A customer at a plush Edinburgh city centre restaurant has hit out on TripAdvisor after their experience left them with a "bitter taste" - but they weren't referring to the food.
The customer said that a small technicality with their booking left them 'rushed' out of the restaurant. Although replying to the review, the manager insisted that they done all they could to find an alternative table for the customer.
They started the review by saying how great the food was that they ordered at Howies on Waterloo Place and how they were told their table, booked for 12.30pm, did not have to be returned until 2:15pm. Unfortunately for the customer, they said that after eating their rather delicious meal, the experience took a turn for the worse when they were "rudely" ushered out by staff caiming that the table was only reserved until 2pm.
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Fighting the 15-minute swing to the bitter end, the customer took to TripAdvisor to vent their fury over the technicality, with the manager of the restaurant insisting that they "misheard" the out time.
The review started with: "I phoned to make a reservation to take my elderly godfather out for lunch on a Saturday. I was told the 12.30pm reserved table would need to be returned for 2.15pm. We arrived and had a very delicious two course lunch with drinks. Fresh and tasty fish, chicken as well as yummy haggis neeps and tatties. I had no issue with the food at all. It was quite enjoyable. And the serving staff were pleasant although it was quite a number of different staff serving our table.
"My issue was at the end of the meal when the manager came and very rudely said we needed to finish because the next customers are here. I was appalled at how she spoke to us but especially in front of my elderly godfather who is the biggest gentleman in the world. He was quite shocked. It really left the end of an otherwise lovely visit with a bitter end.
"It was obvious that the manager is demonstrating that the customer doesn’t come first. What’s more important is churning out tables. I fully understand a restaurant must have turnover and make profit, but not by alienating your client base. I have been a manager before and you can deliver a difficult message but in a polite and friendly way that is not offensive."
The customer added that the manager reportedly continued to be rude and reiterated that the time the table had to be returned by was 2pm, not 2.15pm. The also said that they will not return to the restaurant and went as far as saying that the owner should "implement customer service training for staff."
Adding some clarification and attempting to appease the disgruntled customer, the manager of the popular diner replied to the review and gave their own version of events, stating that the time that the table should be returned by was misheard over the phone.
They responded: "Thank you for taking the time to post your review and I am sorry to read you were disappointed with the end to your meal.
"I am sorry that you misheard the out time when you make your booking. However, when you booked on Thursday we had very limited time slots to accommodate your booking and did only allocate 90 minutes on the table. Please be assured that we had tried to move the next booking to other tables but we really had no choice at 2.10pm to ask you for the table back.
"I do hope you will reconsider coming back again and giving us another chance."
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