Lestat's Coffee House

Review: Lestat's Coffee House advertises as a California Express VIP participant. As part of this paid membership card Lestat's advertises that it offers a "FREE Coffee Drink with purchase of Coffee Drink EVERYTIME!"

When visiting Lestat's and presenting my membership card I was told they cannot honor the price as they are not participating in the program. They have a sticker on their front door with the California Express VIP logo stating they are participants. I have been told this more than once when visiting Lestat's. Sometimes I can persuade them to honor it however they are no longer honoring their own advertisement any longer. This seems like a bait and switch and a deceitful way to garner business for their establishment.Desired Settlement: They need to honor what they advertise.

Business

Response:

In regards to the California V.I.P card. We had declined to be participate in the current and future V.I.P. card program. This was expressed to the owner of California V.I.P. card, prior to the printing of their current leaflet . The owner told me it would leave a blank area in leaflet and he wanted to print it anyway. I told him that we would not want that and it would not be honored. He asked to talk further with me about it. I told him that I would not change my mind. We have had issues with some of the V.I.P. customers cutting to the front of the line and wanting us to remove paying customers from the cafe because they had a V.I.P. card and felt that although we were busy they should be guaranteed a table; that is the main reason we moved away from the program. The owner of the V.I.P. card asked me to think about it and I told him that we would not continue. He continued to tell me that it would leave a blank spot in his leaflet. I suggested putting something else there. We continue to receive V.I.P cards and have honored them for a few months until we had the same problem of unreasonable request to guarantee tables over other patrons at which time we stopped honoring the card as we did not approve of the add and were put into the leaflet with the owner knowing that we did not want to participate. It is a difficult situation and I understand the frustration of the customer and if they would like to send me an email directly I would be happy to speak with them about this matter . my email is [redacted]@lestats.com . Perhaps I can find a solution for their problem as long as they don't expect us to allow them to cut in line or remove other patrons so they can have their table, I am sure I can find a reasonable solution. Thanks- also I was unaware of a sticker in the window and will remove it promptly.