Soldato
- Joined
- 21 Jul 2004
- Posts
- 6,360
- Location
- Harrow, UK
Chor Bizarre
Update
As I mentioned in this thread, a Taste London representative called me last week to confirm that she had received my email and was going to contact Chor Bazarre to see if they can find out what happened.
They got back to me today and were really apologetic that one of the restaurants on their portfolio could treat a customer like that, and they even passed on the sincere apologies from the restaurant owner.
To make it up to me on behalf of Taste London, they are offering me a years free membership. Mine ends in March 2011, so basically until March 2012 now. Usually this is around £70, or a little cheaper with some voucher codes.
Taste London also said that the restaurant owner would like to apologise to me directly and gave me his number. She also mentioned that he would like to give us a completely free meal to make up for what happened, because he feels that it was a one time incident and should not reflect the nature of his business. I tried calling earlier, but he wasn't in, so will call back tomorrow.
It is nice to see a business trying to make amends for a bad experience, especially on my Dad's birthday, so that is a plus. However I am not sure I would go back there. Not because I don't accept the apology, but I simply don't know what they might do to the food - you hear all the horror stories about people spitting in food etc. Instead I may ask for a refund for the amount I paid for my meal, as I would be perfectly happy with that
Original Story
For my Dad's birthday (21st June) we decided to go out for dinner at Chor Bizarre in London. I booked the table on Saturday 19th June and mentioned I had two Taste London Cards. The Taste London website states:
Since there would have been four of us dining, this seemed alright and would work out to be quite a good deal.
Upon arrival I presented the cards to the waitress who informed me that I should show them at the end when I ask for the bill.
When ordering, we decided upon two thali dishes, which are actually recommended on the Taste London site:
The food arrived fairly quickly and everything seemed alright. One of the dishes was really salty so we complained about that and the waitress took that away. We assumed she would come back and change it but we never heard about it again. We tried several times to get the waitress's attention and she looked at us as if to indicate that she will be with us in a minute but we were ignored.
When the bill arrived, both thalis were listed on there at full price. When I mentioned this to the waitress, she called the manager over and he explained that thalis were not discounted under the Taste London card.
I asked him where on the website it stated this, and why we were not told this when making the reservation or when placing our order. He avoided this question and kept repeating how they did not discount thalis.
He would not let either my Dad or I get a word in and was really rude and argumentative. It got to the point where I calmly told him I would leave my name, address and number and was going to walk out of there. When they would be reasonable and actually discuss the situation they could contact me and arrange payment for the meal. He then started going on about how I could not do that, and when I replied that I could and he could not stop me, he said he would call the police. I told him not to worry, as I took my phone out and started looking for the local police station, as I would call the police myself.
By this point other people in the restaurant were listening in, and a bride and groom were nearby celebrating their wedding. They too had an issue with the bill and started agreeing with the point I was trying to make. The manager then tells me not to speak to them, which I say that I can speak to whoever I like and he cannot stop me.
I then mention the incident with the salty dish, and the groom chimes in with how he found the same dish really salty too. By this point another guy had come up and was complaining about his meal.
Things were getting quite heated, and another member of staff (who I think was the manager's wife) steps in and tells him just to remove the second thali from the bill. He complains a little before doing as she said. I make a point of how I am not paying the service charge as the service was terrible and how I would never be coming there again after being spoken to in the manner that I was. She then kicks up a fuss and starts telling me how I shouldn't talk to people like that and how I should not involve other customers. I calmly told her that if she and the other manager were prepared to listen then I would not have had to raise my voice. I even proceeded to show her the Taste London website on my phone, to which she said that she didn't have time to listen to me and said she had to attend to other customers. She did however take off the service charge too before I paid the bill.
Anyways, I would recommend people steer clear of Chor Bizarre in Central London!
/Rant Over
Update
As I mentioned in this thread, a Taste London representative called me last week to confirm that she had received my email and was going to contact Chor Bazarre to see if they can find out what happened.
They got back to me today and were really apologetic that one of the restaurants on their portfolio could treat a customer like that, and they even passed on the sincere apologies from the restaurant owner.
To make it up to me on behalf of Taste London, they are offering me a years free membership. Mine ends in March 2011, so basically until March 2012 now. Usually this is around £70, or a little cheaper with some voucher codes.
Taste London also said that the restaurant owner would like to apologise to me directly and gave me his number. She also mentioned that he would like to give us a completely free meal to make up for what happened, because he feels that it was a one time incident and should not reflect the nature of his business. I tried calling earlier, but he wasn't in, so will call back tomorrow.
It is nice to see a business trying to make amends for a bad experience, especially on my Dad's birthday, so that is a plus. However I am not sure I would go back there. Not because I don't accept the apology, but I simply don't know what they might do to the food - you hear all the horror stories about people spitting in food etc. Instead I may ask for a refund for the amount I paid for my meal, as I would be perfectly happy with that
Original Story
For my Dad's birthday (21st June) we decided to go out for dinner at Chor Bizarre in London. I booked the table on Saturday 19th June and mentioned I had two Taste London Cards. The Taste London website states:
Since there would have been four of us dining, this seemed alright and would work out to be quite a good deal.
Upon arrival I presented the cards to the waitress who informed me that I should show them at the end when I ask for the bill.
When ordering, we decided upon two thali dishes, which are actually recommended on the Taste London site:
The food arrived fairly quickly and everything seemed alright. One of the dishes was really salty so we complained about that and the waitress took that away. We assumed she would come back and change it but we never heard about it again. We tried several times to get the waitress's attention and she looked at us as if to indicate that she will be with us in a minute but we were ignored.
When the bill arrived, both thalis were listed on there at full price. When I mentioned this to the waitress, she called the manager over and he explained that thalis were not discounted under the Taste London card.
I asked him where on the website it stated this, and why we were not told this when making the reservation or when placing our order. He avoided this question and kept repeating how they did not discount thalis.
He would not let either my Dad or I get a word in and was really rude and argumentative. It got to the point where I calmly told him I would leave my name, address and number and was going to walk out of there. When they would be reasonable and actually discuss the situation they could contact me and arrange payment for the meal. He then started going on about how I could not do that, and when I replied that I could and he could not stop me, he said he would call the police. I told him not to worry, as I took my phone out and started looking for the local police station, as I would call the police myself.
By this point other people in the restaurant were listening in, and a bride and groom were nearby celebrating their wedding. They too had an issue with the bill and started agreeing with the point I was trying to make. The manager then tells me not to speak to them, which I say that I can speak to whoever I like and he cannot stop me.
I then mention the incident with the salty dish, and the groom chimes in with how he found the same dish really salty too. By this point another guy had come up and was complaining about his meal.
Things were getting quite heated, and another member of staff (who I think was the manager's wife) steps in and tells him just to remove the second thali from the bill. He complains a little before doing as she said. I make a point of how I am not paying the service charge as the service was terrible and how I would never be coming there again after being spoken to in the manner that I was. She then kicks up a fuss and starts telling me how I shouldn't talk to people like that and how I should not involve other customers. I calmly told her that if she and the other manager were prepared to listen then I would not have had to raise my voice. I even proceeded to show her the Taste London website on my phone, to which she said that she didn't have time to listen to me and said she had to attend to other customers. She did however take off the service charge too before I paid the bill.
Anyways, I would recommend people steer clear of Chor Bizarre in Central London!
/Rant Over
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