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I just feel that I need to ask this question, is this normal in Dubai?

Story One:
I am working in a restaurant. Just a couple nights ago, there are 2 couples in the restaurant, ordered a bottle of white wine from Chille. So, one waitess took the order went to the bar and found out that just a minute ago, some people (30 people) has taken all the Chillean white wine, so she went back to the table and told the 2 couples about how we ran out of the wine they choose. I was very suprise that when the waitress came to me and ask for my help.... she told me that the couples choose another wine from New Zealand it cost 50dhs more then the Chillean wine they choose originally, and the couples told the waitress that we have to charge that the Chillean wine price for the New Zealand wine. So I went to the table and one of the woman told me this ' SINCE YOU CANNOT OFFER SOMETHING FROM YOUR MENU, YOU WILL HAVE TO CHARGE US LESS OR GIVE US DISCOUNT'. Then I told her that we are a restaurant, we will run out one or two items everynight, and we cannot give thing out free or five discount everynight. Then I suggest her to have another Chillean wine which is 20dhs cheaper than the orginally chosen one, then she said that she did not want a lower quality wine, she wants a similar quality or better quality... bla bla bla and she needed not to pay for the extra since it was our fault that we ran out of items ... (I was wondering at the time why she did not ask me to give her a bottle of Dom Perignon and charge her the Chillean wine price?) Then this coversation (argument) went on for about another 3 minutes, they were not happy that we did not give discount for them and the whole night they were complaining about this and that. Have you seen anyone 'cheaper'? Mind you the Chillean wine was only 160dhs if only judge the quality of the wine by price, 160 dhs is the second cheapest wine in the menu, and.... she was talking about the quality?? These 2 couples stayed in the Burj Al Arab.

Story Two:

4 people came to the restaurant, ate and gone. After 8 days a lady from the 4 people wrote a complaint email to us, saying that they were regular customer, and 8 nights ago they ate in our restaurant, and being treated rudely and the food was very bad also there was a rude 'waiter' being rude to them all night. also, because of the bad service and bad food they left very early and she did not finish most of the food. We worte them back and asked them what name they used to made the booking and so we will look into the rude waiter, then we got a email back and saying that we have been sarcastic, and no intention to look into the matter. The same night, this lady send an email to the general manager of the company, and complained about she did not get a reply from us yet... so we dug out the bill for them, and while we could not remember any of the customers had compaint about anything on the night and could not see any record of any complaints or we could not remember there were dishes that people did not finsihed or left large portion (this is our procedure, if customer left large portion of food, staff will tell the manager and the manager will go to the customer to check out if the food was wrong) anyway so we looked at the bill, the orders were taken at 8pm and the checked out time was 11:15pm and there were 3 bottles of wine consumed. One funniest thing was that there were no waiters attenting to their table, there was a waitress.... and about the 'rude' attitude... ... we never found out what the rude waiter had said or done to them being accused 'rude'. Now, can anyone of you do the same? I mean being not happy in the restaurant, food is bad, service is bad, but can you stay for more than 2 hours and have 3 bottles of wine? and can you not complain on the same night if things were that bad, but instead write an email not the next day but 8 days after? Huh.... guess what happen after all the drama? YES!!!! They were in the restaurant 2 days after the initial compaint enjoying a free meal for 4.

Well... guest where are these cheap people come from??

will read the stories later, inbetween u popped outta nowhere where have u been lately

fei, is there a summary??
im so lazy to read long posts

hmm, people can get down to that levels to get freebies, pathetic attitude.

Read the last line and take a guess.

I am cheaper. My only drink at any restaurant is Pepsi for Dhs 1. And I don't complain if some places charge Dhs 10 for a can. Rich people whine about everything because they think they're better than everyone else.

hmmmmmm, well actually since the resturant is a high quality resturant , the store should be bigger and offers more variety. Cuz the prices are much higher than the Mall's resturants. so it should not happen , and drinks , is somethink can be kept in big amount not like the meet and chicken !!!!!

they might cut a long distance for this so they got angry

Anywayz i'm against the wine at all )

i'll read the story two laterzz

mashy mate, there's cheap (1 dhs cokes) and there's cheaaaappp (skints).

XRW-147 wrote:mashy mate, there's cheap (1 dhs cokes) and there's cheaaaappp (skints).

I get a little irritated in some places where you order about 4 different bottles of wine and none of them are in stock... but I've never asked for a discount... that's just off.

I bet they were British, those guys really know how to whinge.

There are scammers the world over. In many places people are trained to spot this kind of thing - which in your case it seems they did the right investiagation but screwed it up by giving them a free meal. I hope you told the cook to spit in their food.

The wine story is just outrageous and you are right how good could their 160 dhs wine be!

I think I know where they are not from as they would get the sh!t kicked out of them for trying that kind of scam.

The other scam, I've heard, is for people to send a "drycleaing" bill to the restaurant claiming that something was spilled by a waiter/waitress. Of course the garmet was never drycleaned and they just get say 50 dys in the mail. Who would go thru all that trouble. Except if you send the same "bill" to 1,000 restaurants = 50,000.00 and the chances of getting caught are slim in a big city!

so... if you are in the supermarket, they ran out of the salad dressing that you want to buy, and they also ran out of the normal butter that you prefer. Do you ask for discount on your shopping? Or would you go to the general manager of Spinneys and ask them to chrage you the price of Kraft dressing for the most gourment italian dressing?

Try this... go to BMW showroom ask for a 318 if they are out of stock, write to the CEO and ask them to charge you the price of a 318 for a 645. You might get lucky!!

FeiPo wrote:so... if you are in the supermarket, they ran out of the salad dressing that you want to buy, and they also ran out of the normal butter that you prefer. Do you ask for discount on your shopping? Or would you go to the general manager of Spinneys and ask them to chrage you the price of Kraft dressing for the most gourment italian dressing?

can you spell "rethorical"... ask them next time they come in for a new free meal. and don't forget to spit on their food.

FeiPo wrote:so... if you are in the supermarket, they ran out of the salad dressing that you want to buy, and they also ran out of the normal butter that you prefer. Do you ask for discount on your shopping? Or would you go to the general manager of Spinneys and ask them to chrage you the price of Kraft dressing for the most gourment italian dressing?

Try this... go to BMW showroom ask for a 318 if they are out of stock, write to the CEO and ask them to charge you the price of a 318 for a 645. You might get lucky!!

C'mon don't compare a showroom with a super market

if i own a supermarket i'll tell all the managers to act good in these cases and give free pieces for these people , cuz i own a supermarket i have to arrange everything the people used to get from here , to competite the othe markets ofCOURSE

^ian^ wrote:I bet they were British, those guys really know how to whinge.

I heard the same thing from courier-service employees.

Uae_Me wrote:

FeiPo wrote:so... if you are in the supermarket, they ran out of the salad dressing that you want to buy, and they also ran out of the normal butter that you prefer. Do you ask for discount on your shopping? Or would you go to the general manager of Spinneys and ask them to chrage you the price of Kraft dressing for the most gourment italian dressing?

Try this... go to BMW showroom ask for a 318 if they are out of stock, write to the CEO and ask them to charge you the price of a 318 for a 645. You might get lucky!!

C'mon don't compare a showroom with a super market

if i own a supermarket i'll tell all the managers to act good in these cases and give free pieces for these people , cuz i own a supermarket i have to arrange everything the people used to get from here , to competite the othe markets ofCOURSE

Then you will go bankrupt very soon... coz the amount of people here in Dubai trying to get free stuff are unbeleivable. Also, they will try to do anything and make up any story to get what they want.

For the case of mine, they accused the staff being rude. They have no consideration about what kind of trouble the staff will get. He might get fired!!

Think about quality not quantity.

its kind of advertisement and fine for me at the same time
i should earn the love of my customers

gtmash wrote:

^ian^ wrote:I bet they were British, those guys really know how to whinge.

I heard the same thing from courier-service employees.

Er, the Brits actually have a reputation for not complaining and just never going back! We don't like to cause a scene you see...

Back on topic, actually in the West case 1 is very common. By theory of law in the UK for example, if you ask for something as advertised for a price and isn't available on the menu, they should offer you a product of same or higher value for the same price. In the case, if the differential is quite high the restaurant can refuse, but if it's a small change then as the mark up restaurants put on wine is so high, they normally let it past. I can say with utmost confidence that your restaurant would still not have lost money on the wine had it given it, though clearly it was within its rights to say no. As it is, you'll have lost a customer for good, so was it worth it to lose a few dirhams on the wholesale cost of a bottle of wine?

scot1870 wrote:[quote="gtmash By theory of law in the UK for example, if you ask for something as advertised for a price and isn't available on the menu, they should offer you a product of same or higher value for the same price.

what theory of law. do you have any citations or are you just trying to show off (so others think you know "law"). let's see smart man and if it takes more than 5 minutes to reply it means you = not smart.

^^^ Odd man...

Yes Brits take pride in courtesy and not blatantly offending people, unless we're having a really really bad day or being utterly inconvenienced.

The two events as you mentioned are only to be expected in that line of business. It would be nice if we lived in a perfect world with no problems, but until then we're just going to have to put up with the 'cheap' attitude.

Purple Complex wrote:Yes Brits take pride in courtesy and not blatantly offending people, unless we're having a really really bad day or being utterly inconvenienced.

Which must be all the time. Seriously, it might be a few brits that spoil it for the rest of you... but you only have to venture to MOE to see the whinge parade.

First off you can't compare a supermarket to a resturant.

Secondly as a resturant it is your responsibility to be able to offer every item you have on your menus to every single customer that you will have. Now if you had a booknig for 30 people, obviously these people are going to consume much more than just couples or smaller parties, so you make allowances for that. Chilean wines are extremely popular and I would say that you should have more of that kind of thing in stock than anything else.

There's not much excuse for running out of drinks. Food, yes it happens on occassion, but wines etc you can stock and keep. This is the mark of a good stock taker and budgeter, to constantly check what is being used and and what rate and to make sure that the most popular items are always available.

Sorry but on the wine front, you didn't perform. You should have done everything you could to keep a happy customer, remember that old phrase 'The customer is always right?' (we know not always true, but how you deal with the situation can make or break a customer relationship). Had it been my resturant, I'd have given them the slightly more expensive wine at the same price, as a goodwill gesture, on the understanding that any other purchases would be at the regular price. Ok so you lose 20 or dhs, but you keep your customer happy, and they remember what you did to resolve the situation and will likely bring more business your way.

The other story is clearly a scam.

Also bear in mind that there are a lot of mystery shoppers in this town. BEing argumentative and not resolving a problem, which is your problem not the customers, would have had serious marks against you and your company.

Hmmm interesting... So we can safely conclude it was Chocs in her 'mystery shopper' hat pulling one over FP.

Er no, not this time, but you never know.

I just have a lot of experience i the customer service area and sometimes you just have to do things to keep people happy.

Chocoholic wrote:First off you can't compare a supermarket to a resturant.

Secondly as a resturant it is your responsibility to be able to offer every item you have on your menus to every single customer that you will have. Now if you had a booknig for 30 people, obviously these people are going to consume much more than just couples or smaller parties, so you make allowances for that. Chilean wines are extremely popular and I would say that you should have more of that kind of thing in stock than anything else.

There's not much excuse for running out of drinks. Food, yes it happens on occassion, but wines etc you can stock and keep. This is the mark of a good stock taker and budgeter, to constantly check what is being used and and what rate and to make sure that the most popular items are always available.

Sorry but on the wine front, you didn't perform. You should have done everything you could to keep a happy customer, remember that old phrase 'The customer is always right?' (we know not always true, but how you deal with the situation can make or break a customer relationship). Had it been my resturant, I'd have given them the slightly more expensive wine at the same price, as a goodwill gesture, on the understanding that any other purchases would be at the regular price. Ok so you lose 20 or dhs, but you keep your customer happy, and they remember what you did to resolve the situation and will likely bring more business your way.

The other story is clearly a scam.

This is exactly the kind of mentality/attitude I am talking about. Where are you come from that you can get discount like this? What makes it different between a supermarket and a restaurant. Are we both trying to do our business and keep customers happy? Are we both buying stock from supplier and sell it to customer? What makes people think that they can get discount because of a restaurant running out of some items? I agree with customer always right when they ordered something they don't like, then fine we will change it for them, or they tasted the wine and decide they did not like it, then fine we will change it. If they did not like the dish they ordered we will not even charge the dish. If something goes wrong we provide some complimentary desserts, if someone's birthday we provide a complimentary cake, if someone's anniversery we provide a couple of complimentary drinks. But asking to paid 160dhs for a bottle of 210dhs wine is 76% more, beside they are nothing similar one is from chille and the other is from New Zealand.

Try to walk in to Luis Vutton and look into their catelog and see how many of them are not available. Or even look into the catelog that Mango or Morgan sent you every season see how many products they were out.

Chocoholic wrote:Er no, not this time, but you never know.

I just have a lot of experience i the customer service area and sometimes you just have to do things to keep people happy.

Oh I am very good at treating customer with a big smile and never been rude to them. It wasn't an argument with the customer, only I did not give the discount. And I even suggest them to go to the restaurant Al Maraha (I think the name is right) in the Burj Al Arab they were staying. (maybe they will get discount there since there were staying in the same hotel!)

MAC wrote:

scot1870 wrote:[quote="gtmash By theory of law in the UK for example, if you ask for something as advertised for a price and isn't available on the menu, they should offer you a product of same or higher value for the same price.

what theory of law. do you have any citations or are you just trying to show off (so others think you know "law"). let's see smart man and if it takes more than 5 minutes to reply it means you = not smart.

You should spend more time studying and less time chugging yourself off in front of your computer.

To the topic starter, you're comparing sales prices, not wholesale price. The restaurant doesn't lose 50dhs, it loses the opportunity to gain 50Dhs more sales. The only money it "loses" is the difference in the wholesale price, given the mark ups on wines probably 10Dhs-20Dhs on this bottle. As I say, if it means they come back again then it's worth it.

It's certainly not a scam and as I say is very common in the West. As Chocoholic says, you're obliged to provide what you say you will at the price. You say mockingly that Louis Vuitton wouldn't entertain this but believe me it does apply to them too!

Interesting debate anyway in the two polarised opinions, one that the business has all the power and the other that the customer has the power. Particularly interesting in that it seems to be the people from capitalist countries (where businesses are perceived to have more power) favour the customer is right argument.

FeiPo wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:Er no, not this time, but you never know.

I just have a lot of experience i the customer service area and sometimes you just have to do things to keep people happy.

Oh I am very good at treating customer with a big smile and never been rude to them. It wasn't an argument with the customer, only I did not give the discount. And I even suggest them to go to the restaurant Al Maraha (I think the name is right) in the Burj Al Arab they were staying. (maybe they will get discount there since there were staying in the same hotel!)

To be perfectly honest I could never imagine making a fuss if they didn't have a particular wine in stock or asking for discount because of it. These kind of people are seriously not living in the real world, they just need a swift kick back to the Council Flat that they came from.

Scottie,

Louis Vuitton does not consider itself obliged to provide availability of all its catalogued items or to keep all their shops stocked with all of their latest lines; of course their customers are aware of it. Lack of inventory doesn't make luxury brands and their retail stores any less customer-service friendly; but it definitely makes them more exclusive - some of their limited lines are therefor more sought after precisely because they're not available to everyone.

Not every business aims to be inclusive (as supermarkets do) actually many strive to be exclusive; it's perfectly fine to draw lines as to the what type of people some businesses attract. If that means not catering to the demands of the obnoxious, opportunistic and tacky - so be it.

One last thing - that pompous attitude doesn't make what you state any more relevant, quite the contrary.

Good times.

Maybe thats the reason i hate doing customer service. Coz i can't stand their attitude

There was a time i pick up the phone & yelled 'Wassup?' lucky it was only our receptionist in the office. lol