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In Autumn of last year the King Tutankhamun exhibition was being advertised and my wife expressed an interest in attending. It was her birthday during November and I arranged with Hilton Hotels for a room and tickets to the exhibition for the following day. Hilton however, were useless and so I tried the exhibitions other hotel partner, Premier Inns.
What followed was a farce.
They assured me the booking was made, took my details and then did nothing more. I chased them up and was told I would receive a call back. I did not receive a call. I chased again and commented on how difficult it was to spend money with them and was promised, once again, a call back. I did not receive a call. When I chased them a third time, with less than a week to go before the birthday, I was told the tickets were not yet on sale - but were sold out for the day I wanted...
I managed to get two tickets, five weeks later and when they finally arrived, they were for the wrong day. Most of the rest is in the following letter to the Chief Executive of Whitbread PLC, the owners of Premier Inns.
I am not so naïve as to assume that Alan Parker will even see my letter, much less read it, but somebody will and that somebody will not want it to get any closer to Alan Parker than absolutely necessary.
In any case, they are somewhat hoist by their own petard by foolishly offering full refunds to anyone who is not "100% satisfied" when it is clear that they cannot organise a ****-up in a brewery, which is perhaps why in spite of the company history, they have halted all interests in brewing.
What followed was a farce.
They assured me the booking was made, took my details and then did nothing more. I chased them up and was told I would receive a call back. I did not receive a call. I chased again and commented on how difficult it was to spend money with them and was promised, once again, a call back. I did not receive a call. When I chased them a third time, with less than a week to go before the birthday, I was told the tickets were not yet on sale - but were sold out for the day I wanted...
I managed to get two tickets, five weeks later and when they finally arrived, they were for the wrong day. Most of the rest is in the following letter to the Chief Executive of Whitbread PLC, the owners of Premier Inns.
I am not so naïve as to assume that Alan Parker will even see my letter, much less read it, but somebody will and that somebody will not want it to get any closer to Alan Parker than absolutely necessary.
In any case, they are somewhat hoist by their own petard by foolishly offering full refunds to anyone who is not "100% satisfied" when it is clear that they cannot organise a ****-up in a brewery, which is perhaps why in spite of the company history, they have halted all interests in brewing.
Alan Parker,
Chief Executive
Whitbread Group PLC
Whitbread Court
Houghton Hall Business Park
Porz Avenue
Dunstable
LU5 5XE2
Dear Mr Parker
“Our aim is to brighten peoples lives, whether they are guests, employees, partners or part of the communities in which we operate.” Alan Parker, Chief Executive
So often it is the case that companies preach much but practice little.
During early November of last year I attempted to book tickets to the King Tutankhamun exhibition with your company, Premier Inns. I must confess, you were my second choice but since Hilton Hotels made a complete pig’s ear of my booking, I contacted Premier Inns instead and was pleasantly surprised to be offered both the tickets I wanted and a room at your hotel in Docklands on the night I wanted them for.
However, my joy was short lived, as it transpired that the tickets, although not even on sale, were sold out for the date I had chosen – quite a feat in itself as I am sure you can agree.
Despite my longing to spend money being ignored, I persisted valiantly in my attempt to force my cash on your company. After numerous telephone calls and several email messages, I was finally able to secure a set of tickets, albeit for a date over a month later than I had originally been assured I would get, or so I thought. I was sent the tickets but they were valid for the wrong dates and I was forced to order another pair, meaning more wasted time on the telephone, where once again I had the joy of experiencing how your company ignores people who want to spend money with you. In addition, the tickets were sent in a plain white envelope with no attempt whatsoever made to draw attention to the fact that the envelope contained anything important and they were very nearly discarded as junk mail.
At long last, although disappointingly five weeks later than planned, I did stay at your Docklands hotel but was then overcharged for my stay. After weeks of steadfastly insisting that I pay your company and in the face of stiff opposition, fuelled by incompetence and indifference you finally agree to let me handover my money and then you take too much.
This in itself should be enough, but, incredibly, there is more.
I was going to let it go, really I was, but now I am being sent emails promoting your company and its services.
As a consequence, I sent an email to your company after following a link contained within one of the email messages. I have attached a copy of the receipt that I received, informing me that I could look forward to a resolution within 5 working days.
To date, I have yet to receive a response, much less a resolution.
Such a low level of service is a nasty cancer that will most certainly spread in attitude throughout your organisation. However, this is now brought to your attention and like me, you must wonder how many individuals even bother sharing with you their experiences.
I would like to make clear my dissatisfaction with the entire experience I received from your company. I am left feeling frustrated and disappointed and this is not what you pledge as your stated aim, part of which I have quoted at the head of this letter and it is most certainly not in keeping with the boast I find on your website that states “…Premier Inn is 'Consistently Extraordinary'”
Finally I would like to leave you with another piece quoted from your website, “…the Premier Inn brand offers the 100% satisfaction guarantee – if you’re not happy, you get your money back.” It seems absurd of me to request my money back, even under your own guarantee, having tried so hard to give it to you, but the truth is, you do not deserve it.
Accordingly, I am providing you with my booking number in order that you can repay me the sums spent with your company - XXXXXXXXXXX
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Chief Executive
Whitbread Group PLC
Whitbread Court
Houghton Hall Business Park
Porz Avenue
Dunstable
LU5 5XE2
10th March 2008
Dear Mr Parker
“Our aim is to brighten peoples lives, whether they are guests, employees, partners or part of the communities in which we operate.” Alan Parker, Chief Executive
So often it is the case that companies preach much but practice little.
During early November of last year I attempted to book tickets to the King Tutankhamun exhibition with your company, Premier Inns. I must confess, you were my second choice but since Hilton Hotels made a complete pig’s ear of my booking, I contacted Premier Inns instead and was pleasantly surprised to be offered both the tickets I wanted and a room at your hotel in Docklands on the night I wanted them for.
However, my joy was short lived, as it transpired that the tickets, although not even on sale, were sold out for the date I had chosen – quite a feat in itself as I am sure you can agree.
Despite my longing to spend money being ignored, I persisted valiantly in my attempt to force my cash on your company. After numerous telephone calls and several email messages, I was finally able to secure a set of tickets, albeit for a date over a month later than I had originally been assured I would get, or so I thought. I was sent the tickets but they were valid for the wrong dates and I was forced to order another pair, meaning more wasted time on the telephone, where once again I had the joy of experiencing how your company ignores people who want to spend money with you. In addition, the tickets were sent in a plain white envelope with no attempt whatsoever made to draw attention to the fact that the envelope contained anything important and they were very nearly discarded as junk mail.
At long last, although disappointingly five weeks later than planned, I did stay at your Docklands hotel but was then overcharged for my stay. After weeks of steadfastly insisting that I pay your company and in the face of stiff opposition, fuelled by incompetence and indifference you finally agree to let me handover my money and then you take too much.
This in itself should be enough, but, incredibly, there is more.
I was going to let it go, really I was, but now I am being sent emails promoting your company and its services.
As a consequence, I sent an email to your company after following a link contained within one of the email messages. I have attached a copy of the receipt that I received, informing me that I could look forward to a resolution within 5 working days.
To date, I have yet to receive a response, much less a resolution.
Such a low level of service is a nasty cancer that will most certainly spread in attitude throughout your organisation. However, this is now brought to your attention and like me, you must wonder how many individuals even bother sharing with you their experiences.
I would like to make clear my dissatisfaction with the entire experience I received from your company. I am left feeling frustrated and disappointed and this is not what you pledge as your stated aim, part of which I have quoted at the head of this letter and it is most certainly not in keeping with the boast I find on your website that states “…Premier Inn is 'Consistently Extraordinary'”
Finally I would like to leave you with another piece quoted from your website, “…the Premier Inn brand offers the 100% satisfaction guarantee – if you’re not happy, you get your money back.” It seems absurd of me to request my money back, even under your own guarantee, having tried so hard to give it to you, but the truth is, you do not deserve it.
Accordingly, I am providing you with my booking number in order that you can repay me the sums spent with your company - XXXXXXXXXXX
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
)
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