A reader sent us something this week that we’d like to share with you. She plans events within a big media company, and she’s not too happy with the way some restaurants have been treating her and her guests lately:
“We were buying out the private dining room [at a new, well-reviewed Midtown restaurant], [a prominent former government official] was speaking, we invited top-tier clients and our top brass, including [big name C.E.O.]. When it came time to choose the menu, they refused to give us a choice for 60 guests for a prix fixe dinner. We chose the most popular entrée, which was a red meat dish, knowing full well we had invited vegetarians and non-red meat eaters. The restaurant assured us they would do their best to accommodate guests, but as it turned out, anyone who asked the waiter directly for something else waited a good 20 minutes for their entrée. The restaurant cited its ‘newness’ as the reason for not providing a choice.
“Then I went to [a hot downtown restaurant]. Our group wanted to sit together. I was told the policy would not allow any table larger than eight. We had 13. They would split the table for us, they said. So I thought—one of seven, one of six, right? No, they did a table of 10. Guess how many people wanted to sit at the small table? It was insane. Naturally, they asked—could you just add a little table on the end so we can all sit together? After about an hour, the waiter finally did it for us.
“Then I signed a contract for the private room at [another Midtown restaurant]. But we had to move the date. So they told us they’d move it, but we’d lose our deposit. So naturally I said, we’ll bring a smaller group on the first date to ‘eat through’ the deposit. No problem. When we got there, there was a shrimp dish on the menu that didn’t match the contract, and then they served a completely different shrimp dish. So bizarre. None of the dishes served matched what was on the menu, and other items on the menu didn’t match the contract. Then they charged my credit card an additional $210 gratuity, without me signing it—just faxed it to me afterwards, even though I asked at the restaurant if there was a bill. So naturally I said we would not be doing the client event there, and [the manager] said he would try to get me my deposit back. That surprised me, as I didn’t authorize him to charge a deposit for the new date. I didn’t even sign the contract for the new date.
“My point is, with restaurants going out of business in this tough city in a heartbeat, how could they treat a corporate client, who is willing to spend thousands of dollars at one meal, so shabbily?”
We don’t have an answer for that one, but we’d like to hear what you think. Send your stories—good or bad—to us at [email protected].
Posted 10.07.05
“We were buying out the private dining room [at a new, well-reviewed Midtown restaurant], [a prominent former government official] was speaking, we invited top-tier clients and our top brass, including [big name C.E.O.]. When it came time to choose the menu, they refused to give us a choice for 60 guests for a prix fixe dinner. We chose the most popular entrée, which was a red meat dish, knowing full well we had invited vegetarians and non-red meat eaters. The restaurant assured us they would do their best to accommodate guests, but as it turned out, anyone who asked the waiter directly for something else waited a good 20 minutes for their entrée. The restaurant cited its ‘newness’ as the reason for not providing a choice.
“Then I went to [a hot downtown restaurant]. Our group wanted to sit together. I was told the policy would not allow any table larger than eight. We had 13. They would split the table for us, they said. So I thought—one of seven, one of six, right? No, they did a table of 10. Guess how many people wanted to sit at the small table? It was insane. Naturally, they asked—could you just add a little table on the end so we can all sit together? After about an hour, the waiter finally did it for us.
“Then I signed a contract for the private room at [another Midtown restaurant]. But we had to move the date. So they told us they’d move it, but we’d lose our deposit. So naturally I said, we’ll bring a smaller group on the first date to ‘eat through’ the deposit. No problem. When we got there, there was a shrimp dish on the menu that didn’t match the contract, and then they served a completely different shrimp dish. So bizarre. None of the dishes served matched what was on the menu, and other items on the menu didn’t match the contract. Then they charged my credit card an additional $210 gratuity, without me signing it—just faxed it to me afterwards, even though I asked at the restaurant if there was a bill. So naturally I said we would not be doing the client event there, and [the manager] said he would try to get me my deposit back. That surprised me, as I didn’t authorize him to charge a deposit for the new date. I didn’t even sign the contract for the new date.
“My point is, with restaurants going out of business in this tough city in a heartbeat, how could they treat a corporate client, who is willing to spend thousands of dollars at one meal, so shabbily?”
We don’t have an answer for that one, but we’d like to hear what you think. Send your stories—good or bad—to us at [email protected].
Posted 10.07.05
