What a mess. We'd have preferred to place the order by phone because we had special instructions for some of the dishes, but their lines were ringing busy each time we tried, so we ordered online through their website instead.
In the special instructions space AND in the general notes section on the order form, we asked the restaurant to please call us if there was any issue with our requests.
We didn't get a phone call so we assumed everything was good to go.
When we arrived to pick up the order we asked the special instructions, just to be sure. We waited while the staff checked with the manager (owner?) to see if they were able to accommodate the special requests. We were told yes, they made the items as requested.
However, when we got home and opened the order, we discovered they'd ignored the special instructions.
We were also missing part of the order (we ordered two mozzarella sticks, they only gave us one).
We tried calling and kept trying until we finally got through. We spoke to the staff and explained the issue, thinking there was a mix up.
There was not. It turned out that the manager/owner intentionally ignored the special requests. After a lot of run around, he finally admitted that they couldn't make the item the way we requested because they don't have the ingredients needed.
However, no one called to tell us this. They knew they didn't have the ingredients, so they should have called before they began making the order.
That's the proper thing to do anytime that kind of situation arises, but in this case we even asked them TWICE in the order notes to please call if there was an issue. They didn't.
They were also dishonest about this when we picked up the items--they assured us the dishes were made according to the special instructions.
It's now clear that was an intentional lie.
We tried to resolve the situation amicably. But the manager offered no apology for any of it--not for ignoring the special instructions, not for failing to call us before making the order, and not even for lying when we came to pick it up and asked point blank about the special instructions.
He knew he sent us home with food that was not what we ordered, and he didn't care. He also refused to issue a refund for the items that were not made correctly. We didn't want a refund for everything, just those items.
As customers we gave this restaurant every opportunity to act with honesty and decency. When we asked them to please communicate, they purposefully chose not to. When we asked them to ensure the order was correct, they decided to lie. When we asked them to correct the issue with a partial refund, they refused.
We're very disappointed by this unprofessional attitude and what amounts to intentional fraud.
The owner already had our money (and the 20% tip we included when placing the order), so he chose to deceive us rather than informing us of the truth and possibly face having part of the order canceled.
This situation was unpleasant, dishonest, and ruined our dinner. read more