Here are a few things I’d like to emphasize:īusinesses can say whatever they want by way of a disclaimer. Later, the public relations firm e-mailed me a photocopy of a gift card, noting a disclaimer the PR firm seemed to think settled the matter in favor of the restaurant: “This card is not refundable and has no cash value.” I had asked McClelland to justify his refusal to refund gift cards. “We are very distressed to have inconvenienced any of our guests with our closing,” McClelland said in a statement. I reached out to L’Espalier and got a call back from a well-established Boston public relations firm. In the Globe story, McClelland mused about no longer having the desire to run the restaurant. (They, however, would be at the back of the line, behind secured lenders, and probably would get nothing.)īut this isn’t a bankruptcy. Holders of gift cards would be recognized as creditors, in line for refunds so long as there were assets left to be had. If L’Espalier had gone out of business due to bankruptcy, it would be a different story. Is that fair? Should L’Espalier enjoy a financial windfall, at the expense of folks with unredeemed gift cards? No, a L’Espalier manager replied, because the “next venture” will be owned “differently.” Will her $350 gift card be honored at that “next venture”? one cardholder asked. “It’s time for a new adventure,” he said. In the Globe story, McClelland said he’s working on a new project he can’t yet disclose. L’Espalier also snuffed out any notion that folks like Valliere could use their cards at a new restaurant that Frank McClelland, the L’Espalier chef and owner, apparently is involved in. Which really wasn’t what Valliere had in mind. “It is correct that we aren’t able to refund them,” a L’Espalier manager replied, before offering Valliere uncooked meat, tea, and other “goodies” he could take home in lieu of a refund. “I do not believe this is legal or ethical,” Valliere wrote. Valliere wrote that a L’Espalier representative had told him moments earlier on the phone that the restaurant would make no refunds. “I have a gift card from L’Espalier that I wish to redeem.” “I am sorry to hear belatedly that your restaurant is closing today,” he wrote on Dec. Valliere shared with me the e-mail exchange he had with the restaurant. Some, like Rick Valliere, felt that L’Espalier should offer refunds. Other cardholders said they didn’t bother trying to reserve a table in those hectic final days because they had other plans at the height of the holiday season. L’Espalier accommodated a lucky few, but many others were told, sorry, the restaurant was booked solid.
GIFT CARD RESCUE SHUT DOWN TORRENT
The story touched off a torrent of calls to the restaurant from panicky cardholders wanting to spend their balances, ranging from $50 to $350, before the door slammed shut.
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