I’m constantly amazed at how quickly time flies!! I can’t believe it’s almost the end of May already! Anyhow, here’s another story from my latest trip to Toronto… We went out for dinner to East Side Mario’s for my cousin’s birthday. Very long story short (no exaggeration whatsoever): the service was the worst I’d ever seen in my life. Everything that could possibly go wrong, went wrong and the “manager” who looked like she was 20, was unapologetic throughout. Before the bill arrived, my cousin’s fiancée, also named Ian, told us we weren’t paying for any of this. Most of us were surprised and although we knew the service was terrible, we didn’t think he was being serious. He was. Before the waiter arrived with the bill, he said: “Bring your manager with the bill.” After another 15 minutes, the waiter and manager showed up… “I’ve taken the items you didn’t order or receive off the bill [gee, thanks?] and I’ve given you 15% off the order.”, the young manager said.
- That’s not good enough.
- Well, what do you want? [she had a slight smirk]
- I want you to say: “I apologize for the terrible service, the meal is on the house and we hope you’ll consider coming back someday.”
- I’m sorry, I can’t do that. [Fair enough, I'm sure she couldn't]
- Well, get me the person who can.
- That’s my boss and he’s not here now.
- Get him on the phone then.
It was only at this point that she realized Ian wasn’t messing around and she started apologizing profusely and using words like “empathize”. She was kinda’ cute, but I figured this was a bad time to ask if she was on Facebook; she looked like she was about to cry. In the end, Ian gave her his business card and said: “Tell your boss to call me tomorrow and I’ll sort it out with him.”. Ian didn’t think the boss would call back, but he did…
The real manager apologized and said that he realized that running a restaurant is like running a baby sitting service and that he has to keep closer tabs on his employees. He even invited him to a complimentary lunch to discuss how to improve business operations!!! I was quite impressed with how Ian handled the situation, but I’m not sure if I’d have the guts to pull off what he did. However, if I experience service THAT terrible again, I’ll probably give it a shot!
Where ever you pull it off, I doubt you’ll be able to pull it off in good ol SL.. unless of course your foreigner. There are at times where I wish, I could sit those chaps down in their own restaurant and make them receive their own crappy service.
LOL! Ian sounds awesome! I love people who stick to their guns in a polite but firm way without losing their cool. Well done @ him!
Chaarmax – Yes…in my experience, service in SL is quite terrible, but there were some places that were very good. We would often joke that we had special standards for SL, so we expected crappy service and if it was good, it was a nice surprise!!
Since I’m brown as well, I was only considered a foreigner once I showed them my passport!
Darwin – Oh yes. He had a completely straight face throughout the discussion. I was extremely impressed! I’ll have to ask my cousin if he actually went to lunch with the manager! ha ha
You went to Eastside Mario’s? I thought I knew you.
You broke my heart Ian, you broke my heart.
Dom – In my defense: It wasn’t my choice!! I’m not fan of ESM in general though!
Hey, okie thats the benefit of having a good business card….i mean if i gave that guy a business card say of a taxi driver..im sure i wouldnt get a call back for consulting services…or a free dinner?
Adrian – You’re right. A nice business card definitely helps; I guess it makes a person seem somewhat important!!
wow…. now that’s something to talk abt…. well done at him indeed! and good for ya too!
LD – Well, I didn’t really do anything except not pay, but he did a great job with the situation!
There’s actually a great post about something similar here:
How to Deal with Bad Service—Be Reasonably Unreasonable
Hey Ian..you have been tagged so do check my blog for the rules…being elder to you I can bully you into these thing…yes?