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A disappointment experience that ended up in a mess!
Let me tell you my story!
I had wanted to try Little Lamb for a while, so as soon as I saw the Scoopon offer ($76 for 4 or $48 for 2, boasting a 58% discount over the original menu price). I immediately jump onto the bandwagon without a second thought, purchasing 2x $76 for my family and friends. That was my first mistake! The price for the actual walk-in customer is $39pp including ‘the buffet lot’ that is steamboat, bbq and free flow of drinks. Scoopon quoted that the voucher value of $42.5pp is rather misleading, since the voucher only stated BBQ only and many other restrictions. Strike one.
So I booked a table on a Monday, a public holiday for Queen’s Birthday, which was smooth. Turned up at the restaurant, was given the horrible window seat which was near the entrance with occasional gusts of cold wind. Once we told her we are Scoopon customers, she began to gun out all the restrictions. We are only allowed to pick the BBQ skewers and either 1 beer or 2 can drinks, and no access to any other food around us. Furthermore, she try to push us into paying additional ‘top-ups’ for other menus, such as the steamboat for +$20pp, cooked dishes for +$5pp, dessert for +$5pp. This wasn’t stated in the fine print set out by Scoopon, we were not aware of such rules! So this felt a bit like a bait-and-switch tactic to me. After adding all the ‘top ups’ we are paying more than the full price customer! Strike two.
We took a quick look at the selection of BBQ selections up for offer and found it a disappointment compared to the photos that we saw on Scoopon, Urbanspoon and other review sites. They seem to watered down the quality into pure cheap meats. For example, a skewer of chicken skin (what?), poultry intestines, livers…etc. What happened to Scoopon pictures of capsicum + meat and beautifully marinated shrimps? Strike three.
The upside was the service was great, maybe because I can speak Chinese, so the communication was smoother as compared to other commenters. I know their pain of trying to communicate cross-culturally, especially for some who has strict dietary needs. Therefore, my parents and friends had a great time with the experience albeit the initial set back. However this dining saga ended with an explosive climax few hours later…
While driving home, my stomach started to gurgle, and I thought it was probably only me since I ate a lot. However once I hit home, we all aimed for the toilet. It was runny and horrible. I called my friends, all 4 of them did the same and they only have 2 toilets. I apologised to them sincerely and didn’t know how this experience can turn out this bad. This morning some of us still have that funny feeling inside our stomachs. Strike a million plus one.
After this long wall of text all I have to say is that I am very disappointed and will not go back ever again despite the staff said that we can get a 10% discount the next time we come in for the full buffet. I do not want to pay $39 for a lower-than-average food and selection with this little stomach fumbling bonus. I rather go for Altrium or somewhere where the food quality and service is much better.
This Scoopon voucher is a scam, using bait-n-switch method, misquoting the price and deceptively using the word ‘unlimited’. I had been a Scoopon customer for a few years, and this deal made me question their business practices. They should be called Scampon instead.
Thank you for reading, and sorry to ruin many people’s expectation who bought the voucher and planning to go. If you still want to try it out, go at your own risk. Else see if you can get a refund? Good luck!
Scoopon Deal: http://www.scoopon.com.au/deals/16589/northbridge---all-you-…
Urbanspoon: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1602529/restaurant/Perth/Lit…
Thanks for sharing :P