SE
Sarah E
Active since Jun 2015
5
Reviews
0
Industries
Reviews
5 reviews54 months ago
Fairmont Zimbali Coastal Resort - Huge disappointment!
I had stayed at Fairmont Zimbali Hotel on honeymoon in 2013 and I had holidayed in a private villa on the property for a long weekend in 2014. On both occasions, I was quite pleased with my stay, resort facilities and the attitude of staff at the resort. However, as recently as June this year, I happened to stay at Zimbali Suites 611 Penthouse unit and was very disappointed overall. The three-night weekend stay (Friday, 4th June to Mon, 7th June) was a huge disappointment in the way of amenities paid for, but never enjoyed. The attitude of the individual at reception that weeekend was not up to standard either. My brother had kindly booked a weekend away for my parents. Since it was a 4-sleeper, my parents had asked either my brother and family or myself, my husband and son to join them for the weekend. Since my brother was unable to make it, my family and I happily joined them expecting to enjoy the luxury amenities my brother had paid extra rands for (most notably, the hot tub jacuzzi). However, from the time my parents checked in, they were faced with numeroud challenges and no help from reception. It was only once they were able to get in touch with the in-house agent for the unit, a lady named Nosipho, that they were able to achieve small victories such as new replacement batteries for the aircon/heater remote. It was an abysmally cold weekend in the middle of winter and I had kuckily informed them that blackets would not be provided with the unit, so they were able to bring along their own warm blankets and throws. If they hadn't, between the cold weather and the aircon remote batteries being low, we all would have had to bundle up in jackets and sit around freezing. My parents checked in on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, my dad contacted me with a few complaints, asking if I vould get in touch with someone to help them as these were the issues faced: 1. Jacuzzi was not working (this was the main drawcard for booking the Penthouse suite at a higher price than the regular suites) 2. Nespresso machine did not work properly (the frothing function did not work). We own a Nesprrsso machine at home and are familiar eith how to use one. The one in our unit was definitely faulty. 3. The light in the main bedroom or bathroom (I can't remember which one exactly) was not working. 4. There was only one blanket in the 4-sleeper unit, in the middle of winter 5. There was no heater available to borr9w from reception (we received a curt response from the receptionist when I personally enquired about this upon my arrival) 6. Batteries were low in the aircon remote. Nosipho kindly tried assisting my dad with this on Friday - her kindness is the only reason this review gets more than a 1 star rating. However, we later realised that the remote was still not working and the replacement batteries may have been the wrong ones. 7. There were no replacement toiletries provided all weekend in a unit qith 4 adults and a toddler. We expected at least one refill for the price paid. 8. Tea and cappuccino sachets were not refilled. When we asked housekeeping staff about this, the lady stated that she had run out of these items before arriving at out unit. What a convenient excuse! But not good enough for the high price tag attached to our stay. 9. We had paid for 3 nights and were due to check out on Monday morning, 7 June 2021. However, agent Nosipho had incorrectly (and mistakenly, I'm surr) checked us out on Sunday. And so we lost access to our room on Sunday. We had to report to reception and make them check our reservation and booking details to re-activate our room key card. The above listed 9 issues we faced over the cousrse of our 3 night weekend stay are, to me, inexcusable, especially given that the Fairmont group is an internationally recognised name and Zimbali is one of the biggest coastal resorts in South Africa, with wide international acclaim. Ot, therefore, baffles me how it is possible for such a vast reputation to be left in the hands of what can only be described as sour-faced, surly, unhelpful and arrogant staff (with the exception of Nosipho - who I never met, but possibly may have spoken to on the phone prior to my arrival on Saturday when I was still hours away and trying to help my dad remotely). Honestly, this thirr of stay of mine at Zimbali was a huge disappointment and ruined the omage of the resort on my mind. I can understand that the atmosphere may not be the same with strict COVID regulations in place, but that is no excuse for the clear drop in standards that I witnessed during my stay. What infuriates me even further, and will forever marr my impression of the establishment, is that the weekend spent with my parents at Zimbali in June 2021 was the last holiday I will ever be able to take with my parents as a family. That weekend was the last holiday my dad took before he passed away. We lost my dad to COVID on the 6th October 2021. My mum and I were reminiscing about our last two local trips with him in the past year and she lamented the fact that we received such poor service that caused him such great frustration, when all he wanted to do was enjoy a break away from the everyday frustrations of life. And your resort couldn't even provide him with that, even after the hefty price had been paid for his stay. Throughout that weekend, we felt left alone and unattended to by staff and we just had to keep quiet, accept the poor service we got and quietly return home on Monday being grateful for whatever little joy we could squeeze out of the weekend. The next time Zimbali embarks on a marketing campaign for its resort and facilities, perhaps they should consider whether what is happening on the ground actually reflects the promises they make to potential clients. If a holiday at their resort is going to be the last holiday a person takes before they leave this earth, I think they have a huge responsibility on their shoulders to ensure it's a ****** good one!
0 replies
54 months ago
WestPak Lifestyle Store Pavilion
I contacted WestPak Lifestyle at the Pavilion Shopping Centre at least 3 times since September regarding their special on the Kid's plastic table and set of four chairs for R200. The special ran until 10th October. Each time I was told that they were sold out on the tables and chairs and were awaiting new stock. The last 2 times I called (my last call being on the 4th October) I was asked to leave my name and number as they were unloading new stock and I needed to leave my details to reserve the two sets that I wished to purchase. Despite leaving my name and number on both occasions, no one bothered to call me back and I had a family emergency and was not available to call thereafter until after the special was over on 10th October 2021. I was very disappointed with such poor customer service, especially since WestPak has always enjoyed a good reputation from my days living in Joburg and being familiar with their stores in Gauteng. I would hate to think that standards have dropped so drastically after all these years.
53 replies
132 months ago
Poor Maintenance & Bad Attitude
On arriving at our room, we found that one of two lights in our bathroom was not working so I had to apply my makeup using only the dim lighting from the one light situated above the mirror in the bathroom and not realising there was a spider beneath the faucet until my husband pointed it out. Later, we were watching TV and realised our remote didn't work (possibly since it was the wrong remote- it had another room number on the label). We had to get up to change the channel using the controls behind the TV each time. While these were relatively minor inconveniences, the attitude of staff at breakfast the next morning infuriated me. Being Muslim, I asked the Chef if I could have my eggs cooked separately to avoid contamination from any bacon. He asked someone to cook it for me on the burner next to his stove. The man did it very grudgingly and gave an exasperated sigh when I asked him to please turn the egg over to cook the whites on the other side. Seeing that he was not happy to do it, I did not ask him to cook pancakes for us and decided to go without them due to his bad attitude. We have stayed at more than ten hotels in the past year but never once faced such poor treatment.
0 replies
132 months ago
Packing takeouts incorrectly
My husband and I are regular customers at the Nando's Rosebank branch. When we first started visiting the branch, standards were a lot higher. When we requested extra sauce on our chicken, we got it (recently we've been getting a lot of dry 1/4 chicken pieces even when we requested that it has sauce poured over it). Previously, we were asked what portion we wanted- leg or breast. Now we are not, and when we forget to mention it, we are given leg portions by default, having to ask them to change it to a breast portion for us. There've also been a lot of burnt grilled chicken pieces.However, while these are the general concerns I've had after my recent Nando's visits during the year, what has finally spurred me to complain about service at this branch is an incident that took place two weeks ago. I ordered the Winter Warmer special. On my way home, I noticed dampness on my clothing and a hole in my paper bag. The paper bag had soaked through thanks to the Chicken Livers box being placed sideways and all the sauce pouring out. Butter was placed at the bottom of the bag and the hot food on top of it melted the butter so that all of it leaked onto my clothing. I find this unacceptable!
76 replies
132 months ago
Preparing a dessert incorrectly & missing item
On a previous visit to KFC at OR Tambo International airport, they had run out of stock on buns of a certain size so I could not order a Double Crunch Burger but would have to settle for a normal Crunch Burger. Accepting this as a once-off thing since I'd never experienced anything of the sort at any other fast food franchise, I ordered a Crunch Burger instead.<br> <br> However, on this visit to KFC I ordered a Choc Crumble Kream Ball for the fist time and received vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce and no crumble . The lid had been hastily placed on, so chocolate sauce leaked out the side. I queried the lack of crumble with the lady who served it and she was certain she'd done it right. Nevertheless, she called her manager who confirmed that she was wrong and had missed out the crumble. She did not react to correct this but instead her manager scooped crumble into a plastic container and handed it to us, expecting us to figure out how to place it under the ice-cream. I requested a new one be assembled instead and he obliged. When we reached our home 35 minutes away, we realised the mini loaf we'd paid for was missing from the bag. Such poor service is unacceptable!
76 replies
Review Distribution
5 Star
0 (0%)
4 Star
0 (0%)
3 Star
0 (0%)
2 Star
4 (80%)
1 Star
1 (20%)