Sunday, October 25, 2015

Coopersmith's CRAY-CRAY Post-Tour Letter

On September 7, 2015, two weeks after the Coopersmith's "Summer in the Cotswolds" tour ended, I received a letter from Paul Coopersmith out of the blue claiming that John had "problems with his prostate," and accusing us of lying on the Client Information Sheet by not disclosing a "medical problem." What?  I had no idea what Coopersmith was talking about or why he would write such a wierd letter to us.

John and I had not yet submitted our evaluations of the "Cotswolds" tour, and neither of us had a "medical problem." The letter was so strange, I forwarded a copy to other members of the tour and inquired if anyone else had received a similar communication. The answer was YES. We weren't the only tour members he insulted - in writing - after the tour!

Here's the text of the email Coppersmith sent me. What was he thinking?!

Dear Sharon,

I regret that you and John did not enjoy our Summer in the Cotswolds tour. Had you indicated on the Client Information Sheet that John had problems with his prostate, we could have discussed the options and hopefully found a way to make things easier for him on the tour. And if that wasn't possible, we would have recommended cancelling your places on the tour, and receiving a refund in full. But alas, you checked "NO", where we asked the following question on the Info Sheet:

IMPORTANT: Does either of you have any physical or psychological limitations that we should be aware of, i.e., something which may require special attention, limit your ability to take part in group activities, and/or affect other tour members? If you do, you MUST check the “Yes” box and indicate the nature of your limitation. Failure to do so could result in your not being permitted to stay on the tour.

So unfortunately, we had no advance notice about John's medical problem. Jane did her best to accommodate your needs. But clearly, it would have been better for all concerned had you given us an honest answer to the above question.

Sincerely,
Paul

Paul Coopersmith
COOPERSMITH’S One-of-a-Kind Tours...since 1984P. O. Box 900, Inverness, California 94937
Tel 415.669.1914
Paul@Coopersmiths.com
www.Coopersmiths.com

That was the end of it. We never heard another word from Coopersmith's.

Since returning from the Cotswolds, John and I have traveled more than 11,000 miles by train, bus, and car; and we'll be putting in another 3,000 miles by car and rail before the end of 2015.

In 2016, we plan to log another 25,000+ miles: this time with Rick Steves in Italy (two back-to-back tours); with Holland America in Alaska, the Mediterranean, and a trans-Atlantic crossing; and with Oceania Cruises in the Caribbean, America by Rail in U. S. National Parks, and on self-guided tours at home and abroad for special events, including garden tours in England and Italy.

Everyone is welcome to follow our travels through my newsfeed at writerondeadline.com.

Happy trails!

Sharon and John, "The Senior Travelers"
25,000+ Miles a Year and Counting!
Selfie on a Plane


No comments:

Post a Comment