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http://www.groupon.com.au/deals/melbourne/-nilaretaurant-/71…
Hi fellow Ozbargainers,
Just wondering if anyone took up the groupon deal advertised awhile ago? Was VERY disappointed with the dining experience, turned out the price was too good to be true (3 course meal for two for $15)!!
Rocked up there about 3 weeks ago to find a small restaurant that was under-staffed with one cook in the kitchen and another guy manning the front shop (he was taking orders, serving, making roti on the hotplate at the front shop and also the cashier!). It was a Monday night and there were 2 other families in there when we arrived. Waiter passed the menu and casually mentioned that we were only able to order the main from the biryani section (called prior to make a reservation mentioning the voucher) and was appalled as the deal mentioned "Options include sizzling seafood, aromatic curry, healthy tandoori grill and more". There were some curries on the bain marie near the hotplate at the front but the waiter said they were not "part of the deal" when questioned.
Anyhow we ordered two briyanis and two desserts (again, no options as there were only two desserts available out of the five listed in the menu). Service was very slow, with the mains coming half hour after being served entrees (weren't great btw). One of the biryani had an "extra" side dish- a dirty piece of serviette (stained with curry), and when we complained the waiter insisted it was "clean" and he used it to wipe down the side of the thali plate before serving. No apology whatsoever and no offer to replace the dish! We weren't happy but didn't want to wait another 30-45 minutes for a replacement…however we soon realised that the "dessert" was served together with the biryani (one was a carrot yogurt dessert served in a small curry dish next to the curry itself!) which was not what was pictured on the wall! Not only that we had to ask the waiter to confirm if that was the dessert as it wasn't communicated to us when the main was served.
To top it all off, as we were leaving the restaurant we spotted that the roti dough on the hotplate had black fingerprints on them, clearly left by the same waiter busy serving, receiving payments and making the roti all at the same time. It was an utterly disastrous dining experience and I'd highly suggest anyone having a voucher to stay away from the filthy restaurant and request for a refund instead.
PS: I sent Groupon an e-mail shortly after that expressing our disappointment however the reply received was not very helpful:
Thank you for contacting Groupon Australia, I do apologise for the delayed response.
I am sincerely sorry this deal turned out to be such a bad experience for you, thanks for letting us know.
Your comments have been forwarded to all involved parties. As a young company we are always looking for ways to improve your experience and will do our best to make sure this doesn't happen again. In regards to a refund unfortunately we are unable to provide you with one, we do have a ' cooling off ' period of 7 days once you have purchased the deal, any time after that we are unable to proceed with a refund for you.
Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.
I have decided to stay away from these group deals after one too many bad experiences. More often than not coupon users are treated one class below full paying customers which is really sad as these promotions should be used as a tool to get repeat customers!
Thanks for the warning.