Peacocks

[The Dogmother]

That really stinks Claire - take it further.

[redfrock]

Finally ... a reply. They are supposed to reply within 15 days. I sent the email on 1st June and received a reply today ... a not very satisfactory one at that, and the manager has obviously told a few porkies...

 

"Dear Mrs .....

 

Thank you for contacting us regarding your visit to the Herne Bay

Table Table on the 1st June 2009. I apologise for the delay in my

response, which was due to an administrative error.

 

I am sorry that you have felt the need to write into us and let

us know about your poor visit, as we had only been open a few

days we did not know what our popular dishes would have been, so

due to popular demand we do occasionally run out of some dishes.

Now that we have been open a few weeks we can start to see our

popular dishes and now adjust our food orders accordingly.

 

The reason the duty manager was pointing at the menu was that due

to the inconvenience your menu choices being out of stock had

caused was that he was offering you any vegetarian dish off the

menu for the 2 for £10 as a gesture of goodwill.

 

We do appreciate any feedback from our guests, so thank you for

bringing this matter to our attention and do hope to see you in

the future.

 

Yours sincerely"

[chelsea]

You'd think if it had taken that long to responsd it would have been a better reply than that!

[majorbloodnock]

Personally, I'd push further. If the duty manager's take on the evening bears little relation to reality, tell them. Putting a heavy PR spin on the events and trying to get you to swallow it is treating you as stupid, and, given that's a considered reply with the benefit of over two weeks of thought, is in my book even more insulting than a (potentially) stressed manager letting the pressure get to him - although I condone neither.

 

From what I've seen on this thread, you're not after compensation; just recognition of having been unjustly treated. You're in the right and have the moral high ground, so keep pushing until they've given you an unconditional apology.

[Redwing]

Thats a terrible reply, it sounds defensive, I wonder if the chap in question had penned that himself??

[Chucky Mama]

That stinks!

[Guest]

stick a review for the place on here http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ and then e-mail it to them.

[bluekarin]

It was a different manager to the previous time and he immediately came over with an attitude - rude and aggressive. he demanded to know what our problem was, sarcastically told us that 'sorry they weren't perfect' to 'cut them some slack', kept demanding we repeat ourselves and questioned what we were saying, asked why we were complaining when only one item had been unavailable (try 5!) and then grabbed the menu and stabbed his finger at it and well 'you can eat that!'- which I couldn't. This was in front of other diners and was simply humiliating and flabbergasting! I'm sure he wouldn't have spoken to us like it if our husbands had been there. Having continued to rant at us for a bit longer he walked off with no apology or anything. We had both been polite and had only said we were disappointed so much of the menu was unavailable. He completely spoilt our night and because we were in such shock we paid (!)for our (still untouched) drinks and left.

 

Grr this makes me mad I think their reply to you has completely ignored the way you were treated and like the others have said, you should take this further. I would forward the email to someone higher up in the company to show that they have completely disregarded your complaint.

[Valkyrie]

I read the reply once - hmmm, rather a long wait for that poor effort. Read it twice - it really is funny. They have no idea and obviously the place they refer to is in Cloud Cuckoo Land and not the one you visited. Go for the jugular - they're having a laugh!

[chocchick]

The reason the duty manager was pointing at the menu was that due

to the inconvenience your menu choices being out of stock had

caused was that he was offering you any vegetarian dish off the

menu for the 2 for £10 as a gesture of goodwill.

 

You've got to give them something for creativity

 

I think these replies are so rude where they churn out some spin about their company. It's like they're trying to discount what you said as wrong or uninformed.

I've had one or two recently where I have to reply 4 times to get the appropriate response as they send generic replies that don't solve the query or even acknowledge it.

[The Dogmother]

How rude and disrespectful of them, and apology and refund of your bill would be the least I'd expect Claire. I'm with 'the major' on this.

 

On a similar vein - I took Rosie out for a meal at the weekend to celebrate her excellent end of term report.

 

We went to a local restaurant, which had featrured in a series of The Restaurant and used to be really good. It has now changed hands, the eggs they serve are NOT free range and the service was very poor. When paying, I asked the manager why he didn't use free range eggs and he said (in a nutshell) that he was more concerned with profits than ethics. I told him what I thought of that and how disappointed I was with his standpoint, we shan't be going there again andI don't suppose that he cares either

[Looney]

That response is not only not satisfactory, it is really badly written as well!

 

I would write back again, thanking them for their response and providing them with more of the customer feedback that they reckon they welcome

[Ygerna]

What an amazingly patronising letter

 

Quite frankly I would be taking it further, and at a higher level. As previous people have said, they have completely ignored what you have said, disregarding the tone and manner with which the manager dealt with your initial complaint and have not even had enough manners to actually apologise.

 

As a previous poster has said.

 

It stinks.

 

What a disgusting attitude the buisness seems to have to customer service.

[furryelephant]

I experienced some rubbish customer service at a Table Table (also part of Whitbread) ... the meal I ordered wasn't available so they just brought out something different! The manager gave me a refund but then said it was my fault as I'd ordered the food at the bar (where they regularly take food orders!) instead of the table.

 

I sent a complaint via the Whitbread website and a week later received a £40 voucher in the post with a letter of apology. This seems less of an issue than you experienced, yet they sorted it quickly.

 

Maybe a follow up email via their website to tell them you're not satisfied with the result may be in order?

 

Good luck!

 

Paula

[Seagazer]

I wouldn't accept that letter. Needs to go higher I think.

[furryelephant]

As an afterthought, the letter was sent by the overall manager of the pub where I visited - he had obviously spoken to the duty manager regarding the problem...

 

If the manager of this new restaurant is trying to keep things looking like it was a small issue it could be worth sending a copy of your complaint to the Head Office to bypass the manager getting involved. Point out that the manager was rude and agressive towards you... I finished my letter with

 

"I assume this is not an example of the level of Customer Service which you would expect from your staff. I look forward to hearing your comments on this matter."

 

Just to give them a prod to explain (and defend if necessary) my experiences!

 

Good Luck again...

 

Paula

[redfrock]

Oh yes I can assure you they will be getting rather stinking reply about their very late, generic and wishy washy reply that has completely skirted around the way we were spoken to!

 

I have checked the email address it has come from and it from customer relations at whitbread. Funny idea of customer relations! I shall be sending my reply by post rather than email. Just got to decide who to address it to.

 

needless to say all they have succeeded in doing in making themselves look even worse and how wonderful to have something like the internet which enables the entire shambles to be broadcast to a huge audience! Oh and the local police force - my friend is a police officer ... maybe we should have flashed her badge at the manager! She has just emailed me to say maybe we should go back with our husbands, keep changing our order and get the husbands to behave menacingly towards the manager LOL!

[chocchick]

I'm glad you're not standing for their nonsense.

Just to say I got a good response by posting a letter and also emailing a copy saying that I had posted it. I phoned up to find out which manager to address the letter to. They responded I think within a day to the email.

[The Dogmother]

Good for you Claire, take it to the top!

 

Great news Chocster