MAR-B-17
THE LITANY OF WOE WITH A “BLAMELESS”
MARAZUL
FOR THE CUBAN TRAVEL FIASCO
“I hope you will choose to respond.” How very clever of you! I hit the
“Reply button” over the past several days, and the reply function has been
disabled. It only happens for your
message to me. This must be how you
respond to all your complaints, and thereby get the last word! Well, this is NOT the last word, since quite
a few others will follow.
I have summarized the
entirety of your response to my serious grievance about your incompetence with
the following statement: “Marazul is
blameless in this, as well as in all other interactions with which we have
demonstrated complete incompetence.”
This is not vehemence, it is factual reporting, and you will find a
number of other statements below that express the truth in a far more vehement
fashion, some called “livid” by self-description. But, I also found interesting the items you chose NOT to respond
to, so I will bring them up again.
How is it that I spoke
months ago with your agents, including Gina Mosqueara, explaining not only that
I would be gone immediately before the trip for which reason I had to have
everything squared away for the “just in time delivery” of pre-paid tickets and
visas, but I even sent you all three itineraries of the trips detailed, so that
you could even intercept me at the airline and flights for which I was booked
(all of which were kept—distinctly in contrast to yours, which you made
impossible) should any trouble have developed?
I called the same Gina between my last two trips and was assured that
everything was in order and that there would be no need for the last minute
connections, since it was already pre-arranged?
I noticed that you somehow
overlooked the fact that I called on Friday before business hours were closed
immediately upon arrival at Dulles airport, even before picking up my bag in
Customs to check on the delivery of the tickets for Cuba the following 36
hours. After several delays I was put
through to this same Gina—who assured me even as late as before takeoff that “Everything was in order and I would find
the tickets at my home for the completed reservations, tickets and visas to
leave the following day.” Now, did
you think I imagined this? If so, I
assure you that since I did not have my cell phone, I made a credit card call,
which will show up in evidence when it is needed.
I notice you also seemed to
have missed the question as to what you were going to do for reimbursement for
having made me miss the entire trip. I would like to call that to your
attention again, before engaging someone else who will do so in far more
vehemence than I will.
Of course, you have an
explanation all about Christy Pena’s similar incompetent handling, which, once
again, holds Marazul blameless. Let me
append the more important perspective of the one affected by your bungling in
that case.
And, you give me a litany of
just how hard it is to travel to Cuba.
Tell that to someone else. As
you can note, my two prior trips were Mindanao and Malawi. In the former, I was surrounded by a platoon
of 36 armed escort to operate alternately on Moslems and Christians in the
Southern area of Mindanao near the al-Qaeda camps, where my escort, wearing
twenty clips each for their automatic M-16’s and a necklace of grenades for
their RPG’s accompanied me everywhere to prevent the taking of a prize
hostage. I then went through the
pre-election violence of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe to Malawi, the epicenter of
the AIDS epidemic where starvation is an everyday thing in the patient
population I was caring for. And, you
are telling ME that I should feel very sorry for you in New York, since it is a
hassle arranging trips to Cuba as an excuse for bungling a very difficult trip?
You have rather selectively answered
a few questions in exonerating yourself, (self-serving for a service agency),
while this makes the real explanations I am getting from many others much more
clear and plausible over your further obfuscation and excuses. You then challenge me to a reply in a
blocked response email. I find this
excruciatingly amusing, and I am sure the Better Business Bureau and the
lawyers we will be checking with about licensure for travel agencies will also.
Now, I await YOUR “choice to
respond” and there is no block on my “Reply button;” There IS however a
“Forward” and “Copy!”
GWG
I just read Bob Guild's
account of my story. He is incomplete
and incorrect.
I spoke directly with Gina
Mosquera before sending my application.
She told
me to request C&T because
it was available for the dates of March 13-17 which
I wanted. I did.
Mr. Guild is correct thus far.
However, the following day
Gina called me and told me
it was full. We discussed my options
and she
suggested I travel with
Wolfsung which was still availabe for the same dates
just an earlier departure
time of the 13th. I confirmed this new
flight
itinerary by phone. She gave me all the data: Leave from MIA March 13 at
8:30am and arrive in Havana
at 9:35am. I would return March 17 at
2pm and
arrive in MIA at 3pm. The price would be the same $329. She said she would
send me my package with
flight, visa, and hotel confirmations via Fedex. I
thanked her for personally
calling me as soon as she did. I was
impressed.
However, two weeks later I
receive a disturbing email from Gina.
She writes
on March 2 " We
received work from C&T that they were not able to confirm your
travel > arrangments.
THeir return flight was sold out. Please advise if you
can
> travel
Mon-Mon" As you can imagine I was
confused and alarmed. I wrote her
back the same day saying
"Gina, You already told me this by phone two weeks
ago. We decided to go with Wolfsung departing
March 13 8:30am to 9:35am and
returning March 17 2pm to
3pm. Please call me as soon as possible."
and I
listed both my home and cell
number. She never called or emailed.
As soon as offices opened
the next work day, I called. After
pushing the
secretary to put me through
to Gina, Gina told me she remembered our
conversation about changing
to Wolfsung. However, and I quote, she
said
"don't ask me what I
was thinking but I sent your reservations back to the
original airline
C&T." I was in disbelief! How irresponsible. She asked if
she could call me right back
as the office was really busy but she would look
for my file. I waited nervously until the end of the day
but she never
called. The next morning I was calling as soon as
they opened. The news got
worse. There's nothing available for the days I
need. The only thing left is
Gulfstream leaving from the
12th and returning the 18th. That was
too many
days for me to be absent
from medschool and not to mention the time, stress,
and price of changing my
confirmed flight arrangements to Miami to be there a
full day earlier. I had to take it. I couldn't let Cuba go.
She again said
she would send me this new
reservation in my packet which I was already
waiting for for two
weeks. By this time, it was so close to
my travel that I
asked her to send it
straight to my Miami address. I was
assured of this.
Here is the icing on the
cake. The morning of my travel to
Miami, I see the
email from Glenn Geelhoed
about not having received his packet in Miami.
I
quickly called my family in
Miami to see if they received my packet.
It had
not arrived either. I called Gina and while she confirmed that
she had sent
it out, she had sent it to
my DC address by mistake. Well, I
luckily had not
left to the airport yet and
was still in my apt in DC. But it
wasn't here
either. In addition to sending it to the DC instead
of Miami address, she
wrote down the wrong street
on the form so the package was returned to Fedex.
I had one hour to get to the
airport by now but managed to make it to NE DC to
the FEDEX main office to
pick up my package.
All in all, I made it to the
airport, Miami, and Cuba. But if it
wasn't for
Glenn Geelhoed's email that
morning, I would have been in his same shoes.
I
would have relied on
Marazul's competence for having my tickets in Miami when
I arrived.
I've never seen anything
like this.
Christina Pena
305-926-5998
202-342-6217
>===== Original Message
From Glenn Geelhoed <msdgwg@gwumc.edu>
=====
>I have received your
note about how Marazul is blameless in the incompetence
that stranded me---and also
in all other arrangements made by all the others
who have contacted me as
well. I certainly hear your
self-serving
chastisement of me as an
incompetent traveler. You have in hand
the three
complex itineraries of my
month, of which the Cuba trip was the shortest and
simplest. But, somehow, in your view, I have flubbed
it, which led to my
missing my meeting.
>
> Since that is your
position, you have to convince me that the whole group is
a bunch of incorrigibles who
are malcontents, and rather naive travelers who
do not know your business as
you so obviously do. All of IHMEC
consists of
heavy air travelers to all
points on the globe. I may probably be
the single
biggest customer of travel
agents and air services in the group.
>
> I would believe that I am certainly
qualified as a "Frequent Traveler,"
having logged more miles
with many carriers and several agents in just the
last month than most of the
world's nomads accumulate in a lifetime.
These
two globe-girdling round
trips that preceded the relatively short trip I had
entrusted to you, came off
without a hitch, notwithstanding weather,
mechanical, diplomatic and
security delays
>
>Somehow, however, in
your view, my completely aborted trip through your
arrangements turns out to be
uniquely my fault! I will have to see
if all the
others feel the same way,
since they also have made independent judgments
about your services for
them. (Attached below.)
>
>Particularly since my
special call on arrival from Malawi in checking on all
my careful pre-arrangements
from Dulles on Friday assured me that all had been
taken care of and that I was
overly concerned about what is, after all, your
business in what you do for
a living, I find your reasons to be arrogance
compounding incompetence.
>
>What did you have in
mind for compensation for this incompetence, or should
we petition an independent
judicial source for their opinion on which of the
collected stories has
greater credibility?
>
>GWG
>>> Bob Guild <bguild@marazulcharters.com> 03/12/02 01:13PM
>>>
>
>
>12 March
>
>To: Dr. Glenn Geelhoed
>
>Fr: Bob Guild
> Marazul Charters
>
>I am very sorry for your
experiences with our agency and that you were not
>able to travel to the
Conference. Certainly we had reserved your flights and
>hotel and had the
documents (flight tickets, hotel voucher, Cuban visa, and
>license) ready to send
to you via Federal Express. We tried all last week to
>reach you right up until
8PM Friday night. We needed and required the Credit
>Card Authorization Form
in order to collect your payment for the trip before
>we could send your
tickets. You had indeed sent the form one month prior -
>but it was incomplete:
you left the amount blank with no instructions. As a
>matter of policy we do
not accept forms with the amount left blank. Thus the
>President of Marazul -
Hilda Diaz - attempted unsuccessfully to fax,
>telephone and email you.
Your travel was never mismanaged by our agency.
>
>It is true Marazul can
almost never make arrangements to Cuba months in
>advance. This is not our
choice. We must work under severe legal and
>bureaucratic
restrictions imposed by the US government. It is also not our
>choice to be a
'monopoly'. We have encouraged every agency with whom we have
>been in contact and we
have assisted a few to become licensed travel service
>providers to Cuba. Most,
however, refuse to do so: it is just too difficult
>and, in the recent past,
too dangerous.
>
>Re Christina Pena Trip
>On Feb 20 your student
Christina Pena faxed her request form for March 13-17
>specifically listing
C&T Charters departure and return (please let me know
>if you want me to fax
her form). Marazul requested these flights and was
>denied. Ms. Pena then
informed us she really wanted the Wilson charter
>flights for the same
days. We requested these flights which were also
>denied. These were the
only flights on these days from Miami. We were able
>to get reservations
March 12-18 via Gulfstream. We never sent her the wrong
>reservations.
>She also mentions our
concern whether we could get her visa. At that time,
>we were not sure whether
students would secure their visa through Marazul or
>if they needed an
academic visa which Marazul cannot obtain. The organizing
>committee advised us and
we issued her visa. Travel to Cuba is difficult,
>but Ms. Pena experienced
neither incompetence or difficulty from Marazul.
>
>Sincerely
>
>Bob Guild
>Marazul Charters
>
>
>A litany of Marazul
Management:
>
>
>
>A LITANY OF WOE
ASSOCIATED WITH MARAZUL INCOMPETENCE
>
>Dear Glenn:
>
>My apologies that you
could not join us in Havana. It is
regretable that
this travel agency precluded
your participation, and I must say that I almost
went via the Canadian route
to book my hotel. Marazul never sent me
the
voucher for the hotel, and I
had to argue for 2.5 hours to get them to confirm
that I had indeed paid for
the hotel room.
>
>I have not been more
livid and angry in my life at an absolute incompentency
of a travel agent. And although I do not sit on Governing
Council at IHMEC
anymore, I feel that we should
be in part responsible for your lack of
participation.
>
>Thank you kindly for
your words ... they are much needed to IHMEC.
>
>Kind regards,
>
>Kevin Chan
>
>
>I am so sorry to hear of
this incompetence that you have had to deal
with....all of us, to a
person had problems but yours, surely is the worst. I
am also sorry that you
missed a good meeting through no fault of your own. I
am just back and while I too
had problems and a late delivery of the
promised
documents, I at least was
able to get there. I am including
Joyce Dobson on
this so she can keep this in
a file. We will of course never use
this travel
agency again, but I want to
be sure that we have documentation like yours in
case anyone in the
future forgets how disorganized this
agency was.
>Again, I am sorry for
this frustrating experience.
>
>>> "Glenn
Geelhoed" <msdgwg@gwumc.edu>
03/11/02 04:33AM >>>
>
>
>WITH DEEPEST REGRETS, I
EXPLAIN TO IHMEC HOW IT IS THAT I AM NOT IN CUBA ON
THE BASIS OF THE FAILURE OF
MARAZUL TO DELIVER TICKETS AND DOCUMENTS AS
PROMISED
>
>
>
>
>Dear Fellow
(non)-Travelers:
>
>I am all packed up, with
no place to go! I am very sorry that I
am not with
you now, as I had planned to
be, in Havana. It certainly is not for
lack of
trying, but for very trying
circumstances.
>
>I had seen in my emails
after arrival this weekend from my Malawi medical
mission that there were some
complaints about the incompetence of Marazul
Travel, including from my
medical student Christi Pena, who had reported by
email (attached) that she
just now had finally got her tickets after having a
great deal of difficulty
with Marazul. I am the one who had
encouraged her to
accompany me to Cuba, as a
"homecoming" for her, with an introduction to
IHMEC, which referred her through
Marazul. Well, she is now ahead of me!
>
>I suspected there might
be difficulty in completing all the travel
arrangements when I made my
own reservations for the IHMEC meeting in Havana
over six months ago. I
called, emailed and faxed the recommended Marazul
agency several months ago,
and after several delays through each method, had
finally contacted Gina
Mosquera and several co-workers to explain to them the
early securing of the
itinerary, tickets, visas and accommodations, and was
assured that all of this had
been (note: not would be but had been) taken care
of, and when I called to
confirm all of this before taking off on the first of
my remote medical missions,
I was met with annoyance, repeating what I had
already been assured: that the
tickets, visas and arrangements would be mailed
to me at my home in time for
the Sunday takeoff.
>
>I had explained that
this was especially important for me, since I am often
gone, but in these
instances, I would also be remote and out of contact
through any means of phone
or fax, but I gave them the complete itineraries
(Jan-B-2, 3) of where I
would be able to be reached at the airports or air
carriers for messages and
through several mission organizations email
addresses through which I
would check if they were in operation.
I had made
my IHMEC advance
registration payment of $300.00, and sent by fax and mail the
credit card authorization to
Marazul, for the itinerary arranged by phone and
was assured that all had
been received.
>
>I then took off for
Mindanao in the remote Southern Philippines, where I
operated in the Tboli tribal
region of Southern Mindanao (South Cotabato)
under the heavily armed
military escort assigned to escort me in my surgical
clinics in that area, and
then flew up to Malaybalay, Bukidnon for an
additional week of intensive
surgical care and clinical teaching, before
returning eastward to
Washington for a very brief touchdown, at my office
only, to pick up the other
boxes of medical and surgical supplies and my two
GW senior medical students
to continue eastward through Europe to Malawi,
Southern Africa. Although only in Washington for a few hours
of this month,
on February 18, I included
in this brief transition another call and email to
Marazul, who assured me that
everything had been (again, NOT would be) taken
care of for my trip to Cuba,
in which I have several people expecting me, not
least of which is the
medical student accompanying me.
>
>I then flew off to
Malawi, knowing I would have only a matter of hours to
connect with the Cuba onward
travel upon my return to Washington, if I left
Africa early.
>
> I entered a period of intensive clinical work with the
local health care
workers being instructed as
well as my accompanying GW medical students, with
a strong request from the
remote Embangweni Mission Station Hospital that I
continue working there for
an additional two weeks as my medical student would
be. Because of my commitments to go to the IHMEC
conference in Cuba, however,
I declined these requests
and left Africa early, leaving John Sutter, my GW
medical student in
Embangweni, and flew back through Nairobi, Amsterdam to
Dulles airport in Washington
on Friday afternoon, March 8 at 4:30 PM.
As soon
as I had landed, and before
I picked up my baggage or cleared customs, I went
immediately to a phone and
called Marazul, knowing that they would be
impossible to reach on the
coming weekend. After several tries on
a phone
recording a busy signal, I
did get through to Gina Mosquera, and asked her if
all was in order for me to
simply proceed on through Cancun to Havana.
She
assured me that my tickets
were at my home address and not to worry, that all
arrangements were in order.
>
> I checked my office mail, where there were no tickets, but
I did find an
email and a voice mail from
a Hilda Ruiz of Marazul, and a fax asking for
authorization of payment,
the same from I had sent by fox and mail several
months earlier. I answered the emails and voice mails with
the same message I
had just been assured in
confirmation from Gina Mosquera, and went home to
find no tickets in my home
address mail. I then made a rather
complex series
of trips through my local
post office and express mail channels on Saturday,
when, of course, the Marazul
phones were all on answering machines and would
not be listened to until
well after my Sunday takeoff. I also
phoned IHMEC to
leave a message that a
portending derailment was coming up in the tradition I
had seen already reported
for Marazul. I called several others of
the voice
mail numbers on the Marazul
answering machines, and got no responses to
messages left there, and the
post office here was going to notify me of any
incoming mail from Marazul.
>
> And now, as I write this an hour after I should have
taken off (one does not
simply go to the airport and
standby for a trip to Cuba, as you know, since I
have to be carrying the
travel documents under the visa license that Marazul
holds as its sinecure for my
travel they have aborted), I have been blown off
my IHMEC participation by
the incompetence and continued reassurance of the
monopoly travel agent that
has so mismanaged these arrangements. I
insist
that Marazul refund my
entire registration for the IHMEC meeting.
In calling
around to see if any other
place than my home or office had received the
promised tickets and
arrangements according to the most recent instructions
emailed from IHMEC (see
attached), I have been "discovered" upon my return
from my two remote
international medical missions, and my presence has led to
a series of meetings that
now preclude my trying to get a late start to join
the meeting in progress-the
reason I was trying to transition directly from
the other remote medical
missions to Cuba.
>
> The reports for the
first venue in Mindanao (Feb-A-series) and the second in
Malaybalay (Feb-B-series) or
the first week in Embangweni (Feb-C-series) or
the final week in Malawi
(Mar-A-series) are attached, as they might have
formed a basis for
discussion in the conference as I had promised for IHMEC's
meeting. The further plans for other medical missions
this coming year with
medical students are also
attached ("Welcome to the World of Wonder*.") for
any of the IHMEC members who
wish to have such similar experiences for their
students or others. I am sorry I did not have the chance to
share these with
you more directly.
>
>With deep regrets on my
part, and best wishes for your conference in Cuba!
>
>Glenn W. Geelhoed
>
>
>Hi,
>I know it's been a while
but it was not until yesterday that I got
>confirmation for my
flight arrangements. Marazul Tours is
the most
>disorganized agency I
have ever dealt with! First, they
weren't sure if they
>could get me a
Visa. Then they sent my flight
reservations to the wrong
>airline and by the time
they realized it, my intended airline and schedule
was
>full. They did not inform me of this until
yesterday and I had to change
>dates and connection
flights that I had already made to Miami in order to
make
>the Cuban flights that
are still open.
>As of now I am
supposedly confirmed but I am awaiting overnight airline
>tickets b/f I can rest
assured. If everything goes well, I
will be arriving
>in Havana this Tues
afternoon and will be staying at the Libre.
I return
>Monday to Miami. I know you intended to arrive this Sunday
through Nassau
but
>I don't know if that is
still your plan. Where did you decide
to stay?
>If I don't get to hear
from you, have a safe trip and we'll see each other in
>the island.
>
>Excited and anxious,
>Christy
>
>
>
>
>
>Attachments:
>Jan-B-2
>Jan-B-3
>World of Wonders
>C. Pena email
>IHMEC instructions for
carrying Marazul-supplied documents
>Feb-A-series Tboli,
Mindanao
>Feb-B-series,
Malaybalay, Mindanao
>Feb-C-series, Embangweni
station, Malawi
>Mar-A-series, Malawi,
final week, Southern Africa
>
>
>
>
>>> "Dobson,
Joyce A." <jdobson@iupui.edu>
03/02/02 11:08AM >>>
>Greetings from IHMEC,
>
>It is now only a matter
of days before the 11th Annual IHMEC conference in
>Havana, Cuba. The response to "Creating Healthy
Communities: An
>International
Perspective" has been overwhelming.
Much work has gone into
>planning the program and
it is our greatest hope that you will find this
>conference
professionally rewarding.
>
>While I know that some
of you are still uncertain about your travel
>arrangements, I am
hoping that all will be resolved in the next couple of
>days. This message is to provide a bit more
information about your arrival
>in Havana. After you clear customs at the Havana
airport, you should look
>for a Havanatur
agent. Havanatur is responsible for
providing your
>transportation to the
hotel. You will be able to pick up your
program
>information and name
badges at the Hotel Nacional at the registration desk
>on Tuesday evening from
4-6pm and on Wednesday morning before the first
>plenary.
>
>Havanatur will also be
providing a series of optional tours for your
>companions and for you
on Saturday, March 16th. The excursions
may include
>various beaches such as
Varadero, historical tours of Havana, the crocodiles
>of Guama, Santa Clara
City, Vinales Valley, etc. There will
be a table at
>the Hotel Nacional where
you can sign up for these tours.
>
>Please don't forget to
bring all of your travel documents with you,
>including the copy of IHMEC's
conference license and your letter of
>authorization on IHMEC
letterhead. These documents should be
provided by
>Marazul along with your
tickets, visa and hotel reservation confirmation.
>
>Let me know if there is
more information I can provide. Until
Havana.....
>
>Joyce Dobson
>IHMEC Secretariat
>Department of Medicine
>Indiana University
School of Medicine
>M200, Wishard Hospital
>1001 West 10th Street
>Indianapolis, IN 46202
>Tel: 317-630-7091
>Fax: 317-656-4230
>Email: jdobson@iupui.edu
>
>
>Glenn:
>
>*laughing* ...
considering they lost my hotel bookings ... I am considering
weather or not to sue ...
they failed in their contract to deliver the
services that I paid for.
>
>Kevin
>Dear Dr. Geelhoed,
>
>I became aware of your
situation after arriving in Cuba last Monday.
You
>most certainly will be
refunded in full your registration fee!
Although
>there were some factors
complicating Marazul's job, their lack of
>communication,
coordination and foresight was dreadful and unprofessional.
>
>On behalf of IHMEC, I
apologize for all of your troubles. If
you would
>like, I could at least
send you a copy of the conference program.
Please
>let me know if this
would be of value to you at this point.
>
>Joyce Dobson
>IHMEC Secretariat
>
>PS After being away for a week, I am working
through my emails. Although
>you may already have
sent me the message from Marazul stating that you are
>to blame for the
misfortune, I would most definitely like to see a copy of
>it.
>
>-----Original
Message-----
>From: Glenn Geelhoed [mailto:msdgwg@gwumc.edu]
>Sent: Tuesday, March 19,
2002 8:01 AM
>To: jdobson@iupui.edu
>Subject: Registration
refund
>
>
>I surely would have
wanted to be there!
>
>Despite multiple
assurances, Marazul failed. I certainly
planned to be and
>made every effort. Apparently, I am not alone--see kevin's note
to me as
>well.
>
>Could you mail the
refund to me--or, better, extract it from marazul?
>
>Cheers!
>
>GWG
>
>
>Thank you for your
sympathies---I would have loved to have been there with
>you!
>
>I wrote the note to
Marazul, and they responded; "We are entirely blameless
>in this and all other
situations of confusion among clients--in which it is
>always the customers'
fault." It seems that so far it
has been a 100% group
>of incorrigibles with
which they are dealing!
>
>I hope IHMEC refunds the
registration, since it certainly was due to "forces
>completely beyond my
control" that I was not there with you!
>
>Cheers!
>
>GWG
>
>Glenn:
>
>*laughing* ...
considering they lost my hotel bookings ... I am considering
>weather or not to sue
... they failed in their contract to deliver the
>services that I paid
for.
>
>Kevin
>
>Dear Glenn:
>
>My apologies that you
could not join us in Havana. It is
regretable that
>this travel agency precluded
your participation, and I must say that I
>almost went via the
Canadian route to book my hotel.
Marazul never sent me
>the voucher for the
hotel, and I had to argue for 2.5 hours to get them to
>confirm that I had
indeed paid for the hotel room.
>
>I have not been more
livid and angry in my life at an absolute incompentency
>of a travel agent. And although I do not sit on Governing
Council at IHMEC
>anymore, I feel that we
should be in part responsible for your lack of
>participation.
>
>Thank you kindly for
your words ... they are much needed to IHMEC.
>
>Kind regards,
>
>Kevin Chan
>
>I am very sorry to hear
all that came to pass.We missed you at the
>meeting.I heard of
several other complaints,and some of our other members
>did not make it either.
>
>I can't believe what
happened to you! Well, knowing Marazul
maybe I can.
>We'll talk when I get
back. I am going to be booked with
making up classes,
>follies, and a neuro and
gi icm exam for the next two weeks.
I'll try and
>catch up with you at some
point.
>Christy
>PS Thank you for the
opportunity and experience you offered me.
I wish you
>could have been there.
>>===== Original
Message From Glenn Geelhoed <msdgwg@gwumc.edu>
=====
>>WITH DEEPEST
REGRETS, I EXPLAIN TO IHMEC HOW IT IS THAT I AM NOT IN CUBA ON
>THE BASIS OF THE FAILURE
OF MARAZUL TO DELIVER TICKETS AND DOCUMENTS AS
>PROMISED
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Dear Fellow
(non)-Travelers:
>>
>>I am all packed up,
with no place to go! I am very sorry
that I am not with
>you now, as I had
planned to be, in Havana. It certainly
is not for lack of
>trying, but for very
trying circumstances.
>>
>>I had seen in my
emails after arrival this weekend from my Malawi medical
>mission that there were
some complaints about the incompetence of Marazul
>
>Travel, including from
my medical student Christi Pena, who had reported by
>email (attached) that
she just now had finally got her tickets after having a
>great deal of difficulty
with Marazul. I am the one who had
encouraged her
to
>accompany me to Cuba, as
a "homecoming" for her, with an introduction to
>IHMEC, which referred
her through Marazul. Well, she is now
ahead of me!
>>
>>I suspected there
might be difficulty in completing all the travel
>arrangements when I made
my own reservations for the IHMEC meeting in Havana
>over six months ago. I
called, emailed and faxed the recommended Marazul
>agency several months
ago, and after several delays through each method, had
>finally contacted Gina
Mosquera and several co-workers to explain to them the
>early securing of the
itinerary, tickets, visas and accommodations, and was
>assured that all of this
had been (note: not would be but had been) taken
care
>of, and when I called to
confirm all of this before taking off on the first
of
>my remote medical
missions, I was met with annoyance, repeating what I had
>already been assured:
that the tickets, visas and arrangements would be
mailed
>to me at my home in time
for the Sunday takeoff.
>>
>>I had explained that
this was especially important for me, since I am often
>gone, but in these
instances, I would also be remote and out of contact
>through any means of
phone or fax, but I gave them the complete itineraries
>(Jan-B-2, 3) of where I
would be able to be reached at the airports or air
>carriers for messages
and through several mission organizations email
>addresses through which
I would check if they were in operation.
I had made
>my IHMEC advance
registration payment of $300.00, and sent by fax and mail
the
>credit card
authorization to Marazul, for the itinerary arranged by phone and
>was assured that all had
been received.
>>
>>I then took off for
Mindanao in the remote Southern Philippines, where I
>operated in the Tboli
tribal region of Southern Mindanao (South Cotabato)
>under the heavily armed
military escort assigned to escort me in my surgical
>clinics in that area,
and then flew up to Malaybalay, Bukidnon for an
>additional week of
intensive surgical care and clinical teaching, before
>returning eastward to
Washington for a very brief touchdown, at my office
>only, to pick up the
other boxes of medical and surgical supplies and my two
>GW senior medical
students to continue eastward through Europe to Malawi,
>Southern Africa. Although only in Washington for a few hours
of this month,
>on February 18, I included
in this brief transition another call and email to
>Marazul, who assured me
that everything had been (again, NOT would be) taken
>care of for my trip to
Cuba, in which I have several people expecting me, not
>least of which is the
medical student accompanying me.
>>
>>I then flew off to
Malawi, knowing I would have only a matter of hours to
>connect with the Cuba
onward travel upon my return to Washington, if I left
>Africa early.
>>
>> I entered a period of intensive
clinical work with the local health care
>workers being instructed
as well as my accompanying GW medical students, with
>a strong request from
the remote Embangweni Mission Station Hospital that I
>continue working there
for an additional two weeks as my medical student
would
>be. Because of my commitments to go to the IHMEC
conference in Cuba,
however,
>I declined these
requests and left Africa early, leaving John Sutter, my GW
>medical student in
Embangweni, and flew back through Nairobi, Amsterdam to
>Dulles airport in
Washington on Friday afternoon, March 8 at 4:30 PM. As
soon
>as I had landed, and
before I picked up my baggage or cleared customs, I went
>immediately to a phone
and called Marazul, knowing that they would be
>impossible to reach on
the coming weekend. After several tries
on a phone
>recording a busy signal,
I did get through to Gina Mosquera, and asked her if
>all was in order for me
to simply proceed on through Cancun to Havana.
She
>assured me that my
tickets were at my home address and not to worry, that all
>arrangements were in
order.
>>
>> I checked my office mail, where
there were no tickets, but I did find an
>email and a voice mail
from a Hilda Ruiz of Marazul, and a fax asking for
>authorization of
payment, the same from I had sent by fox and mail several
>months earlier. I answered the emails and voice mails with
the same message
I
>had just been assured in
confirmation from Gina Mosquera, and went home to
>find no tickets in my
home address mail. I then made a rather
complex series
>of trips through my
local post office and express mail channels on Saturday,
>when, of course, the
Marazul phones were all on answering machines and would
>not be listened to until
well after my Sunday takeoff. I also
phoned IHMEC
to
>leave a message that a
portending derailment was coming up in the tradition I
>had seen already
reported for Marazul. I called several
others of the voice
>mail numbers on the
Marazul answering machines, and got no responses to
>messages left there, and
the post office here was going to notify me of any
>incoming mail from
Marazul.
>>
>> And now, as I write this an hour
after I should have taken off (one does
not
>simply go to the airport
and standby for a trip to Cuba, as you know, since I
>have to be carrying the
travel documents under the visa license that Marazul
>holds as its sinecure
for my travel they have aborted), I have been blown off
>my IHMEC participation
by the incompetence and continued reassurance of the
>monopoly travel agent
that has so mismanaged these arrangements.
I insist
>that Marazul refund my
entire registration for the IHMEC meeting.
In calling
>around to see if any
other place than my home or office had received the
>promised tickets and
arrangements according to the most recent instructions
>emailed from IHMEC (see
attached), I have been "discovered" upon my return
>from my two remote
international medical missions, and my presence has led to
>a series of meetings
that now preclude my trying to get a late start to join
>the meeting in
progress-the reason I was trying to transition directly from
>the other remote medical
missions to Cuba.
>>
>> The reports for the
first venue in Mindanao (Feb-A-series) and the second
in
>Malaybalay
(Feb-B-series) or the first week in Embangweni (Feb-C-series) or
>the final week in Malawi
(Mar-A-series) are attached, as they might have
>formed a basis for
discussion in the conference as I had promised for IHMEC's
>meeting. The further plans for other medical missions
this coming year with
>medical students are
also attached ("Welcome to the World of Wonder*.") for
>any of the IHMEC members
who wish to have such similar experiences for their
>students or others. I am sorry I did not have the chance to
share these with
>you more directly.
>>
>>With deep regrets on
my part, and best wishes for your conference in Cuba!
>>
>>Glenn W. Geelhoed
>>
>>
>>Hi,
>>I know it's been a
while but it was not until yesterday that I got
>>confirmation for my
flight arrangements. Marazul Tours is
the most
>>disorganized agency
I have ever dealt with! First, they
weren't sure if
they
>>could get me a
Visa. Then they sent my flight
reservations to the wrong
>>airline and by the
time they realized it, my intended airline and schedule
>was
>>full. They did not inform me of this until
yesterday and I had to change
>>dates and connection
flights that I had already made to Miami in order to
>make
>>the Cuban flights
that are still open.
>>As of now I am
supposedly confirmed but I am awaiting overnight airline
>>tickets b/f I can
rest assured. If everything goes well,
I will be arriving
>>in Havana this Tues
afternoon and will be staying at the Libre.
I return
>>Monday to
Miami. I know you intended to arrive
this Sunday through Nassau
>but
>>I don't know if that
is still your plan. Where did you
decide to stay?
>>If I don't get to
hear from you, have a safe trip and we'll see each other
in
>>the island.
>>
>>Excited and anxious,
>>Christy
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Attachments:
>>Jan-B-2
>>Jan-B-3
>>World of Wonders
>>C. Pena email
>>IHMEC instructions
for carrying Marazul-supplied documents
>>Feb-A-series Tboli,
Mindanao
>>Feb-B-series,
Malaybalay, Mindanao
>>Feb-C-series,
Embangweni station, Malawi
>>Mar-A-series,
Malawi, final week, Southern Africa
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> "Dobson,
Joyce A." <jdobson@iupui.edu>
03/02/02 11:08AM >>>
>>Greetings from
IHMEC,
>>
>>It is now only a
matter of days before the 11th Annual IHMEC conference in
>>Havana, Cuba. The response to "Creating Healthy
Communities: An
>>International
Perspective" has been overwhelming.
Much work has gone into
>>planning the program
and it is our greatest hope that you will find this
>>conference
professionally rewarding.
>>
>>While I know that
some of you are still uncertain about your travel
>>arrangements, I am
hoping that all will be resolved in the next couple of
>>days. This message is to provide a bit more
information about your arrival
>>in Havana. After you clear customs at the Havana
airport, you should look
>>for a Havanatur
agent. Havanatur is responsible for
providing your
>>transportation to
the hotel. You will be able to pick up
your program
>>information and name
badges at the Hotel Nacional at the registration desk
>>on Tuesday evening
from 4-6pm and on Wednesday morning before the first
>>plenary.
>>
>>Havanatur will also
be providing a series of optional tours for your
>>companions and for
you on Saturday, March 16th. The
excursions may include
>>various beaches such
as Varadero, historical tours of Havana, the crocodiles
>>of Guama, Santa
Clara City, Vinales Valley, etc. There
will be a table at
>>the Hotel Nacional
where you can sign up for these tours.
>>
>>Please don't forget
to bring all of your travel documents with you,
>>including the copy
of IHMEC's conference license and your letter of
>>authorization on
IHMEC letterhead. These documents
should be provided by
>>Marazul along with
your tickets, visa and hotel reservation confirmation.
>>
>>Let me know if there
is more information I can provide.
Until Havana.....
>>
>>Joyce Dobson
>>IHMEC Secretariat
>>Department of
Medicine
>>Indiana University
School of Medicine
>>M200, Wishard
Hospital
>>1001 West 10th
Street
>>Indianapolis,
IN 46202
>>Tel: 317-630-7091
>>Fax: 317-656-4230
>>Email: jdobson@iupui.edu
>
>Hi,
>I know it's been a while
but it was not until yesterday that I got
>confirmation for my
flight arrangements. Marazul Tours is
the most
>disorganized agency I
have ever dealt with! First, they
weren't sure if they
>could get me a
Visa. Then they sent my flight
reservations to the wrong
>airline and by the time
they realized it, my intended airline and schedule
was
>full. They did not inform me of this until
yesterday and I had to change
>dates and connection
flights that I had already made to Miami in order to
make
>the Cuban flights that
are still open.
>As of now I am
supposedly confirmed but I am awaiting overnight airline
>tickets b/f I can rest
assured. If everything goes well, I
will be arriving
>in Havana this Tues
afternoon and will be staying at the Libre.
I return
>Monday to Miami. I know you intended to arrive this Sunday
through Nassau
but
>I don't know if that is
still your plan. Where did you decide
to stay?
>If I don't get to hear
from you, have a safe trip and we'll see each other in
>the island.
>
>Excited and anxious,
>Christy
21 March
Dear Dr. Geelhoed,
I am shocked by the
vehemence of your tone and complete distortion of my
reply.
I made no references to the
arrangements for anyone other than yourself and
your student (which was the
example you referenced in your email to me.)
I repeated only my
understanding of the history of your request and your
student's request.
I never said or implied that
you or anyone else was an incompetent traveler.
I did not make any general
comments at all- other than my belief that travel
to Cuba is difficult - nor
did I villify anyone.
I did imply that I thought
your situation was unique because you were
unreachable before the
conference.
For the record, I know
Marazul made mistakes and errors with a number of the
300 travelers to the
Conference. I do not believe it was due to incompetence
and I know we tried to
correct any errors brought to our attention as
quickly as possible.
I also know we were
overwhelmed by the numbers of calls and emails we
received and did not answer
many questions in a timely way - for which we
are very sorry.
I am sorry for our failure
to foresee that we would go from having to cancel
60 programs with 1500
passengers and lay off staff in the fall, to having 90
programs with 2000 people in
March.
You repeatedly state your
belief that Cuba should have been the easiest of
your three trips. In this I
do disagree.
I certainly wish IHMEC had
used the travel agency you employed for your
other trips and I assure you
we did not choose to make the arrangements for
this conference. We were
asked to do so because bigger or more 'competent'
agencies with more
experience with conference arrangements do not make these
arrangements for Cuba. We
never stopped these agencies nor did we somehow
drive them from the field;
in fact we have encouraged other travel agencies
to send their clients to
Cuba.
These other agencies have
refused. Why?
I believe it is because Cuba
is an especially difficult destination. If you
know the following or
believe they are irrelevant points I apologize for
listing them:
Under the US restrictions on
travel to Cuba which do not apply to any other
country in the world:
Penalties for agencies or
individuals in violation of the restrictions range
from civil penalties of
fines up to $250,000 to criminal penalties up to 25
years in prison. Hundreds of
individuals and companies have been fined
hundreds of thousands of
dollars in the last few years. Enforcement has been
dramatically stepped up this
year;
Agencies must apply for a
special license from the Government and file
regular reports listing the
specific dollar amounts transferred to Cuba
under each legal category of
travel and must comply with very strict
bureaucratic rules in
advising clients and carrying out the travel request.
Licensed agencies can only
send individuals and groups who are themselves
licensed by the US
Government. We are not allowed to advise anyone who is
not.
No regular flights are
allowed from the US to Cuba: only special charters
which receive authorization
only days, weeks, or at most two months before
their scheduled departure.
Seats cannot be reserved or sold until they are
authorized.
Seats on flights outside the
US cannot be reserved or ticketed via any
computer systems. They must
be directly contacted via telephone and/or fax
and in many cases, such as
Cancun, they cannot be ticketed directly.
No US company can have
representatives in Cuba.
Until three years ago, there
was no direct telephone or fax service to Cuba.
In addition to the effects
of the US restrictions, there has also been a
history of political
violence directed against the travel agencies involved
in travel to Cuba. Over the
years, dozens of bomb attacks have been directed
at these agencies and
individuals. At this moment in San Juan, a grand jury
is meeting to investigate
the assassination of the president of Marazul's
sister agency in Puerto Rico
a number of years ago.
I strongly believe these
facts have convinced our colleagues from other
agencies not to arrange
travel to Cuba. Some are re-considering now and I
hope more do soon.
Fundamentally we all need to do everything we can to
bring about the end of these
restrictions - so that travel finally becomes
'normal'.
None of this is to excuse
the errors we make. We know the rules under which
we work better than anyone
and we choose to try and service our clients
competently and
professionally. We try very hard and we still make errors
for which we will take full
responsibility.
In your case and in the case
of your student, I tried to indicate what my
understanding of the history
was. I hope you will choose to respond.
Sincerely
Bob Guild
Marazul Charters
-----Original Message-----
From: Glenn Geelhoed [mailto:msdgwg@gwumc.edu]
Sent: Thursday, March 21,
2002 4:58 PM
To: Bob Guild
Subject: Re: Cuba trip
I have received your note
about how Marazul is blameless in the incompetence
that stranded me---and also
in all other arrangements made by all the others
who have contacted me as
well. I certainly hear your
self-serving
chastisement of me as an
incompetent traveler. You have in hand
the three
complex itineraries of my
month, of which the Cuba trip was the shortest and
simplest. But, somehow, in your view, I have flubbed
it, which led to my
missing my meeting.
Since that is your position, you have to convince me that the
whole group
is a bunch of incorrigibles
who are malcontents, and rather naive travelers
who do not know your
business as you so obviously do. All
of IHMEC
consists of heavy air
travelers to all points on the globe. I
may probably
be the single biggest
customer of travel agents and air services in the
group.
I would believe that I am certainly qualified as a "Frequent
Traveler,"
having logged more miles
with many carriers and several agents in just the
last month than most of the
world's nomads accumulate in a lifetime.
These
two globe-girdling round
trips that preceded the relatively short trip I had
entrusted to you, came off
without a hitch, notwithstanding weather,
mechanical, diplomatic and
security delays
Somehow, however, in your
view, my completely aborted trip through your
arrangements turns out to be
uniquely my fault! I will have to see
if all
the others feel the same
way, since they also have made independent
judgments about your
services for them. (Attached below.)
Particularly since my
special call on arrival from Malawi in checking on all
my careful pre-arrangements
from Dulles on Friday assured me that all had
been taken care of and that
I was overly concerned about what is, after all,
your business in what you do
for a living, I find your reasons to be
arrogance compounding
incompetence.
What did you have in mind
for compensation for this incompetence, or should
we petition an independent
judicial source for their opinion on which of the
collected stories has
greater credibility?
GWG
>>> Bob Guild <bguild@marazulcharters.com> 03/12/02 01:13PM
>>>
12 March
To: Dr. Glenn Geelhoed
Fr: Bob Guild
Marazul Charters
I am very sorry for your
experiences with our agency and that you were not
able to travel to the
Conference. Certainly we had reserved your flights and
hotel and had the documents
(flight tickets, hotel voucher, Cuban visa, and
license) ready to send to
you via Federal Express. We tried all last week to
reach you right up until 8PM
Friday night. We needed and required the Credit
Card Authorization Form in
order to collect your payment for the trip before
we could send your tickets.
You had indeed sent the form one month prior -
but it was incomplete: you
left the amount blank with no instructions. As a
matter of policy we do not
accept forms with the amount left blank. Thus the
President of Marazul - Hilda
Diaz - attempted unsuccessfully to fax,
telephone and email you.
Your travel was never mismanaged by our agency.
It is true Marazul can
almost never make arrangements to Cuba months in
advance. This is not our
choice. We must work under severe legal and
bureaucratic restrictions
imposed by the US government. It is also not our
choice to be a 'monopoly'.
We have encouraged every agency with whom we have
been in contact and we have
assisted a few to become licensed travel service
providers to Cuba. Most,
however, refuse to do so: it is just too difficult
and, in the recent past, too
dangerous.
Re Christina Pena Trip
On Feb 20 your student
Christina Pena faxed her request form for March 13-17
specifically listing C&T
Charters departure and return (please let me know
if you want me to fax her
form). Marazul requested these flights and was
denied. Ms. Pena then
informed us she really wanted the Wilson charter
flights for the same days.
We requested these flights which were also
denied. These were the only
flights on these days from Miami. We were able
to get reservations March
12-18 via Gulfstream. We never sent her the wrong
reservations.
She also mentions our
concern whether we could get her visa. At that time,
we were not sure whether
students would secure their visa through Marazul or
if they needed an academic
visa which Marazul cannot obtain. The organizing
committee advised us and we
issued her visa. Travel to Cuba is difficult,
but Ms. Pena experienced
neither incompetence or difficulty from Marazul.
Sincerely
Bob Guild
Marazul Charters
A litany of Marazul
Management:
A LITANY OF WOE ASSOCIATED
WITH MARAZUL INCOMPETENCE
Dear Glenn:
My apologies that you could
not join us in Havana. It is regretable
that
this travel agency precluded
your participation, and I must say that I
almost went via the Canadian
route to book my hotel. Marazul never
sent me
the voucher for the hotel,
and I had to argue for 2.5 hours to get them to
confirm that I had indeed
paid for the hotel room.
I have not been more livid
and angry in my life at an absolute incompentency
of a travel agent. And although I do not sit on Governing
Council at IHMEC
anymore, I feel that we
should be in part responsible for your lack of
participation.
Thank you kindly for your
words ... they are much needed to IHMEC.
Kind regards,
Kevin Chan
I am so sorry to hear of
this incompetence that you have had to deal
with....all of us, to a
person had problems but yours, surely is the worst.
I am also sorry that you
missed a good meeting through no fault of your own.
I am just back and while I
too had problems and a late delivery of
the
promised documents, I at
least was able to get there. I am
including Joyce
Dobson on this so she can
keep this in a file. We will of course
never use
this travel agency again,
but I want to be sure that we have documentation
like yours in case anyone in
the future forgets how disorganized
this
agency was.
Again, I am sorry for this
frustrating experience.
>>> "Glenn
Geelhoed" <msdgwg@gwumc.edu>
03/11/02 04:33AM >>>
WITH DEEPEST REGRETS, I
EXPLAIN TO IHMEC HOW IT IS THAT I AM NOT IN CUBA ON
THE BASIS OF THE FAILURE OF
MARAZUL TO DELIVER TICKETS AND DOCUMENTS AS
PROMISED
Dear Fellow (non)-Travelers:
I am all packed up, with no
place to go! I am very sorry that I am
not with
you now, as I had planned to
be, in Havana. It certainly is not for
lack of
trying, but for very trying
circumstances.
I had seen in my emails
after arrival this weekend from my Malawi medical
mission that there were some
complaints about the incompetence of Marazul
Travel, including from my
medical student Christi Pena, who had reported by
email (attached) that she
just now had finally got her tickets after having
a great deal of difficulty
with Marazul. I am the one who had
encouraged
her to accompany me to Cuba,
as a "homecoming" for her, with an introduction
to IHMEC, which referred her
through Marazul. Well, she is now ahead
of me!
I suspected there might be
difficulty in completing all the travel
arrangements when I made my
own reservations for the IHMEC meeting in Havana
over six months ago. I
called, emailed and faxed the recommended Marazul
agency several months ago,
and after several delays through each method, had
finally contacted Gina
Mosquera and several co-workers to explain to them
the early securing of the
itinerary, tickets, visas and accommodations, and
was assured that all of this
had been (note: not would be but had been)
taken care of, and when I
called to confirm all of this before taking off on
the first of my remote
medical missions, I was met with annoyance, repeating
what I had already been
assured: that the tickets, visas and arrangements
would be mailed to me at my
home in time for the Sunday takeoff.
I had explained that this
was especially important for me, since I am often
gone, but in these
instances, I would also be remote and out of contact
through any means of phone
or fax, but I gave them the complete itineraries
(Jan-B-2, 3) of where I
would be able to be reached at the airports or air
carriers for messages and
through several mission organizations email
addresses through which I
would check if they were in operation.
I had made
my IHMEC advance registration
payment of $300.00, and sent by fax and mail
the credit card
authorization to Marazul, for the itinerary arranged by
phone and was assured that
all had been received.
I then took off for Mindanao
in the remote Southern Philippines, where I
operated in the Tboli tribal
region of Southern Mindanao (South Cotabato)
under the heavily armed
military escort assigned to escort me in my surgical
clinics in that area, and
then flew up to Malaybalay, Bukidnon for an
additional week of intensive
surgical care and clinical teaching, before
returning eastward to
Washington for a very brief touchdown, at my office
only, to pick up the other
boxes of medical and surgical supplies and my two
GW senior medical students
to continue eastward through Europe to Malawi,
Southern Africa. Although only in Washington for a few hours
of this month,
on February 18, I included
in this brief transition another call and email
to Marazul, who assured me
that everything had been (again, NOT would be)
taken care of for my trip to
Cuba, in which I have several people expecting
me, not least of which is
the medical student accompanying me.
I then flew off to Malawi,
knowing I would have only a matter of hours to
connect with the Cuba onward
travel upon my return to Washington, if I left
Africa early.
I entered a period of intensive clinical work with
the local health
care workers being
instructed as well as my accompanying GW medical
students, with a strong
request from the remote Embangweni Mission Station
Hospital that I continue working
there for an additional two weeks as my
medical student would
be. Because of my commitments to go to
the IHMEC
conference in Cuba, however,
I declined these requests and left Africa
early, leaving John Sutter,
my GW medical student in Embangweni, and flew
back through Nairobi,
Amsterdam to Dulles airport in Washington on Friday
afternoon, March 8 at 4:30
PM. As soon as I had landed, and before
I picked
up my baggage or cleared
customs, I went immediately to a phone and called
Marazul, knowing that they
would be impossible to reach on the coming
weekend. After several tries on a phone recording a
busy signal, I did get
through to Gina Mosquera,
and asked her if all was in order for me to simply
proceed on through Cancun to
Havana. She assured me that my tickets
were at
my home address and not to
worry, that all arrangements were in order.
I checked my office mail, where there were no
tickets, but I did
find an email and a voice
mail from a Hilda Ruiz of Marazul, and a fax
asking for authorization of
payment, the same from I had sent by fox and
mail several months
earlier. I answered the emails and
voice mails with the
same message I had just been
assured in confirmation from Gina Mosquera, and
went home to find no tickets
in my home address mail. I then made a
rather
complex series of trips
through my local post office and express mail
channels on Saturday, when,
of course, the Marazul phones were all on
answering machines and would
not be listened to until well after my Sunday
takeoff. I also phoned IHMEC to leave a message that
a portending
derailment was coming up in
the tradition I had seen already reported for
Marazul. I called several others of the voice mail
numbers on the Marazul
answering machines, and got
no responses to messages left there, and the
post office here was going
to notify me of any incoming mail from Marazul.
And now, as I write this an hour after I should have
taken off (one
does not simply go to the
airport and standby for a trip to Cuba, as you
know, since I have to be
carrying the travel documents under the visa
license that Marazul holds
as its sinecure for my travel they have aborted),
I have been blown off my
IHMEC participation by the incompetence and
continued reassurance of the
monopoly travel agent that has so mismanaged
these arrangements. I insist that Marazul refund my entire
registration for
the IHMEC meeting. In calling around to see if any other place
than my home
or office had received the
promised tickets and arrangements according to
the most recent instructions
emailed from IHMEC (see attached), I have been
"discovered" upon
my return from my two remote international medical
missions, and my presence
has led to a series of meetings that now preclude
my trying to get a late
start to join the meeting in progress-the reason I
was trying to transition
directly from the other remote medical missions to
Cuba.
The reports for the first venue in Mindanao (Feb-A-series) and the
second
in Malaybalay (Feb-B-series)
or the first week in Embangweni (Feb-C-series)
or the final week in Malawi
(Mar-A-series) are attached, as they might have
formed a basis for
discussion in the conference as I had promised for
IHMEC's meeting. The further plans for other medical missions
this coming
year with medical students
are also attached ("Welcome to the World of
Wonder*.") for any of
the IHMEC members who wish to have such similar
experiences for their
students or others. I am sorry I did
not have the
chance to share these with
you more directly.
With deep regrets on my
part, and best wishes for your conference in Cuba!
Glenn W. Geelhoed
Hi,
I know it's been a while but
it was not until yesterday that I got
confirmation for my flight
arrangements. Marazul Tours is the most
disorganized agency I have
ever dealt with! First, they weren't
sure if
they
could get me a Visa. Then they sent my flight reservations to the
wrong
airline and by the time they
realized it, my intended airline and schedule
was
full. They did not inform me of this until
yesterday and I had to change
dates and connection flights
that I had already made to Miami in order to
make
the Cuban flights that are
still open.
As of now I am supposedly
confirmed but I am awaiting overnight airline
tickets b/f I can rest
assured. If everything goes well, I
will be arriving
in Havana this Tues
afternoon and will be staying at the Libre.
I return
Monday to Miami. I know you intended to arrive this Sunday
through Nassau
but
I don't know if that is
still your plan. Where did you decide
to stay?
If I don't get to hear from
you, have a safe trip and we'll see each other
in
the island.
Excited and anxious,
Christy
Attachments:
Jan-B-2
Jan-B-3
World of Wonders
C. Pena email
IHMEC instructions for
carrying Marazul-supplied documents
Feb-A-series Tboli, Mindanao
Feb-B-series, Malaybalay,
Mindanao
Feb-C-series, Embangweni
station, Malawi
Mar-A-series, Malawi, final
week, Southern Africa
>>> "Dobson,
Joyce A." <jdobson@iupui.edu>
03/02/02 11:08AM >>>
Greetings from IHMEC,
It is now only a matter of
days before the 11th Annual IHMEC conference in
Havana, Cuba. The response to "Creating Healthy
Communities: An
International
Perspective" has been overwhelming.
Much work has gone into
planning the program and it
is our greatest hope that you will find this
conference professionally
rewarding.
While I know that some of
you are still uncertain about your travel
arrangements, I am hoping
that all will be resolved in the next couple of
days. This message is to provide a bit more
information about your arrival
in Havana. After you clear customs at the Havana
airport, you should look
for a Havanatur agent. Havanatur is responsible for providing your
transportation to the
hotel. You will be able to pick up your
program
information and name badges
at the Hotel Nacional at the registration desk
on Tuesday evening from
4-6pm and on Wednesday morning before the first
plenary.
Havanatur will also be
providing a series of optional tours for your
companions and for you on
Saturday, March 16th. The excursions
may include
various beaches such as
Varadero, historical tours of Havana, the crocodiles
of Guama, Santa Clara City,
Vinales Valley, etc. There will be a
table at
the Hotel Nacional where you
can sign up for these tours.
Please don't forget to bring
all of your travel documents with you,
including the copy of
IHMEC's conference license and your letter of
authorization on IHMEC
letterhead. These documents should be
provided by
Marazul along with your
tickets, visa and hotel reservation confirmation.
Let me know if there is more
information I can provide. Until
Havana.....
Joyce Dobson
IHMEC Secretariat
Department of Medicine
Indiana University School of
Medicine
M200, Wishard Hospital
1001 West 10th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Tel: 317-630-7091
Fax: 317-656-4230
Email: jdobson@iupui.edu
Glenn:
*laughing* ... considering
they lost my hotel bookings ... I am considering
weather or not to sue ...
they failed in their contract to deliver the
services that I paid for.
Kevin
Dear Dr. Geelhoed,
I became aware of your
situation after arriving in Cuba last Monday.
You
most certainly will be
refunded in full your registration fee!
Although
there were some factors
complicating Marazul's job, their lack of
communication, coordination
and foresight was dreadful and unprofessional.
On behalf of IHMEC, I
apologize for all of your troubles. If
you would
like, I could at least send
you a copy of the conference program.
Please
let me know if this would be
of value to you at this point.
Joyce Dobson
IHMEC Secretariat
PS After being away for a week, I am working through my emails. Although
you may already have sent me
the message from Marazul stating that you are
to blame for the misfortune,
I would most definitely like to see a copy of
it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Glenn Geelhoed [mailto:msdgwg@gwumc.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 19,
2002 8:01 AM
To: jdobson@iupui.edu
Subject: Registration refund
I surely would have wanted
to be there!
Despite multiple assurances,
Marazul failed. I certainly planned to
be and
made every effort. Apparently, I am not alone--see kevin's note
to me as
well.
Could you mail the refund to
me--or, better, extract it from marazul?
Cheers!
GWG
Thank you for your
sympathies---I would have loved to have been there with
you!
I wrote the note to Marazul,
and they responded; "We are entirely blameless
in this and all other
situations of confusion among clients--in which it is
always the customers'
fault." It seems that so far it
has been a 100% group
of incorrigibles with which
they are dealing!
I hope IHMEC refunds the
registration, since it certainly was due to "forces
completely beyond my
control" that I was not there with you!
Cheers!
GWG
Glenn:
*laughing* ... considering
they lost my hotel bookings ... I am considering
weather or not to sue ...
they failed in their contract to deliver the
services that I paid for.
Kevin
Dear Glenn:
My apologies that you could
not join us in Havana. It is regretable
that
this travel agency precluded
your participation, and I must say that I
almost went via the Canadian
route to book my hotel. Marazul never
sent me
the voucher for the hotel,
and I had to argue for 2.5 hours to get them to
confirm that I had indeed
paid for the hotel room.
I have not been more livid
and angry in my life at an absolute incompentency
of a travel agent. And although I do not sit on Governing
Council at IHMEC
anymore, I feel that we
should be in part responsible for your lack of
participation.
Thank you kindly for your
words ... they are much needed to IHMEC.
Kind regards,
Kevin Chan
I am very sorry to hear all
that came to pass.We missed you at the
meeting.I heard of several
other complaints,and some of our other members
did not make it either.
I can't believe what
happened to you! Well, knowing Marazul
maybe I can.
We'll talk when I get
back. I am going to be booked with
making up classes,
follies, and a neuro and gi
icm exam for the next two weeks. I'll
try and
catch up with you at some
point.
Christy
PS Thank you for the
opportunity and experience you offered me.
I wish you
could have been there.
>===== Original Message
From Glenn Geelhoed <msdgwg@gwumc.edu>
=====
>WITH DEEPEST REGRETS, I
EXPLAIN TO IHMEC HOW IT IS THAT I AM NOT IN CUBA ON
THE BASIS OF THE FAILURE OF
MARAZUL TO DELIVER TICKETS AND DOCUMENTS AS
PROMISED
>
>
>
>
>Dear Fellow
(non)-Travelers:
>
>I am all packed up, with
no place to go! I am very sorry that I
am not
with
you now, as I had planned to
be, in Havana. It certainly is not for
lack of
trying, but for very trying
circumstances.
>
>I had seen in my emails
after arrival this weekend from my Malawi medical
mission that there were some
complaints about the incompetence of Marazul
Travel, including from my
medical student Christi Pena, who had reported by
email (attached) that she
just now had finally got her tickets after having
a
great deal of difficulty
with Marazul. I am the one who had
encouraged her
to
accompany me to Cuba, as a
"homecoming" for her, with an introduction to
IHMEC, which referred her through
Marazul. Well, she is now ahead of me!
>
>I suspected there might
be difficulty in completing all the travel
arrangements when I made my
own reservations for the IHMEC meeting in Havana
over six months ago. I
called, emailed and faxed the recommended Marazul
agency several months ago,
and after several delays through each method, had
finally contacted Gina
Mosquera and several co-workers to explain to them
the
early securing of the
itinerary, tickets, visas and accommodations, and was
assured that all of this had
been (note: not would be but had been) taken
care
of, and when I called to
confirm all of this before taking off on the first
of
my remote medical missions,
I was met with annoyance, repeating what I had
already been assured: that the
tickets, visas and arrangements would be
mailed
to me at my home in time for
the Sunday takeoff.
>
>I had explained that
this was especially important for me, since I am often
gone, but in these
instances, I would also be remote and out of contact
through any means of phone
or fax, but I gave them the complete itineraries
(Jan-B-2, 3) of where I
would be able to be reached at the airports or air
carriers for messages and
through several mission organizations email
addresses through which I
would check if they were in operation.
I had made
my IHMEC advance
registration payment of $300.00, and sent by fax and mail
the
credit card authorization to
Marazul, for the itinerary arranged by phone
and
was assured that all had
been received.
>
>I then took off for
Mindanao in the remote Southern Philippines, where I
operated in the Tboli tribal
region of Southern Mindanao (South Cotabato)
under the heavily armed
military escort assigned to escort me in my surgical
clinics in that area, and
then flew up to Malaybalay, Bukidnon for an
additional week of intensive
surgical care and clinical teaching, before
returning eastward to
Washington for a very brief touchdown, at my office
only, to pick up the other
boxes of medical and surgical supplies and my two
GW senior medical students
to continue eastward through Europe to Malawi,
Southern Africa. Although only in Washington for a few hours
of this month,
on February 18, I included
in this brief transition another call and email
to
Marazul, who assured me that
everything had been (again, NOT would be) taken
care of for my trip to Cuba,
in which I have several people expecting me,
not
least of which is the
medical student accompanying me.
>
>I then flew off to
Malawi, knowing I would have only a matter of hours to
connect with the Cuba onward
travel upon my return to Washington, if I left
Africa early.
>
> I entered a period of intensive clinical work with the
local health
care
workers being instructed as
well as my accompanying GW medical students,
with
a strong request from the
remote Embangweni Mission Station Hospital that I
continue working there for
an additional two weeks as my medical student
would
be. Because of my commitments to go to the IHMEC
conference in Cuba,
however,
I declined these requests
and left Africa early, leaving John Sutter, my GW
medical student in
Embangweni, and flew back through Nairobi, Amsterdam to
Dulles airport in Washington
on Friday afternoon, March 8 at 4:30 PM.
As
soon
as I had landed, and before
I picked up my baggage or cleared customs, I
went
immediately to a phone and
called Marazul, knowing that they would be
impossible to reach on the
coming weekend. After several tries on
a phone
recording a busy signal, I
did get through to Gina Mosquera, and asked her
if
all was in order for me to
simply proceed on through Cancun to Havana.
She
assured me that my tickets
were at my home address and not to worry, that
all
arrangements were in order.
>
> I checked my office mail, where there were no tickets,
but I did
find an
email and a voice mail from
a Hilda Ruiz of Marazul, and a fax asking for
authorization of payment,
the same from I had sent by fox and mail several
months earlier. I answered the emails and voice mails with
the same message
I
had just been assured in
confirmation from Gina Mosquera, and went home to
find no tickets in my home
address mail. I then made a rather
complex
series
of trips through my local
post office and express mail channels on Saturday,
when, of course, the Marazul
phones were all on answering machines and would
not be listened to until
well after my Sunday takeoff. I also
phoned IHMEC
to
leave a message that a
portending derailment was coming up in the tradition
I
had seen already reported
for Marazul. I called several others of
the voice
mail numbers on the Marazul
answering machines, and got no responses to
messages left there, and the
post office here was going to notify me of any
incoming mail from Marazul.
>
> And now, as I write this an hour after I should have
taken off (one
does not
simply go to the airport and
standby for a trip to Cuba, as you know, since
I
have to be carrying the
travel documents under the visa license that Marazul
holds as its sinecure for my
travel they have aborted), I have been blown
off
my IHMEC participation by
the incompetence and continued reassurance of the
monopoly travel agent that
has so mismanaged these arrangements. I
insist
that Marazul refund my
entire registration for the IHMEC meeting.
In
calling
around to see if any other
place than my home or office had received the
promised tickets and
arrangements according to the most recent instructions
emailed from IHMEC (see
attached), I have been "discovered" upon my return
from my two remote
international medical missions, and my presence has led
to
a series of meetings that
now preclude my trying to get a late start to join
the meeting in progress-the
reason I was trying to transition directly from
the other remote medical
missions to Cuba.
>
> The reports for the
first venue in Mindanao (Feb-A-series) and the second
in
Malaybalay (Feb-B-series) or
the first week in Embangweni (Feb-C-series) or
the final week in Malawi
(Mar-A-series) are attached, as they might have
formed a basis for
discussion in the conference as I had promised for
IHMEC's
meeting. The further plans for other medical missions
this coming year with
medical students are also
attached ("Welcome to the World of Wonder*.") for
any of the IHMEC members who
wish to have such similar experiences for their
students or others. I am sorry I did not have the chance to
share these
with
you more directly.
>
>With deep regrets on my
part, and best wishes for your conference in Cuba!
>
>Glenn W. Geelhoed
>
>
>Hi,
>I know it's been a while
but it was not until yesterday that I got
>confirmation for my
flight arrangements. Marazul Tours is
the most
>disorganized agency I
have ever dealt with! First, they
weren't sure if
they
>could get me a
Visa. Then they sent my flight
reservations to the wrong
>airline and by the time
they realized it, my intended airline and schedule
was
>full. They did not inform me of this until
yesterday and I had to change
>dates and connection
flights that I had already made to Miami in order to
make
>the Cuban flights that
are still open.
>As of now I am
supposedly confirmed but I am awaiting overnight airline
>tickets b/f I can rest
assured. If everything goes well, I
will be
arriving
>in Havana this Tues
afternoon and will be staying at the Libre.
I return
>Monday to Miami. I know you intended to arrive this Sunday
through Nassau
but
>I don't know if that is
still your plan. Where did you decide
to stay?
>If I don't get to hear
from you, have a safe trip and we'll see each other
in
>the island.
>
>Excited and anxious,
>Christy
>
>
>
>
>
>Attachments:
>Jan-B-2
>Jan-B-3
>World of Wonders
>C. Pena email
>IHMEC instructions for
carrying Marazul-supplied documents
>Feb-A-series Tboli,
Mindanao
>Feb-B-series,
Malaybalay, Mindanao
>Feb-C-series, Embangweni
station, Malawi
>Mar-A-series, Malawi,
final week, Southern Africa
>
>
>
>
>>> "Dobson,
Joyce A." <jdobson@iupui.edu>
03/02/02 11:08AM >>>
>Greetings from IHMEC,
>
>It is now only a matter
of days before the 11th Annual IHMEC conference in
>Havana, Cuba. The response to "Creating Healthy
Communities: An
>International
Perspective" has been overwhelming.
Much work has gone into
>planning the program and
it is our greatest hope that you will find this
>conference
professionally rewarding.
>
>While I know that some
of you are still uncertain about your travel
>arrangements, I am
hoping that all will be resolved in the next couple of
>days. This message is to provide a bit more
information about your arrival
>in Havana. After you clear customs at the Havana
airport, you should look
>for a Havanatur
agent. Havanatur is responsible for
providing your
>transportation to the
hotel. You will be able to pick up your
program
>information and name
badges at the Hotel Nacional at the registration desk
>on Tuesday evening from
4-6pm and on Wednesday morning before the first
>plenary.
>
>Havanatur will also be
providing a series of optional tours for your
>companions and for you
on Saturday, March 16th. The excursions
may include
>various beaches such as
Varadero, historical tours of Havana, the
crocodiles
>of Guama, Santa Clara
City, Vinales Valley, etc. There will
be a table at
>the Hotel Nacional where
you can sign up for these tours.
>
>Please don't forget to
bring all of your travel documents with you,
>including the copy of
IHMEC's conference license and your letter of
>authorization on IHMEC
letterhead. These documents should be
provided by
>Marazul along with your
tickets, visa and hotel reservation confirmation.
>
>Let me know if there is
more information I can provide. Until
Havana.....
>
>Joyce Dobson
>IHMEC Secretariat
>Department of Medicine
>Indiana University
School of Medicine
>M200, Wishard Hospital
>1001 West 10th Street
>Indianapolis, IN 46202
>Tel: 317-630-7091
>Fax: 317-656-4230
>Email: jdobson@iupui.edu
Hi,
I know it's been a while but
it was not until yesterday that I got
confirmation for my flight
arrangements. Marazul Tours is the most
disorganized agency I have
ever dealt with! First, they weren't
sure if
they
could get me a Visa. Then they sent my flight reservations to the
wrong
airline and by the time they
realized it, my intended airline and schedule
was
full. They did not inform me of this until
yesterday and I had to change
dates and connection flights
that I had already made to Miami in order to
make
the Cuban flights that are
still open.
As of now I am supposedly
confirmed but I am awaiting overnight airline
tickets b/f I can rest
assured. If everything goes well, I
will be arriving
in Havana this Tues
afternoon and will be staying at the Libre.
I return
Monday to Miami. I know you intended to arrive this Sunday
through Nassau
but
I don't know if that is
still your plan. Where did you decide
to stay?
If I don't get to hear from
you, have a safe trip and we'll see each other
in
the island.
Excited and anxious,
Christy