Another Grab-One Query

Breadcrusts

As per the title, another query regarding the use of these vouchers - apologies in advance for the length!

Myself and my partner bought a Grab One voucher for a Hotel run by a well known Hotel chain down the country some weeks ago - decided to redeem it last weekend. The deal was for two nights b&b with late checkout and €25 dining credit in the in-house restaurant for €99. There was a supplementary €20 fee for stays on Saturdays.

Arrived on Friday evening, checked-in and decided to avail of the dining credit that night as we were both wrecked from long travel. En route to the restaurant I asked at reception did I need to bring my voucher and she said no, that it was fine and she would take the €25 off our final bill for the room. We decided to have two main courses with a combined price of approx €27.90 with two drinks €9. Allowing for possible service charge and taking away the €25, you would imagine we would then be charged approx €12-13 euro, maybe €15max.

On checkout however, we were informed that the €25 was only to be taken away from customers availing of the Restaurants fixed 3 course menu, and could not be used against a la carte. Rather however, than charge us what would have been the cost of the meal - approx €37-38, we were charged €34 for our food and drink, a price at odds with both the reality of what we had at the restaurant, and with the terms of the voucher.

+the €20 for the Saturday stay our final bill came to €54.

At no point were we informed of this by staff, nor was there any sort of a disclaimer on the Grab One Voucher that the dining credit could only be used against a fixed menu. The Conditions as per the voucher were as follows:

"Valid from Feb 2, 2014
Expires Apr 12, 2014
Limit: 1 for you and 4 gifts for others
Booking essential, Subject to availability & deal allocation. Mention Grabone when booking. Valid 7 days/week, €20 supplement for Saturday stays (payable to hotel). Child supplement: €20 per child (3-12) for the two nights (payable to hotel)."

I have since got in touch with Grab One and was informed that they were sorry to hear of the issue and that, "There is nothing in the deal to state it could only be used on a restricted menu, and I am not sure why you were advised this by the hotel."

Now for the question part - what should my next move be, do I query it with the hotel directly? And do I have a right to query it, given that they failed to either recognize the promise issued on the voucher or sufficiently notify me of the (undocumented) conditions around same?

And I know it may seem like a big deal over nothing (the money is insignificant at this point) but the receptionist who issued us with the final bill was a total wench - disregarded everything we said, seemed to have no clue what she was talking about and acted snooty when we questioned the dining credit, and so it is a matter of principal more than anything now. :mad: Was genuinely the worst hotel customer service I have ever experienced.

Any help or observations would be much appreciated!

Thoie

I'd write to the hotel chain head office, and copy Grab-One as well. I've little personal experience of any of these voucher sites, but from everything I've heard from business owners, I suspect Grab-One may tell you go whistle.

Enclose a copy of your final bill from the hotel, and a copy of the voucher (with T&Cs). Was the receptionist on checkin the same one that checked you out?

Just point out in the letter, that based on the voucher and the information you were given by the receptionist when you checked in, that you were expecting a final bill of x, but were charged y, and you'd like a refund of the difference. Point out that you tried to discuss this when you were checking out, but that the person on duty (include their name if you have it), was unpleasant, unfamiliar with what had been agreed, and unwilling to discuss the matter. Tell them that it was the worst customer experience you've had, and not what you'd expect from that chain.

Breadcrusts

Thanks for your help - got it sorted more or less I think.

Sam Mac

Breadcrusts wrote: »

Thanks for your help - got it sorted more or less I think.

Glad to hear you got sorted.

what was the outcome, may I ask?

goz83

I suspect the Hotel sorted it, rather than GrabOne. I wouldn't trust that company as far as I could throw them. I ran a deal with them and my bad experience was with the rep. She bought a voucher for my services and used it and booked in for a second session. She cancelled an hour before her appointment and was given special treatment, so was not charged for failing to adhere to the terms and conditions of our 24 hour cancellation policy. She failed to show up for the rebooked session too. Totally unprofessional.

She had claimed that some of her friends had asker to approach my business to get a deal going. By chance, I later discovered that she had purchased a Living Social deal for my services and had cancelled her voucher. I imagine she gets a special rate for deals she signs up. I complained to GrabOne about the disregard one of their reps had for a company they were promoting and heard nothing from them....so, it seems they like to put out deals and dig their head in the sand.

pow wow

Glad you got it sorted OP, had a similar experience with a grabone hotel voucher once, and neither grabone nor the hotel gave me any joy. I noticed grabone were running the same deal again recently and see from the Tripadvisor reviews that other voucher holders are still having the exact same problem so obviously grabone take hotels not honouring parts of the deal vouchers very seriously indeed :rolleyes: Luckily for you it sounds like your hotel decided to be reasonable - if they hadn't though grabone would have left you firmly on your own. I'd never go near them again as a result.

dudara

@goz83 Please post on topic and related to the OT at hand

dudara

Breadcrusts

Surprisingly given your responses, Grab One were actually very helpful with this.

I got in touch and they confirmed that the hotel were wrong not to honor the specifics of the deal and they then got in touch with the hotel on my behalf to query it.

Hotel rang very promptly and offered a discount on dinner and also discounted the extra twenty i paid to stay at the weekend. Successful outcome all round!