Worst Experience EVER
Well today we had a real long day… so to reward the family we decided to go out for a meal….
A decision we will regret for a long time to come,
Upon arrving at the vintage American style diner, we were 15 minutes early for our table, the doorman seemed hesitant and after the awkward silence I offered that we could come back in 15 minutes and off we went round the shopping mall.
We returned to be seated in a lovely leather style booth, with menus and kid bags waiting ready…the kids grabbed these and started rummaging and setting about colouring….except one of the book has already been partially coloured, one bag was missing the crayon pen and only 1 bag seemed complete and “new”. We figured a family at a near by table had maybe taken the opertunity to swap…. so we had 1 full bag for the smallest suzette, that would keep him happy.
So already things not looking great, we placed our order, with a hamburger with no red onion and a chicken burger no mayo for two suzettes… and I and Suzanne picked other rather more substantial foods… anyway drinks arrive promptly and we start the usual process of entertaining kids till food arrives……… 40 minutes later… we didnt order a starter just the main courses…. it arrived………. and it was warm.
The second the food was served we were bombarded by a sustained attack by the resteraunts resident flie army. This put us into the feeling that it just wasn’t clean. the food was AWEFUL, my baked potato was overcooked and clearly a reheated potato, the steak I had was cold and chewy. The chicken burger was warm and had mayo, the hamburger left its eater feeling ill. It tasted funny.
Despite the manager witnessing a full table of uneaten food they did not ask how the meal was, as we left we noticed how dirty the floor was, it was the WORST meal I have ever had…. I did leave a tip…. 1 pence.
And I have contacted their head office to make a proper complaint…
Anyway thats all I can focus on, is the dissapointment on the faces of Suzanne and the Suzettes…after having this chain “not particular resteraunt” recomended to us we decided (kids demanded) to try it out…
Now im not going to name the chain as I don’t beleive this is a widespread problem but I was wondering…
What would you do???
I think you did the right thing to contact management and let them know of your unpleasant experience. Also it was good to leave a tip, as it’s not the server’s fault if the food is bad.
I’m sorry you had a bad time out! That’s so disappointing. We rarely go out to eat with our brood and when we do, we want it to go smoothly and everyone happy, lol!
I hope tomorrow is a better day. We are off on vacation so will see you when we get back in 10 days!
XO
Mr G, you report them to their coporate offices and don’t hesitate to be un-nice. You let them know, inj writing preferably, what that experience was like and how disappointed you were. Also add that you’l never frequent another of their establishments.
We get this kind of thing here in the US- usually if you complain you at least get some token of their regret, preferably your money back.
I re-read tonight’s entry…Hmm, sounds like the service wasn’t so great either…and the restaurant was dirty…blech. Your tip sounds about right. That’s terrible that management didn’t come by to see how you were doing. Hmph.
OK, now I’m really leaving, lol! I hope tomorrow is a better day for you!
🙂
I agree with both of the other ladies. Write for sure! 🙁
I hope you have a better day tomorrow! 😀
well ….. I am so unhappy that your outing was ruined. I was a chef in some very big restaurants here in the states. As the head chef, I would want you to ask for me and I would have made sure you left happy — with your money back and vouchers for free meals. If it was dirty in the dining room, I would have shut the place down until it was fixed. If it was a “chain” then the manager would need to get your whole story. NOT acceptable !!!
Please do follow up on your complaint to the head office and make sure that you are not ignored. They may try to pacify you with free stuff, but if it is not clean, good food and well cooked, I would tell them no and that you want reimbursement, an apology to your suzettes, and a settlement for your time and the ruin of a family evening.
I rarely complain but in this matter I have to…..
Its not about me and my ruined night, but their chain and the potential health hazzard. I may also complain to the high standard mall it is apart of. This i think would have the best effect as they would force them to make code…
Everyone here is fine, it was just an utter dissapointment…
My father worked in the US a lot, he taught me how to tip correctly. I will let you know what they say about it all. I just know my kids will grow up never going there…
Its a future market they lost tonight… oh and I have had bad meals in average resteraunts through work, where your choice was limited. Ive been in hotels where the service was awful and we went out for food..
this was worse than anything I’ve had to put up with.
Anyway We need to move on to important fun things.. Tomorrow night I head to Edinburgh to see some friends putting on a show… Suzanne will blog in my absence..
Definitely talk to the management and if their response doesn’t satisfy you, go up a level in management (if it’s a big enough chain). You could complain to the health department as well.
Ew that is so gross! Definitely complain until someone listens and complain loudly! lol. So nasty, sorry about your horrible dinner… :omg:
Oh this is right up my alley! This is actually part of what I am going to college for!!! First thing I would have done was complained to the management about the order being wrong (chicken burger), complained that the potato was over done and the steak was cold (certain food has to be served at a certain temperature). If you would have complained to the manager on duty that starts the complaint process right there. If the manager chooses not to do anything to make you, the customer, happy then thats when you go to corporate and let them know that you notified the manager you were unhappy but refused to do anything for you (often times this leads to you getting better treatment by corporate). You also said that the manager saw your table full of food and didn’t ask how your meal was. In the restaurant business it is all about body language. The manager of an establishment is supposed to be able to see when the guest is unhappy and try to figure out what is wrong. Obviously if there is a table full of uneaten food something is wrong.
As for cleanliness of the place….if the front of the house wasn’t clean I can only imagine what the back of the house looked like.
It really sucks that you had such a bad experience. I know, from working in a hotel, that the way you handle a problem is extremely important. It is a very delicate process. A lot of people forget that if you have a bad experience you are going to tell everyone you know which is horrible for the company, but if you have a great experience some place you are less likely to tell anyone or at least not as many people.
American style diner in a shopping mall, I wonder if that’s the one that has only recently been built? If so, I know exactly what you mean, my family & I went there a couple of months ago & haven’t been back since, the serive was awal & we waited ages for our meal, we won’t be going back there.
I’m sorry you all had such a yucky time 🙁
You were right to complain 🙂 my other half would have caused a scene and refused to pay. Personally I think it’s better to be diplomatic and do things without shouting and screaming
I’d also complain to the actual mall, if the mall is of a high standard then they won’t be happy with a place thats obviously not got the same high standards.
Have fun in Edinbugh XD
Mr G, I am afraid I would have called a manager over as soon as the food was served. I am not an unpleasent person by any means and would mind my manners in 99.9% of situations. but this is food, it can cause illness to me or my family.Its not free, and service is also to be proper. I feel for you. What a sad experience for you all. Yes I have had bad service, and I did leave after calling management to complain. They offered a free meal LOL like I was coming back. When I refused, they took care of the bill . I am glad you reported them. Even if you never go back, you probly helpped another child or family from getting sick or worse eating there. And your right Chain resturants are still good or bad according to the managers of each place, so another resturant in that chain might be excellent. Wise decisions reporting that one.
I am mostly glad your all ok.
MaryD
there was a doorman???
Urgh, I would have complained about the food straight away and there is no way I would have paid anything and the only tip they would get from me is to clean the place up and get the food right.
We had a problem down in London last year in a Greek restaurant, the food was terrible and prices high, so I asked them to take our plates away, got up and walked out.
Make sure you see a complaint through.
well have benn there many times, my hubbys a chef and in the earlier days of our marriage, we would eat out alot, if it wasnt to spec (hubby says ya get what ya pay for right) he would complain. It used to embaress the hell outta me lol. Untill one occasion when we went to whats sounds like a similar chain. Anyway after pretty much a similar thing happening, Hubby said he wasnt gonna say anything as he knew i would not be happy. I said no way open ya gob lol. and he did infront of a que of hungry customers, The waitress, was useless so we called the manager,and we were offered a refund which woulda been nice as we hadnt paid at this point. Which we told him , so then was offered a complemanteary meal. to which we declined, We simply wanted to make the point that there was no way the food was edible , i wouldnt of taken it home for our dog. we left and so did a bunch of people in the que listening. point made lol.
No way i would pay for anything so bad. I hope you get reimbursed!!
Well you were much nicer than I would have been Mr.G.
I had a pretty bad experience with a restaurant. It was a chicken joint. That’s what their specialty is SUPPOSE to be. Well, the family and I decide to stop for a nice lunch while we were out shopping. We hadn’t tried this place before so thought it would be a good idea. We ordered our food at the counter and the cashier said they would bring it out to us shortly. About 10 minutes later they bring out the food. Everyone’s food but mine. So I told the family to start without me. I patiently waited for my food. So as my family is finishing up their meal, mine finally comes out. This is about 30 minutes later! I cut into the chicken and it is practically raw!! By this point I was furious! I took it up to the counter and told the cashier that I would like to see a manager. The manager comes up and I explain to her what happened. She said they would gladly make me another one. But I didn’t want another one after having waited for so long and the family had already finished theirs. So she decides to get rude with me and said, “Well, what would you suggest I do about it.”!!!!!!!!! So I STRONGLY suggested that she comp our entire meal. Mind you, I at this point was not being quiet about it. The entire restaurant could here me…lol. So we were not charged for the meal. Needless to say, we never dined at that restaurant again.
The Scottish people are pretty bad at complaining……. it involves dirty looks and tuts!!..
I beleive in not making a scene and simply not going back and telling other people not to. In this case however it wasnt a case of poor food …. it was complete bad management. something not likely to be common accross the chain. Infact today we went to a different retail park, and passed the same chain of resteraunt, this one looked immaculate and had loads of people in it. smiling and eating happily. We were there at dinner time and opted to go to Piza hut next door rather than go there.. the kids made that decision. The result was a hot and flavoursome meal, with good service resulting in happy kids and a large tip.
Im a better tipper than complainer…
WOW Mr G and Suzanne, got Pack 24 and everyhting went smooth as silk. I had my tubes in less than a moment. And I am thrilled. Just wanted you to know It went perfect. MaryD
Hi Suzanne & Mr. G,
I see that you still have
the Gorjuss Taggin group on
your list. It has been deleted
somehow, as it disappeared off
everyone’s list. I can email
the link if you need.
Hugs…………..Dee