Anyone else had this experience?

[Townsend]

I received this from a friend this morning:



I am sending this story to you because I hope that when you choose a
restaurant, you will keep this in mind.  My friends and I were treated very
badly at Alioli's this weekend and I want as many people as possible to know
about it.




This weekend I went out to eat with some friends - there were four of us
including me.  We went to Alioli's on Brookside.  We received horrible
service - some examples:  the waitress told us we needed to wait 20 minutes
before ordering because the kitchen was too busy, I ordered a martini and
got a margarita and the waitress lied to me and told me it was a martini, we
asked no less than 4x for butter, we had to ask repeatedly to get water, we
had to flag down another waitress to get the bread we'd asked for (which we
thought ought to be complimentary since we weren't allowed to order yet, but
it wasn't), our food was all served at different times so none of us
actually ate together, one of the plates of food my friends ordered didn't
come out at all yet we had to ask for it to be removed from our ticket.




Because of the horrible service, we each only gave a 10% tip on our tickets.
 After we paid, the couple that was with us left, and Wendy and I were
sitting at the table finishing our drinks.  The owner came over to us and
waved our tickets at us and told us that "In Oklahoma we give 15-20% as a
tip".  I told him that we give tips based on service, and the service was
bad.  I said "let's start with the fact that we were told by our waitress
that we couldn't order because the kitchen was backed up."  He said "That's
just the way it was tonight."  I said, "Well, that's just the way the tips
are going to be tonight."  At that point he said "Get out!"  I said, "Fine
we are leaving but we will make sure all of our friends know the way
Alioli's does business."  He then screamed "GET OUT" causing the entire
restaurant to stare at us.  We called our friends who had already left and
one of them called the owner.  During that conversation he told her "We
don't want your fat a** in this restaurant."




I have now checked my bank and it appears that the owner changed the amount
of tip on my signed ticket, adding an additional $8 to the tip I left.

[iplaw]

If they kept their credit card receipt, he's in a heap of trouble...

[Townsend]

iplaw -  "If they kept their credit card receipt, he's in a heap of trouble..."

I said that as well.

[AMP]

You can contest the entire charge with your bank.  99.9% of the time the credit card holder wins those.  Merchant is not a client of your bank as most use outside Merchant Services to handle their credit card charges.

I have lost two contests of credit card charges that were paid to us.  One we made the mistake of refunding the credit card users money using a Money Order.  45 days later his charge back came in the mail from the bank.  We submited the money order receipt, but his bank would not accept it, as they said it could of been for another reason, although it was for the exact amount to the penny of his contested charge.

Other one we lost was due to the fact the customer stated he "did not receive merchandise", although he used the card to charge Pit Passes.  He put the charge in contest and we did not receive notification until 48 days later by mail.  We submited the signature list on the release forms as our proof he had indeed received the service and not merchandise, but his bank would not accept that as they stated we could not produce a receipt where he was assigned the pit pass.  

Interesting thing about that contested charge is the credit card customer canceled his charge two days prior to the event, but still attened the event, then got his money back.  Pretty good trick if you ask me.

Anyway, I would contest the entire charge and tell your bank the story.  As the bank reps tell me 99.9% of the time the credit card holder wins those.  Remember, the credit card holder is a CUSTOMER of the bank, the bank makes profit from their fees and interest paid by the Credit Card holder.  So it is in the Banks best interest to satisfy their customer the credit card holder, at the retail merchants expense as they have no affiliation with that merchant.  

My experience is 100% of the time they win, and I lost the $250 I refunded one person plus the pit pass deal which came to around $300 total loss.  

I no longer accpet Checks or Credit Card charges for anything. Cash only.

[AMP]

Speaking of bad experiences at restaurants.  

We tried the Waffle Housse at Hwy 169 and 11th Street last night.  Brand new building that replaced the old one that was moved for highway construction.

Upon entering the facility we were greeted with a very foul oder.  Waitress was on the phone explaining to someone that she had a doctors appointment tomorrow and was coughing.  

We asked about he oder, and were told that the owner had refused to have the backed up sewer fixed for over two weeks.  

That, combined with the sickly waitress was all it took to go find another place to eat.

Ended up at Tally's 11th and Yale, good food and friendly service.

I tried the Rib Crib All You Can Stand Rib deal. Near 15h and Harvard location.  Ribs were so tough I had to use the butter knife they gave me to cut the meat off the bone and then shred it up to eat it.  Flavor was so so, the sauce was good.  

First sides were a potato and salad.  Salad was good, but the potato was small, and appeared to have been kept in the oven for too long.

Second sides were much larger and fresher.  So if you do the AYCS Rib deal, order second helping of sides before you start carving the tough rib meat off the bones.

And order water to drink, as their beverages are way pricey and you will need lots of water to help wash down the tough rib meat.

[Townsend]

Thanks,  I'll pass that along

[AMP]

Another practice I keep seeing in the Tulsa area is merchants with signs that have minimum charge amounts and fees for using charge cards at their businesses.  

Master Card and Visa have strict rules that forbid merchants from charging fees for using Credit or Debit cards to pay for merchandise or services.  If you see these signs you should notify MC or Visa about it.  It is against their policy and the merchant can loose their ability to accpet those branded cards.

[Conan71]

Geez, that almost sounds like an encounter with Buzz Delasandro. [:O] Though, looking it up, it's another long-time restarauteur who owns it.

I've scratched AliOli's off my places to try some time.

A tip is totally voluntary, not compusory, the owner is out of his friggin' mind.  If my dad got crappy service, he told me that you don't stiff them on the tip, but leave something embarrasingly low so they get the point.  I think you made your point.  For the owner to accost you like that is total BS.

With tips, I start out at 20%.  For exceptional service, I'll leave as much as 25%.  For moderate service, or very little effort at making it a good experience, 15%.  10% if it really sucks.  If I go somewhere and occupy a table for a couple of hours drinking coffee, I will leave an abnormally large tip to compensate the wait staff for not having a table turn, usually something on the order of $10 for a $2 cup of coffee.  It's only fair.  There are also a couple of bartenders who consistently give me great service that I over-tip.

It sounds like your server wasn't really on the ball, but there were also some things I read in your post which indicate a problem with the kitchen or management.  I won't penalize a server for a steak not being cooked right, the kitchen mangling the order, or a long wait, as long as they are attentive with bread, chips, drinks, etc. while we wait.

[cannon_fodder]

Well, I hate to punish a business based on hearsay.  Perhaps I will email this thread to Alioli's and see if they care to respond.    If not, then they apparently dont care about their reputation and dont want my business anyway.  

In my opinion, tipping 10% with service THAT bad was generous.  Its mighty bold to accost a customer due to a low tip anyway, no matter how cheap it may appear.  I left $2 on a $25 ticket over the weekend, because the service, the food and the experience was THAT bad.  The manager did even acknowledge me when I attempted to complain nor did the waitress pause to hear my answer when she asked how everything was.

I assume they dont want my business again.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Speaking of bad experiences at restaurants.  

I tried the Rib Crib All You Can Stand Rib deal. Near 15h and Harvard location.  Ribs were so tough I had to use the butter knife they gave me to cut the meat off the bone and then shred it up to eat it.  Flavor was so so, the sauce was good.  

First sides were a potato and salad.  Salad was good, but the potato was small, and appeared to have been kept in the oven for too long.

Second sides were much larger and fresher.  So if you do the AYCS Rib deal, order second helping of sides before you start carving the tough rib meat off the bones.

And order water to drink, as their beverages are way pricey and you will need lots of water to help wash down the tough rib meat.

We already covered this on the Stone Mill post, but Rib Crib has evolved into dog food.

That location at 17th & Harvard was the original and was fantastic when it opened.  My ex-wife and I ate there at least once or twice a week.  They had great ribs, sausage, and chopped beef.

Now the chopped beef has the consistency and texture of Tabouli. [xx(]

Sad to hear the ribs have gotten chewy as well, they used to be great.  I've only eaten there twice in the two years I've lived back in that part of Tulsa.  Both were disappointments and I was grossly over-charged on a carry-out order one of those times and they refused to correct it.  

I sent a letter to Bret Chandler as I have known him since he opened that first joint and never heard a word back.  I guess they've gotten too big and there's too many people between him and his restaurants for him to realize that a lot of their original customers don't eat there anymore.  I don't know who they use as focus groups for their food, but it can't be true BBQ afficionados.

[RLitterell]

Was your friend using a Credit card or a Debit Card? The law varies by state, here in Tennessee if you use a debit card the process for cancelling the transaction is the same as stopping payment on a check including the fee charged by the bank. Also you usually have less than 24 hours because you have to beat the debit to the bank. Most people around here, if given the option, will use the debit card like a credit card, no PIN required. To counter this a lot of businesses now are able to swipe the debit card and complete the transaction without the need of your PIN. Starbucks and Pizza Hut are two that do this.

[Conan71]

I just got a copy of this deal forwarded to my email.  It came from another member on an email list I'm part of for local motorcycle events.  Judging by the header on the email, it went out to at least 200 people.

A refund and an apology are far better than acting like a pr!ck and running off potential customers.

[RLitterell]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

I just got a copy of this deal forwarded to my email.  It came from another member on an email list I'm part of for local motorcycle events.  Judging by the header on the email, it went out to at least 200 people.

A refund and an apology are far better than acting like a pr!ck and running off potential customers.

You would think so. I'll bet before the day is over the owner of this joint will be singing a different tune.

It is so outlandish I am wondering if it's not an "Urban Legend"  Not to cast doubt on Townsend though.

[Conan71]

The copy I got is signed by someone in a prominent law office in Tulsa.  I suppose I could email back to the original source and verify.

I don't think this is quite like Bill Gates giving away millions for forwarding chain letters []

[RLitterell]

Yeah, after I posted above I thought better of it. I especially don't want to give the impression that Townsend was posting something that wasn't true and I apologize if it sounded that way. It's just so bizzare, I would be furious if that happened to me.