We attended a local restaurant today, the last day of the Easter school break, for one last holiday hurrah, which of course had an indoor play area to entertain Her Majesty the Baby.
Like many parents, quick to spot a potential saving, we noticed that if an adult ordered an adult meal, then a child could dine free 👌👍
Spot on, we thought.
Having, therefore, drawn straws to determine which of us would starve 😄, we set about just checking the small print of the offer.
This indicated that the offer was "open to customers until Sunday 14 April".
Between us, we discussed precisely what this meant, particularly the word "until".
We decided that "until" a certain date such as today, could either be construed as 'up until midnight last night' (ie the start of today), meaning the offer was no longer available, or alternatively that the offer was available 'up to and including' today, in which case it was still available.
After raising this with the staff, they determined (after some deliberation including an email exchange with Head Office, it must be said!), that the offer was indeed still available today.
Now this exercise had been high brow for a Sunday morning. So once the matter was resolved, we were both ready for a good adult meal.
When ordering, we were asked about relevant allergies, and confirmed that we both had an intolerance to small portions (which, however, made absolutely no difference to the dish we received 😂).
But joking aside, the overall message here is that, whether intentionally or inadvertently, special offer litetature, whether in store, in restaurant or online for example, can be worded in ways that are unclear or capable of various interpretations (by both customers and staff!).
So, it is always worth checking before purchasing to ensure things are exactly as they appear to be on the tin, in order that you don't get a nasty surprise when the bill arrives!
Massive (non discounted) love ❤️ 😍 💖 xxx