Restaurante Almazen de Salinas, desinformacion y retencion de reserva
Restaurante Almazen de Salinas, Alava, SPAIN I booked a table for 5 people for the 13th July, after having paid the pre-deposit of 150 euros. I did this is the web of the restaurant, not in a booking platform!! 2 days and 21 hours before the booking date, we had to cancel the reservation and we were told by the Manager of the restaurant that the deposit will be reimbursed to the card with which I made the payment. They said that it was fine as the cancellation has been made with more than 48 hours of notice. 2 weeks later and no money back!! When called to the restaurant, they have now changed the story; - It is nothing to do with them , is the responsibility of " The Fork ". This is false as the refund policy is established by the restaurant and the booking was made directly in their website, not in a booking platform. It could be that The Fork has been contracted by them to deal with their bookings but this is irrelevant in this scenario. - Now they said that it is 72 hours and not 48 hours notice. If they would have told us that when we cancelled the booking, on the phone directly with the restaurant, we would have most likely make an extra effort to attend for the booked lunch, so we do not lose the 150 euros. But not, they did not told us that at the appropriate time. - So they knew when we cancelled the booking on the phone with 70 hours notice ( instead of the 72 hours that now we are told are required ) that they will not refund the money but instead of informing us of this, they told us that all was fine. They deliberately lied to us. And my final and most important reflection comes here; " If a company is prepared to play this unethical games with their clients, what they will be prepared to do behind close doors in many other areas of their business"