Yesterday morning, Sunday March 6th, we decided to order in. My wife called Utopia Diner and placed two orders of French toast, one with turkey sausage. I heard her ask, "Please make sure the turkey sausage is fresh." She mentioned this because at least twice before, the sausage that had come with our meal was shriveled or old and could not be eaten.
Our order took about 45 minutes to arrive but that was ok. We knew it was a late Sunday morning and they were probably busy.
As my wife was removing our food from the containers, she called me into our kitchen to take a look at our order. I observed that the two orders of French toast were burnt. It's not the first time the order has been overcooked but this time, one order was literally black on both sides of the bread. I told her that we couldn't eat the food that was delivered and she agreed to call and ask for a replacement.
As she described the condition of the food that was delivered, I heard the person from the restaurant say "You are always complaining about something, I will send another order this last time and don't order from us again." My wife looked shocked and asked, "What did we complain about last time?" He stated that we had called to complain that our food was once delivered to the wrong building. The doorman from the building across the street had to call for us to come and get it. He also said that she keeps complaining about the sausage. We couldn't believe what he had said and when she tried to respond, he hung up on her.
I threw on some clothes and walked to the diner which was less than three blocks from us but since having back surgery two months ago, walking was not the easiest of tasks.
I asked for the manager and was directed to a man who identified himself as "Mike."
Mike stated that my wife always "complained" that she wanted fresh sausage, and she has previously complained a couple of times that the there was a problem with our order.
I had to ask Mike if his restaurant was not an establishment where people paid to have food prepared the way they wanted. I also asked if he knew the difference between a request and a complaint. He was dismissive. He said that he never hung up on my wife, he was just busy. He repeated that he was tired of hearing her complain about the turkey sausage.
At the same time he admitted that the sausage may not have been sent in the best condition at least once or twice, and that he wrote down the wrong address that's why the food was delivered to the wrong building.
He really blew my mind when I asked him if today's complaint was unwarranted and he stated "You said both orders of French toast were burnt but only one order was burnt." So in his mind, his justification for sending inedible food was that some of the food, in his opinion, was edible. Instead of apologizing, he blamed my wife for calling to complain. Some of the customers who were seated nearby, kept shaking their heads in disbelief.
I realized that Mike was never going to admit that he was wrong. So I told him that he seriously needed to work on his customer service skills. I then walked out of the restaurant. When I got home, my wife joked about getting money to bail me out of jail but thanked me for defending her honor. She knew I would handle the matter respectfully.
My final message to Mike is that in my opinion, there is a difference between a request when placing an order and complaining. Even if he doesn't agree with how an order is placed, he should remember that he works in the service industry. I am not saying that anyone should disrespect you or your employees, which was certainly not the issue today.
If the order is wrong or the quality is poor, just apologize and offer a refund or exchange. read more