Five Star pricing vs. Two Star Customer Service
While the below is a personal story/gripe/complaint about a recent family vacation -- it’s a business story that I thought was relevant to this platform, especially given what I read about Restoration Hardware CEO last week. (Especially this quote: "WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE ONE SINGLE CUSTOMER. NOT ONE. YOU WILL NEVER GET IN TROUBLE FOR MAKING A DECISION TO DELIGHT OUR CUSTOMERS. YOU WILL, HOWEVER, LOSE YOUR JOB IF YOU DON'T.")

Prior to one week ago, I was a huge advocate of the Beaches, Turks & Caicos “resort”.  I have taken my family there for the past 4 years.

My most recent trip, however, has changed my goodwill and future intentions. For those of you who are thinking about it for a family vacation (which is the only thing you should be considering it for) - here’s what you should be aware of given my 4 years of going there: Five Star pricing vs. Two Star Customer Service Experience.

While Beaches offers a unique kids-friendly facility, the prices are truly in the same range of the highest-end of resorts.  Most people (like me) have swallowed this recent upward trend due our kids enjoyment. The all-you-can eat inclusive meals that allow your kids to take every treat possible but only eat what they want, the Sesame Street show every night at 6:30pm, the water park of slides & lazy river located next to an ice cream shop that also has cookies and cotton candy….
When things didn’t go as planned, however, my Five Star cost was over-whelmed with “2 star” customer service.

The staff at Beaches (and Caribbean resorts stereotypically) is not what you would traditionally call empathetic or comforting.  It was very clear that the staff (even the most senior on-site management) are purely OPERATORS.  Their job is to fill rooms with appropriate room code. Customer service is not what they excel at and this is a major issue when the prices are what they are.
I’ll spare you the details of my personal gripe, but suffice it to say that it's an institutional problem.  Every level of customer service management did nothing to LISTEN to my issue.  They were merely defensive of their own position and that has just doesn't work for a resort that charges what they do.

I’ve paid more every year since I started going, and I wanted others to be aware of the trap.  If you go to Beaches in Turks and Caicos - you are likely to be paying a price that will not match the service.
Update since I wrote this: I emailed their CEO (guessing his email address) and was shocked to hear from customer service folks who said he forwarded my note on to them.  Not surprisingly though, their inevitable response back to me didn't address my ask.  They robotically just reiterated what the on-site staff had said and did not answer my questions.  So... the only thing I can do as a customer is to stop being a customer and write posts like this. That's it.