CUSTOMER SERVICE – A thing of the past???

Last night, my wonderful in-laws took my husband and I (and Jenna) to a very nice place to celebrate our anniversary. Because the hostess area was full, we sat outside in a fountain area to wait for the 30 minutes they said we had before a table would be free. We couldn’t wait in the bar area with a minor. Not too many Tucson restaurants take reservations, so we accepted a thirty minute wait as normal for a Saturday night. After 20 minutes, my husband went off to make sure they knew where we were. He was told it would be another 20 minutes.

During the next 45 minutes, both Jenna, and my mother in law also checked. We were told there was a party of 6 at the table we would be seated at, and had to wait for them. Now, this is a large restaurant, and they only had ONE table for more than 4??? As we waited outside, we watched dozens of people enter the restaurant. After an hour wait….they finally seated us…OUTSIDE!!!
Now this might not seem like much at first you think, many restaurants have attractive outdoor seating, and so does this eatery. However, bear in mind that we live in Tucson, and this is SUMMER. We were not seated in the regular restaurant garden seating with misters, fans, or anything like that, but instead in a far off solitary section of two tables set up next to the parking lot and the indoor restrooms. We politely asked to have an inside table as soon as it became available and they said “sure”. By this time our “Sunday best” dress clothes, hairstyles, and makeup were all much the worse for waiting so long in the heat.

Thirty minutes later my daughter went in to check on the status of “our table” and they’d given it to someone else. This was when my husband called for the manager. And before he got to the table, the entrees were served. Two of the five of us were served the wrong meal. Rocco was served the wrong sides with his meal. When we spoke with the manager, he said, “Oh, I’m sorry.” Asked what side Rocco had ordered, and left.

Our bill totaled over $150. There was no discount, no complimentary beverage, no dessert on the house, no coupon for return. Nothing.

Are we over-reacting here – or is this standard service now. This is NOT the first time we’ve had celebratory meals made memorable by bad service and a lack of care for the consumer. I figure, “they don’t care” = a nice blog, twitter, facebook and online reviews for all their
future customers. Oh, and watch out…the chicken SPECIAL is $26.00.