Ordering breakfast for pickup on the Labor Day holiday can be problematic and you're forced to consider sub par, over priced breakfast items from establishments like Syrup. I have dined in and ordered delivery from the restaurant before and was underwhelmed, but again, many of my usual go-to's were / are closed on Monday / the holiday. So I accepted the fact the establishment is open and placed my order at 10:46 am for pickup.
I then received confirmation that the order was received via email but that it would not be able to be ready until 12:00 pm. An hour and 15 minutes to have an order ready should have been my first red flag. I received a follow up email with confirmation of the order at 11:44 am as well as numerous push notifications to my phone that the order's ETA is between 12-1210 pm for pick up. AT NO TIME DID I RECEIVE A NOTIFICATION OR EMAIL THAT STATES, "We're sorry, due to volume of orders, we've had to cancel your order. We apologize for any inconvenience." Instead I continue to receive push notifications that the food is nearly ready for pick up and I make my way to grab it.
I arrived and proceeded to the bar. Waited at least 5 minutes because the baristas can't be bothered to acknowledge my arrival or that of the GrubHub delivery driver waiting for an order for another customer. Finally the barista asks what order name my order is under and promptly she heads towards the kitchen and out rolls the "Manager" of the Syrup Edgewater to inform me that Syrup is simply too busy and had to cancel the order. Nothing else. No, I'm sorry; no, here's a gift card for another time; or an awareness of, let's make it right and make this customer's order on the fly and apologize for the confusion, explain how busy the restaurant is, and that you can have it ready in 10-15 minutes. ZERO OWNERSHIP for the cancellation. I proceeded to show the manager the emails and push notifications, none of which state anything about a cancellation of the order and are only met with, "We cancelled the order and that is that."
Now I get it, Syrup has made a deal with the GrubHub devil for their order service and GH cuts into the margins of the establishment, so when you are faced with an overloaded kitchen, you pull the rip cord on the business that is generating you the least amount of revenue. I take no issue with that. I take issue with the fact that SYRUP EDGEWATER and the manager of the establishment couldn't be bothered to notify their customers they were canceling the orders, claim they did, and then make zero offers to make it right. An hour plus went by with the anticipation and expectation the food ordered would be prepared and ready. A proactive phone call to let me know the order was being cancelled would have been appreciated or the actual email notification of cancellation at the time the decision was being executed would have left me disappointed, but not pissed like I am now.
I'll admit, I left in a pretty heated state and even told the manager to f*ck off. It was deserved based on his lack of customer service, attitude, and overall lack of willingness to solve an issue where the opportunity would have been to make a customer FOR LIFE rather than an angry, jaded non-customer who will encourage anyone else contemplating dining in or taking out to reconsider. Syrup will never receive another order from me. And maybe that is just fine for the owner / founder of Syrup, Tim Doherty; the place was packed and it's very apparent there was no value placed on my business and patronage, present or future. But again, Syrup can be assured they've lost my business in its entirety and I'll use the power of negative review to put this place on blast.
Following this negative experience, I then proceeded to GRUBHUB support via chat explaining the situation to the customer service rep. Demanded the charge be reversed immediately and provided feedback on the absolutely sh*tty experience. During the chat, I even received further push notifications that my order was ready for pick up!!! Finally at the tail end of my chat, a CANCELLATION email and push notification finally came through at 12:24 pm. Also, the GH rep apologized, was empathetic, and provided me a 20% off certificate on my next order. Note to Syrup manager: this is how you attempt to make things right. It's not even right for Syrup to provide you the title of Manager to be honest and I'd suggest some remedial management training if you are to stay in your role.
Bottom line, there are plenty of other breakfast establishments to consider in the Denver area and I encourage everyone to seek those options out. Doing right by a customer even when you have to deliver tough news should be the primary function of a manager and the owners, but it simply wasn't, and I simply won't be a customer ever again. read more