Dissatisfied client# ******

 In answer to your review, I would like to begin with your discomfort with the cold.  This winter has certainly been one of the chilliest Gauteng has seen in a long time! We were alarmed when you reported the Beautiful Otters Hide was freezing!  We had set the aircon to 32 degrees Celsius and had lit the large fireplace when we checked you in. Our hostess reported the suite was toasty and warm upon check in, so we immediately dispatched a staff member to check what had gone wrong.  We armed him with with a 3 panel gas heater in case the aircon had failed, which, with the fireplace would have warmed the 65 m2 space to above 25 degrees Celsius temperature.  He discovered that you had accidentally turned the aircon down to 18 degrees Celsius, so he reset it to 32 degrees Celsius, rebuilt your fire, ignited the gas heater, and warmed the room for you.  I then monitored the temperature in your suite using our Ajax fire detection system which we had installed, both for guest safety in case of fire, as we have these large, gorgeous fireplaces  with abundant firewood harvested from the removal of alien invasive trees and shrubbery in our area, and also to monitor room temperatures to ensure our guests comfort and enjoyment of our luxurious suites. I checked the online app regularly, and I was pleased to see that the temperature was very, very  warm at times and never dropped below 26 degrees Celsius. I will be pleased to publish the Ajax report and send it to you if you like, as this could assist with your medical diagnosis with your ongoing illness.
 
 When you booked, you were presented with our booking terms and conditions. After Covid, we learned that if illness or death  strikes, the industry norm is a fair split of a 50% loss for both parties, in case of last minute, unfortunate but necessary cancellations. We were delighted, however, when you reported that you had recovered in full and were coming after all.
 
 When on Saturday morning you expressed interest in our other luxury suites and our hostess showed you around, you asked to be moved to The Rock Pool Luxury Suite,  and we explained that, whilst it appeared as available on our online booking system, this was not possible as a regular client had just booked directly, calling me on my personal line when I was out driving.  When the hostess called me to advise me of your wish to move there, I had to report that, regrettably, the suite was already booked and no longer available and that she was to recheck the system to see that it had in fact now been booked.
 
 When you expressed your bitter disappointment and rage, she offered you a full refund for the remainder of your stay, Saturday night and Sunday night.  This is our policy if ever guests become destructive and/or excessively inebriated and/or abusive to other guests or our staff, which thankfully we have not experienced before. We were surprised that,in spite of your being extremely unhappy and enraged at this point, you chose to stay on another two nights.  We then brought you another gas heater and continued to monitor your room temperature and whatsapp requests.
 
 We were dismayed and shocked to receive this review on Sunday the afternoon before you checked out, accusing us of discriminating against you because of the colour of your skin.  I called a staff meeting immediately with our multi racial team to investigate what could have happened. We concluded that none of us could fathom what may have triggered your claim. We all felt confused, very upset, and  that our collective dignity had been affronted, especially as this was a wholly unsubstantiated allegation, and there was no specific staff member to whom it was directed. This implied that the whole team that was guilty of racism which could negatively affect their future employment prospects. Lively discussion ensued.  We were reminded of the Gupta - Bell Pottinger scandal where the Gupta's employed Bell Pottinger Public Relations in the UK, to create fake social media profiles to claim racist attacks on SA social media platforms and to sow racial divisiveness in South Africa to distract attention  from their State Capture endeavors.  We agreed that racism is a damaging and divisive evil, and given how effective Bell Pottingers efforts were in igniting racism to pre Apartheid era levels, we collectively saw the danger to our business and brand by being labelled thus. As a member of a multi racial family, my aunt is an Indian and my granddaughter is Black, my curiosity was aroused and I googled 'accusations of racism'.  I discovered the following case history where precedents have been set in South African law protecting citizens and businesses like our against defamatory, very damaging, unsubstantiated and false allegations on a public forum:
 
 - Legal Aid South Africa vs Mayisela and Others - SA Chemical Workers Union & another vs NCP Clorchem (Pty) Ltd and others - Solidarity obo A oosthuisen vs 1st Respondant South African Police Service; 2nd Respondant Minister of Police; 3rd respondant National Commisioner of the Police Service ...to cite a few.
 
 It was decided at our meeting that it is my directorial duty to vigorously defend your allegation, which you published on a public platform and on social media, and I advise you that I have briefed our legal representative, who will be contacting you in this regard. I warn you that if you persist with these accusations in any way, we will pursue this to its final conclusion in a damages and defamation suit.
 
 We remain curious as to why, when offered a full refund for your remaining stay, you still chose to stay on for another two nights, in spite of being so bitterly unhappy?