Negative Experience Rathsallagh House MOD WARNING POST 19 & 63

Bogsnorkler

OP sounds like a serious dose.

STB.

Well I didnt see that coming.

Boards should do one of these threads weekly. Dramatic stuff.

lazygal

STB. wrote: »

Well I didnt see that coming.

Boards should do one of these threads weekly. Dramatic stuff.

Just pop into the weddings forum on a regular basis.

Teyla Emmagan

Weddings at Rathsallagh wrote: »

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.

I kinda like Joe now.

Joe, the OP was out of line and we only heard her side of the story originally, but if you're still reading, you might calm down on Trip Advisor a bit. You're a bit belligerent with the responses at times. I know you need to defend your business, and you obviously put your heart and soul into it, but you could do it a little less personally when you get a negative review. Your record on Trip Advisor stands, look at all the glowing reviews, if you don't mind me saying so you could be a bit more gracious with the negative ones though! I hope someday to visit Rathsallagh!

Redser87

This thread has reminded me of how gorgeous Rathsallagh is and how we must visit again soon. It was a serious contender for our wedding, the only reason we didn't go for it in the end was the location - to get married in my local church, we would then have had to drive at least 90 minutes to get out, and we just didn't want that. It is spectacular though and we were very warmly welcomed on our viewings there.

irishgrover

I don't know, I guess I'm in the minority, however I find Joe's general deminure on TA to be passive aggressive, obnoxious and condescending. He finds any type of criticism as a very bitter pill.
Personally, his habit of purposefully "turning the knife" would be me off visiting his fine establishment.

agrostar

[SNIP]

mod note: there's no need for comments like that

newport2

Weddings at Rathsallagh wrote: »

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.

Great username choice, even if only for the acronym Joe......W.A.R.

wingnut

Joe needs to be on one of those reality shows as a foil to the Brennans.

partyguinness

Here is my executive summary:

1. OP should have rang in the morning. She should not have assumed it would have been picked up.
2. Joe texted- which wasnt aggressive at all IMO and certainly not 'verbally abusive'. He was understandably annoyed.
3. OP should have appreciated this and taken it on the chin. Instead, OP was super sensitive, self centered and her reaction was OTT
3. At that stage Joe prob should just have taken a step back and gone "Whooo..psycho" and just left it at that. Perhaps got a colleague to contact her later to smooth things over.

Joe- ease up on the TA negative posters. The vast vast majority are positive- there will always be people with minor issues.

OP- at the end of the day you cancelled at short notice and should have been the one apologizing for cancelling (no matter what the personal circumstances) not going mental at Joe.

frostyjacks

You're entitled to cancel at short notice. It was only a viewing, wasn't like the hotel had been closed to the public for the day to facilitate it. If it's anyone's fault, it's the lady who was dealing with the OP for not checking her emails. That should be standard practice. Communication was sent for the cancellation, not the OPs problem that they missed it.

athtrasna

frostyjacks wrote: »

You're entitled to cancel at short notice. It was only a viewing, wasn't like the hotel had been closed to the public for the day to facilitate it. If it's anyone's fault, it's the lady who was dealing with the OP for not checking her emails. That should be standard practice. Communication was sent for the cancellation, not the OPs problem that they missed it.

According to Joe the email wasn't received. Maybe a technical issue, maybe the OP didn't send it or mistyped the email address in their emotional state.

To Elland Back

Fair play to the manager of Rathsallagh. If you have a problem, deal with it courteously on site not as a keyboard warrior from the safety of your PC.

partyguinness

frostyjacks wrote: »

You're entitled to cancel at short notice. It was only a viewing, wasn't like the hotel had been closed to the public for the day to facilitate it. If it's anyone's fault, it's the lady who was dealing with the OP for not checking her emails. That should be standard practice. Communication was sent for the cancellation, not the OPs problem that they missed it.

I have to disagree with you there.

If you are going to cancel a 11.30 am Sunday morning appointment, the onus is on you to make sure that the message gets through so nobody is messed around. Blasting off an email at 11 pm the night before is not sufficient or good enough or absolve you of all responsibility- that's a cop out. Plus maybe the email didn't arrive- it happens.

The fact it was a Sunday morning would be imo, an even greater reason to make a better effort- a Tuesday prob would not have been a big deal as it is a regular work day.

Op should have been more thoughtful- granted she had a personal emergency and prob didn't think it was much of a big deal.

ABajaninCork

frostyjacks wrote: »

You're entitled to cancel at short notice. It was only a viewing, wasn't like the hotel had been closed to the public for the day to facilitate it. If it's anyone's fault, it's the lady who was dealing with the OP for not checking her emails. That should be standard practice. Communication was sent for the cancellation, not the OPs problem that they missed it.

Uh - WRONG on all counts.

This was a business arrangement. At the height of wedding season which is the busiest time of the year.

The time taken to conduct a showround - That time could have been used to show another couple round, who might very well have requested a second show or to book.

It's common courtesy to call as soon as you realise you cannot make the appointment. Not to mention good business practice.

A phone message is far quicker to deliver than an e-mail which was sent late at night on a weekend. If the venue is busy, it's highly unlikely that the mail will even be checked until Monday morning. Something I pointed out earlier in the thread.

The fault is on BOTH sides. OK - the OP had an emergency. Something that could happen to anyone. She handled it poorly. So did Joe, who to be fair at least came on to apologise and explain.

Funny - the OP hasn't come back since Joe posted. Why is that?

partyguinness

I have noticed the OP has disappeared (better check my emails....sorry a cheap shot).

I hope she has the maturity and good grace to remove the TA post.

lazygal

This forum really is the one that keeps on giving.

frostyjacks

The email was sent, it's in her sent box. If it's the wrong address it gets bounced back. Also, if she was already dealing with this contact, her address would most likely be stored in the memory, or she could just have hit 'reply' to the last correspondence. A phone call would've been ideal, but circumstances didn't allow it.

Ultimately, there's no excuse for that type of behaviour from someone in the hospitality sector. It's unprofessional, although he seems to get a buzz out of behaving like that.

Tobyglen

OP seems like a weapon. If true, that transcript is ridiculous on her part- massive overreaction. Lad trying to run a business and dealing with people like her must be painful.

Liam McPoyle

frostyjacks wrote: »

The email was sent, it's in her sent box. If it's the wrong address it gets bounced back. Also, if she was already dealing with this contact, her address would most likely be stored in the memory, or she could just have hit 'reply' to the last correspondence. A phone call would've been ideal, but circumstances didn't allow it.

Ultimately, there's no excuse for that type of behaviour from someone in the hospitality sector. It's unprofessional, although he seems to get a buzz out of behaving like that.

She sent it on a Saturday night for a meeting on a Sunday morning, most back office staff wont be in on a Sunday.

She also didnt reply to a voice mail and reminder texts a couple of days before that. Her uncle was taken in on the Saturday, whats her excuse for not replying to them?

There is one person (mainly) in the wrong here, and thats the OP.

Flippyfloppy

frostyjacks wrote: »

The email was sent, it's in her sent box. If it's the wrong address it gets bounced back. Also, if she was already dealing with this contact, her address would most likely be stored in the memory, or she could just have hit 'reply' to the last correspondence. A phone call would've been ideal, but circumstances didn't allow it.

Ultimately, there's no excuse for that type of behaviour from someone in the hospitality sector. It's unprofessional, although he seems to get a buzz out of behaving like that.

Well if anything this thread has highlighted his shoddy responses to minuscule negative remarks made as part of reviews from his customers.

I'm sure his response was a shock to op, like all of us she's probably used to polite dealings from people in hospitality roles. We , on the other hand, probably weren't too shocked to hear what rathsallagh had said, as we expected the worst!

Her first text was fine & courteous, and then he did change the tone with his reply, and yes, then it escalated. A lesson for us all to remember that we all have jobs to do , but more important places we'd prefer to be. Obviously that day joe wanted to be home with his kids rather than hanging around for a no show viewing.

And yes, op should of covered her bases and given a call instead to cancel, however for all we know she may have been mailing the other staff member and always got a reply no matter morning noon or night.

Op & rathsallagh : a near wedding match, but not quite.

partyguinness

frostyjacks wrote: »

The email was sent, it's in her sent box. If it's the wrong address it gets bounced back. Also, if she was already dealing with this contact, her address would most likely be stored in the memory, or she could just have hit 'reply' to the last correspondence. A phone call would've been ideal, but circumstances didn't allow it.

Ultimately, there's no excuse for that type of behaviour from someone in the hospitality sector. It's unprofessional, although he seems to get a buzz out of behaving like that.

The fact it is in the 'sent' folder does not mean it was received or that it be picked up in time. OP should have made a better effort and when she realised Joe was messed about she should have put her hands up and taken it on the chin and yes Joe should have bit his tongue. She is clearly highly strung- bridzilla!

The fact she was straight out with the threat to post negatively online (here and on TA) reflects very badly on the OP.

Shame OP hasn't come on yet to offer any sort of response.

Ps- does anyone else think this poster is a little familiar!!

salmocab

I love Joe

Toots

Guys can we please not make personal comments about either the OP or Joe.

This thread is already generating a whole pile of reported posts - my inbox is going to blow up at this stage. If people can't behave themselves then this thread will be another one for the "entertaining-but-ultimately-far-too-troublesome wedding threads" archive.

frostyjacks

partyguinness wrote: »

Ps- does anyone else think this poster is a little familiar!!

Are you on about me?

partyguinness

I am so going to rathsallagh house next time in Wicklow- never been. I mean it.

greenfrogs

Maybe the hotel should have someone to step in if a family emergency occurs. Both for the owner's benefit and the company's benefit. You really can't go around being passive aggressive towards customers regardless of what is happening in your personal life. I also think the OP escalated the issue. However both were under a lot of stress due to death and illness in the family.

anewme

Team Rathsallagh on this one, op comes across as a self entitled over dramatic princess..."how dare you", her Ta post is out of order referencing "tragic events" yet she never mentioned she never responded to texts or phone calls way in advance of the tragic event. She never once mentioned Rathsallagh were contacting her trying to firm up the appointment that she totally ignored. Totally one sided and a bit too familiar to those who deal with joe(public).

went to dinner to Rathsallagh house a few years back, great food, atmosphere and brandy in front of a turf fire!

Joe strikes me as a person who can take constructive criticism but reacts badly when fed bull****. I'm like that myself so can identify.

fred funk }{

greenfrogs wrote: »

Maybe the hotel should have someone to step in if a family emergency occurs. Both for the owner's benefit and the company's benefit. You really can't go around being passive aggressive towards customers regardless of what is happening in your personal life. I also think the OP escalated the issue. However both were under a lot of stress due to death and illness in the family.

The hotel didn't have a family emergency. Joe was waiting for the op to arrive for their meeting.

DivingDuck

frostyjacks wrote: »

The email was sent, it's in her sent box. If it's the wrong address it gets bounced back.

Not necessarily. You're correct in the part about probably having the email in her contacts book, but some websites will have a catch-all address set up to pick up all emails sent to eventypos @ whateverdomain.com, so they don't bounce back. Emails picked up that are not sent to correct addresses go into a holding pen as they're most likely spam, and this isn't checked on a regular basis. However, as you say, she most likely had the person's contact in her email already, so it's unlikely (though possible) this is what happened.

If the conversation as posted by the owner is fully accurate, it does seem as although the OP escalated the conversation quite quickly. That said, I believe the business owner still shares some blame in this situation. By his own admission that email is "not reliable at night anyway" (?!?), he seems to believe that an email cancellation is insufficient, which in this day and age isn't really fair or realistic.

If you have a business email, people will be of the understanding that it is regularly checked and monitored. Where this isn't the case, this should be made clear to everyone at the outset. Email is perfectly reliable at night, and considered by many people to be a more courteous and less-disruptive way to contact someone after-hours. In a situation like this, it would definitely be my first port of call.

Joe, if you are reading, I would say this:

Myself and a family member had a good laugh this morning reading your responses on Trip Advisor. I admire your honesty in coming here, and posting under your own name. You are a witty and articulate man,but the place for your comedy is not a public forum in response to your customers who have had a poor experience.

Having experience in the hospitality industry, I understand that it can be a soul-destroying enterprise, and that a lot of customers can be unreasonable in their complaints and execrable in their behaviour. Going by the responses on TA, it seems that your attitude has grown poorer and poorer over time, which I can only assume is due to years and years of listening to unfounded complaints and petty whinging. I sympathize. But stooping to (and indeed beneath) their level is not beneficial to your business or your own mental well-being.

Your attitude on that site has certainly put us off from visiting your establishment, and we would have been the full-price customers you so obviously prefer as we tend not to trust booking through coupon site deals.

We would have easily overlooked a bad review and dismissed it as someone with a vendetta who or simply caught you on a bad day. However, your responses are not so easily overlooked, as they are numerous, consistent in tone, and so extraordinarily condescending as to be offensive. Drawing attention to how and how much people paid, and how and how much people ate and drank, is awfulness which I have never seen matched by any other business. The constant cut-and-paste rhapsodizing about your produce where it is irrelevant to the points the reviewer had made was strange and off-putting.

It's clear that you care about your long-standing family business, and this is admirable. However, going forward, I strongly suggest you step back from handling customer complaints online, as you are plainly too close to the situation to give them the objective responses which are required. Insulting those who came on deals, attributing complaints to pregnancy, lack of class or experience, personal circumstances, or someone's football team losing, count as such poor customer service that they could stand as examples of what not to do in a textbook on the topic.

Many of those reading, including myself, have said they would never visit your lovely House as a result of this, which is a shame, as it's something which could be so easily corrected on your part and bring you great business in future.

Please consider the points that I have made, as going by the many fine reviews on the site, you run a wonderful establishment, and I would hate for you to lose business because you cannot rein in your temper in an online forum. I have left this comment purely to give you the perspective of an uninvolved party with no horse in this race, so that you might see how an objective observer may feel about your business having read your responses to previous customers.

Thank you for coming here to clarify the situation, and I wish you the very best with your venue in the future.