Award wining restaurant - complaint

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shaking

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We recently went for dinner in an "exclusive" restaurant in Dublin. Not somewhere we'd normally go but it was a special occassion and we had a voucher so we thought we'd treat ourselves.

The evening was a disaster, there was a 45 min wait between courses, the beef was really tough and stringy and the monkfish dry. A bottle of water and wine were left at the end of the table to pour ourselves and we barely saw a waitress all night.

When the bill came I opted to remove the 12.5% discretionary service charge which ended up with the manager quizzing me quite agressively. He started with is there a problem here, and went on to tell me everything I was saying was untrue. Of the 5 tables sitting in our section 3 complained and the other 2 were only on starters.

I wrote to the owners complaining and got a letter back bascially saying sorry to hear that please come again and we'll do better. The meal cost €147 for 2 courses for 2 and a half bottle of wine, should I just let it go?

Sorry about the long rant!
 
No, don't let it go. Write back immediately stating you want a refund with immediate effect. Otherwise just tell them that you will name and shame, and hopefully the other people that complained will do the same thing. A multitude of complaints is far more effective that a singular instance.
 
How bad was the food? If it was OK but poor for a 'top class' restaurant that's one thing, but if it was simply bad - poor quality, poorly cooked and with poor service, personally I wouldn't have eaten it or paid for it, and would have gone somewhere else while I could.

Agree with mercman too.
 
The portions were tiny which I suppose it normal enough for these types of places. The beef was 3 different cuts of beef, the fillet meant to be the star attraction was the smallest piece of beef I've ever seen it was a perfect circle and about the same size as my 3yr old niece's palm. Then there was a wafer thin square of corned beef and something that looked like a stock cube. The fillet took a bit of carving and was stringy. I probably should have sent it back but as we waited almost an hr for it I didn't want to sit for that long again. I said it to the manager and he said that was fair enough, acknowledging the delay. The Monkfish was of a bigger size but quite dry.

We were given a drink from the bar as an apology, we then ordered irish coffees instead of dessert. After a 30 min wait I cancelled the order and asked for the bill. The couple at the table beside us had been waiting 40 mins for their bill when we left, I thought the gent was going to explode with annoyance.
 
You have every right to complain & get a refund (if they know anything about customer service - which, form what you've said they may not!). Personally I would have complained about the wait - but I do understand that when you are having a special night out you don't want to do that. I hope you get a full refund
 
Thanks for the responses, I've sent another letter off this morning will let you know how I get on.
 
Go for it. And name and shame the culprits who do not mind charging excessive amounts but fail in their offerings.
 
You are always better off telling the waiter that your food is not up to scratch as soon as you get it, and send it back, rather than waiting til you get the bill. You didnt give them a chance to put it right. Some people in the trade take it that you're just looking for excuses not to pay a tip, these people are probably earning half what they used to and the waiting staff are probably doing their best. This can account for their behaviour, though it is entirely unacceptable.

Re waiting 45 mins between your meal, my wife and I like to have a good break so we can have a chat. We also like to be left alone, so it's horses for courses. When we go somewhere really nice we tell the waiter what interval we want between courses, or at least say dont be rushing out the main course straight after the starter.

It would drive me mad to wait 30 mins for a drink, or any length of time for the bill. Rather than sit there and stew I would go looking for someone. And I'd show my annoyance, they might not be so suprised to not get a tip if you did so.

I feel for you. We rarely go out to very good places, and when we do there is such expectation. It's hard to take when it does not even come close to meeting that expectation.
 
Your best bet is always to complain at the time - to be fair small portions can be standard in those type of places, but the food should be beynd reproach.

I understand this can ruin a night, but at this stage they have your money & you have memories (albeit, bad ones). It would be worth calling back to talk to the manager & explain you didn't want to make a big issue on the night as it was a special occasion. Their offer of compensation was in the form of Irish coffees, which never arrived, so you feel they still need to offer something to compensate for having your evening ruined. Your best bet is to do this at a busy time.....obviously you start by having a discreet conversation, but if he isn't listening, you may need to speak abit louder.

We had a horrible evening in a well known (& expensive) Chinese restaurant. We stood our ground & refused to pay the full amount as the food was inedible (the plates were brought back almost full) & the service was slow and rude. At one stage she said she was going to call the police if we didn't pay & we simply offered her our phone to make the call - they charged half the bill & we haven't been back!!
 
I don't see how anyone should expect a refund after eatin everything and drinking 2.5 bottles of wine.
 
I also like a bit of time between courses but a 45 min wait for your starter doesn't make sense. After our main course I mentioned the beef to the waitress in a very polite way Ii said I just wanted to make the chef aware of it. They brought us a complimentary drink. We then tried to order dessert on my 4th attempt I managed to get the waitress to come over that's when we ordered Irish Coffees. I don't think a 30 min wait for a drink is acceptable.

The gentleman at the table beside us asked for his bill four times and still hadn't got it when we left. If the beef had been tough and that was the only problem I wouldn't be making an issue of it. But the fact is the waiting staff never came near us all evening, they didn't ask how our meal was and took so long to bring the bill that I had enough. My original plan was to remove the 12.5% discretionary tip and leave 5%, even though it wasn't deserved. After the manager getting agressive we removed the tip all together.
 
MrMan we didn't eat everything there was plenty of food left on the plates and we had a half bottle of wine not 2.5. We would have had more had anyone being around to offer us a drink!
 
I have to agree that you should have done more on the night other than bring it up at the end when you took off the 12.5%... you should have alerted the staff/manager at every turn. Did you eat the food?

*crossed with previous posts!*
 
We complained after the main course which is when the problem started, we then complained again when we ordered dessert (drinks) and again when it didn't arrive. The only other time we could have complained was before the food arrived which would have been jumping the gun a bit!
 
If a place doesnt bring me the bill, I walk to the bar or go to walk out, they soon come running with it then.

If I had recieved such bad service, I would have walked out when I recieved the main and seen that it wasnt nice. I would have just left it and refused to eat it.

I certainly wouldnt have attempted to order dessert or coffees
 
In cases like these I don't think you are legally entitled to a refund. Hopefully though the manager will make good on your compliant and offer you a refund, probably in the form of a voucher. But would you go back there again though?
 
Smashbox I see where you're coming from, however it was a special occassion I didn't want to make a big deal. I let the waitress know about the beef, the manager then came up and gave us a drink as an apology. I didn't want it to ruin our evening I tired numerous times to get the waitress' attention about dessert eventually did and we ordered after so long a wait I cancelled it. They knew we weren't happy about the service and that none of the tables around us where either.

Maybe I should have done more on the night, I'm not used to eating in such establishments and I guess I was a bit unsure of the done thing - I guess I'll know what to do if it ever happens again.
 
What sort of place pre-adds service charge for two people :mad:
 
Always better to complain as soon as a problem emerges, but the restaurant appears to have been most inept - a 30 minute wait for Irish coffees after they already knew there was a problem is very poor indeed.
 
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