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

What the hell?? I assumed that you must be the writer of the email. This is an incredibly shitty policy. The correct response to the email is to apologise and offer to refund her the money.

A sensible response finally… in the midst of many hysterical overdramatic typical mumsnet responses.

Maybe her friends are all Mners who havent carried cash since 1983 😂

Whaever the reason it doesn't matter, the policy is wrong

Firstly she isn't £50 down. She spent £30 of the vouchers so she is £20 down. I think you should ask her to drop in with the £20 vouchers and exchange it for the cash. Apologise if she was disappointed with the customer service she received and offer her a glass of wine or coffee on the house. It's not worth losing potential customers over £20.

YABU. You haven't taken a deposit, you've sold £50 of vouchers. Surely get her to bring in the vouchers then there are no free drinks given, she just gets her deposit back. The fact that one member of staff is saying that was definitely said then I don't understand why you think the customer is lying.

However if I knew the policy was vouchers only I'd make sure I shared them between the party so I didn't lose out.

Why are you forcing customers to spend £50 with you? What if they get there and they see the food looks awful so just want a starter and then they'll go somewhere else.

YABU. HTH.

So the customer was just hiring the table for drinks not a meal? You charged £50 to reserve the table but give back £50 in vouchers when they turn up? So basically you will only reserve the table if they spend £50 in drinks? As they have really purchased £60 in vouchers for the privilege.
I wonder what trading standards would think of this policy.

I’d give her the £20 back in cash and ask her to return with the voucher, if a staff member backs up her story why would both of them lie? She doesn’t have to return as a customer if she doesn’t want to but at least you can rectify it a bit in the customers mind

I see the point of the policy. You want a 50 pound minimum bar spend in order to reserve a table. You secure that by requiring a deposit when the table is booked and returning that deposit in the form of vouchers which must be used at the bar. That's not unreasonable in a busy bar in a city center or something. It would be undermined by your manager agreeing to return the deposit in cash so I assume that would be against policy and a reason to believe your manager but also a reason for your manager to lie to you about having done so.

You could check with bar staff, if they said the manager had approved in front of the customer as claimed in the letter they'll probably tell you the same. There is a chance they may be concerned about retaliation from manager, however. So unless you have a close relationship with them I wouldn't think this was a super reliable approach.

You could also check CCTV, if you have it in the right places, in order to see if anything approaching the altercation the customer alleges appears to have happened.

This is mainly to see if the manager needs firing or praising.

To deal with the customer, assuming this isn't a common problem, if you don't find evidence upholding her story, I would offer a non-committal apology and to exchange the remaining vouchers for cash. She may be trying it on, but if you offer to exchange the vouchers for cash you won't have lost out particularly and it takes the wind out of the complaint.

£50 NOT ££60

Your manager is lying to you.

And it wasn't about getting 'free drinks'. She was paying for her drinks. She just wanted the table deposit back in cash ... which she's entitled to!

No, it’s really not.

you need to rethink how you do this. Either let people order at the table or get rid of the reservation situation.

One of your staff members will be lying to you.

In the light of your fuller explanation I would be:
a. Refunding the customer her £50 in full, and tell her to keep the voucher- you have probably ( definately) lost a customer so she'll never use it.
b. reviewing my policy- as a PP said this is sharp practice, and the way you run your business seems to be designed for those using the bar only not to be able to get their money back. Why don't you take a card number and then take the deposit if they don't show?
c. Having an interview without coffee with your manager, you have the complainant and the staff member as a witness telling the same story. He needs a good dose of customer service training.
d. Hoping like hell she doesn't write a review on a review site like TripAdvisor, Which?, Google.

Basically you are saying that if someone reserves a table they have to spend at least £50 at your restaurant. Do you tell them that when they reserve or in any of your publicity?

Surely you have CCTV at the bar, where it appears the confrontation took place. I thought that was a licensing requirement. What about the staff member who said they remembered the customer had been approved a cash refund? Sounds like you don't have a good handle on your business and taking cash deposit and returning in vouchers when the person who books turns up with their party is not ideal, as like this customer found out as they were all paying for their own drinks and she couldn't use the full deposit.

Maybe think about revising your policy to put a hold on the card and only charge if the party don't attend.

Most restaurants where I live do this, a much better option and so much better for customer goodwill.

Why are you happy to have an aggressive manager who physically intimidates women who go into your bar?

Beat course of action would be to refund her £50 and let her keep the voucher. Then there's also a very slim chance she may return and you won't lose her, and everyone she warns about the bad service she received, as a customer.

Bare minimum would be to refund her £20 and let her keep the voucher.

As for the manager, do you not have CCTV? The customer isn't always right, but you have no way of knowing he didn't behave like this. It doesn't sound like she's lying, if I had to guess based solely on what I've read, especially as she's given as much detail as possible to help you identify him and details of another staff member who could back her up.

On an unrelated note, your voucher policy is awful, I would go elsewhere to avoid the faff and, sorry, scammy situation of being left with vouchers I had to spend in one place. Even if I was out with friends on my birthday, there's no way I'd spend anywhere remotely close to £50 on drinks. I'd say even £30 would be a stretch.

I think the voucher system works fine. You are letting people reserve a table in exchange for committing to spending £50 at the bar. If you handed them the cash back when they turn up, they could just pocket it and walk away with it having changed their mind about where to drink. So when the person asked for cash they should have been told no, you get vouchers and sort it out amongst yourselves.

This

soinds very dodgy and I wouldn’t go back

The customer is personally out £50, because she paid the deposit on behalf of everyone in the party. All the people in the party used the vouchers she was given in exchange for her deposit for their drinks, so they have paid nothing for what they drank (unless they have each worked out what they drank, how much it cost, and repaid the writer - which I would suggest is very unlikely to have happened). So the writer is £30-worth of drinks plus the £20 worth of vouchers she will not use out of pocket, totalling £50.

If the bar had returned her deposit when the party arrived, she would have been all square, and she and the rest of the party would then have paid for their drinks as they drank them, individually, so nobody would now be out of pocket.

It’s a very shady ‘policy’ for a licensed establishment which wants to stay that way.

You need to give her the money!!! I would refund the full £50 and consider adding something extra. Apologising profusely of course! Then hope she doesn't put it on any social media as it would most definitely put people off. You are lucky she came to you first, many would go straight to Trip Advisor.

The policy is stupid and needs changing asap. As has been mentioned, it is forcing peoe yo buy unwanted gift vouchers. If it is not illegal, it should be.

Then you need to properly investigate the situation, as you cannot leave the manager in situ if there is truth to this.

A deposit wouldn't usually be returned in cash. It would be taken off the final bill. Maybe they thought you would be eating not just having drinks.

Only if you are allowed to run a tab against it, though - which the OP’s establishment doesn’t allow for drinks only. They must be paid for when you order them. So you can’t have a ‘final bill’ in the system the OP has set up. Bonkers.