Havana Rumba/Louisville Originals

We went to Havana Rumba last night (Thursday). We had a Louisville Originals GC expiring 5/25. When paying, the waiter came back and said that the GC would not be honored because Havana Rumba no longer participated in the program. We complained and the server said he would check. He did return and after talking to someone, he said the certificate would be honored. However, they would not allow the points to be put on the Originals rewards card.

Does not sound like a good business decision for a place that intends to stay in business.

I have been going since Havana Rumba opened. Never a problem and this was sort of handled.

The place was busy. In fact I believe we got the last table available at that time.

Food and service was excellent as usual.

We had a similar experience on Easter. My dad took my grandmother and I out for a late lunch and he tried to pay with a Louisville Originals gift card. Our experience differs though because it was NOT honored and we were told it was because they no longer had the equipment to process the card. So there ya go! And that was after the server got the manager.

hey guys,
sorry that you had a problem there. they dropped out of the louisville originals when we started the rewards program. they just didn't want to deal with it. the program was made mandatory for the originals because it would never work if only half of our members accepted it and the other half didn't.
i wouldn't think that they wouldn't honor the g.c.'s because they were sold way before they dropped out.
they can't really honor the l.o. gift card, because they turned in the equipment that processes it.
you can get a current list of the l.o. members by going to http://www.louisvilleoriginals.com.
best, andrew

I don't know how many Havana Rumba patrons have participated in this program in the past, but perhaps a little pro-active communication -- e.g., a sign on the front door, or tag on the menu notifying guests of this change would have avoided some confusion and ruffled feathers (?)

I wonder what is fair here. On the LO website neither Mojito's nor HR are listed. But they could easily have been there when folks bought their cards. But I assume restaurants can join or unjoin throughout the year. I note on the door would be nice. Hmmm.

Oh, no! I bought a gc for a friend as a thank you gift and then watched her little one so she and her husbnad could go to Havana Rumba for dinner. That was within the last month or so. She didn't say boo. I wonder if they honored the GC or not? I specifically bought it so they could eat there. And they were listed right on the brochure/card thingy I included with the GC...

Well. I guess I'll know next time.

hi tina,
if you bought a louisville originals gift card ( would have been purchased online, at value mart or at the lou. convention & visitors bureau ), it can be used at the majority of our member restaurants.
we had a recent discount g.c. sale for the first quarter '09, but havana rumba would not have been in it. we waited to sell the 1st quarter until we got the l.o. rewards program up and running. we knew that we were going to lose a few members, and did not want to sell their g.c.'s if they were going to drop out.
the most recent discounted havana rumba g.c. that the l.o.'s sold would have been in late september / early october. i am sure that fernando would honor those.
if you purchased a g.c. for havana rumba from havana rumba, of course they will honor those.
hope this helps.
andrew

No worries, Andrew. I completely understand. I'm just pondering whether I should ask my friend if they could use the gift certificate the night they went out to dinner. I hate the idea that I put them in the position of having to use cash for something that they assumed was taken care of.

Since she didn't mention it, I'm thinking I'll just let it go and assume she and her husband will go out to another of the fine restaurants on the list on another occasion.

hi tina,
if you bought a louisville originals gift card ( would have been purchased online, at value mart or at the lou. convention & visitors bureau ), it can be used at the majority of our member restaurants.
we had a recent discount g.c. sale for the first quarter '09, but havana rumba would not have been in it. we waited to sell the 1st quarter until we got the l.o. rewards program up and running. we knew that we were going to lose a few members, and did not want to sell their g.c.'s if they were going to drop out.
the most recent discounted havana rumba g.c. that the l.o.'s sold would have been in late september / early october. i am sure that fernando would honor those.
if you purchased a g.c. for havana rumba from havana rumba, of course they will honor those.
hope this helps.
andrew

The Louisville Original GC that Havana Rumba did not want to honor (they eventually did) had an expiration of 5/25. That means that I bought them in Nov ?? I still have a couple that expire than (not Havana Rumba).