. I had five days before departure. I asked why they hadn't contacted me about it! He said that his wife was away and that she had organised it and it was nothing to do with him. I asked about being able to get my money back and he said at the end of the week. I asked about Canggu and he said that he would look into it. Finally a couple of days before departure he said that we couldn't stay at Canggu, could he organise something else for me and that he was very sorry and have a good holiday!!! And he was leaving the next day for England so won't be in Bali. Promised again that we would get our money back at the end of the week.
I had to organise something else, last moment and again pay for accommodation. Of course being last minute, it was expensive but I didn't have much of a choice as it was school holidays.
At the last minute, the wonderful staff at the Rumah Bali villas came to my rescue for the first few days and they would come and pick us up at the airport and help us with the problem of getting our money back.
The manager called the tourist police. As the end of the week came and still no sign of the money or any email asking for my bank details, I spoke to the police. He said that he went to the Canggu villa and found that Paul Harvey was living at the Jimbaran villa. He went there and to my surprise said that he spoke to Paul Harvey!!! He was supposed to be in England. We ended up going there and he refused to come out of his bedroom to talk to me. Told me to get off his F'n property or he would call the police. I am 5ft 1' blonde late 30's woman and he wasn't man enough to come out and talk. Three hours later, it came out that his wife had left him and he wasn't involved with the accommodation deal and that $1000 was little money to him. He said that he had promised to give me the money back, so I asked for it right then. He said that he had no money. I replied that I had deposited the money in the Legian account of the Permata bank. He finally wrote on a piece of paper that he would pay. My sons in the mean time were left at the villa by themselves for five hours when we had promised to take them parasailing. Not having the money meant also that the things that they had wanted to do and worked hard to earn, was lost. We were $1000 short for our holiday. We had planned to do many things. We did some, thanks to a credit card but you know how much interest you have to pay on those!!
Later I also spent time at the police station, where I felt like the criminal. We again went to the Jimbaran villas but in the end, eight hours later, we were still there. I asked how much longer and they said about two hours. Well you know how long two hours is to them. I just told them to forget it and left.
I still don't have the money back, even when someone else (who he owed money to) threatened him. When they told him that they were going to write to me, he suddenly wrote to me again promising the money. That was a few months ago and I have heard nothing back.
I have stayed at villas at my own arrangements and not had to pay until I got there. But be careful, even if it is thoroughly recommended by a forumite.
I promise that the rest will be of the things that we did. But I felt that I needed to let you know what happens sometimes. I wasn't going to go back to Bali this year because it left me very upset for the rest of the holiday, because it was my fault that I lost their hard-earned money. Yet, what can I say... I am going again.
next: the real holiday.