It is with great regret that I am writing this. I really don’t like writing negative reviews as I’d much prefer to write positive, glowing reviews. However, the events of today simply cannot be forgiven, I feel it necessary to write about my experience earlier tonight at an italian restaurant. It is my wish that the boss/owner is able to see this and understand first-hand what exactly happened.
Everything started out well enough, I had ordered a chicken parmesan combo and my entree hadn’t arrive yet. All my friends had gotten their entrees much earlier and were already chowing away(one had already finished).
Then all of a sudden we hear a scream from one my friends followed by a “oh wtf?!?!”. We all looked over to see what was the matter, turns out there was a metal screw inside her dish, yes a metal fucking screw. We were all completely stunned, how could something like this happen. To us, this was a very serious incident. Of course we called over the waitress who in turn called over the manager.
She came over and we showed her the problem. Her response to this was simply ‘bu-hao-yi-si, we’ll replace your dish and it’s on the house’. This was unacceptable to us, it’s a metal screw for christ’s sake. She didn’t seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.
We told her look ‘This is a very serious matter, but we don’t want to cause any trouble or make a scene. We want to handle this as discreetly as possible. But what you’re offering is unacceptable.’ After finding a metal screw in our dish, we had all lost our appetites. We told her ‘we’re finished with our dinner here, just let us leave, and the meal for the group is on the house. No problems, no scene, very discreet’. But unfortunately she did not agree with this plan of action. We were only able to get two pictures of the the screw in the dish before they hastily took it away.(we later asked them to take out the dish again so we could get better pictures, but of course they refused).
The manager’s name was Tiffany and she kept insisting that a free dish just for my friend is enough compensation for what happened. She thought it was no big deal. A free meal is something that’s offered when you find hair or a bug in your food. This was a sizable metal screw, something one free dish simply cannot compensate. To offer us only one free dish for this incident is an insult and a slap in the face. We asked her to call the boss but she refused.
I have a friend who doesn’t respond too kindly to being insulted and bullshitted. The manager was just completely clueless, she kept insisting that this wasn’t a big deal. Her words were “有這麼嚴重嗎?”, you god damn right this is 嚴重. Her dismissive attitude towards our plight of course inflamed my friend even more and elevated the tension. The situation was quickly deteriorating and becoming more and more heated.
I understand that as the manager, it’s not your fault that a metal screw found it’s way into a customer’s dish. However, once it happens, it is your responsibility to rectify the situation in a satisfactory manner. She was clearly not equipped to handle this situation so we kept imploring her to please just call her boss, countless times we asked her. Upon hearing these requests, she would just stare blankly and refuse to do anything. We kept asking her why she doesn’t just make the call, and every time she would just stare and give no response. Very strange and baffling, I really don’t understand why she wouldn’t just make a simple phone call.
All she did was keep saying bi-hao-yi-si, bi-hao-yi-si, bi-hao-yi-si. When I find a metal screw in my dish, I don’t want to hear bi-hao-yi-si. I want to hear what you are willing to do to resolve this inexcusable blunder.
Instead of trying to rectify the situation, she kept trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation. Literally downplaying it and saying ‘no need to be so serious’. This of course is not what we wanted to hear. The argument was escalating quickly.
My friend finally exploded, I mean completely exploded. If she didn’t want a scene, well she sure as hell got one now. Now EVERYONE in the restaurant was looking at us and listening to our argument. Even people outside the restaurant were looking and gawking(we were seated right next to the elevators). There was a foreign family eating and after my friend exploded, he went to their table to explain the situation. Apparently this made the staff a little nervous.
The manager then said she’s going to call the 樓管, the floor manager I guess. What that would accomplish is beyond me. Why not just call the boss. Several minutes passed and they apparently weren’t able to reach the floor manager.
After about 30 minutes of dealing with us, I guess she FINALLY came to her senses and decided it would be much better to just let us out of there. She came to our table and said forget the bill and “你們離開”, basically she told us to get the fuck out.
But by then, the damage had already been done. It was an extremely unpleasant experience for everyone involved. Unpleasant for us, unpleasant for the manager, and I’m sure unpleasant for the other patrons. All this unpleasantness could have been easily avoided.
In the beginning, had she just said “I’m sorry for what happened, please forgive us. Don’t worry about the bill, please give us another chance”, everyone would have been happy, there wouldn’t have been any problems, and I wouldn’t be writing this review right now. But the way she chose to handle it was just disastrous. Not a single ‘sorry’ or god damn apology, not a single fucking one. Just a bunch of bullshit ‘不好意思s’.
I commend my friend for what he did. Had he not gotten angry and exploded, we would have certainly been forced to pay the bill. A metal screw inside a dish is absolutely inexcusable. A free meal for the whole group is the very least that should be expected in such an event. I forgot to to mention earlier, she did offer us free beers at one point, which we felt was still unacceptable.
How a metal screw gets into a dish without being noticed is also very baffling, I have never even heard of such a thing. It was fortunate that my friend spotted the screw while it was in her dish. I hesitate to think what might have happened if it had entered her mouth or god forbid, had she swallowed it.
Here is the only picture I was able to take with my cell before the dish was taken away.