UPDATE on VIVA charging $100 to accept a box

[PA Girl]

BUT I also think that it could have been even wiser of them to say, "Hey, we don't normally do this, but you're renting two villas from us over the next 9 months and since you're arriving on a Sunday we'd be glad to help a new customer like you out."

In which case I would walk through fire for the rest of my life to tell folks how great VIVA is and how they went our of their way for me. Only time will tell.

Agree 100%. Viva made a choice to handle it differently. Gromit's presentation was fair IMO.

[Lulu76]

I thought you were being fair. It was something everyone needed to know. I don't think anyone wouldn't rent from them because of it, they'd just make other arrangements to send things down. I didn't figure that service in when I was looking for a rental, it was just an awesome surprise that my company offered to do it for me, because I didn't have to worry about getting there after Connections closed.

Last year, I had one bad experience at an establishment on St. John. I didn't mention it, because I figured it was an isolated incident and it wasn't a big deal. It didn't ruin my vacation or anything.

However, since then I've read a few trip reports and have seen people mention similar experiences. It makes you wonder if you had said anything if it would've prevented others from going through the same thing.

[stjdeb]

Gromit - I truly appreciate your posting on this subject. I don't believe that you have trashed a rental company. I read reviews, they are important in my evaluation process, but that does not mean a review is the end all, be all. Now if I read 10 or 20 reviews about this company with many different issues - I probably would avoid them. But you have to take the information with a grain of salt. All businesses struggle to do better on a daily basis, or they fail miserably and go out of business. We are going to mail a box down this winter for the first time, only because we want to do carry on only, so this whole topic has brought up things we never would have thought about, but now we can plan a little better. So - thank you for sharing your experience.

[frenchvanila]

Wow that is alot! Christy's of St John only charges $25. It was so easy!

Well kids, just got an answer from VIVA regarding shipping a box to them a day or so in advance of arrival.

They want to charge me $100 to either ship to them or for their greeter to bring it along when they meet us at the dock (or drop off at the Villa).

Seriously??

I would have gladly tipped them $20 for the assistance but $100 is pretty outrageous IMHO.

Thanks but no thanks VIVA. I'll ship to Cid at Connections or somewhere else on island but I am sure as hell not paying VIVA $100.

I'd pay less to the airlines.

$100 -- Seriously??