my first experience here was great. as this was my second experience here, i was expecting the same level of service i had the first but instead received a horrible experience. all i can say is the waitress/manager of the establishment was rude and condescending. after receiving our steak, we noticed the two steaks that were supposed to be cooked medium rare seemed to be cooked fully through. we kindly asked the waitress if we could have another steak as it was clearly all brown and there was very little pink. after taking our plates back and agreeing to cook us a new one. the waitress comes back again to confirm they will be cooking us a second one and begins to lecture us on how the steak was cooked correctly. as our canadian accents show we were not from australia, she begins to lecture us in a very condescending manner on how restaurants do not cook like the rest of the world and “this is how australia cooks steak.” she then continues on and says because we were not satisfied by the way the steak was cooked, they will double charge us for both steaks because she is now caught in the middle between the chefs being angry that they need to fix the problem and us being unsatisfied with our food. she did not inform us this when she took back the steak to remake a new one. instead, we felt cornered into a situation where we had no other choice but to be double charged for being unsatisfied with the food. being completely shocked and speechless at the way she was handling he situation, she continued on by talking to us as if we were children and saying “do you understand what i’m saying? do you get it? i’m going to double charge you for the steak? do you understand what i’m saying?” in the end, after debating with this waitress, she agreed not to double charge us. she apologized, however continued to argue and try and prove to us on how the steak was cooked the first time. what was suppose to be a happy send off for a dear friend of mine and to have one lasting memory of australia for her, turned out to be a nightmare and a very uncomfortable dinner.
to the waitress that served us, as individuals who have and are in the hospitality industry we understand the pressures that may come. being in the industry, you must be equipped to handle unsatisfied customers. no one is perfect and you cannot tell me that your chef’s food has never received a complaint or an unsatisfied customer. our silence when asked “do you understand what i’m saying” twice in a condescending matter was not ignorance, it was shocked from the lack of respect and kindness we were subject to. this is the worse service i’ve ever experience in a restaurant. an apology is not an apology if you are going to follow up with “but”. if you truly want to apologize, then apologize and stop trying to continue to prove you are right. hope your future customers will not be subject to the very unpleasant experience we had today.