they did not keep up their words and petetic services

Location/place: bangalore /karnataka

Name of company/service: lalith ashok 5 start hotel

Hello,

This is regarding my daughter’s wedding function that I had hosted at your Hotel on July 6th, 2012. In all the arrangements, this was one place where I thought nothing will go wrong and the function would be great. Unfortunately, in this same event, everything went wrong..something that was not expected out of an organization like The Lalit Ashok. I am listing below some of the things that really went wrong:
We were given a commitment that baraat will be allowed inside the premises. We were shown the path that baraat would take-entry from the staff entrance side and complete path till the point where snacks would be served to the baraat. The path was shown by your staff just one week before the marriage. However, on the marriage day, baraat was not allowed inside the gate at all. Why on the final day?? If there were reservations on the baraat coming inside, why was the commitment given and if there was a change why was I not informed earlier? In that case, I would have planned for an alternate baraat route by taking necessary police permission. Needless to say that it was a big disappointment on the D day..on such a special -once in a lifetime occasion. In addition to the disappointment, monetary loss of Rs.45000/- towards ghodi and band was also incurred since nothing could be used.
We requested water for the baraat at the gate. The water was refused by the Hotel on the grounds that it will be charged extra.
We had been promised a complementary room for a few hours for the bride during the function. On the wedding day, the Room was denied to us. We had to pay an extra charge of Rs. 10,000 to the Hotel on the spot to get the Room.
There was no Board displayed in the lobby indicating that the wedding function is in Grand Ball Room.
The AC in the Grand Ball Room was pathetic…We were all sweating.
The starters and welcome drinks were served hardly for 10 minutes..and the service for the same was very poor. We requested several times to serve welcome drink to the bride & groom. Nothing was served.
The soiled plates in the Hall and dining area were not cleared for more than 2 and a half hour. There was a huge pile of dirty plates right next to the water dispenser. The water dispenser area had turned very filthy.
The water that was in the dispenser was not even cold. It was warm. We expect at least cold drinking water in a five star facility.
We sent across one of our relatives to find out the reason behind the pathetic service. He was informed that the service staff had been diverted to some other bigger party in Lalit Ashok.
The dining area was open to the car park where as it was discussed food area will be covered. It felt as if we were having dinner in the car park.
Some of our guests were not allowed to have dinner. After the function, when we inquired, we were informed that your staff had stopped only the labourers from having dinner. From where did these labourers come? Probably from the open car park. I am not aware how many drivers and uninvited guests have come through the open car park for the dinner.
We requested dinner to be served to a few members of the grooms party and the bride and groom in the GBR. It was served after 45 minutes of constant follow up. Even in that, the service was very slow. We had to constantly ask the guys to bring food and serve. We were under the impression that in a five star facility like Lalit Ashok, the waiters are trained to serve. That was not the case.
For setting up the mantap for the pheras, Neeru (SOCH) had to organise teams to lift the furniture from the godown and Hall to set it up. No support was provided by the Hotel. At a crucial time when I needed more support at GBR due to poor service provided by the Hotel, Neeru had to divert useful SOCH manpower to set up the mantap.
At the pheras, your staff refused to serve tea, coffee and snacks to the guests. They insisted that everybody should walk upto them and take it. The result was that hardly anybody had tea coffee and snacks at the pheras.
At the time of Doli, I was asked to pay the complete amount. I raised my concerns at the counter and left my contact details. I told them that as a gentleman, I am paying the full amount. However, the service was extremely poor and I would like to discuss the whole thing with a senior official. I was told that somebody would get in touch with me the very next day.
I had paid the complete amount by credit card and cash and Rs. 2,00,000 by cheque on the night of July 6th, 2012.
Post that, I did not hear anything from anyone in Lalit Ashok on July 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th. Finally, I asked Neeru (my wedding planner) to send a mail to lalit Ashok that we are putting a stop payment for the Rs. 2,00,000/- cheque due to inadequate service. At the same time, we expressed our willingness to resolve the isuue. We also mentioned that we are willing to come over and discuss about it.
Post that, we received couple of calls from your Hotel saying that they will look into the matter and revert back. We also received calls from some of the employees of the Hotel stating that if the payment of Rs. 200,000/- is stopped, it will be deducted from their salaries.
We also had a meeting with Mr. Abhijit and Mr. Arora on July 16th. They agreed that there have been lapses in the services and that they will discuss with their seniors and revert back. Thereafter on either 23 or 24 July , Mr Arif , Mr Abhijeet and Mr Sebastian met at my Indira Nagar office , again with a assurance that they will discuss with senior officials and revert.
The function was on July 6th and the issue is still open.We are still awaiting response from your Hotel. Today is July 28th.
It was also a surprise that during our meeting on July 16th, Mr. Arora agreed that there were lapses. But he also mentioned that his staff has been at fault because they accepted a cheque. This just indicates the attitude that once the amount is paid..it does not matter. The core point of discussion was not why cheque was accepted but the poor service.
For me, it was a once in lifetime occasion -my daughter’s wedding. I am sorry to say that lalit Ashok really let me down on that day. Nothing can be rewinded back.
I request the management to look into it and provide monetary compensation for serious lapses in the service.

I would attribute 50% of the experience to service in which the Hotel failed us miserably. Hence, would request the Hotel to compensate by refunding 50% of the amount.which comes to 50% of Rs. 5,40,000/- that is Rs, 2,70,000/-.