Ella B.
Yelp
I work in the vicinity and am a fan of supporting local businesses. I cater for my office from here, usually 2x more expensive, but it's convenient and the sandwiches are tasty.
Great little store with some hard-to-find goodies and a good wine selection - saved me a couple of times for after work gatherings and I was able to grab a nice bottle.
What is really prompting me to write this review is their catering; I ordered something to be catered and even offered to pick up when I ordered, I was told, "no, it's fine, we can deliver". Ok terrific! It saves me from leaving the office in cold weather, but again, I was perfectly willing to pick up.
My platter was ready an hour before it was due, (thumbs up) but they called and rather than saying: I am sorry, we are short staffed today so I will not be able to deliver as we discussed and my apologies for the inconvenience, would you mind picking it up? To which I would have gladly agreed. Instead I got this: "The platter is ready. Rather than you sitting in your office waiting for me and wondering where it is, I wanted to let you know it's ready".
I know the differences between the two are subtle, but recognizing that you are now proposing a different solution and implying that I "sit around" all day b/c I work in an "office" (as opposed to, food services? catering?) is presumptuous and rude. The first key good customer service is to recognize that it's an inconvenience since I scheduled my day around the fact that the food will be delivered. No. I don't "sit around all day" waiting for things just b/c I work in an "office" I actually do work, while different than catering work, I also run around and have to perform customer service and operations work. all. day. Go figure.
We also cater from other Seaport locations and always receive excellent customer service (even if it's different from what is initially discussed), but if a change is needed, they come out and say it and we find a new solution.
Well, Cardullos - you're right about one thing, I did sit and compose this review in 5 mins.