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- Drew - 10-07-2007
when you've suffered a very bad dining experience? Read on please. The Restaurant is the Oceanaire Seafood room in Baltimore.
The following is what I sent to their management.
[ Just returned from your restaurant in Baltimore, Saturday Oct. 6, 7pm, 7 persons reserved under Hall.
First of all, the waiter was without personality and rude at times. He suggested an appetizer of calamari and lobster that would handle 7 persons. No mention of weight per person or price. This turned out to be a $250 appetizer, are you kidding me? We feel scammed over this appetizer. It was clear to the waiter that we were discussing sharing appetizers to taste a sampling of your offerings as he “warned†us that the portions were large. Several of us wanted calamari so he suggested the “special†that I mentioned above. At the end of the night when we were discussing the bill with him he states that the special was prepared with 1.5 lbs of lobster/calamari per person. Again are you kidding me? That’s 10.5 lbs of appetizer! That is not an “appetizerâ€, that’s an entrée. Again, we felt scammed. BTW, the lobster was overcooked and rubbery. Entrees; the black cod in miso was disgusting. The blue marlin was overcooked and dry. The rockfish was flavorless, overcooked and dry. My daughter in law ordered scallops as her main dish and only ate two because of a “fishy†flavor. I tried one and tasted strong ammonia…the scallops were bad. My 80 year old mother, celebrating her 80th birthday, wanted fried oysters. What was presented to her were several, dried up, Popeye's restaurant chain looking things served on a platter slightly smaller than a large serving platter with a 4†high bed of shoestring fries that would have fed 10 people. Again, are you kidding me? Unacceptable. The waiter spilled wine several times while refilling the glasses. My brother in law ordered a glass of port and never received it (it was listed on the bill but was removed). And the worst of the evening was it took over 3 hours to dine due to the terrible timing of the courses. We came to celebrate an 80th birthday, not to take a 3 hour tour. At this level of dining there should be special memories of the evening. This is a rare dining experience for us. But we were left with feelings of mistreatment and anger that such a special night could have gone so terribly bad. Absolutely the worst high end dining experience of my 57 years. Won't be back, won't recommend. I respectfully request a response.
PS. It’s now the next morning and I spent the entire night, off and on, in and out of the bathroom with, well you get the picture, due to the poor quality of the restaurant food.
Drew Hall ]
BTW, the final bill was $900 including mandatory 20% gratuity, $155 of the total was wine and beverages.
[This message has been edited by Drew (edited 10-07-2007).]
- Bucko - 10-07-2007
I'll be surprised if you ever hear a word back. Service has gone the way of the dodo bird for the most part. I praise those that still give it.
Northern Tools! Bought a winch, rigging kit, and extra-long battery cable. The shipping slip said three boxes; I got two boxes, no rigging kit. I called them, they apologized, no third degree, no questions -- sent me a rigging kit expedited at no charge. Service. I'll keep buying from them.
- winoweenie - 10-07-2007
Hope you put this on a credit card and then turn around tomorrow early and call your Credit Card company and put this horrible bill into dispute. Sounds like a restaurant that is in need of closing its' doors. WW (ps.... tell Mom congrats)
- brappy - 10-08-2007
Sorry that happened to you Drew! I've heard other horror stories about this place. They're living off of tourists, so who knows whether or not they'll go under. Just down the street is Little Italy which has many tourist traps. Menus that show one price and specials that are three times that. That sort of thing. But $250 for apps!?!?!?!?!?! Without a doubt, that's amazing.
I suggest calling them directly. Make sure you let them know you don't want gift certificates, but a refund of some sort. The hardest part is actually being polite on the phone when dealing with this. That will get you a whole lot further. Also, go straight to the top when speaking to someone. You probably don't need advice with this, but there it is all the same. Good Luck!
mark
- brappy - 10-08-2007
Didn't realize this was a corporate place. Call the corporate offices, you'll get through to someone. None of those people at the top want to deal with issues like this. They prefer to make these issues disappear. Be persistent. They'll do what you want if you're persistent enough. Or so I believe.
mark
- winoweenie - 10-08-2007
Can give you a money-back guarantee my method will work. Contest that sucker. WW
- TheEngineer - 10-08-2007
Now not sure what WW would do and it may be effective but..... I agree with Brappy. A letter like that is a call to action at corporations that have any sensibility (and there are those that don't car either). I would fire off a few letters to them (each referencing the previous one and the original complaint to the restaurant).
- winoweenie - 10-08-2007
Dernit You guys nothing works like stopping the flow of cash you silly critters! W@W
- TheEngineer - 10-08-2007
Oh....I thought you were referring to the burning bag of poop trick........ [img]http://wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
- Bucko - 10-08-2007
You could always go postal...no wait, it's a holiday for them guvmint types.