Complaint Review: Yo! Sushi - Nationwide

There sometimes comes a moment, even with the most menial of complaints, when an issue that might have been easily resolved is no longer about money; and it rather quickly escalates and transforms into an issue of principle.

Here's the lowdown:

- I was sent an invitation by Yo! Sushi, inviting me in for my birthday with a voucher for 1/3 off. This was not a coupon I clipped from a paper or printed online - it was a solicitation from a restaurant, to me directly, inviting me to come in with a gift they provided.

- I went in on a normal, quiet Thursday. It wasn't busy and I sat at a freshly cleared and cleaned spot at the booth...one of only a handful. I appeared to have come after a rush and a couple members of staff were scurrying to clear the bar. There was no placemat, having been freshly wiped down, but it didn't matter. I picked up a folded menu from the seat beside me.

- I proceeded to enjoy my meal of usual favourites: salmon and yuzu tartare, tuna sashimi, the salmon selection, and popcorn shrimp tempura. Naturally, my enjoyment was enhanced by the knowledge I'd be getting 1/3 off. Thanks for the birthday love, Yo! Sushi!

- My plates were added up and I went to the front to pay, showing the cashier that I had a voucher code. Imagine my surprise, when she tells me it is the Yo! Festival, and my voucher - which Yo! Sushi sent to me as valid for only 30 days - was invalid. I asked what the Yo! Festival was, and was told it was a near month-long event where more items were reduced to blue plate prices. How wonderful! Except for one thing: I didn't order anything on a blue plate. Nothing wrong with the blue plates, I just have my favourites. This didn't seem to matter to the cashier, who stated that the voucher wouldn't work at all even on full priced items. 

Naturally, I was kind of shocked by this, but was not alone. The family behind me points out how unfair it is for Yo! Sushi to send me a birthday gift, then tell me after it's not valid. This location is not an actual restaurant, it's in a store at a mall - and there was nothing stating it was a month of blue-plate specials. The cashier acknowledged that I should have had a placemat that said it, but since 2/3 of the bar wasn't cleared that wasn't the case.

Fast forward, and I email a complaint. I receive a reply from Kim Nalborczyk with a copy and paste of the Terms & Conditions of the voucher (that clearly don't apply in this case), an apology ONLY for any "inconvenience" and without addressing at all the service issue, or asking a single question to ascertain whether or not, perhaps, this was a Yo! Sushi error, and - the zinger - another voucher. Yes...another voucher. Another voucher to come back in another time, having already spent 33% more than I was promised I'd have to, because the voucher they sent me the first time (their error, not mine), wasn't valid during a "Festival" that wasn't advertised at the location.

This is where it stops being about money and becomes an issue of principle, and, really, a training opportunity. Instead of replying with an implication that I am simply unable to read the Terms & Conditions on a voucher, how about asking where I think they got it wrong? How about a sincere apology for my time and the money spent, and a thank-you for being a repeat client who is even in the database for a birthday gift to begin with? And then, how about taking five extra seconds to try and see how this can be fixed - aside from blaming me and sending another voucher where I still have to first spend another 66%?

I'm not even interested in a refund, and am at this point really livid about the reply I received from Kim at corporate. I understand if there's nobody on location with the authority to make amends, but the corporate office should then step up to the plate. Instead, they dropped the ball.