I purchased a restaurant gift certificate through Gilt's "Gilt City Boston" affiliate - $25 for $150 worth of food at Stella, a restaurant in Boston. This purchase included a donation to charity. Shortly after the purchase I received a follow-up email from the company apologizing for any confusion and asking me if I still wanted to make the purchase and donation - to this I replied in the affirmative.
I arrived at Stella this past weekend and, upon the conclusion of my meal I presented the certificate to my waiter, only to have the manager explain to me that this purchase was the charitable contribution ONLY, and did not entitle me to $150 worth of food, which I was then forced to pay for out-of-pocket. The manager also expressed her anger at Gilt City, as I was not the first patron to experience this same situation.
When I spoke with a customer service representative at Gilt today, they acknowlegded the confusing/misleading wording of the certificate but would only grant me a refund of my $25 or a $25 credit to Gilt - the former of which would be the same as taking back a charitable contribution, and the latter of which I deem insufficient given the expenditure on my end.
0 comments