To think my request at hotel wasn’t unreasonable?

[Chocowoka]

In a nutshell a friend and I wanted to have a spa day. We found what looked like a beautiful hotel with great facilities and decided we’d like to try there.

The offer included and cost £95 each

Spa treatment 25 mins (either a foot scrub, facial or body scrub)
Full use of spa facilities for 4 hours
2 course lunch or afternoon tea

I asked if I could just have a massage as I have bad flare ups with my skin with many products so a scrub wouldn’t be ideal. I was told no... ok fair enough so I chose the foot scrub.

My friend wanted the lunch and I wanted the afternoon tea. When I told the girl what we wanted she said oh I’m afraid we can’t do that as they’re served in different restaurants so you’d have to eat in separate restaurants (in the same hotel) 🙄 I said, “Well I’m not expecting silver service. I’ll happily go the restaurant that mine would be served in and take the plate with my food on, to the restaurant that my friends in, so we can eat together?” 🙄

She went to ask someone and came back and said “We can’t do that I’m sorry”

I said, “Ok, we’ll just leave it then” and we going somewhere else and booked it.

Now I could have had the lunch and my friend could have had the afternoon tea. I felt on principle however that we were spending a lot of money there for a treat so why should we not get what we really want!?

The hotel offers room service and is a 5* hotel so I’m quite sure they could carry some from one restaurant to the next or allowed me to, because if day a hotel guest fancied afternoon tea does that mean they can’t have it in their room?

If a group of 6 friends went chances are they aren’t all going to want the same. So the hotel would still say no and lose custom potentially.

I just think for such an expensive few hours they could have been more accommodating.

YABU. You paid £95 for a spa day, no wonder they refused to swap and change! It’s not like you actually paid for a 5* hotel.

YABU - if you don't like the package on offer, go somewhere else. The food issue is ridiculous, you needed to decide between you and your friend which to have. You both sound very difficult people if neither of you would back down on your choices.

Dear lord one of my ex friends tries to this and it’s mortifying.
Local beauty salon had an offer on for pedicures. She booked it and arrived and told them she hates her feet being touched so will have a manicure instead.
We went for a Chinese meal and there was a set menu or a normal menu. I didn’t fancy the set menu so ordered from the main one. She ordered from the set menu but then asked them to change the soup, main and sides. Obviously they said no and she kicked up a right fuss as the dishes were the same price.
When a meal comes with chips OR salad she’ll ask if she can a half portion of chips and half a portion of salad.
We are no longer friends.
I also don’t know anywhere that does afternoon tea for 1 person it’s normally a minimum of 2 as each person has half the sandwiches.

I've been on loads of these spa package things.
Every single one been really accommodating, DSIS has a health condition and is always offered alternative treatments, My Mum has loads of old injuries and psoriasis and is always offered alternative treatments, I hate sandwiches and have always been offered me alternatives to afternoon tea.

They serve them at the same time but in different restaurants

This being the reason you can't eat them together..............

@livefornaps

Its great, isn't it?

OP: AIBU?
98%: Yes, very.

2%: No, we're the last bastions of customer service. The customer is always right, even when they expect champagne having paid for lemonade. They should have moved heaven and earth to accommodate your bespoke requests even though you probably paid about half price on a groupon.

OP: I agree with the 2%. 98% are wrong.

OP, can you not see any slight possibility that you might have been just a little bit unreasonable and entitled here? Just a tiny wee bit?

If you want a tailor made package then pay the true price, you can’t be a cheapskate and dictate the terms you’ll accept

I’m from a 5 (red) * hotel background and we wouldn’t allow you to carry your plate up no but we would have done it for you no bother.

Would have paid a fuck load more than £95 each though. You get what you pay for I’m afraid

@PatellarTendonitis

Excuse me? Don’t assume to know anything about what disabilities/health issues people may have. How dare you?

Are you that ignorant that you can ‘tell’ whether or not someone has dyslexia based on the texts?

YABU. Fine to ask about the massage (although equally fine for them to refuse) but I am not surprised they wouldn’t let you take food from one restaurant through to the other!

This is like going into a vegetarian restaurant, asking for a steak and scallops and then throwing a strop when they say no because 'I'm a paying customer!'

yabu.
You sound like a bit of a consequence, to be honest.

A massage can be as long or as short as you pay for....

It might also require different staff, different facilities etc. It's not always a straight swap.

YABU. You wanted to take advantage of the cheaper price of an offer without complying with the restrictions of the offer. It doesn't work like that. Customer service doesn't mean giving customers that are asking for exceptions to the set rules whatever they want.

If someone sees you having afternoon tea in the wrong room then someone else might want it too, and they end up with staff ferrying food around the hotel which is more effort for staff, more risk of substandard food/presentation depending on how far away the restaurants are due to sandwiches falling over, staff being delayed in delivering, needing to cover the food and therefore looking messy, contamination from being moved around the hotel, and that's if they even offer afternoon tea for one rather than for two, which often isn't the case. You were being cheeky. Fair enough to ask but they are not obligated to bend over backwards just because you're being awkward and it isn't poor customer service not to agree to your requests.

I'm guessing this was a groupon or similar package deal you get it at that price because of the restrictions otherwise you would have been charged the full rate.

If I was going with another person, we'd agree to do one or the other. Some places will swap treatments for another treatment of the same value. But you booked a specific package so YABU.

@cologne4711

Omg another person that thinks they can spot dyslexia over a text... unbelievable. Ignorance at its finest

Why ask if you are going to argue with everyone who disagrees? Why bother? Most think YABU. Can you accept you might be wrong?

Out of interest did you buy the offer through a third party or direct from the hotel ?

Obviously no one thought you had dyslexia, that is clearly not what they meant.

I can just see the OP swanning around the lobby in a polyester kaftan and culottes, her hair elnetted to the point of fire hazard, stone faced and eagle eyed and barking "excuse.me! Excuse me!" at all staff

Get real, Choc, and give over with the faux outrage. Sadly, yes, it's quite easy to tell when someone has severe dyslexia by their texts and writing . But do let us know who is typing out your posts or what application you were using, my child could really use that! It's like a magical cure for such a debilitating condition that is really holding her back.

God i love it when the op only answers the people that agree with her.

You dont get to change the terms and conditions.Thats why the package was so cheap.Why is that hard to understand

I have no experience of dyslexia, and OP I'm sorry that you suffer and hope that it isn't affecting your life too badly.

However, lots of us suffer with various issues. Physical, mental, family etc.

Don't try to de-rail the thread, which is about your encounter with a hotel, where they asked you to stick to the terms of their special offer, and you felt that they should tailor your experience at a moments notice, whilst honouring their special offer.

Just a seperate thought, maybe you could have called in advance, explaining that you have a condition that makes the scrub unsuitable, and ask whether an alternative could be considered? I think its a bit rich to rock up on the day expecting them to stand on their heads for you.

@MrsArchchancellorRidcully Thats what I thought!
I pay £25/month extra as a bolt on to my (22/month) gym membership and that's unlimited time in the spa and a 30 minute massage or mani/pedi once a month. Much better value than a £95 Wowcher. And the spa is lush.