Grill’d founder apologises for bungled coupon offer as rival Nando’s steals the spotlight

The founder and managing director of burger chain Grill’d, Simon Crowe, has been forced to apologise for a bungled two-for-one offer aimed at university students, after an official print-only coupon went viral on the internet.

But the apology might have come too late, with rival chain Nando’s taking advantage of the chaos by offering to redeem any Grill’d voucher at its restaurants and launching a similar campaign of its own.

The issue began when Grill’d offered university students a two-for-one offer through the Uni Times magazine publication.

The coupon was designed for print publications only, but soon electronic scans of the offer were being sent to inboxes everywhere and the chain was flooded with requests to redeem the vouchers.

Grill’d then denied these coupons, much to the dissatisfaction of its customers who said the company was unprepared for the offer.

But Crowe has since written on the company’s website that it will acknowledge the coupons, both the original version and any printed copy, in order to make peace with its young target demographic.

“As a small business, we didn’t think our staff and local suppliers would be able to cope with such huge numbers of vouchers coming through and we didn’t want to give you a bad Grill’d experience. But we should have bitten the bullet and given it our best shot,” he said.

“You want us to buck up and honour the voucher. So from now on that’s what we’ll do – at any Grill’d restaurant until 15th March, 2010. All day, every day. Please bring in a physical copy of the printed voucher or the original cut-out from the newspaper.”

But Nando’s has already jumped on Grill’d’s mistake, saying it will redeem any voucher dismissed by Grill’d.

It has also introduced its own offer, with the coupon available for print on its website saying “we’ll make sure you’re well fed, not fed up!”

“Following Grill’d’s decision to pull its latest university two-for-one promotion, Nando’s has stepped up to the plate so to speak… Anyone who brings in a copy of the Grill’d voucher to any Nando’s restaurant nationally will be able to buy any burger or wrap and receive one of equal or lesser value for free. “

The company’s national marketing manager said in a statement it would take advantage of the large number of uni students struggling to go back to school and pay their bills.

“Many of our own staff are uni students and so we understand their plight…Downloaded, photocopied, scanned, emailed, original, we don’t care where you got them, just bring the Grill’d vouchers in to Nando’s and we’ll honour the Grill’d offer and terms and make sure you’re all well looked after.”

The marketing effort comes after similar stunts from the company, including the storming of the premiere for Hollywood comedy Bruno last year and an unbranded print advertising campaign.

Grill’d was contacted for comment but was not available by the time of publication.