Ardencote

Total refurbishment underway.everything changing for new

We had our wedding at the Ardencote last year. Megan was extremely helpful in planning and coordinating the day. All the staff on the day were truly amazing. Nothing seemed too much trouble, and the communication was great even with the language barrier (we had many overseas relatives). The food at our reception and in the evening was outstanding. Rooms were all a good size and the Breakfast was nice too. Overall, we had a wonderful day at the Ardencote and would recommend it for weddings.

I have used Ardencote many times, recommended to others and purchased vouchers for friends as I loved it so much. However, with my latest experience that has completely changed. My boyfriend booked a spa afternoon and treatments for his Mom and 4 of her friends on my recommendation a month in advance. A day before they emailed him to say there will be no hot water. Due to this he replied and requested to cancel the booking as he can not expect people to use a spa in the middle of winter with no hot water, especially after paying nearly £500. Following this email exchange he received a phone call from someone with the worst customer service skills. She started the phone call by saying ‘I’m calling from Ardencote because you want a refund, well I’ll need your card details.’ My boyfriend was very taken aback by her attitude and asked why he is being spoken to as if he has done something wrong. She again just repeated ‘I need your card details’, so he asked again. In response to this she hung up the phone. He was then called back by another member of staff by the name of Charmaine who again had a very poor attitude. He said to her ‘I am not sure why I am receiving all this negative energy’ and her response was ‘well I’m not sure why you were giving all that negative energy over email.’ I could not believe what I was hearing and took over the call. I was beyond frustrated and explained, this was a birthday gift for his Mom, it has been cancelled the day before and I’m sure she knows it is highly unlikely we will be able to book anywhere else with a days notice. He has not only had to cancel this but he also booked transport for the group which means he will now lose that money. Therefore if he is frustrated in his emails that should be understandable, and she should be showing some understanding for this rather than giving unprofessional, rude responses. Whilst there being no hot water is not their fault, the poor customer service he has received is. As someone working in customer service it is their job to hear a customers frustrations and to empathise with it rather than being rude and unprofessional. When I had finished speaking she simply said ‘do you want your refund?’ I told her first I would like her to respond to what I had said, and she replied that she would not be responding to it. My boyfriend took back over the call as it was clear this was not going to get anywhere and proceeded with the refund. Once this was done Charmaine apologised for the need to cancel explaining it was out of their control and made excuses for the poor customer service saying there are redundancies taking place and so things are tense there already without ‘receiving abuse from customers’ (there was no abuse given, yes my tone was frustrated but there was no name calling, no demands given, I simply held a mirror up to her about the unprofessional customer service given) and recommended another spa he could try and book. Which is the customer service that should have been given in the first place. As someone that also works with the public and ironically for an organisation that is also going through redundancies, I do not accept this as an excuse. As mentioned, when providing customer service it is your duty to listen to customers frustrations, show compassion and empathy, apologise on behalf of the company and respond in a professional manner. I feel like this happening was a blessing in disguise as I dread to think my boyfriend’s Mom attended and was tended to by these people as I am sure it would have ruined her birthday. I am aware Ardencote has recently been taken over by Barons Eden and intend to make them aware of this experience as, having used their other spas Hoar Cross all and Edens Hall I know this is not the level of service they expect their employees to provide. Beyond disappointing.

We stayed at the Ardencote for our company Christmas do and was not disappointed. They setup for the party was brilliant. We really enjoyed the spa as well. The only letdown perhaps was the dinner, but the full English breakfast made somewhat up for this.

Super