After a long school term, you are excited about the winter break. You planned ahead for a ski trip with some friends, and you booked a condo for 8 people who confirmed that they are coming with your own credit card. They agreed to pay you later.
At the last minute, however, one of your friends suddenly called you and said he couldn't make it. To make matters worse, he was one of the drivers. Now you are not only short on people paying rent, you have to figure out how to get another 4 people on the mountain possibly at a higher cost than agreed upon.
What are you going to do? What do you say to this friend?
Hi thanks for these, here is my response. Let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteI would first check with my friend and make sure that he is ok. He may be backing out for a big reason, so I would try to understand him first. If he is ok, then I would make it his responsibility to either pay his share, find another person, and/or find another mode of transport. If he doesn't, that wouldn't really change my following plan, because we are working on short notice.
I would then tell the rest of the group and let them know the situation. Hopefully they won't bail too. If they stay, then I would enlist everyone to help us find a mode of transport/new person. If everyone decides to bail, then it would be fair that we share eating the cost of the deposit. I would also try to recoup the deposit through fb/craigslist/community boards. I think in this situation, it is best to keep an open line of communication and pool as many resources as possible, especially since we are on short notice.
I would talk to everyone in the group to try and reach a solution. First I’d ask if anyone else in the group would be willing to drive. If no one else can I would look into taking a shuttle bus there and perhaps splitting the cost. I would volunteer to take the shuttle bus and ask who else would be willing to volunteer.
ReplyDeleteI would also bring up the increase in cost and if everyone is willing to pay a bit more. If a consensus can’t be reached then we may have to cancel or reschedule. If it comes down to this I would call the ski resort company to see if we can get credit for the booked condo and maybe work out a later date.
Another alternative would be to look for a replacement person. I’d ask the group if they know anyone that would like to go and I’d also ask amongst my friends as well. It would offset the increase in cost and if the new person is willing to drive then it’s even better.
As for the friend who can’t go I’d ask why but would understand if he preferred not to disclose. I would not get mad at the friend who can’t go because has a good reason not to go, and hopefully didn’t do this on purpose. Unless he has a history of doing this or being flaky then I’d let him know he won’t be asked to attend future trips if he consistently bails on the group last minute.
I understand money will be a tricky issue to talk about, but the most important thing is to try and work through this as a group and to reach a decision that everyone is happy with.
Intresting
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