A few weeks ago, Brian and I broke away for a real DATE. It was a Friday night, and we decided to go to Johnny Carinos. They were not busy at all, and we were seated as soon as we walked in the door. Our waiter was extremely nice, but we noticed right away that he took forever to get anything to our table. We were there for a good 20 minutes before we got any bread, our drinks took just as long to get to the table, etc. After we had been there an hour, Brian finally got his meal and it was wrong. Our waiter sent it back to get the correct thing, and 20 minutes later we finally both had the right thing, though mine was cold for the waiting on the corrected meal. So yes folks, we were there an hour and a half before we got our meals. People came and went before we got to eat. And like I said, it was not busy at all. Our evening was by no means ruined by this, and we still had a great time, but the wait was pretty much unacceptable, especially considering he never let a manager know what was going on. So when we got home, I emailed the company to complain. We were immediately responded to, and they sent us some "be our guest" slips to come back with and try again.
Fast forward to last Friday night. Mom and Dad came over to watch Emma, and we finally had a chance to break away and use the coupons. And who do you think was our waiter this time around? You guessed it. The same guy. At first I wasn't worried. He couldn't possibly remember us? Oh but he did. He did. We could not stop laughing, because what on earth were the odds?! So we ate, and when it came time to pay, Brian slipped the coupons in with our credit card. We were hoping against hope that those things were handed out for other things than just unhappy customers. And we were wrong. Our waiter came back with the manager, who asked if everything was better this time, and our waiter knew exactly why we had those coupons. I wanted to melt into the floor. I don't even know what the moral to this story is. At least the service was much better this time around, and he did get a much better tip...but maybe next time something like this happens, we will just go to another location.
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5 comments:
Ames,
That is too funny--I would have been mortified! I'll be driving through next Wednesday and can't wait to see you and the little one-I'll be in touch again before I hit the road to get your address and number and all that--Can't wait to see you--
Good luck with further restaurant ventures! I'm glad that you guys got out on a date though!!
Love ya'-- Mer
Yikes!!! I don't think I would have been embarrassed by the situation, though. It certainly wasn't your fault how the events turned out! So do you think the waiter actually remembered you AND your poor experience the first time? (I'm kind of impressed that you got any response through e-mailing and that they sent you some vouchers - nice!)
Also, remember you can always request to be seated at a different table with a different server. At least the poor guy had a chance to redeem himself this time. And, the waiter had to be happy that you didn't embarrass HIM, if you get my drift. You guys just don't have very good luck with restaurants.
Another comment about Johnny Carinos. Last time we ate there, they messed up my order (cheese when I didn't want cheese, etc.), but the manager did come out and discount the bill immediately. He was very apologetic and everything worked out very well.
Amy,
I am glad you guys went on a date. It was probably fun besides the waiting for an hour and a half, getting the meals wrong on order, ect.
-Mandy
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