Wetherspoon increases prices by 30%

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ABRAHAM DARBY
MERRY HILL SHOPPING CENTRE
BRIERLEY HILL, DUDLEY

J.D.Wetherspoon
Wetherspoon House
Central Park
Reeds Crescent
Watford
WD24 4QL

Complaint Date
29th March 2008

I went into my local Wetherspoon shortly after the March Budget and noticed to my utter astonishment that the price for a bottle of Baltika Lager had increased from £1.99 to £2.59.

As Wetherspoon are asking the public on their website to let them know their thoughts I decided to write to them at their Head Office and ask them for an explanation.

Here is the copy of my letter dated 29th March 2008:

FAO: Customer Services
Re.:Baltika Lager
For the last 12 month or so I have been enjoying a few bottles of Baltika on a daily basis at the Abraham Darby at the Merry Hill Centre in Dudley/Brierley Hill.
Last week I went on holiday to Spain for a week and today, upon my return, I went back to the Abraham Darby and ordered another bottle of Baltika.
When I checked my receipt, which I asked for as I thought they had made a mistake, I found to my utter astonishment that whilst I was away, the price for a bottle of Baltika had increased from £1.99 to £2.59, a staggering rise of 30%.
I am aware that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has increased the excise duty on beer by 4p in his last budget and that inflation is rising but a 30% increase on a bottle of imported lager seems more than excessive and surely is not justified.
I sincerely hope that this disproportional increase was a mistake as I will miss my daily tipple but if this is your new price then I will have to do without it in the future and, presumably, so will many other Wetherspoon customers

Today is the 20th April 2008 and I am still waiting for a response from Wetherspoon

Today is the 2nd May 2008 and sadly there is still no response from Wetherspoon - perhaps the 30% price increase was not a mistake but a deliberate price hike

I have not had another bottle of Baltika since so I can't really say

Today, the 8th May 2008, I received a rather short and curt letter which fails to say if the 30% increase was a mistake or a deliberate and intentional price hike.
As far as I am concerned the letter confirms to me that they have increased the price for the Baltika Lager by 30% and that the amount of £ 2.59 as per the receipt is their new price.

The full wording of their response which took 6 weeks is as follows:

Thank you for your letter dated 29 March 2008, and please accept our apologies for the delayed response.

I was sorry to note your disappointment concerning the recent changes in price to the Baltika lager at the Abraham Darby.
I have passed your comments on to the Area Manager for the pub, for his information and review with the Pub Manager

Please be assured that this matter will be given careful consideration.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Signed: Paula Spencer - Customer Services

AT THAT PRICE I WILL DO WITHOUT IT IN FUTURE

I ENJOYED IT AND I WILL MISS IT

In the meantime, while we are waiting for Wetherspoon to respond I would like to remind you all what they say on their website:

Your feedback helps us to look at ways in which we can improve our service to you. If you have any suggestions or would like to find out more about us, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Wetherspoon Receipt

It looks like that they are not so delighted after all to receive a feedback How about improving your Customer Relations and reply to the customers who write to you?

Editors comment:

We know that this is only a petty complaint over the price of a bottle of imported
Russian Lager but it does highlight Wetherspoon's Customer Relation response.

The question raised by the complainant was a simple enquiry to ask if the price charged was correct and if they had increased their price by a staggering 30%

The answer to this question is still open.

They neither confirmed or denied the price increase and, consequently, we are to assume that they have taken the opportunity of the budget excise duty increase to adjust some of their prices by 30%

So the next time you pop into a Wetherspoon Pub and you see a bottle of Baltika Lager on their shelf ask them first how much they are going to charge you for it.

And always remember Wetherspoons promise

Customer satisfaction is the cornerstone of the Wetherspoon experience and is guaranteed by a combination of extensive training, dedicated management structure and rigorous quality assessment

Just a pity they forgot to tell that their
Customer Services Department

Whilst we try to ensure that the complaint is truthful and factual we cannot accept responsibility for the complaint. If you are affected by the complaint and if you think that the complaint is inaccurate or misleading then please contact us with supporting details of your objection and we will gladly correct or remove any erroneous part from this page.