Dealfind – Bad customer service

Dealfind, like Groupon, is one of the many websites that offers deals at discounted prices. However, unlike Groupon, they have horrible customer service and makes me question the way they deal with discussion board responses.

Currently there is a deal for afternoon tea at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver: $38 for 2 people ($76 value). Almost 9000 have been bought so far. The discussion board can be found here: http://www.dealfind.com/discuss.php?DiscussionID=16705&market=1

Dealfind is claiming that the 12% tax and 15% tip should be charged on the original value of $76. I understand the tip part, but tax on original value? Really? Since when did we have to pay tax for something valued at $76 when we only paid $38 out of our own pockets? Users on the discussion board have already called CRA and Revenue Canada to confirm that taxes should only be charged on the amount paid for, NOT what the actual value is. DealFind did not bother to call the Government of Canada to clarify anything for the customers, and instead, deleted user posts, copy/pasted unrelated answers, and avoided questions. I also had a post that was deleted by them:

The ironic thing is, DealFind had a Fairmont afternoon tea deal last year as well, however they dealt with it in quite a different manner:

http://www.dealfind.com/discuss.php?DiscussionID=1643&market=1

I understand that paying 12% tax on the original value of $76 IS still a deal, but again, it’s not a matter of money anymore, it’s a matter of principle. If DealFind is not willing to answer customers’ questions, then they can expect to be very unpopular in the near future. Groupon handles this kind of thing a lot differently than DealFind, and I think DealFind can do a lot to learn from them.

Also, as a side note, Fairmont’s original menu stated that afternoon tea is $36 per person. However, after the DealFind deal was released and customers pointed out this price difference, Fairmont changed the price  of afternoon tea to $38 per person. Hmm…

http://www.fairmont.com/NR/rdonlyres/F12DEE98-DB75-4BF3-A7F5-28CCD0280020/0/HVC_Afternoon_Tea_Jan11.pdf

Update:

Over 10,000 vouchers have been bought so far, so that’s over $47,000 in tax that consumers should not have to pay for. Are Fairmont and/or DealFind just pocketing that difference? It’s not just a matter of a few dollars anymore.

I would understand if DealFind or Fairmont had just said in the first place that discount is taken AFTER the final bill of $76 has been processed, but deleting/ignoring people’s comments makes me feel like they are hiding something. Otherwise, why not just come out and give a straight answer?

Thanks to Angela who actually called the HST/GST office, she found out about a form that can be filled out and submitted to the government if you feel like you have been taxed incorrectly:

Go to: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/gf/gst189/gst189-12e.pdf for the form to get rebate on HST or see below:

gst hst rebate

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Miku

Japanese cuisine has always been one of my favourites. I have tried many Japanese restaurants and had sushi, sashimi, and tapa dishes. But I have never once tried pressed sushi. After hearing about Miku from MilkTea that they serve very good pressed sushi, I decided to pay Miku a visit.

Mochi and I went to Miku on a Wednesday night. I made reservations the night before for 7pm. When we arrived, the place was packed. The interior of the restaurant was very modern, and it was quite large inside. The lights gave everything a purple glow.

Miku Interior

Even though we made reservations for 7pm, it didn’t look like we were going to be getting a table anytime soon. While we were waiting, the man at the bar asked us if we would like anything to drink, which we declined.

Miku's bar

I enjoyed watching the servers make drinks at the bar though, and at one point while we were waiting, a beer bottle was accidentally tipped by the server before the cap was taken off, and it bubbled over. Since she couldn’t serve that bottle anymore (she had to open a new one), she gave that beer to us for free. :) I thought that was very nice of her, but I hope it wasn’t my staring that caused her to become nervous and tip it over in the first place.. ><

Free beer!

After waiting for over 30 minutes, we were finally seated at a table. The service was very good though, and they apologized many times for the long wait. Those who had no reservations were told that they would have to wait for two hours! At first I wasn’t going to make a reservation, since it was Wednesday night.. but I’m glad I did.

Mochi really liked to eat beef carpaccio, so we ordered their gyu tataki to start. Of course I also ordered the aburi salmon oshi sushi, their signature dish. We also ordered an una-kyu roll (eel roll).

The first dish that arrived was the gyu tataki:

Gyu Tataki - $18
5/5

The server introduced each dish upon presentation. This beef tataki is made from Alberta beef, drizzled with a sauce made from ponzu, yuzu kosho, grated daikon, and topped with green onion. Each piece of beef was fresh and chewy. The sauce drizzled over it was sour and balanced well with the beef. Delicious!

Next up was the aburi salmon oshi sushi:

Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi - $10
5/5

Now I understand why everybody raves about Miku’s pressed sushi.. especially this dish. It was hands down one of the best sushi I have ever had! There were six pieces in an order. This sushi had a piece of salmon in between the rice, topped off with more salmon sashimi, drizzled with their very own Miku sauce, and topped with jalapeno. Unlike most Japanese restaurants, Miku’s sushi does not require soy sauce. It tastes fabulous just on its own. Even the rice was tasty; it was cooked and seasoned perfectly. The jalapeno was not too spicy, and the sushi itself tasted warm (being just seared) and melted in my mouth.

The last dish to arrive was the Una-kyu roll:

Una-Kyu Roll $10
2/5

This roll wasn’t all that special, and after having the aburi salmon sushi, this roll was not too exciting in comparison. The sushi is made with barbequed fresh water eel tempura, cucumber, topped with seven spice salt, and flavoured with unagi sauce. The eel tasted a bit rubbery but everything was fresh, and again the sushi rice was excellent. However, for the same price as the previous dish, I wouldn’t mind getting another plate of the aburi salmon oshi sushi!

After dining here, I finally understood why we had to wait so long for a table. The food here was served one dish at a time, unlike most places which serve everything almost all at once. They also introduce the food, with a detailed description of everything.

Pro’s:

– Great service
– Great food (especially the pressed salmon sushi!)
– Nice ambiance

Con’s:

– Long wait time
–  Pricey, but worth it