Bad Spirits
To the Customer Services Team, Spirit Groupre: Old Orleans Restaurant, Printworks, Manchester
Dear Customer Services,
Last night I, and 10 of my friends made the catastrophic decision to attempt to dine at the above mentioned restaurant.
The problems started with the table booking over the telephone, where we were surprised to find that the person taking our reservation was only authorised to do this for up to four people, leading to a delay on the phone while someone more senior was found.
On arrival, half an hour early, with the intention of having a drink in the bar section first, we were pleasantly surprised to be seated in the restaurant almost immediately. Its also fair to say that the starters arrived in good time.
However, these good efforts were sadly let down by the length of the wait for the main courses and by the state of them when they arrived. For example, a large piece of "medium rare" steak was left by a committed carnivore because it was cooked to the point that it appeared to be a lump of charcoal. It was perhaps unfortunate that the same individual had suffered something similar with some of the nachos ordered as a starter.
As a group though, we were prepared to overlook all these problems. What really infuriated us was that on examination of the bill, the printed total had been manually crossed out and a handwritten line had been added "Service Charge of 10% for groups of more than ten people" with an appropriate amount added, and a new total written at the bottom.
There are a few reasons why this was so annoying. Firstly, no warning was given about this when the table was booked. Secondly, the surcharge is not mentioned anywhere in the small print on the menu as is common practice in other establishments where this sort of surcharge is applied. Thirdly, while all members of the group are happy to provide gratuities for good service, this is somewhat reliant on our opinion of the service. Merely taking our orders and delivering our poor quality food after an interminable wait does not automatically qualify for this.
Finally, when this charge was queried, it was pointed out that it "was entirely discretionary" and that we didn't have to pay it. This was not specified anywhere on the handwritten line anywhere.
Given the lack of warning on the menu, the fact that this surcharge was handwritten and therefore was clearly not a printable option on the till, we can only assume that it is NOT your company policy and the member of staff in question was attempting to defraud us, probably on the grounds that we would be too drunk to notice.
If it is policy, I strongly recommend that warnings are added to your printed literature, with a reminder that the charge is discretionary.
As it is, it is unlikely that any of us will be inclined to visit your chain of restaurants again.
posted by Damian at 1:27 PM
Mmmmm... I should have come - it sounds like the medium rare steak would have been right up my street ;-) People don't know how to cook a good "well done" steak anymore in my opinion...
By ikl, at
7:10 PM
The lump of charcoal I described was allegedly medium rare. I would hate to see their idea of well done. Possibly, it would involve dropping a small thermonuclear device into the frying pan and standing back.
Bah. People are as usual too scared to serve it even slightly rarer than well-done. If it cant moo it's probably overcooked.
By Anonymous, at
3:37 PM
I too have always wanted to reply "Moo-ing" to anyone who asks "How would you like your steak?". The only other correct answer is of course "Just lead the cow to the table, hand me a big knife, and let me cut a piece off"
By , at
3:42 PM
I know someone who once said "cut off its horns and wipe its a***" in a rather posh restaurant.
By Anonymous, at
4:05 PM
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