I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Last night Chef sent me a screenshot of a bad 1 star review we got.

It was from a woman, who said she’d dined with us. Didn’t have her gift card and presented us with the receipt. She was denied the ability to use it and she and her husband were treated like criminals.

I actually thought it was from a week or so ago.

But alas I got an email today:

I am hoping you can help me resolve a complaint I have. I bought a gift card for my father for Father’s Day. Please see below for the receipt. He and my mother went for dinner last night and loved their meal (see pic below), but when they went to use the gift certificate, they were told they couldn’t use it, even though they had a printed copy of the receipt below and even though they called me on the phone from the restaurant to confirm for the wait person that they weren’t trying to rip anyone off. My father couldn’t locate the receipt on his email on his phone and the wait person wouldn’t let them use the gift certificate. She said that she needed a 12 digit code in order to let them use it. When I asked her if I could have my money back, she said I could come in and use the gift certificate, but obviously I would run into the same problem as I don’t have the code, either. Frankly, I was appalled and aggravated and she told me to escalate this to you.

We have a cottage at Goose Rocks and have been coming there our entire lives and my parents had been looking forward to going to your restaurant all summer. They are the least likely people on the planet to try and scam a free dinner. Unfortunately, they were made to feel like criminals and were very embarrassed by the whole situation and ended up spending $140 of their own money (They don’t drink, so without alcohol, this seems quite expensive for a dinner for 2). I could have gotten them a gift card somewhere else, but they really wanted to try Lost Fire. Oh well.

Long story short, I thought you should be aware of this, as this seems like an unfair practice (the lawyer in me is coming out). Please refund me the $100 for the gift certificate immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Well.

Let’s break this down for those of you who didn’t go to law school.

They presented a purchase receipt.

They did not present a gift card.

I can’t use a receipt to pay the check.

I need the 16 digit code.

I can’t know for sure but I don’t think my staff treated your parents like criminals.

However, your parents got angry. And insisted they be allowed to come back tomorrow to pay for their meal with the gift card.

This might be what caused them to question what was happening.

Yes. We do have your gift card in our system.

But it was a busy night in July.

And.

Last night there was no one to look up the card as I was at our new restaurant.

As for being expensive.

Two people dining at a steak house for $140 is not expensive.

Of course the meal would have been more expensive if they had tipped.

But they did not.

As for the lawyer in you.

They should have covered business law in your first year of law school.

In that course they should have taught you that payment is required to purchase goods and services.

They should have taught you that we entered into a contractual agreement with you when you purchased the gift card that we would trade you 100 dollars in product when the card was presented.

You did not present the card thus you had to pay for the goods.

They probably covered the legality of using intimidation tactics to threaten a person or business into giving you something you didn’t pay for.

And last but not least.

It’s 100 dollars.

You are a lawyer.

I know this because you told me you are.

I’m a general manager of a restaurant.

100 bucks is a drop in the bucket to me.

I’m not a lawyer.

I don’t have a fancy law degree.

If you can’t afford to give your parents a 100 dollar bill then you need to aim higher.

Also.

100 dollars for your elderly father for an expensive dinner when you are a lawyer is kind of lame.

But once again.

What do I know?