Negative Experience Rathsallagh House MOD WARNING POST 19 & 63

Flippyfloppy

newport2 wrote: »

Agreed, he has a real "you're only a Pigs Back customer" tone about a lot of his responses, as if they were second grade and less worthy of an opinion. I can't imagine they'd be too happy about that.

As far as I'm concerned Pigsback deals are used by hotels/ country houses/ 'restaurants with rooms attached' to fill up any empty rooms.

I had 1 bad experience using a Pigsback deal and I'd never buy one again. Bought one for my other half as a Xmas present for our fav south Dublin hotel at the time. It was meant to include an upgrade to a suite (contrary to the fine print) and I booked it for Valentine's Day, confirming the upgrade over the phone. However when we got there we were put in a very small room above the ballroom, when queried we were told a function had been booked in the interm , booking up all the good rooms! We were gutted, I was heavily pregnant so we were planning on veging out in the big room and getting room service and watching movies.

Anyway at that time I got the distinct impression because we were mere Pigsback peasants we didn't matter and rathsallaghs endless comments about same confirms it!

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

I love this guy!! From a distance, mind you. Wouldn't like to be personally on the receiving end of his wrath.

athtrasna

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Having said all that, I hope the OPs "review" is deleted as soon as possible. Between submitting it there and complaining here also, it is now rated the "most helpful" review which is terribly unfair. This is exactly the kind of abuse of review sites like Tripadvisor which render them less useful and make businesses defensive.

I would complain about it but I don't have a Tripadvisor account ... actually, I might set one up specifically for this, just as the OP (from Bangkok?!) has done.

You don't need to have a Tripadvisor account to report it

Leaving the "review "was way out of order imo and malicious. While the owner may not be the most professional man, the over reaction by the OP is astounding

NewCorkLad

athtrasna wrote: »

You don't need to have a Tripadvisor account to report it

Leaving the "review "was way out of order imo and malicious. While the owner may not be the most professional man, the over reaction by the OP is astounding

It depends on the actual interaction between the owner and the OP, however as she has not put up what he said so there is no way for us to know if this was an over reaction. Really looking forward to the owners reaction to find out what happened and to see how he responds to it

Riverireland

Rackstar wrote: »

Have a look at Tripadvisor. [SNIP] has a way with words and doesn't take criticism. Take a look at the bad reviews. Instead of apologising or offering to put right the guests complaints he straight out attacks them. Makes for funny reading.

Absolutely hilarious responses to reviews on trip advisor. So quirky I'm going to have to try the place. Food gets great reviews so I should be happy enough��

Full sympathy for the OP though, of course people have personal emergencies and have to cancel appointments. Poor owner might need a holiday himself!

DivingDuck

DivingDuck wrote: »

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've found all this extremely helpful. Knowing what kind of attitude I would face as a customer if I were to complain is something very much worth knowing, in my book.

Agreed. As I said, I found the replies on Tripadvisor from the management to be completely unprofessional. He complains about people not complaining and when they do he complains.

However, I still think it's unfair that an uncorroborated story (it's not even a review) from someone who's never even stayed in the hotel is classified as the "most helpful" under the Tripadvisor system and is probably derived mainly from drive-by traffic from this forum.

This situation puts me in mind of this:

http://www.joe.ie/uncategorized/fiancee-discovers-truth-about-stag-party-after-hotel-complaint-backfires-on-facebook/38352

I LOVE how Brummytom is credited with the "translation" :pac:

fits

Flippyfloppy wrote: »

Anyway at that time I got the distinct impression because we were mere Pigsback peasants we didn't matter and rathsallaghs endless comments about same confirms it!

Id agree with this. You are often better off booking direct with a hotel and using whatever offers they have available on their own websites. They pay fees to these offer or discount websites as well.

Liam McPoyle

fits wrote: »

Id agree with this. You are often better off booking direct with a hotel and using whatever offers they have available on their own websites. They pay fees to these offer or discount websites as well.

Yep. Myself and her self stayed there a couple of times before we booked the wedding there and they often have deals. I think the most recent one we got was €180 for b & b plus dinner (ex wine) which we thought was great.

3rdDegree

akamossy wrote: »

While they may be slightly amusing, is it really acceptable to speak to paying customers that way? I noticed he really digs out the ones who stay with pigs back vouchers. If he has something against them then why does he let his business be put up for offer on pigs back? I'd be appalled if I was spoken to like that TBH funny or not.

I noticed that too. But he only seems to bring it up when they complain about price. I got the impression that it was his way of saying "You're a bit cheeky to be complaining about our rates when you paid a fraction of the normal rate".

sillysmiles

Deleted User wrote: »

Agreed. As I said, I found the replies on Tripadvisor from the management to be completely unprofessional. He complains about people not complaining and when they do he complains.

Complaining about something once you've left and gave the establishment have no opportunity to explain or fix whatever is the problem is what he is complaining about.

sillysmiles

sillysmiles wrote: »

Complaining about something once you've left and gave the establishment have no opportunity to explain or fix whatever is the problem is what he is complaining about.

Actually, quite a few people did complain at the time, his problem is that they dare to mention their complaint in the review.

Honestly, I have very little sympathy for the OP and I do agree that people can have selective memories, but the owner's responses (particularly to reviewers who rated the hotel "very good" but mentioned a flaw) are completely disproportionate.

Weddings at Rathsallagh

Hands up, mia cupla a sincere apology, I was out of line with this girl. We only have Sunday wedding show abounds once every couple of months so appointments are at a premium, the next one is not until 13th September. This was a late booking from a previous cancellation, we did have a waiting list . The full transcript of the interaction is below. Its warts and all , not pretty I admit, I shot from the hip without thinking. When the lady did not reply to our text and phone messages left Thursday 2nd July asking her to re confirm her appointment I should have cancelled it at that stage.

So now the offending correspondence , again hands up and apologies. I have little mitigation other than I was and still am grieving and maybe should not have agreed to come in for this lady on that faithful day. She is not the first to let us down like this and won’t be the last, she was just unlucky that I was tired of being just left to wait again and lashed out for stupidly obvious reasons. .


“Joe from Rathsallagh here . I have come in to meet you at 11 30 today . Can you advise if you are coming . Thank you . “

“Hi Joe just got your message, sorry I could not make it, I sent an email to the person who made the booking (Catherine) to cancel it last night as something came up urgently. I'm really sorry you were put out and it's a pity I didn't have your contact info directly because I would have let you know. Sorry about that. “

“Catherine has no record of any e mail , not reliable at night anyway phone call would have been courteous . At least I can go home now and spend the rest of the day with the kids . “

“How dare you. I was just saying to my partner that I was impressed with the customer service so we must reschedule to view Rathsallagh for our wedding but now I wouldn't dream of it. I will be writing about this experience online. If you must know a family member went in to hospital last night so I had no choice but to cancel and yes, I did send Catherine an email. Your rudeness is the last thing I need at this time and I will make sure everyone hears about this experience. Do not contact me again.”

“I am very sorry to hear of your family member’s admission. However I missed going to Cork today for my first cousins removal to meet you . You had text messages and messages left in your phone and you did not bother to reply . I am sorry but no matter the circumstances you are discourteous . And don't worry I will never try to contact you again. “

“I did not reply because I did not receive them. I did not receive them because I am in the hospital with my family. I am shocked at how unprofessional you are. I was never in contact with you before today, I made the booking through Catherine, I notified her with as much notice as I had myself. For you to bring your personal life in to your professional life in an attempt to attack me is the worst example of service I have ever come across. “

“Ditto now please go away “

Addendum : Please do spare me the lectures on professionalism and hospitality etc , I do know when things should simply not be done. I can only hope the uncle is now recovered and home and is not part of the statistics on trolleys today.

A big thanks to all our supporters, the phone calls e mails and comments on this forum are uplifting and so much appreciated.

Finally my ill-tempered response to this issue was out of order, but I do wear my heart on my sleeve and I can’t apologise for that it’s what I bring to the party . Also I won’t be anonymous, my name is Joe O’Flynn and Rathsallagh is my business. Without honesty there is nothing.

newport2

Fair play Joe, good response

Weddings at Rathsallagh

Weddings at Rathsallagh wrote: »

Hands up, mia cupla a sincere apology, I was out of line with this girl ... my ill-tempered response to this issue was out of order, but I do wear my heart on my sleeve and I can’t apologise for that it’s what I bring to the party . Also I won’t be anonymous, my name is Joe O’Flynn and Rathsallagh is my business. Without honesty there is nothing.

Fair play. Now will you be putting THAT on Tripadvisor?

Weddings at Rathsallagh

Weddings at Rathsallagh wrote: »

“Catherine has no record of any e mail , not reliable at night anyway phone call would have been courteous . At least I can go home now and spend the rest of the day with the kids . “

“How dare you.

Well that escalated quickly

chanelfreak

Fair play Joe, your honesty is more than refreshing and I completely agree that things escalated kinda quickly there with the text from the OP :eek:

NewCorkLad

Deleted User wrote: »

Well that escalated quickly

That was my thinking...

Flippyfloppy

Hmmm. Food for thought.

Speaking of food, Now I can admit I really want to try the food at rathsallagh!

Uriel.

To be honest, leaving aside some of the replies on TA, I really don't see the major outcry from the OP in Joe's replies to her.

I think the OP was very quick to jump down his throat on this one. Perhaps a lot of emotional sensitivity on one side, and a little on the other side too, led to the matter escalating.

Personally, I don't think the strength of the OP's criticism on TA (or here) is justified.

Toots

I'm locking this pending review.

Weddings At Rathsallagh, if you want to post in an official capacity then you'll need to contact our office first - hello@boards.ie - to set up an Official Rep account. This will also ensure that it's genuinely a business who is posting, as opposed to someone who is purporting to be them.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Just to confirm that Joe has been in contact with the office to verify that he does represent Rathsallagh House. In case anyone from this thread wishes to contact him about anything posted here, his contact details are: joe@rathsallagh.com

or

Rathsallagh House, Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow.

Thanks.

Weddings at Rathsallagh wrote: »

Hands up, mia cupla a sincere apology, I was out of line with this girl. We only have Sunday wedding show abounds once every couple of months so appointments are at a premium, the next one is not until 13th September. This was a late booking from a previous cancellation, we did have a waiting list . The full transcript of the interaction is below. Its warts and all , not pretty I admit, I shot from the hip without thinking. When the lady did not reply to our text and phone messages left Thursday 2nd July asking her to re confirm her appointment I should have cancelled it at that stage.

So now the offending correspondence , again hands up and apologies. I have little mitigation other than I was and still am grieving and maybe should not have agreed to come in for this lady on that faithful day. She is not the first to let us down like this and won’t be the last, she was just unlucky that I was tired of being just left to wait again and lashed out for stupidly obvious reasons. .


“Joe from Rathsallagh here . I have come in to meet you at 11 30 today . Can you advise if you are coming . Thank you . “

“Hi Joe just got your message, sorry I could not make it, I sent an email to the person who made the booking (Catherine) to cancel it last night as something came up urgently. I'm really sorry you were put out and it's a pity I didn't have your contact info directly because I would have let you know. Sorry about that. “

“Catherine has no record of any e mail , not reliable at night anyway phone call would have been courteous . At least I can go home now and spend the rest of the day with the kids . “

“How dare you. I was just saying to my partner that I was impressed with the customer service so we must reschedule to view Rathsallagh for our wedding but now I wouldn't dream of it. I will be writing about this experience online. If you must know a family member went in to hospital last night so I had no choice but to cancel and yes, I did send Catherine an email. Your rudeness is the last thing I need at this time and I will make sure everyone hears about this experience. Do not contact me again.”

“I am very sorry to hear of your family member’s admission. However I missed going to Cork today for my first cousins removal to meet you . You had text messages and messages left in your phone and you did not bother to reply . I am sorry but no matter the circumstances you are discourteous . And don't worry I will never try to contact you again. “

“I did not reply because I did not receive them. I did not receive them because I am in the hospital with my family. I am shocked at how unprofessional you are. I was never in contact with you before today, I made the booking through Catherine, I notified her with as much notice as I had myself. For you to bring your personal life in to your professional life in an attempt to attack me is the worst example of service I have ever come across. “

“Ditto now please go away “

Addendum : Please do spare me the lectures on professionalism and hospitality etc , I do know when things should simply not be done. I can only hope the uncle is now recovered and home and is not part of the statistics on trolleys today.

A big thanks to all our supporters, the phone calls e mails and comments on this forum are uplifting and so much appreciated.

Finally my ill-tempered response to this issue was out of order, but I do wear my heart on my sleeve and I can’t apologise for that it’s what I bring to the party . Also I won’t be anonymous, my name is Joe O’Flynn and Rathsallagh is my business. Without honesty there is nothing.

Toots

Re-opened.

Same rules apply as before regarding naming individual staff members - apart from Joe, obviously.

This bit still applies, too.

Toots wrote: »

Also I've had to delete posts that were making various allegations about the how the hotel is run/staff are hired/food etc. Unless you can link to a verifiable source (ie a newspaper article not a post on another message board website) then do not post this sort of thing. If you are unsure if something you want to post is allowed, then please send me a PM to check before you post.

frostyjacks

Reminds me of the time Mr. Burns was giving evidence about hitting Bart with his car.

Having no manners should not be paraded as a badge of honour. What are his excuses the rest of the time?

Liam McPoyle

Weddings at Rathsallagh wrote: »

“Catherine has no record of any e mail , not reliable at night anyway phone call would have been courteous . At least I can go home now and spend the rest of the day with the kids . “

Nothing too wrong with the above tbh, a little curt perhaps but certainly not the "personal abuse" the OP talked about in the first post. In the circumstances understandable too imo.

Weddings at Rathsallagh wrote: »

“How dare you. I was just saying to my partner that I was impressed with the customer service so we must reschedule to view Rathsallagh for our wedding but now I wouldn't dream of it. I will be writing about this experience online. If you must know a family member went in to hospital last night so I had no choice but to cancel and yes, I did send Catherine an email. Your rudeness is the last thing I need at this time and I will make sure everyone hears about this experience. Do not contact me again.”

Ahhh, now, here it really is. Any wonder she didnt post the full conversation in her OP.

An "I'll ring Joe Duffy" rally cry if ever there was one.

:rolleyes:

IMO Joe's responses to the above were a helluva lot more courteous than they could / should have been.

Fair play Joe for taking the time to reply and being 100% transparent on this, alot more than can be said for the OP.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Wow! Talk about one side of a story ha

eviltwin

There was a pair of them in it

fred funk }{

Very embarrassing for the OP.

cactusgal

OP, perhaps Joe was a bit blunt in his response, but your subsequent reply was very, very rude. And yes, you absolutely should have picked up the phone to cancel rather than sending a vague email. And, as Business Cat pointed out, your claim of "tragic circumstances" on your Tripadvisor review indicates a death, which I certainly hope was not the case.

Only one side of the story indeed!

Eugene Norman

Hmm. Jens first reply was courteous and apologetic. The reply to that was hostile and it kicked off.

Both were under stress though so happens.

lazygal

cactusgal wrote: »

OP, perhaps Joe was a bit blunt in his response, but your subsequent reply was very, very rude. And yes, you absolutely should have picked up the phone to cancel rather than sending a vague email. And, as Business Cat pointed out, your claim of "tragic circumstances" on your Tripadvisor review indicates a death, which I certainly hope was not the case.

Only one side of the story indeed!

Yeah, that's why I take a lot of TA reviews with a grain of salt. I remember a Channel 4 documentary on those who post loads of reviews, most of them negative, and in the main the reviewers were a little shady about their motives and had completely batty expectations. Putting something like 'tragic' in a review implies a death to me, not that the OP didn't have a family crisis but its an odd word to use.