Refund /Property Update:
January 23, 2023
17 weeks ago, the Outrigger and Charley's staff were preparing for a storm. Not the storm of a lifetime, but a storm. No one expected it to hit SW Florida, no one expected that we would be closed...forever.
13 weeks ago, we began the project of canceling reservations and refunding advance deposits up to April. Without our computers, without 99% of our staff and without a 'home'. No one expected that. Determining the best way to reach our guests without our normal tools, plans A, B, C, G, H etc. No one expected that.
6 weeks ago, we gave up the fight to send out refund checks, when our wonderful IT company (SWFLIT) was able to recreate our credit card system. Refunds could now be done within 10 - 15 minutes instead of two hours. Of course, there were still thousands of guests to reach.
5 weeks ago, we learned that the Outrigger Beach Resort and Charley's Boathouse Grill and Wine Bar would no longer exist. The property has been sold. Since that time, we have heard from thousands of our guests, hundreds of employees and many many of our neighbors, the stories, the joy, the magical memories. Tears and laughter and then more tears.
1 week ago, we have whittled the advance deposits down to just a few hundred left to refund and the email backlog is down to 100. The time to close this chapter is soon. We have sent out cancellation notices to everyone that was currently holding a reservation. We are still looking for guests to contact us regarding their refund. Please remember that you are still able to donate any, all or nothing of your deposit to our Employee Relief Fund. If you have not received your refund either by check or credit card, please send information to the email noted:
- refund@outriggerfmb.com
- Guest Name
- Date of Arrival/Departure
- Confirmation #
- Phone number
- If you no longer have the credit card originally used, please let us know
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