15 on Orange - more like Disappointment on Orange

Item: African Pride Hotels
Rating: 1
Author: cseptember C

Two weeks ago, we made 2 bookings for Mother’s day: a breakfast and a lunch booking at Savour at 15 on Orange. Our breakfast party comprised of 3 adults and 8 children and our lunch party included an additional 3 adults. The booking was made, on Monday 8 May 2016 at approximately 15:10pm. We spoke to a gentleman named Nicholas. We decided on the hotel because I am a Prokard Explorer member (I have been a member for the last 2 years) and we thought the advertised specials would be good value for us. I have not yet received my card, but was advised upon enquiry that I needn’t wait for the physical card to arrive, I could simply give the establishment my card number in order to enjoy the benefits in the meantime. I wrote the number down on a piece of paper. I did not have my website log-in details with me. When asked during the telephone conversation, Nicholas advised that kids under 6 years of age dined for free and that the Prokard discount of 25% would apply to our booking. I also made sure to double check the terms and conditions and any exclusions with someone on the phone / email and they advised me that children under 12 dined for free (all the children in our group are under 12). The difference in feedback already sparked some concern with us and as a result we made sure to double check the applicable discounts before both breakfast and lunch. All went well at breakfast and the hostess and waitress on duty were fantastically welcoming and gave us good service. Unfortunately I don’t remember their names, except that the waitress was shorter than 1.5m. The service was very slow, even though the restaurant was only half full. However the fact that the hostess and the waitress were friendly and amenable made for a relaxed and enjoyable morning. Upon paying the bill we enjoyed a 25% discount and the kids ate for free, which was the promotion that had been advertised. When we returned for lunch shortly after 1pm, we confirmed with Cynthia that the lunch would work the same as breakfast i.e. kids dine for free and we sat down to eat. The team advised the kids could dine in a separate room, which they did. When we went to settle the bill, the real problems started: · Even though they had accepted my card number in the morning, they said that they had trouble with it and therefore wanted me to provide some proof of membership. All of my login details and correspondence were on my work computer, so I did not have it to hand. They tried to take us to the business centre to get me to log on (I’m not sure what the problem was). · The waitress / hostess then advised that kids do not eat for free, contrary to what was confirmed earlier. We requested to speak to a manager and Cornelius came. While waiting for him the waitrons standing around also said, they did think that the “kids eat free” was applicable at lunchtime as well, confirming our realisation that your staff is untrained that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Cornelius maintained a defensive position and appeared not to hear what we were saying about our understanding. He kept referring us to the terms and conditions. He was also focussed more on getting proof of the Prokard membership than actually addressing the concerns about our client service experience. Eventually the matter was escalated further (I think to Connie?), Cornelius disappeared from the scene and Maxwell was the person to finally settle the bill. He once again tried to refer us to the Ts&Cs. By this point, we were exhausted, eager to get out of there and decided to rather take up the issue the following day. · During the hour or so that it took to settle the bill, our 90 year old wheelchair ridden grandmother was falling asleep at the table and our children (aged 3-12) were getting restless, sleepy and crabby after a day out. One of our girls was bitten by a wasp. The experience so unpleasant and none of the staff seemed to take the situation in hand, nor did they seem particularly interested in helping us achieve a speedy and less embarrassing resolution. Other Issues: · The Thai mussels starter was very poorly done. We’ve had it before and chose to have it again because it was delicious the first time. This time the curry paste was excessive and the sauce seemed under-cooked. There as too much fennel and none of the promised coriander or lemongrass. · We literally waited an hour for our food to be served and even then, there were some items left off the order. · The kids ordered an extra round of chips – 8 portions to be exact. Besides the fact that we had to ask the staff for it twice after the initial order and the fact that it took an hour (coming only shortly before we wanted to leave), the kids were given the parmesan truffle fries from the adult menu. The original orders were off the kids’ menu, so I don’t understand why the parmesan truffle fries were served to them. They did not enjoy the parmesan on their fries (to be fair it is an adult and acquired taste), wasted most of it and then we had to pay R306 for the wasted order. Result: · A bitter end to a sweet mother’s day to what would otherwise have been a great mother’s day. · Being ******* into an unexpected whopping bill of R2056. We would NEVER pay that much money for such poor service, even mistreatment. (Details on the bill, which is too lightly printed to scan – we have the original: 1049 Butho M (waiter) – Tbl 015/1 - Chk 1473 - Gst 15 – 14May’17 – 13:22 – rung up at 16:57 at hotel reception) · The really good hostess and waiter from the morning has been overshadowed by the ghastly service received afterwards. Please address this complaint expediently and advise remedial action from an African Pride and Prokard point of view. To think after breakfast my sister in law was considering taking out the Prokard package too… This experience makes anyone want to run a mile. Regards, Christelle Martin on behalf of Riefqah Rejaldien (Disappointed customers)

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