An Update and response from The Anderson House and Radio Station

Hey everyone. For those who were curious about the letter I sent and posted on websites here is the responses I got from both the Radio Stattion, and Anderson House.
The things I noticed most were the response from the Radio Station stating the shitty service and treatment was simply " Our Perceptions". What a joke. The fact is we didn't realize they were going to make a big stink about everything until we checked out, so we didn't have pre-conceptions.
Also, I love that the Target analogy seemed to really piss them off. Point is, it isn't a gift certificate really. It's more of a coupon.

Enjoy>>>
Good Afternoon,

I would like to apologize for the confusion our gift certificates caused during your stay at The Historic Anderson House. Our goal is always to supply ways for people to participate in good food, good product and new experiences at reduced rates with businesses in our listening areas. We do our best to explain the parameters of these certificates and we hope people understand. I know you had special circumstances that caused you an unpleasant experience, and for our part in that, I apologize. I have included a note I sent to the Jamee at I love Inns .com to explain how the events unfolded on our side of the situation. I hope it helps you understand. KLCH RADIO STATION




Good Morning,

My name is ...., I work at the radio station the certificates were purchased. I feel I need to clarify the situation the Meyers wrote about in regard to The Historic Anderson House, Wabasha, MN.

When we put the certificates for The Historic Anderson House on the auction, we do tell our listeners they can only use one certificate per visit, per couple. The people that bought $160 worth of certificates for the Meyers told us about the event, we called The Anderson House and got special permission for them to use that many certificates at one time. It was a very customer friendly thing for the Anderson House to approve. We were not aware that others purchased the certificates to give to the Meyers, or if it was the Meyers that purchased the additional $60 in certificates. It was the responsibility of the buyer to tell the Meyers the condition of their gift. We do not ask our listeners their names, only the last four digits of their phone numbers. It is important for you to know that our certificates are sold at 55% of their value to our customers. It allows people to try different restaurants at reduced rates. The Anderson House receives no money for these certificates, therefore, when they allow $160 in one visit, from one customer, they are not receiving any money in their till, but rather advertising on the radio. The radio advertising is great to promote their business, but makes it very hard to pay the food distributors, the chefs, the wait staff and all the others that go together to present the delicious meals the Meyer’s enjoyed while staying at The Historic Anderson House. The analogy to Target gift cards is not a fair comparison. No one can go to Target and get a $160 gift card for $88. You would have to pay $160! I can not address the way the Meyers were treated throughout their stay, but can only guess it was a perceived attitude because the owners of The Historic Anderson House approved this very special event for the Meyers, in the first place. I can only add that my experiences at The Historic Anderson House have always been an exceptionally wonderful experiences. I hope I have helped reveal “the other side of the story”. The Historic Anderson House was trying to help someone give a very generous gift and their good will was turned into a very unkind letter.

Account Representative

KLCH/KWNG/KCUE Radio Stations


Here is the one from ther Anderson house:

Good Morning Chris - I received your email this morning and have passed it on to the Radio station that sells the "Auction certificates". I do apologize for your unsatisfactory stay with us. When your mother or mother-in-law called and told us how many she had we explained to her at that time that we only honored one coupon per couple but because she told us that the station had told her she could use them all we did honor them - $160.00.

I have been asking the radio station for a couple of months to please put the - one per couple - on the certificates and they have not responded. After receiving your letter we have cancelled our program with them. It is too bad that they could not get it straight and we in the end get the bad feelings from our guests.

Innkeeper

The Historic Anderson House in Wabasha, MN

Here is an email I sent to the Anderson house after my wife Amy and I visit this weekend. We had a decent enough stay but it finished on a rather sour note.
I'd recommend it only for those who don't have certificates, and aren't younger than 50.

I have a recommendation for future customer service.

1. If you are going to be utilizing gift certificates, you should make sure they are labeled correctly ( i.e.; You can only use 1-$20 certificate per visit) on the actual certificate.
Can you imagine if Target had a guest go through the checkout lane with a 220 dollar gift card and be told they could only use $160 of it. And for some strange reason that was doing them a favor because they should've only been able to use 20 of it.
Since when are gift certificates not treated the same as cash, but more like food stamps or their owners be treated like "Free-Loaders"?

2. If you are concerned about losing money treat all guests and customers equally. Being labeled as " The ones with the certificates" our entire stay was rude and completely unfair" We actually had a host "assist" the wait staff by filling water during dinner at every table except for ours. Unbelievable! Our tips to the wait staff were just as fair as every other dinner table I am sure.

3. I am spreading the word abut our visit which was completely ruined because of this experience. My wife and I were given these certificates as a gift for our anniversary and a final get away before our first baby is born. My mother was awarded the certificates through a radio station, and our grandmother actually "Purchased" more certificates for us to use out of her pocket with real money.
It is absolutely insane we were unable to use them.

4. Although the food was great, the service was slow, and it's not the fault of the waiters ( Only one of them) we would have went elsewhere had we known we would end up having to pay for our meals we thought would be covered with the certificates.

Overall a disappointing experience, and I hope you either eliminate your "Gift Certificates" all together or include on them the following message

- Congratulations this $20 certificate is all you can use during this visit. If you happen to have more you will need to utilize them within 90 days. For example you win 8 of them, so you will need to visit us 8 times in a 90 day period.
- Be prepared to be treated like crap. Since you are not an elderly and sophisticated guest, but one utilizing this gift you will be treated rudely and differently.
- You will not be told that your stay will not be covered although it should be until you check out.

- Finally enjoy your stay!

What are your top 5 TV shows?

I am not considering all time in my list, however feel free to do so. I feel strange not including Seinfeld on the list, but it's definitely my #1 all-time show.

1. Lost
2. House
3. The Office
4. Mad Men
5. Heroes/CSI ( I know a tie is lame, but Heroes has been a regular, but going down hill, while we fell behind CSI and have missed 2 seasons now, but know it's still very good.)

What are your favorites? Feel free to post them.

OBAMA WINS!!!!

Well it's finally over, and history has been made. America voted overwhelmingly for a man who had a clear cut plan, well defined policies, and a smooth and perfectly capable demeanor throughout his entire campaign.
His opponent McCain, who is someone I highly respected in 2000, switched not only his views several times, but was simply running a very nasty campaign. His Vice presidential choice was highly touted for a few weeks, but soon it opened up peoples eyes that this great speech giver was simply that, and only that, someone who could give a great speech.
Unlike Obama, she had no ability to directly answer questions, and openly discuss topics that weren't planned with the media (for example you can count her interviews with major media on one hand throughout the entire campaign). This was not very assuring to the American voter this year.
Anyhow I am filled with excitement for the years to come, and all the change Obama promised may not be recognized immediately, however, he clearly has enabled an overwhelming feeling of strength and power to the everyday American that we can do things. We can make an impact, and it doesn't simply take wealth and power to succeed.
Amy and I are expecting a baby soon, and I am more confident than ever,that we will be able to raise her, and that we may finally have a government who supports the " Average" American.
Thanks for voting if you did, no matter who you voted for!

Historic Night!

Go Vote!

I'm going to be a Daddy!

I'm sure most of you who read this know already, but just in case I am very close to being a proud new father!

Amy is due in December, the 11th to be exact, but who knowws when she will actually have the baby.

Either way, we are both very excited, and have been receiving tons of gifts, and support so far. Almost too much actually, we are having a tough time to find a home for all of it.

Once we get our Armoire, a gift form myself and my side of the family, we will have more storage for all fo the clothes, etc.







The baby room is pretty much complete, I worked hard on completely making it over, scraping off old paint and plaster, repairing holes in the wall, re-painting walls and ceiling, installing a new ceiling fan (Thanks Chuck), and ripping up the lovely old stained, pink carpet to find great looking hardwood floors. I then sanded and stained them.

I'm proud of my work,it really sucked, but hopefully our little girl enjoys the room as much as we do.

Amy's blog has more pictures, and news updates, but I wanted to let everyone know, and remind them that I don't only worry about Politics these days.

Go Vikes and Wild!