the $450 phone call : (

freshgreen
Danang

This is not a joke: that’s what I spent calling home from my hotel room at 4:30 in the morning.

Dad, you’re going to be so mad if you see this but I did weasel my way to a “better” deal.

It was all a huge misunderstanding but in the end, I got screwed. No where in my hotel does it list the price. I asked two ppl at the reception desk and received differing answers. Speaking English would’ve still gotten me screwed I believe.

Anyway, when they said $2.50 – $3USD/min I heard $2000 – $3000 VN currency which is about $0.35 which is still expensive for a phone call. I would’ve never thought that it would be a couple bucks per minute cuz I know that Internet calling is just pennies per hour.

At the end of it all, I was down a flight to Toronto from Vancouver. I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo depressed but definitely learned my lesson.

It was an $$$ lesson but at the end of the day, I realized that from now on, I would always choose the cheaper route. OUCH OUCH OUCH! Afterall, without this lesson, I would’ve probably been careless with my money and now, I have another incentive to work harder on side projects to earn this money back.

But I felt like crying so I told my boss and he said I should ask to see if the hotel could give me a break cuz I don’t really make much cash here.

THE MEETING RESULTS:
– The hotel manager agreed to pay $100USD of my bill… I had hoped they would’ve paid it all (or at least half) cuz we had a HUGE MISUNDERSTANDING : ( Afterall, that still leaves me with $260USD to pay.

– She also agreed to reduce my first month’s rent by $100USD cuz I am considering living in an apartment behind the hotel.

I think this is pretty reasonable and she also lent me some money for dinner last night cuz I only had Canadian with me. In fact, I’m pretty satisfied although definitely poorer as a result.

Deal or no deal? Comments appreciated 🙂

  1. mk on

    Iguess it’s better than paying the full price. We had a nice chat and I really appreciate the call…guess we should’ve shut up sooner. 😛 No more talking until we see each other. I’ll make it up to you when I’m there…remember clam shell and fabulous dinner for my day!

  2. m_prime on

    Imo, the best way is to exclusively purchase and use calling cards. Hotel fares are usually excessive and can often leave your check-out bill with some shocking revelations. It was nice of them to cover part of the bill, I guess, but they were bastards charging you that much to begin with without the proper information. I would probably be furious, because they are supposed to accommodate their guests and it sounds like they sort of took advantage. Oh well. I hope that you are fortuitous in the days to come to compensate for the slight misfortune and I hope thus far that you’re having a blast!! Take care 😉

  4. Helen on

    Hi cathy
    so sorry to hear that
    please go to internet cafe, its very cheap there
    ask for calling overseas with their phone software. Last time, when i was not yet hooked to internet at home, i went there with a friend and it cost me only VND20,000 for 20 min call
    also you can buy phone card at post office…VND100,000 for about 15 min
    up to your choice and pocket money
    Hug
    Helen

  5. Junella on

    Hi Cathy,
    It sucks that the prices were not clear but let’s go with the cup half full and chalk another one up for you for doing well in a complicated situation 🙂