What do you think would be an appropriate response/rectification to this email?

[intheguf]

Hello,

I’d like to make a complaint. I booked a table for ten people at your establishment for 8pm - Saturday, 18th June. I paid the 50 pound deposit over the phone and I asked the woman how the deposit is paid back, she replied that it would be paid back in vouchers to be spent in your establishment. I’d asked if there was any chance I could get it back in cash as would be simpler for me. She replied that she would ask her manager, which she did whilst I was on the phone, and the manager said that it was fine to pay me back cash.

Turned up on the night, all fine, table was fine etc. Went to the bar and asked about deposit at which point was given vouchers. I explained to the girl behind the bar that I was to get cash. She said she remembered speaking to me on the phone and fetched the manager.

I’m not sure of the managers name, but he was wearing a white shirt and had an ear piece in and I think his name begins with ‘A’ but could be wrong - he stated he was the only manager of your establishment. The manager came over in a really aggressive manner and denied that he had ever agreed to give me my deposit back in cash even though the girl behind the bar confirmed that she had taken the phone call and he had authorised that. I said to the manager that if he didn’t authorise it then he needs to speak to his staff about giving out misinformation. At this point he came close to my face and said ‘what do I need to tell my staff?’ and repeated this several times in a really aggressive manner. I felt very intimidated and uncomfortable to the point I just agreed to take the vouchers as I dislike confrontation and just wanted the situation to be over. I used 30 pounds of the vouchers and am now left with a 20 pound voucher which I won’t get the use out of due to the fact that I won’t be returning to your establishment after this experience.

If your policy is to return deposits via vouchers then that is fair enough, but it should have never been agreed to if that is the case. Your manager made out that I was a liar along with his member of staff that was serving behind the bar. That along with his aggressive mannerisms and the way in which he dealt with a paying customer is totally unacceptable. I left shortly afterwards as I felt so uncomfortable. If cash deposit return hadn’t been agreed then I could have booked elsewhere or worked something out with my group. However, I’ve now been left £50 out of pocket due to this.

It was my 30th birthday and I really just wanted to celebrate with my friends and this really put a dampener on the night. I am so disappointed as I have only ever had great experiences with your establishment but the customer service I received last night is the worst I have ever experienced unfortunately.

Kind regards

Manager needs to be dismissed

It’s just strange, right? A place nice enough and busy enough that a deposit is needed for a reservation. But causal enough that you have to get up to get your own drinks.

I guess it’s not common that people who reserve a table do not spend enough to use all of the vouchers, so it has not been a problem in the past.

I’m very confused as to why the owner of a seemingly successful business is coming on to mn to ask what to do about 20 quid.……..
If you’re really the owner, give your customer back her money and apologise profusely. Obviously.

I really hope the Daily Mail does pick up on this one

Yep surely this is not a deposit. A deposit must be returned. You are essentially buying a voucher. They are scamming people.

Shocking policy. The staff member who asked for managers authorisation seems like the only 1 of the 3 of you that knows how to treat customers fairly.

As everyone else says, you need to change your system.

“If you want to book a table, there a £50 minimum spend at the bar or in the restaurant. We take this as a deposit in advance, and deduct it from your table’s bill on the night.” Etc

I can't believe that you think for a moment you might be right. It's a ridiculous and grabby policy and your general attitude towards your paying customers is pretty shocking.

Pay the deposit back OBVIOUSLY and change your policy.

@intheguf you should be able to have an easy policy of a hold on the credit card. That if they dont turn up you authorise it to go through. If they do it is cancelled.

This is a fairly normal policy that I have seen and used and am happy to do so.

Your policy is awful

"What do you think would be an appropriate response/rectification to this email?"

The immediate return of the £50 to the cutomer either by cheque, bank transfer or refund to a card that was used to pay it, as the customer prefers.

A deeply apologetic email, assuring the customer, and it being true, that your deposit/voucher shenanigans are no more.

Check with your staff and manager how the customer was treated and, if you find that anyone lied, or was anything less than polite to the customer, take appropriate disciplinary action.

System is rubbish - so now customer has £20 voucher. For hypothetical analysis- they want to return. Do they then have to buy another £50 of vouchers to reserve a table & end up with £70 of vouchers?

Whole system just seems like a scam. I said buy as these vouchers are purchased for use within the one venue. It is not a deposit.

Appreciate hospitality has had it rough but this is not the way to go about things.

Or do what every other (non scamming) bars/hotels/restaurants do and reserve the £50 on a card and release it back once the customer shows or process if they don’t.

Stop trying to make out there is not other way around this.

Is there CCTV? If your manager did this it's a disciplinary. So ar e evidence is that he did. It doesn't matter too much about the money, but if he is squaring up to customers and being aggressive I wouldn't have him in my staff.

This cannot possibly be real as surely no business owner would (a) post complaint emails online word for word seeking advice on how to reply (b) not have a clue how to deal with such a complaint or (c) be so dense as to think this sort of policy is an acceptable way to run a business.

I suspect your manager is lying but even if he is not, the obvious answer is to first refund the £50 in full - yes even allowing for the fact she spent some - and secondly, change that unreasonable and frankly scammy policy post haste.

It's a ridiculous policy as it assumes that the person who pays the deposit wll alway have £50 of drinks

No way would I organise an event at your place. Even if everyone on my guest list was a huge drinker im not. Why would you have such a silly policy
The email has enough detail to ring true to me and you've effectively charged the writer for nothing

You need a rethink

Holding card details and charging if people don’t turn up would be better - or be more honest that you’ve got a £50 minimum spend

You need to return the money. Presumably a party of ten spent more than the deposit, so I really don't understand why this is even an issue for you.

Well your system is rubbish then

Have you spoken to the other member of staff? If not then you know he's lying and are not bothered about sitting g it out properly. Have you watched the cctv of the interaction? He he raise his voice? Did he get in her face?

As for complaint handling with no investigation you off we exchange the vouchers for cash. If you truly believe a customer is lying and trying to get free stuff - which she has t asked for - then you don't want her custom right?

Because the email sounds legitimate and it seems very unlikely that she has made it up off the top of her head, particularly in such detail, just to try and score some free drinks.

I would keep a close eye on your manager if I were you and interview staff members about him and his demeanour when handling complaints from customers.

I worked in both bars and retail when I was a student. I met plenty of awful customers but never came across anyone who said that someone behaved in a threatening or aggressive manner when they didn’t. They might say that we were rude, I was once referred to as ‘fucking kid just out of school’ as in ‘I won’t be told what to do by a fucking kid just out of school’ (I was 22 at the time) and they might shout and scream and become aggressive themselves, but they don’t tend to make up stuff like that. I would very much assume that the customer was telling the truth and check the cameras. Surely you have them?

Leaving aside for a moment the alleged attitude of your manager, I don't understand how you think the customer was trying to get free drinks.

Customer phones, books a table for 10 people and pays £50 by card as a deposit. You have the money in case they don't turn up and you can't give the table to someone else for some reason (and I have heard a lot about people booking and not showing up, totally unfair to you).

Customer and party arrive, order drinks at the bar and pay for them. You then have the money from the round and the deposit. Bearing in mind a drink is going to average out at £5, you already have your £50 on one round. Customer who booked gets the £50 deposit refunded back to her card or the barman takes £50 out of the till and gives it to her. You have your money for the drinks, the customer has her deposit back. How is that trying to get free drinks?

It looks like you want the money for the drinks on the night but also want the original £50 deposit spent there as well. Not fair..

It's ridiculous, I've never heard anything like it.

You apologise, give her the £20 cash plus £50 deposit returned in cash as an act of goodwill, and you make sure your policy is absolutely clear to your staff. The complaint is very specific about the actions of your manager and you are putting your other member of staff in a very difficult position - if they corroborate the customer’s account, what are you going to do with the manager then? And how will the manager them treat that member of staff?

Refund, apologise, revise policy and move on.

I agree with this, your policy seems overly complicated, and as a customer I'd avoid your establishment if that were the policy. It's logical that everyone in the party might want to pay for their own drinks in cash, so offering vouchers, with the difficulty in splitting these between people, is off-putting. I think you need to apologise profusely, maybe offer some vouchers as compensation or something, then change your policy.