Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Jurys Inn - Customer Service at its WORST #epicfail

Tonight I am so frustrated by the lack of customer care I have received from Jury's Inn. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. Read the story, I'd love to hear your opinion!!

Back in October, Chris and I stayed at the Jurys Inn Hotel Birmingham. It was not a great experience. In fact it was so bad that we had to complain. The manager at the hotel offered us a complimentary stay at the Birmingham hotel by means of an apology.,,




As we had stayed at the hotel for a specific event I explained that the likelihood of us visiting Birmingham again in the near future was slim and that I would much prefer a full refund. The lady was nice but explained a refund wasn't an option...



We accepted the complimentary stay and I queried how we would eventually make our booking. The response was simple with no terms...


We were dissapointed with the whole experience (and the lack of refund) but I suppose we were happy that we had been offered a future stay.

This week we tried to book our stay, choosing either Jurys Inn London Islington or London Chelsea as a back up. I checked online and there were plenty of rooms available so I called the number. Unfortunately, the original lady that I had been emailing had now left the company and I had to speak to various people about the booking.

Eventually I spoke to a lady called Erica who was passed all of the details and said she would contact Islington (our preferred hotel) and make the booking. She called me back to say she'd sent an email and would contact me the next day (today).

This morning I emailed, nothing, so I called. Erica didn't start until 14.30 so I was told to call back then. I called back, Erica wasn't about. So I waited. Eventually Erica called back, she hadn't had a reply to her email. I explained that our stay was for tomorrow and we needed to know! She said she'd call me back within half an hour. 2 hours later I had to call her back to ask for an update. She said Islington had replied and there was no availability. She was nice enough and said she'd now email Chelsea to book with them instead.

I was gutted about Islington, it was the ideal location for our stay and I knew that there had been rooms. I decided to go online and check that all the rooms had gone... guess what? There were rooms free!! In fact, even now at 11.30pm there are still rooms available (although they have increased in price)...



So I called Erica back, explained there were rooms and questioned the email she had received. She seemed confused to and offered to call and check why we couldn't stay.

A while later Erica called back. "Yes there are rooms, but the manager will not give one of those out as a complimentary stay." This made me really mad but I stayed calm and instead said ok, we'll stay in Chelsea instead. Erica explained that she hadn't actually had a reply from them yet but she'd keep chasing.

I tried to call for a definite confirmation a couple of times but the line rang out. So I waited.. and waited....

At 8.30pm this evening, Erica finally called back. The manager at the Jurys Inn Chelsea said they wouldn't accommodate our complimentary stay either... but they could offer us the room we needed for £111. Oh great thanks Jurys!!!

So the night before our stay we are left with no room because Jurys Inn won't allow us to use our stay that we were given for our first bad experience... we can still take it (after this, our second bad experience)... just that it has to be on their terms... presumably when the entire hotel has no guests. I think it's a disgrace. Customer service at it's worse.

Had we had stayed at Islington, they would have turned a negative customer experience in to a positive one - thus neutralising the original bad stay. But no, now we're left with no hotel, hours before we leave and guess what...  all of the other hotels have shot up in price because we were left waiting so long to hear the big fat NO.

So I'm still out of pocket for the original stay.. the phone calls to Birmingham... and now an extortionate fee for a late room in London. EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE AT LEAST 3 ROOMS LEFT AT THE ISLINGTON HOTEL!!!! Why can I not take my complimentary stay as promised, there are rooms available... its not like the complimentary stay is a prize... something Ive won, with terms & conditions... this is a complimentary stay for a really bad customer experience!!! Your only chance to turn a negative in to a positive!!!

I just want to scream... but I won't.. instead I'll share my experience with you in the hope that you'll avoid them for future stays.... because they are pants and all they care about is money.






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