David P.
Yelp
WORST EXPERIENCE
TO: Brett Christopher, General Manager
brett.christopher@mjg.ca
Brett Christopher,
I need to let you know about the worst client experience we have ever had in a restaurant that happened today at the Yaletown Brew Pub.
We arrived at approx 1:30 and were seated on the patio on the Mainland side. The hostess who seated us was a woman with longer black hair, maybe 5'4" or so. I want to highlight that she was the only person in this situation who took ownership.
After we were sat down, it took 20+ min for someone to even come to acknowledge us at the table. This only happened after the hostess (from above) came to seat another party and noticed us and asked if we had been taken care of.
The waiter who came after some more minutes by was a guy with curly hair in a pony tail. He took our drink and food orders.
After some more time, he brought us water, but only one glass. There were two of us. He said he would bring a second glass. Ten minutes later we still had not gotten the second glass or the beer. The hostess noticed we still did not have drinks or food at that time and said she would follow up for us.
In the meantime, another party at a table across from us who appeared to be receiving the same lack of service got up and walked out.
Maybe 10 minutes later, a new waitress came by and brought us two beers, even though we had only asked for one.
Some time later, a woman came by to ask about my gluten intolerance for the order we put through. My recollection is that she looked very much like the duty manager I later spoke with. I confirmed with her about being ok with trace elements of gluten. Note that at this point there were a minimum of two people who knew about our food order.
I was happy to have the beer, and hungry, so I buried by nose in my phone thinking, well, the food has to be coming out any moment now.
After some more time, maybe 20+ minutes, I went inside to try to follow up and ask about the food, but no one was available.
Some time later, the waitress who had brought the beers came by and asked if we wanted to order food. We told her that we had ordered food over 45 minutes ago. Without asking us anything further, she ran inside saying she would check. Note that at this point we had been waiting for nearly an hour and 15 minutes.
After five more minutes, finding this situation absolutely ridiculous, I went inside to see what was going on.
The waitress and a woman who refused to give her name, but identified herself as the duty manager, were talking. Note, as mentioned above, this duty manager looked exactly like the woman who had previously come out to confirm my gluten intolerance for my food order.
I was, justifiably, livid at this point. I asked what was going on. The duty manager hemmed and hawed and put the blame on the server who had left. She said that he had finished his shift and had not told anyone else about our food order. I found this very hard to believe as the restaurant had only opened at noon, so he finished his shift after two hours? Also, very clearly someone - if not this same duty manager herself - had come out to confirm my gluten intolerance for the same order. Also, the waitress had brought out the beer, so somehow this information had gotten to her.
I asked for the duty manager's name, and she refused to give it. I asked for her employee number or other way to clearly identify who she was to her manager. She refused. She did at least offer your card and so that is why I am writing to you.
I want first and foremost, for you to know about this incident and what took place. I want to commend the hostess for doing what she could in what I imagine was a limited capacity. I also want to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the duty manager - I believe she lied to us, or at the very least was extremely incapable of handling the situation. Instead of helping to resolve the situation, her actions actively inflamed it.
I also think there was a breakdown in process. I have noticed that it seems the service and process appears to be getting worse and worse recently. We have been loyal customers of YBC since before the pandemic, but especially during the pandemic. I have to say that at this point, we may never come back.
I look forward to hearing from you. Specifically, I would like to know what really happened behind the scenes, how you plan to make the situation better so that this will not happen to anyone again, and the coaching or other repercussions for the staff. I would recommend a promotion for the hostess. She gets client service and you would, in my opinion, greatly benefit from having her in charge.
I would also like to meet with you in person, and am open to a sit down with the staff involved to discuss what happened. You may text me at _________ or reply to this email and we can arrange a time to talk.
Thank you for looking into this.