Do Dale Strimling's interactions amount to the criminal offence of Blackmail ?

First some general remarks.
For a long time, most commercial operators of accommodation have been aware that there are some unscrupulous individuals that try and take advantage of hosts' gullibility by asking for a huge reduction in their normal rack rate by saying that they will be staying for an unusually long period. Then, once deep cuts to the nightly rate have been agreed, "unexpected events" occur and they "have to leave" after just a few days of paying the unfairly negotiated killer rate.
Savvy operators avoid being cheated in this way by either taking payment for the whole (long) stay in advance or getting clear terms and conditions agreed or a combination of both.

Dale Strimling, a South African, first came to Amber House in the week ending 26 February 2017. He said he needed a place to stay for more than 30 nights while he worked in Nelson. Mila, the Amber House Limited employee he spoke to, only had English as her fifth language. She asked Dale to book online as most guests do and told him that his long stay would automatically be discounted when he booked online.

Dale Strimling returned to Amber House on Tuesday, 28 February 2017, saying that he had been too busy to book online. Meanwhile, Mila had phoned the management of Amber House Ltd to get the best price for him. When she talked to management about a long-term stay for Dale Strimling at Amber House it was on the basis of
a) an "Our Choice" room with no meals
b) a minimum continuous period of 5 weeks booked and paid for in full in advance (either cash or card)

With those parameters, management quoted Mila $40 per night (rather than the $77.83 that would have been quoted online for a 30 night stay) commencing 14:00 Sunday, 12 March 2017.

Mila was told clearly that Dale Strimling needed to make the booking online at http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz and management would subsequently discount the quoted price so that Dale Strimling paid no more than $40 per night for a stay of 35 days or longer.

Although Dale Strimling had neither made a booking online and neither was he able to pay in full in advance, Mila let him stay in the Green Room at Amber House since she thought he looked tired.

The next day, Wednesday 1 March 2017 at 10:00 in the morning, management wrote an email to Dale Strimling. Here are some excerpts from that email that Dale received (and replied to fifteen minutes later on 1 March 2017 at 10:15):

"...We'd still love to have you stay with us, Dale!

Please now use our blue Beds24.com booking engine here
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz/#GetPrice
to enter your personal details and
a) the day of arrival (presumably 14:00 Sunday, 12 March 2017)
b) how many nights (minimum I can now relax to 30 nights rather than 35 in view of the communication breakdown)
c) how many people will stay with us (presumably one)
and hit the button - then you will see all your choices priced!

We also need you to read and agree to our policies and enter personal and card details...

Naturally we will not charge you more than $40 for the one night you have already spent with us if you find more advantageous alternative arrangements, but if you do need further nights before 12 March 2017, they do need to be booked online.

The Green Room you occupied last night has now been let to other guests for 3 nights, but we could still accommodate you in the Rose Room (on an "Our Choice" tariff if you prefer).

I'm away in Golden Bay myself at the moment, but I have asked a friend to call round late this evening if you are still having difficulties...

http://www.amberhouse.co.nz/policies.html#5"

Dale Strimling didn't bother to make a booking online but did meet with the attorney of one of the directors of Amber House Limited that same evening and reached an agreement.
He shook hands to signify the agreement reached and requested a written copy. It was pointed out to Dale that he would need to pay the legal costs of drafting and executing a formal tailor-made written agreement and it was suggested instead that the agreement reached be summarised in a recording. You can listen to that recording below; the pause and re-start at the beginning is the attorney making sure that Dale's recording device is running too:

Audio of Dale Strimling agreeing terms and VISA
debit recorded 1 March 2017 at Amber House

Unfortunately Dale dishonoured the terms of the agreement he had made.

On the morning of Saturday, 4 March 2017, Dale Strimling was due to pay a balance of $88.84 owing for his 4 night stay in an en suite, double glazed room (with Blu-ray player) at Amber House and return the set of house keys loaned to him. Indeed, at 09:34 as he left the Gold Room with a couple of small bags, he was recorded on video saying "I'll be back in a moment to settle up and pay for next week" before he went downstairs.

Unfortunately Dale Strimling did not come back to Amber House that morning (or, at the time of writing this, since).

Several messages were left on Dale Strimling's mobile phone's voicemail asking him to return the keys or he would be charged for the room until he did and/or the costs of changing locks. At the time of writing this, Dale Strimling still had not called or returned the keys or offered any explanation for his behaviour.

In line with the oral agreement made and clause 5 of Amber House Limited's standard terms and conditions below, after 6 hours without a call or visit from Dale Strimling, the VISA card whose details he had given to guarantee payment of his stay was debited (including a 10% surcharge).

Dale Strimling has still not offered any alternative payment and delayed returning the keys for a week. Instead he has placed negative reviews and written emails to amberbb@gmail.com threatening that he will badmouth us "on other sites, advertiser's, ombudsman, etc" unless the legitimate charges made to his card are reversed. (We'd like to quote his emails in full but don't want to breach Dale Strimling's copyright - so we won't extensively quote him outside of court unless he gives us specific permission in writing).
In other emails from Dale Strimling dated 4 March 2017, he alluded to contacting the "IRD" (the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department or tax officials) and defamed the Amber family and the employees of Amber House Limited by falsely calling them "a bunch of crooks". In a prompt reply to his threats, Amber House Limited stated "We are satisfied that we have acted lawfully, ethically and reasonably" and pointedly asked "What's your explanation for leaving without saying goodbye, returning our keys and settling your account?" To date, Dale Strimling has still not answered this simple question so we were thinking of referring his behaviour to the New Zealand Police.

Lest anyone think that Dale Strimling is a naive character unfamiliar with the usual terms of business in New Zealand, we would point out that Dale Strimling was registered as both a Director and Shareholder of New Zealand Limited Liability Company 2161003, DALE STRIMLING ENGINEERING CONTRACTORS LIMITED, when it was proposed that his company be struck off the register under section 318(1)(b) of the Companies Act 1993 in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Terms and Conditions of Amber House Limited
(New Zealand registered company 5882260) trading as:
AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Bed and Breakfast Guest House (B&B) in Nelson city centre, New Zealand (Version 64b in force from 04 February 2017 until superceded by Version 64c on 10 March 2017)

We're here to provide competitively priced, clean, comfortable and smoke-free accommodation. We're not here to unnecessarily restrict what our guests can and can't do.
Having said that, given the 'shared' nature of the services we provide, we need to ask the co-operation of all our guests to ensure the best experience for everyone. So long as you bear that in mind, and exercise common sense, you should be fine.
We do ask that you are familiar with our policies outlined below and considerate of others. Above all, we hope you enjoy your time with us!

Should I take the time to read all this tedious small print?

Absolutely!
Legal documents can make for dry reading, but the one below really matters if you wish to have a harmonious stay.
So whether you are new to Amber House or one of our long-term or frequent guests, please take the time to get to know our policies and avoid any unintended consequences.

These terms and conditions may be amended in whole or in part by Amber House Limited at any time at its discretion. Amendments will be effective immediately upon posting of the amended terms and conditions on this Website. You are responsible for ensuring you are familiar with the latest terms and conditions.

Absolutely NO SMOKING!
If you are a smoker, you may not stay at Amber House.
Also, and because of children, smoking is *not* allowed inside or outside of Amber House.
If you flout this policy and do smoke within the curtilage of Amber House, then you will be charged appropriate cleaning and loss of income charges together with liquidate damages if an explosion [either of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) or the children's parents] results.

All our house guests may help themselves freely to Anzac biscuits, refrigerated water, Milo, coffee, milk and tea
[we have a changing selection, so perhaps organic Castlereigh, Twinings Irish Breakfast, Darjeeling, Camomile, Lemon & Ginger, cranberry, raspberry & elderflower or caffeine-free herbal].

Those guests who have paid the Balcony Suite or Gold, Blue and Rose Room tariffs (but NOT the budget Green room tariff) may also help themselves freely to fruit juice [typically orange and apple but sometimes pineapple or boysenberry], at any time.

Those guests who have paid the Balcony Suite or Gold, Blue, Rose and Green Room tariffs may also help themselves to breakfast items [a choice of at least six to fill your bowl from cereals like ricepops, cornflakes, Weetbix, etc and two different mueslis], bread, honeys, Rose's Lime Marmalade, Rose's English Breakfast Marmalade, Rose's Sweet Orange Marmalade, Rose's Ginger Marmalade, butters [dairy and peanut], chutneys and Marmite in Amber House's guest dining room between 05:00hrs and 10:20hrs.
Guests who have paid the Balcony Suite or Gold, Blue and Rose Room tariffs (but NOT the budget Green room tariff without the cooked breakfast upgrade) may also help themselves to FRUIT [depending on season we may have spray-free apples, oranges, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, strawberries, kiwi fruit and bananas], walnuts [we've the oldest English Walnut tree in the South Island] any time.
All guests should eat and drink either our or their own food and beverages there in Amber House's guest dining room any time [but very quietly between 21:30hrs at night and before 07:30hrs in the morning] and not in bedrooms. A fridge and toaster for guests' use is also available in the dining room.
Seifried wines are available to purchase.
Please do not take our stuff away to your car or eat in your bedroom.
We can provide packed lunches, picnic hampers, evening meals, etc, on request.

If you'd like a FREE COOKED BREAKFAST having paid the Balcony Suite or Gold, Blue and Rose Room tariffs at Amber House, please tell Mila exactly what you wish to eat and how you'd like it cooked the afternoon before and also agree the time between 07:58hrs and 09:20hrs that it be served.
[Exception:guests that are either being collected by Wilsons Abel Tasman at 07:45hrs or who have booked boat transfers or trips with us may usually arrange to have the hot part of their breakfast on the dining room table at 07:32hrs]
Mila knows Irish, Italian, Vizayan, Fukien and a little Spanish and Swiss cuisine but is eager and interested to learn new dishes.
Guests who have not paid the Balcony Suite or Gold, Blue and Rose Room tariffs may avail of an uncooked breakfast for $8 per breakfast and a cooked breakfast, fruit and juice upon payment of an additional $17 per breakfast [reduced to $9 for guests who have paid the Green Room tariff [where an uncooked breakfast is already included].

CHECK-IN is only by prior agreement - usually between 14:00 to 21:30hrs on the day of arrival; check-OUT time should typically be between 07:30 and 10:35hrs on the day of departure - other times by prior arrangement (if you wish to leave earlier than 07:30hrs in the morning, please hand back your keys, etc., the previous evening).
B&B's in New Zealand do not have desk clerks on duty round-the-clock to await your arrival, so it is vital that the family knows what time to expect you. We have daily family affairs to attend to, but will have re-arranged our schedule to accommodate your mutually agreed check-in time — so your arrival time is extremely important! If this time changes either way by 21 minutes or more, please notify us as soon as you are aware of the change. Otherwise, we probably won't be here to greet you.
If your arrival time is unpredictable we can arrange to have your keys left in a key safe to the right of Amber House's front door.
It's really important that you now send us the phone number of a mobile phone you will be carrying on the day you arrive [and keep it switched on] so we can update each other with any last minute developments. [You usually won't pay any international roaming charges to RECEIVE text/SMS messages in New Zealand even if your cell phone is registered overseas...]

We very much prefer you to pay us in cash in full for any balance remaining in respect of your reservation when you arrive at Amber House and we complete the register and explain the fire and tsunami procedures. We do NOT have eftpos facilities!
Upon arrival, there is also a fully refundable, cash deposit of $20 per set of room/house keys and this is refunded in cash when you return the keys.
[VISA or MasterCard details are required to confirm a booking, but Amber House (as distinct from any agent chosen by the guest) usually does not debit cards prior to the agreed guest arrival date (except where an "Early Bird" discount has been chosen or booking details are incomplete and we do not have a NZ landline phone number to query or there is no reply).
We ourselves will usually obtain pre-authorisation or merely hold card details pending guest arrival and with the cardholder's explicit agreement that the quoted card details used to confirm the booking will be passed to our agents to be debited to settle the account if there are any outstanding unpaid charges (eg: for phone calls Wi-Fi, wine, damage or breakages) after the guest departure date that was originally booked or, in the event of cancellation, if a cancellation is made. In this event, and if no other form of payment is forthcoming, a card surcharge of 10% together with any administrative, recovery and collection charges will apply. You further agree that Amber House Limited shall have a general lien over all your goods and chattels brought within the curtilage of Amber House or under the physical control of Amber House Limited until all debts due to Amber House Limited are discharged.]
All prices quoted by Amber House are for immediate cash settlement and include all applicable taxes, levies and service charges. Tipping is not common practice in New Zealand, "Thank you" is all that is expected - even for exceptional service. The overwhelming majority of our guests sensibly reserve their stay by giving us MasterCard or VISA details and then avoid the card surcharge of 10% levied by Amber House by paying in cash when they arrive.

BICYCLES may be hired from Amber House for $20 per day upon a deposit of $200 depending on availability.
You may request that your own bicycle, tandem, motorcycle, or kayak be put into our garage [at your own risk] depending on space available.
If you are given permission to bring a vehicle down Amber House's drive, there are young children about so please observe the 7 km/h [4 mph] speed limit for motorised vehicles at Amber House!

For each CANCELLATION or change of date/room required there will always be an administration charge of $9 levied by Amber House [as distinct from your Agent - $20 for "Early Bird" bookings - see below].
There will be no additional cancellation fees levied by Amber House [as distinct from your Agent] if 31 days or more notice is given to Amber House and, if we can later replace the cancelled or changed booking, we may refund cancellation fees (but NOT the administration charge) back to your card.
These cancellation fees will apply in addition to the administration charge:-
10% of the original agreed payment will also still be required if only 14 to 30 days notice is given;
30% payment if 6 to 13 days notice is given;
50% payment if 3 to 12 days notice is given;
70% payment if 1 to 2 days notice is given;
85% payment if less than 24 hours notice is given.
110% payment is contractually required if you simply don't show up within 2 hours of your advised arrival time without any prior notice to us at all
[and without reasonable excuse - since we will be worried you've had an accident and may be phoning the police and hospitals and postponing our usual bed-time!]
Cancellation policies are also specific to each Agent. If you did not book directly with Amber House and instead used an Agent to make the reservation and there is any conflict between our cancellation policies specified at (7) above and your Agent's, then your Agent's cancellation policies will apply if they are more restrictive.
We strongly recommend guests take out travel insurance to protect themselves against any unexpected changes to their travel plans and we trust you will appreciate that our cancellation policies, as specified above, are more liberal than most New Zealand B&B's.

An "Early Bird" discount of at least 3% and up to 10% (depending on how early in advance you book) may be claimed if
(i) a reservation is made on-line at our own website more than 6 days in advance of the notified arrival time
and
(ii) the appropriate box is checked to agree that the quoted card will be debited the full appropriate amount immediately (and before your arrival at Amber House).
Only ONE "Early Bird" discount may be claimed for each on-line reservation at our Website
(it may be technically possible to appear to claim multiple cumulative discounts on our booking form, but only the largest, single, appropriate discount will actually be applied when the card is manually debited).
For "Early Bird" bookings we will waive the usual 10% card surcharge and the card is debited immediately after the reservation is made on-line.
For each CANCELLATION or change of date/room required with an "Early Bird" booking there will always be an administration charge of $20 levied by Amber House [as distinct from your Agent].
For each CANCELLATION required for an "Early Bird" booking there will always also be a cancellation charge of 5% of the original agreed payment levied by Amber House [as distinct from your Agent].
There will be no additional cancellation fees levied by Amber House [as distinct from your Agent] if 46 days or more notice is given to Amber House; we refund back to your card.
The following cancellation fees will apply in addition to the cancellation charge of 5% and/or administration charge of $20:-
5% of the original agreed payment will also still be required in addition if only 31 to 45 days notice is given;
10% of the original agreed payment will also still be required in addition if only 14 to 30 days notice is given;
25% of the original agreed payment will also still be required in addition if only 6 to 13 days notice is given;
45% of the original agreed payment will also still be required in addition if only 3 to 12 days notice is given;
65% of the original agreed payment will also still be required in addition if only 1 to 2 days notice is given;
80% of the original agreed payment will also still be required in addition if less than 24 hours notice is given;
110% payment is contractually required if you simply don't show up within 2 hours of your advised arrival time without any prior notice to us at all
[and without reasonable excuse - since we will be worried you've had an accident and may be phoning the police and hospitals and postponing our usual bed-time!]

Long stay guests (such as NMIT students and Nelson College scholars) may avail of substantial discounts in off-peak seasons in return for living en famille and helping the family with small chores. Those in Nelson to improve their English should make evey effort to talk with both the Amber family and our shorter term, Bed and Breakfast guests. Contact the family directly to negotiate prices.
Payments must always be kept up to date and made at least 2 weeks in advance.
Once the dates of a long term stay have been agreed, for each CANCELLATION or change of date/room required there will always be an administration charge of $20 levied
For each CANCELLATION required for a long term booking there will always also be a cancellation charge of 5% of the originally agreed total payment levied by Amber House
There will be no additional cancellation fees levied by Amber House if 46 days or more notice is given to Amber House; we refund back to your bank account and NOT in cash.
The following cancellation fees will apply in addition to the cancellation charge of 5% and/or administration charge of $20:-
5% of the original agreed total payment will also still be required in addition if only 31 to 45 days notice is given;
10% of the original agreed total payment will also still be required in addition if only 14 to 30 days notice is given;
25% of the original agreed total payment will also still be required in addition if only 6 to 13 days notice is given;
45% of the original agreed total payment will also still be required in addition if not more than 12 days notice is given;

Visitors are permitted at the Amber family's discretion.
There is a guest dining room and there are also tables and chairs on the front verandah adjoining the rose garden; we very much prefer that you eat and drink and entertain any visitors there rather than in your bedroom where ants may follow.
The person that made the original booking is responsible - both financially and practically - for the behaviour of all the guest members of their party and visitors while they are at Amber House. No visitors are allowed in guest bedrooms between 21:30hrs and 08:00hrs unless they are duly registered as house guests. (If we ever have our first fire, or there is another huge earthquake or a tsunami is threatened, we will need to know exact numbers of occupants to make sure that everybody has been safely evacuated...)
We charge according to the number of guests and not per room, so we regard persons that are found to have stayed overnight without being duly registered as having attempted to perpetrate a fraud. Each unregistered overnight guest will be charged a punitive fee of $110 per night.

A 17 year old girl and a 15 year old boy usually live at Amber House but there are no other pets
CHILDREN are charged the same as adults by Amber House if booking directly except that one or more infants still being breast-fed by their mother [who is a paying guest at Amber House] are neither charged nor listed in the booking.
[Your Agent's policies may differ].

We will STORE your BAGGAGE FREE [but at your risk, not ours] until you return to spend at least one more night with us [if you are visiting the Abel Tasman National Park or touring the South Island, perhaps].

DAMAGE will be charged appropriately - plus the costs associated with inappropriate behaviour or deliberate or reckless acts or omissions.
Amber House is fortunate to have tolerant and lovely neighbours. We are not a motel or party hostel and we make every effort to limit our noise impact on our neighbours - especially after 21:30hrs and before 07:30hrs and guests are expected to assist in this regard.
You agree to hold us blameless for any problems outwith our direct control such as “acts of God” and/or “mother nature” such as (but not limited to) floods of blood and water, plagues of frogs, creeping things upon the earth, flies, cattle, boils, hail and thunder, locusts, darkness over the land of Egypt and the faults of others such as tsunamis and power outages and also to notify us of any issues or problems while at Amber House (rather than after you have already left) so that we have an opportunity to remedy the situation.

We reserve the right to dishonour reservations made by third parties [persons natural or legal that are not actually staying at Amber House and not a member of the Amber family or an employee of Amber House Limited] if we subsequently discover that the actual guest(s) staying at Amber House is unaware of our policies, terms and conditions [as outlined on this website] because of the negligence of that third party. In this event we will continue to hold the original third party that reserved the accommodation responsible for all charges incurred, together with the recovery of costs associated with the inappropriate behaviour or deliberate or reckless acts or omissions of the guest(s) that the third party reserved accommodation for.
We also reserve the right to dishonour reservations where we have not received satisfactory answers to pertinent questions [eg: statement address of card holder, time and method of arrival, mobile number, land line telephone, any special dietary or other requirements, etc] within a reasonable timescale.
[In more than 100 years of taking in house guests, we have never had a theft by or from a guest at Amber House and we do require ALL guests to state their full name, residential address, etc, prior to arrival and to sight photographic ID such as passport or driving licence at check-in to help maintain this record.]

If any of these terms and conditions are breached (and, in particular, conditions 1, 2, 6, 10, 13 and 14), then we reserve the fundamental right of immediate eviction. If we choose to exercise this right, the contracted price for the full length of the stay is still due and payable and no refunds will be given.

AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™ is a trademark and is used under licence by Amber House Limited [and other licensees during each winter].
By writing in our guestbook (either physically at Amber House or in the on-line version at tinyurl.com/Guestbook-AmberHouse ) you agree to assign the copyright in your writings there to Adam Amber. New Zealand intellectual property law protects your rights to both be attributed as the author and to object to derogatory treatment of your comments. Usually we partially anonymise your name and correct any typos when we publish these comments on our own website and elsewhere - so please tell us if you do NOT want anonymisation and/or typographical corrections!
Amber House is a small family business and is not registered for GST and does not charge GST.

E&OE: this summary of our policies, terms and conditions must be read with the proviso that any errors and omissions are to be excepted and that the version current and published at
http://www.amberhouse.co.nz/policies.html
supercedes and replaces any older and/or differing version.
By submitting a reservation request or by visiting Amber House, you are agreeing to all these Terms and Conditions and that New Zealand law applies and irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of New Zealand courts for the determination of any disputes that may arise.