Macado's

Review: About three weeks ago, I visited the Macado's in Lynchburg, VA. They had a small card advertising to fill it out for a raffle for a $50 gift card. I've seen these at other restaurants and filled one out. I received a phone call this past week from someone identifying themselves as from Macadoo's. They informed me that I had won the gift card. But then they proceeded to discuss all of these other things online including the requirement that I would have to come to a Bassonet Hotel resort to claim my prize, etc, etc, etc. they wanted to speak to my wife on the phone. They offered several dates which were not even conducive to our schedule coming to one of these resorts since we don't live in Virginia right now. Although we are going to moving down there in the next two months. FInally they abruptly hung up the phone on us. I've never experienced anything like this before. It was a very strange phone call from just filling out a raffle card at a restaurant.Desired Settlement: This is a lousy way to treat customers. We've eaten there three times but will probably never go back because of this. I hope you don't treat other customers like this. I would like to see these cards removed from the front lobby's of every restaurant. Quit promising your customers a $50 gift card and then make it dependent if you go to one of their seminars. Why don't you have a legitimite raffle and actually give your customers a real gift certificate, no strings attached. Lastly, don't let outside firms do things like this to your customers and then abruptly hang up on them. Very rude and not a good way to keep your customer.

Business

Response:

Macado’s Response: Please find our response to the Complaint filed for a display that we have in the foyer of several of our restaurants. The same display can be found in other businesses. Attached please find copies of both the front and the back of the entry form as well as a picture of the Display that is in our store(s). The back of the form clearly states that the raffle is part of a time-share promotion and that a 90-120 minute presentation and tour is part of the package. It also states that the participant has to meet certain criteria in order to be eligible for the Getaway Package. The front of the form asks questions about income, marital status, age and type of credit card that the participant carries. In the 11 plus years that we have had these displays in our restaurants, this is the first complaint that has been registered against us. This is the same display that can be seen in dozens of businesses. I am sorry that this customer misunderstood exactly what the promotion entailed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. I acknowledge the company's response but I still do not think that they should have this display in their business. It is up to them whether they want to keep this display up in their restaurants, but all that I can say is that when they called and mislead me on the phone, they were also very rude to us on the phone. It is a bad reflection on their business. Keep in mind that we don't always read the fine print in a display like this. My family and I are also now living in the Lynchburg area and will not be going back to their restaurant as a result. Regards,[redacted]