And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
alina
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Member since
And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
Our Christmas lunch at work was scheduled for today at 12:30. Now we're a group of 17, and have made prior reservations. In addition, they told us to limit our menu to a choice of 4 appetizers and 5 entrees, to speed up the cooking process, etc.
So we get there, place our orders, and our appetizers take 1.5 hours to come in, and then the entree comes in another 45 minutes or so, after we're done with appetizers. We were given all kinds of excuses, including one of 'another large party on the top floor' There were also 'rumor' that the waiter hasn't placed our order until 45 minutes after it was taken
A few people left before they got their entree. By that point the waiter promised us 'free desert', which took them another 15-20 minutes!!! Some people left before getting their desert, and the waiter was given a 10% tip.
Now, get this, the waiter got upset at the 10% tip and went to speak with the manager, who came out, and after our behavior was explained, totally understood the reason for a small tip...
But never again will I go to eat at Le Marais on 46th St. My time is worth more than the free desert.
** Edited to add that other tables with smaller # of persons were served at a faster rate than us. Our boss (the guy supposed to pay for us) left before the dinner was served and no comments on the culinary quality.
Xelindrya
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Re: And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
ACK What horrible service
At first when I read this I thought you were happy you got a 3 hour lunch.
We have our XMas team lunch tomorrow. Each year traditionally we have our lunch then have 'gift shopping time' meaning basically that we get to have free time after lunch. We have a nice long lazy lunch for a team of 10 and off we go.. mostly to home, some to shop, none of us come back to work!!!
Re: And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
I'm surprised they didn't add in 18% for the large party!!
but if it were during work...i would welcome slow service!!!
alina
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Member since
Re: And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
Posted by yabbobay
I'm surprised they didn't add in 18% for the large party!!
but if it were during work...i would welcome slow service!!!
They added the 18% on the check, but not on the Credit Card bill, probably, b/c sometimes people give tip in cash, even if paying by CC.
And while I enjoy long lunches, there is only so much small talk you can do with coworkers!!! We weren't free to go Christmas shopping and unfortunately, we're quite busy now
What-Now
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Member since
Re: And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
Posted by alina Now, get this, the waiter got upset at the 10% tip and went to speak with the manager, who came out, and after our behavior was explained, totally understood the reason for a small tip...
Is there anything more annoying than an obnoxiou waiter who is awful what he does but expects a generous tip!
Rule:TIP IS NOT MANDATORY! You have to deserve it!
Re: And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
Posted by WhatNow?
Is there anything more annoying than an obnoxiou waiter who is awful what he does but expects a generous tip!
Rule:TIP IS NOT MANDATORY! You have to deserve it!
There, I said it!
a waitress followed us out of a restaurant once b/c she thought we stiffed her...we had to countt he money in front of her to show that we did...and a generous one no less...in hindsight we should have taken it back
What-Now
Posted:
Member since
Re: And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
Posted by yabbobay
Posted by WhatNow?
Is there anything more annoying than an obnoxiou waiter who is awful what he does but expects a generous tip!
Rule:TIP IS NOT MANDATORY! You have to deserve it!
There, I said it!
a waitress followed us out of a restaurant once b/c she thought we stiffed her...we had to countt he money in front of her to show that we did...and a generaous one no less...in hindsight we should have taken it back
Got me thinking about another true story:
My friend was having lunch with her cousine. they are both Russian so the spoke Russian the whole time. their waiter was very rude and condecending thinking they are 'stupid tourists' or something! Appalled by his behivior, they only left a 10% tip. so the guy came up to them as they were exiting and said: 'in this country you leave at least 15% as a tip!'
can you believe it?
My friend said she was so shocked she didn't even know what to say! Too bad I wasn't there, I would have demamnded to get the tip back and complained to the manager!
alina
Posted:
Member since
Re: And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
Anya, so funny!!!
You know how some russian places have 'Service Charge'?
Well, a couple of my friends went to one of these places, and the math was such that the service charge was either a 5 or 10%. So they added whatever it was to make the total tip 15%. The waiter hid some $$$, and ran after them claiming they were short $10 or $20, and they got stuck paying it. Now in 'service charge' places we wait till they count the total, and always keep the tip at 15%, no matter what that service charge is, to me its part of a tip.
What-Now
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Member since
Re: And I thought 3-hour lunches were a thing of the past
Now in 'service charge' places we wait till they count the total, and always keep the tip at 15%, no matter what that service charge is, to me its part of a tip.
Exactly!
And don't even get me started on those Russian places! you really gotta watch them and check every line in the bill!
