A diner from Harrisburg, PA
Oct 5, 2010
On November 1, a group accompanied me to Character's Pub for dinner. One person ordered dessert, two of us ordered hamburgers, and another ordered a chicken meal.
The problem began when we ordered our hamburgers "medium" and they came out RARE. Our waitress was not very attentive to the table and we had to get the busboy to take the hamburger back to the kitchen to cook it right. When she did walk by the table we stopped her and told her that we had the hamburger returned to the kitchen for further cooking and she kind of shrugged it off and said, "Ok" then walked away.
Later, she returned with the hamburger and placed it on the table and left. Now when we first got the hamburger we cut a small portion of it off to see that it was rare and placed it back on the plate; but when the hamburger came back that piece was missing, the hamburger was cut in half, and another slice of cheese was placed on top to hold the two halves together. This was unsatisfactory and when our waitress came back to check on us she asked how everything was and we stated that the food was "ok" and she walked away.
After we were done eating she came back to give us our checks and left. Upon looking at the check there was no compensation for the improperly prepared hamburger. Now we were not asking to get a full refund, but maybe have a coffee taken off or a small percentage taken off the total bill. When our waitress came back to collect the checks we questioned her about the bill and she took it to see what to do. A couple minutes later the hostess came over and asked if anyone told us that we would be compensated for the hamburger and we said no; but most restaurants would either acknowledge that they undercooked the food or provide a small token of courtesy off the bill. She then just walked away.
Couple minutes went by and our waitress came back and stated that she could not take anything off the bill because we ate the meal. I was appalled at her lack of concern or customer service in the matter. My girlfriend stood up to go talk to the manager and our waitress stated, "Do you want to speak to the manager?" "Yes!" "I wouldn't if I was you!" And she walked away. My girlfriend proceeded to the front to talk to the manager.
She came back after a couple minutes and was in complete disbelief. She stated that she was argued with and told that she was wrong. She stated that when the manager came up to her he said that he did not want to hear it, even before she opened her mouth. He stated that the food was properly cooked and that she was being unreasonable. My girlfriend said that she had a hard time getting any words in and that he would not listen to what she had to say. I stood up to take the bill to the front and stood there as the host and other wait staff walked around me to do there duties.
Finally, one of the wait staff came up to me and asked if I was ready to pay and said yes. She said, "are you with that woman up front?" I said, "yes" with a puzzled look on my face and she proceeded to ring me up. She handed me the bill and walked away to work behind the bar. I opened the bill and she charged me $79.79 and my bill was only $47.85. I went over to the bar and held open the check and she came over and asked what was wrong. I showed her the mistake and that my bill was in there. Our waitress came over and asked what was wrong and I showed her and she grabbed the checks and said that they needed to credit my card and recharge the bill. After several minutes of waiting she handed me the corrected check and a refund receipt, that she hand wrote the refund amount of $79.79, on it.
I walked back and signed the amount and we started to leave. Another bus boy (actually a larger gentleman) came over to clean the table and with a smart tone said, "have a good night!" My girlfriend stated that we would not be coming back and he said "Great!" I said, "excuse me? We will be telling our friends about the bad service here." To which he said, "Great! We welcome it because those people will come to see how bad we truly are! Have a good night!" We left!
Needless to say the whole evening was ruined because of such bad service and hospitality.We should have left earlier, but decided to stay since we ordered the food and ate our meals. We were not trying to be unreasonable but just wanted some customer service or acknowledgement that our food was improperly cooked.
The problem began when we ordered our hamburgers "medium" and they came out RARE. Our waitress was not very attentive to the table and we had to get the busboy to take the hamburger back to the kitchen to cook it right. When she did walk by the table we stopped her and told her that we had the hamburger returned to the kitchen for further cooking and she kind of shrugged it off and said, "Ok" then walked away.
Later, she returned with the hamburger and placed it on the table and left. Now when we first got the hamburger we cut a small portion of it off to see that it was rare and placed it back on the plate; but when the hamburger came back that piece was missing, the hamburger was cut in half, and another slice of cheese was placed on top to hold the two halves together. This was unsatisfactory and when our waitress came back to check on us she asked how everything was and we stated that the food was "ok" and she walked away.
After we were done eating she came back to give us our checks and left. Upon looking at the check there was no compensation for the improperly prepared hamburger. Now we were not asking to get a full refund, but maybe have a coffee taken off or a small percentage taken off the total bill. When our waitress came back to collect the checks we questioned her about the bill and she took it to see what to do. A couple minutes later the hostess came over and asked if anyone told us that we would be compensated for the hamburger and we said no; but most restaurants would either acknowledge that they undercooked the food or provide a small token of courtesy off the bill. She then just walked away.
Couple minutes went by and our waitress came back and stated that she could not take anything off the bill because we ate the meal. I was appalled at her lack of concern or customer service in the matter. My girlfriend stood up to go talk to the manager and our waitress stated, "Do you want to speak to the manager?" "Yes!" "I wouldn't if I was you!" And she walked away. My girlfriend proceeded to the front to talk to the manager.
She came back after a couple minutes and was in complete disbelief. She stated that she was argued with and told that she was wrong. She stated that when the manager came up to her he said that he did not want to hear it, even before she opened her mouth. He stated that the food was properly cooked and that she was being unreasonable. My girlfriend said that she had a hard time getting any words in and that he would not listen to what she had to say. I stood up to take the bill to the front and stood there as the host and other wait staff walked around me to do there duties.
Finally, one of the wait staff came up to me and asked if I was ready to pay and said yes. She said, "are you with that woman up front?" I said, "yes" with a puzzled look on my face and she proceeded to ring me up. She handed me the bill and walked away to work behind the bar. I opened the bill and she charged me $79.79 and my bill was only $47.85. I went over to the bar and held open the check and she came over and asked what was wrong. I showed her the mistake and that my bill was in there. Our waitress came over and asked what was wrong and I showed her and she grabbed the checks and said that they needed to credit my card and recharge the bill. After several minutes of waiting she handed me the corrected check and a refund receipt, that she hand wrote the refund amount of $79.79, on it.
I walked back and signed the amount and we started to leave. Another bus boy (actually a larger gentleman) came over to clean the table and with a smart tone said, "have a good night!" My girlfriend stated that we would not be coming back and he said "Great!" I said, "excuse me? We will be telling our friends about the bad service here." To which he said, "Great! We welcome it because those people will come to see how bad we truly are! Have a good night!" We left!
Needless to say the whole evening was ruined because of such bad service and hospitality.We should have left earlier, but decided to stay since we ordered the food and ate our meals. We were not trying to be unreasonable but just wanted some customer service or acknowledgement that our food was improperly cooked.
