Nabil B.

I had a business trip to an African country. I stopped in London with 14 hours between flights. I love London and take every opportunity to visit there, usually for longer time. In the past when I had more than 8 hours between flights, I stayed in one of the Holiday Inn or Sheraton hotels nearby Heathrow.

For the first time I decided to go into town as I had 18 hours between flights. I also decided, for the first time, to stay in no name hotel. It was a measurable experience.
Never again!

Once I landed in Heathrow airport, I used London coach express to go to Victoria area of London. After checking the distance to the hotel from Victoria coach station, I decided to take a taxi. I paid five pound for the ride to the hotel.

I had request lower floor near the lobby or the elevator when I made my reservation. The front desk clerk, who may not have a friend in the world, informed me that the only available room is on the top floor, third floor and no elevator. I explained that it is hard for me to take the stairs. She turned her back to me and said that is the only room I have for you. I dragged my two luggage at a time up a narrow stairway.

You could not get lost in the room! It was nine feet by thirteen feet! That was all! There was one single bed against the wall, two feet away from the edge of the bed a bathroom sink! There was only one towel left on the bed.

There was no phone to connect me to the front desk or the outside world. Thank God I did not have not heart attack with any help nearby.

Once I was in "the room" and getting over the shock of how small the room is, I dropped my bottle of water on the carpet. I covered the wet area of the carpet with the only towel in the room. When I turned the towel over it was covered with dirt and filth from the filthy carpet. Luckily outside my door in the 3X3 feet hallway there was a small shelve with six clean towels left there. I assume that was the house keeping storage shelve. I used all the six towels to cover every inch of the room twice to protect me form the filthy carpet in the room.

I almost checked out to of this dump to anther hotel but for my one night stay in London (14 hours) on the way to Africa. I was tired from my long flight from Los Angeles and dreaded the idea of dragging my two luggage down the three flights of stairs then move to another hotel for my twelve hours stay in the hotel. I also had paid around $110 in advance for the room.

I stalled down counting the hours to check out and go back to Heathrow. I tried to get some sleep. I wanted to check on my next flight status, read my email on the internet. I was able to connect to the Hotel internet only once for two minutes. There was not internet connection throughout the night. There was no phone to call the front desk for assistance. That meant if I needed to get some help, I would have to go down stairs and back you the three flights of stairs. I used my London phone to connect to the internet. Needles to say I got no sleep and was looking forward to sleep on my Lon flight to Africa.

Next morning, early, I dragged my luggage down stairs, one at a time, and left them by the front desk. I went down one flight of stairs to a small room that was the breakfast area. There was coffee, thank God, boiled eggs, toast. Knowing about the faith of the room, I could not bring myself to eat anything. I traveled by London taxi to the Victoria coach station to take the express bus to Heathrow and then on to my final destination.

I had me good breakfast at United Red Carpet Club before my flight.

Final note. I paid I think, $110 for this filthy hole in the wall because it was near in the Victoria area of London, which I like. The area is full of restaurants and shopping area. Also this hotel claimed in their website that it is in a walking distance from Victoria Station. Well, if you are young, in good health and can wheel your luggage on the poor sidewalks of London streets for three of four miles, then the hotel is "close" to Victoria station.

Vivanta by Taj - Dwarka, New Delhi - Ratting Three Stars
I would have rated the Vivanta by Taj - Dwarka, New Delhi hotel over all Four Stars but for the last few hours in the hotel. I stayed in the hotel Sep, 2017. I was on three cities tour to India. I booked my trip through Culture Holidays India tour operator. This review will demonstrate how lake of front desk staff and managers training greatly impact hotel gusts experience.
I took seven days-six nights tour of India that included the major three cities (Golden Triangle) in Northern India. The three cities were Delhi, the capital of India, Agra which was once the capital of the India and Jaipur. The tour company was Culture holidays. The tour company did a great job in providing five stars hotels for the duration of the tours. Read my Culture Holidays review.
The three hotels were: Vivanta by Taj - Dwarka, New Delhi, Jaypee Palace - Agra and JW Marriott- Resort & Spa Jaipur. Three hotels rated five stars, by western standard.
I have traveled to more than forty two countries, stayed in No Stars hotels in Africa to Seven Stars hotels. Staying in five stars hotel; you expect five stars service and accommodation. The true measure of Five Star hotel is how will the staff go about fixing any issues that may develop with your stay not when everything goes great with your stay.
The Vivanta hotel has good modern designed rooms. The lobby is open and welcoming. I rate the hotel main restaurant 3 ½ stars. It is open buffet.
The hotel restaurant is not as elegant as the hotels lobby or rooms. I appreciated the separation of the Western food from the Indian food in the layout of the buffet. The food selection and quality are average. The service was poor! You can service your service but if you ask for special order from the kitchen or a cup of coffee or cold drink, you could wait as much as fifteen minutes to get it. The restaurant gets very crowded during breakfast and dinner. Clearly not have enough tables to serve guests. You could wait ten to fifteen minutes to be seated. Once you are seated you get the feeling that you are rushed by the table cleaning brigade.
The staff is nice and welcoming. The front lobby and front desk staff most likely selected for their beautiful (ladies) and very handsome (gentleman) appearance. They spoke very good English and clearly educated. But I think the entire staff of the hotel, including management is not trained to handle guests problems and issues timely and efficiently.
The problems and Issues I experienced during my stay in Vivanta were:
First Problem: My United Airline return flight to Los Angeles was scheduled for 11pm. I instructed the Tour Operator Culture holidays to reserve additional night stay at the Vivanta hotel so I can relax in my room before the long trip to Los Angeles until departure time to the airport. I paid in advance for the additional night.
When I checked in the hotel, first stop on the tour, I confirmed that I have prepaid additional night in the hotel. In the morning of the last day of the tour, departure day, I checked with the front desk about my additional night of stay. They had no record of it. I explained that I prepaid for additional night of stay and had it confirmed when I checked. I asked the front desk clerk not to give away my room away. I contacted the Tour Operator Culture holidays vie e-mail, explained the issue. Twenty minutes later they informed that the issue was resolved.
In the evening, during check out the front desk clerk handed me a bill for the additional night of stay. I started to get irritated as I explained once and again and again to multiple front desk clerks the problem. They were confused and kept trying to get me to read the billing statement that they printed of the computer as if it is the Holy Grail. I explained I do not care what the bill says. At no time during their confusions they consulted with a manager. I asked to talked to manager, they kept assuring me that the manager could not help me as they did all they can to solve the Issue. I demanded to see a manager as I was running out of time to catch my flight. I could see the fear in their easy for escalating the issue.
All front desk clerks disappeared in back. Five minutes later one of the clerks came out and pointed to a young sharp dressed gentleman that was watching all my conversation with the staff behind the desk as the manager. He asked me in a very cold voice what is the problem. At this point I was late to my plane and had it with this hotel. I looked at him and said I do not have a problem! The problem is with your staff and your hotel. I said will not explain for the tenth time how your hotel screwed up, I recommend that you talk to your staff, and call the tour operator immediately and resolve this issue. Then I added, I am leaving in five minutes not matter what you do! He started to recite me the hotel policy. I told him he is running out of time and asked for his business card. He explained the he said he does not have one. Luckily, the tour operator sends one of his staff to see me off to the airport. I explained to the tour operator staff person the issue. He made a phone call to his manager, few minutes later as my luggage was take to the taxi, the manager told me that the issue was resolve. No apology was given.
Second Problem: Once the additional night issue was resolved, again I was handed separate bill for breakfast in the morning. I explained that breakfast was included with my room. They did not understand why I was billed for breakfast nor can they delete the charge. Again I request to see the manager. He was the same manager that I talked to before. He checked few things and told me that I have to pay the additional charge. Calmly I explained that I spent over $4,000 on my trip to India and I am not about to not pay for my breakfast that I already paid for? I asked to speak to his manager; he said he is the only available manager. I told him Five Stars hotels always have a manager on standby. Then he explained that I had additional guest with me for breakfast. I told him that I had breakfast alone. He showed me signed restaurant bill charged to my room. I looked at the bill and told him that the signature on the bill is not mine. He asked me to sigh my name, I guess to make sure that was not my signature, I did. He said OK the bill is cleared of your account! That was that, No apology was given.
Third Problem: Long before going down stairs to check out, early evening around five pm, I was packing my cloth and was going to iron my traveling cloth. I discovered that cloth iron was not working. I called housekeeping to get replacement. No one answered for few minutes. I called the front desk and asked for replacement. Thirty minutes went by and no iron replacement! I called the front desk again, they transferred me to housekeeping, and again I requested a replacement. Thirty more minutes went by, no replacement. Again I called the front desk and housekeeping, they promised to send replacement.
Forty minutes later a young man from house keep knocked on the rooms door and apologist that the hotel does not have a replacement and offered to take my cloth and get them ironed. I asked how long will it take, he said two hours. I told him I do not have two hours. Five Stares Hotel should never have broken anything in the room. Rooms should be checked and rechecked before new guests arrive to make sure everything is working. Additionally, once I called housekeeping, it should have been few minutes to get a replacement Iron. Something is wrong with the housekeeping department in a five star hotels when they cant respond timely and have no spare Iron. Five Stars hotels must train their staff and management to provide Five Stars guests service.
I rate the hotel Three stars

Do Not Allow Chinese Internet Seller Scam you

I buy most of the smaller items through the internet. I mostly buy through eBay, Amazon and Wal-Mart. Most of the problems I experience are with Chinese sellers on e-bay. I return, have the item replaced or got refunds about 15% of the time.

The most recent issue I had with a a Chinese seller shows how the Chinese seller use Americans buyers kindness to scam American buyers happened few days ago with me.

I fly often, most of the airlines offer entertainment through phones, laptops or tablets. I decided to buy and use a 14 inch tablet. With the tablet I bought a purchased light weight keyboard. I prefer to use keyboard instead of the on screen keyboard.

I searched the internet, learned enough about these kind of keyboards, then went to my favorite website eBay. There I found many Chinese sellers offering the same keyboard for prices that varied by 20% up and down. Most of them offered free shipping.

The seller I selected listed The keyboard as Mini Bluetooth 3.0 Wireless Keyboard Touch-pad 81Keys for PC Android Windows. The cost was $15.22 plus $. 99 shipping.

I read through most of the seller website and select this seller because offered six month warranty. The eBay seller is newmango. Their website for the item is http://www.eBay.com/itm/*******917?ul_noapp=true

On the seller website, clearly state's that the warrant in Bold Red as follow:
Warranty and Guarantee 6 month Manufacturers Warranty for defective items (excluding items damaged and/or misused after receipt). Accessories come with a 3-monthwarranty

I purchased t the keyboard on September 16,2016, got it a week later. I used it twice while traveling, it worked fine. Third time, on a long flight from London, it stopped working. Once in my office, I replaced the cable that connects the keyboard to the PC for charging and communication, the keyboard was still bad.

I wrote the seller through eBay messaging the following:
- Hello, I purchased the keyboard late September. I used it three times on the plane. Last week traveling from London to ls Angeles the keyboard stopped working. Once in my office, l replaced the cable but it did not fix it. I connected it my tablet to my office keyboard. I was able to use my tablet. The keyboard is dead. Please advice of I have it fixed or replaced.

Two days later I got this response form the Chinese seller newmango:
- Dear buyer Thanks for your contact. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. For this case, can we issue refund 2USD for you as compensation to fix the issue? Looking forwards for your reply I believe you are a good buyer, will contact me back, then solve the issue smoothly. Best regards

So the seller with broken English politely tried to shaft me. Instead of offering refund or honor their warranty, they offered me $2 to go away. Very smart and very sleek!

I responded to them as follow:
- If you guys want to do business with Americans; you have to honor the warranty. This keyboard has 6 month warranty, so either replace it or refund my money. Otherwise i will give you bad review on the internet

They responded with:
- ok, we will resend you a new one today

These Chinese sellers believe that Americans are fools. Just like their government taking advantage of our stupid politicians to receive favorite trade agreements and sell us their products but we cannot sell them our products.

You need to push back and be less kind to these people because that is the only language they understand. DO NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER.

Of course i will rate this seller, on eBay as negative and tell what happened so other buyer from this seller be aware.

I got fooled by TOMTOP nice website and fake sale. I purchased a PC tablet, keyboards and few other small times ($34.70).
I ordered on July 10, I did not get any email confirmation for my order, did not get any follow up. Once I ordered, I was not able to sign in my TOMTOP account gain. TOMTOP system would not recognize my username! I attempted to contact TOMTOP but there was no response, they dont have customer service desk.
I contacted PayPal and filed a dispute on July 25th, asking where is my order? Two days later, TOMTOP sent me on line email, with no comments, just a shipping number. When I checked the shipping number, it was incorrect. I wrote them back, again with sent me one line with a web link that sent me FedEx website, again the tracking number was incorrect, I called FedEx, they informed me that they are getting the package from China and handing it to US Post office.
July 29th, I get the PC tablet and two key boards! I did not receive my other items as of yet, and they are not able to give me any update. The PC tablet looks flimsy and poorly made. It came with no manual or instruction booklet. It had one page full fo TOMTP rights and warnings. I pushed all the buttons on the tablet, but I thought it was DOA. I plugged it in the power connection any way, as it turned out the battery was dead, after few hour of charging, and pushing all the battens on the table, it turned on with Chinese Logo. If I keep the item, I guess I have to look at that every time I turn the unit on!
I also received to identical keyboards that should have connected to the tablet. Both were the wrong keyboards. I was charged for two keyboards, but I ordered one only. It is clear TOMTOP have no order review or quality control. I guess these concepts have not reached China yet.
I wrote the company and explained that the keyboards were incorrect and asked why I paid for two keyboards. I also asked them to provide me with the correct username to my account on TOMTOP.
In response, I got the same user name that does not work! I was told to ship back anything I dont like on my own expenses. So they make mistakes, and I pay for it. They did not provide any explaining for the wrong keyboards simply they dont give a $#*!, or care
I have ordered before from Chinese companies, through eBay. When there was a problem, the supplier either fixed it, or eBay forced them to refund me my money and ship the product back on the seller expanse.
The lesson here is DO NOT BE EVEN TAMTED TO PAY FROM TOPTOP. If you want buy anything from China use eBay, or Amazon.

On They shipped the wrong Keyboards for the the Tablet, they shipped to of them and charged me. Have