problems at kelsey's restaurant

[CrazyQT]

No by the time we noticed the food was so aweful we were home already, we looked and looked for the waitstaff and they were no where to be found which is why we were there so long, we almost just got up and walked out... if it wasnt for the fact that we had already ordered drinks we would have --we didnt want to walk out without paying for the drinks. and we did wipe up the mess with napkins we found at an empty table but it was still sticky regardless ---never thought to bring napkins to the bathroom for water to clean it up--- not that i should have had to do that especialy since we were not the ones who spiled it =<

I would have tracked down one of the wait staff that served the other couple of tables that were seated and received their food while you were still waiting for yours. I am not above going into the kitchen and asking for assistance. If you don't want me in your kitchen then make sure you have some staff on the floor to assist.

There had to have been a bar tender at the bar that could have assisted. I agree you were not given the attention you should have been given at an eating establishment but I definitely would have checked my food before leaving the restaurant to ensure it was to your standards.

I'm curious to see what their reply will be.

[iggysbabysitter]

I would have gotten up, reseated myself in another part of the restaurant in the first 30 min, or right after the spilt drink didn't get cleaned up. If I'm expected to shell out $50 and a tip I don't want to be cleaning up after myself.

[sheetsofemptycanvas]

I'm surprised to hear that this was Kelsey's in Cornwall! I go there frequently and I've never had problems at this location... I'm sorry that you had such an awful experience I would call and talk to someone as opposed to writing a letter, I think the results would be much quicker. And after working for years as a manager in the food service business, bring up your concerns in a "nice" way if you can. You can catch more bees with honey, ya know?

[steen33]

thanks for all ur opinion and comments everyone! before i sent the email i'll definately go over it a few times. as far as walking into the kitchen i very well should have...and there was no bartender there to speak with either, Thanks again i'll re-write the email and then send it out as im not as angry now as when i wrote it it will be a little nicer. lol i'll post an update if i get a reply ..I was also very surprised at this they've been great in the past

[nicolthepickle]

What Qtpi and KrazE said.

[chriscfgb]

I had a nasty experience at Kelseys in December 2010. I wrote them the following e-mail, and got a call from the manager who could barely even speak to it, because moments into the call he recognized who I was (my friend and I were regulars for their half priced wings - he asked "Chris, you're the guy who loves the Carolina Hurricanes, aren't you?") ... Being a regular definitely helped, because he sent me $200 in gift cards and a massive apology letter for the service. I have been there maybe 3-4 times since, so I haven't fully forgiven, but I suggest sending the email because bad service shouldn't be ignored.




Dear Kelseys,

I am a regular visitor to your restaurant at 1 Roydon Place in Nepean. A friend of mine and myself visit regularly, at least twice a month for socializing on your wing nights. Tonight, I brought with me a group of 6 all together, after an afternoon of poker. I was absolutely APPALLED at the service tonight.

Issue #1: We ordered a round of appetizers, including some messier than others (chili cheese fries for the hockey game). We were provided no cutlery. Upon request for cutlery, we were informed "yes, it comes with your meal" which was unhelpful to my chili cheese fries. As the waitress unfortunately seemed to vanish at that stage, my fiancee after roughly 20 minutes of wait time for cutlery, went to the waitress stand and obtained cutlery for our table. We should have tipped her instead.

2) Roughly 20 minutes after ordering our main course; 2 members of our party were told their meals were unavailable. (Those who'd ordered ribs and wings) They were frozen and wouldn't be ready for "an hour". Had we known they'd have been the speediest item we'd have received, we would happily taken them.

3) 3 members of our party (including one who'd previously ordered ribs and wings) took the 9 ounce steak. 2 of them got steaks that came out Dry and Well Charred, when they'd asked for Medium Rare. They were promptly informed that the kitchen had no more steaks, because the rest were frozen. They were offered free 11 ounce steaks instead.

4) The 11 ounce steaks arrived as the first 4 members of our party finished up their emails. These were definitely not overcooked. In fact, they weren't cooked at all. At this stage I was beyond amazed that this was actually occurring. I had personally vouched to my friends about the quality, and here we are getting sashimi style meat. The waitress apologized, stating these steaks had also been frozen, but they were trying to appease us. Please note: Even fast food restaurants like Wendy's do not use frozen meats, and yet Kelseys is openly advertising it to their clientel.

5) My fiancee excused herself to go to the washroom to discover VOMIT in the SINK. The discovery was so rancid she nearly contributed to it herself.

6) While our two friends continued to wait for their steaks to be cooked, over 2 hours after arrival, we got dessert. We asked for a brownie; and told that we probably won't want them, as several had already been sent back to the kitchen for "being hard". She said they'd received a "bad batch". We got carrot cake instead, which was frozen, as well as berry crumble which was cold, and the ice cream which was thankfully frozen.

7) The manager was told of our issues, and the waitress offered us $5 off on purchases over $25 between the months of January and February 2011. So, after this experience, our comp is $5 off on orders of $25 or more. Wonderful. I told her I wouldn't be needing them. The manager was called at this stage to talk to our table. While she comped the steak guys, the manager informed the rest of us there was nothing she could do because we'd already paid our bills and therefore could not offer refunds ... except we'd paid in cash, not plastic, because (drumroll please...) much like the food, the debit machine was frozen. She offered 2 pounds of free wings for future, and $5 off ANY amount paid. Which was fine, but she offered up 1 coupon for 2 pounds of wings (hand written on a business card) for the WHOLE TABLE WHICH CONSISTED OF 6 PEOPLE.

All in all, I paid the bill in full, and left the $5 coupon. I will never, ever return to Kelseys. Which is unfortunate, but I'm not accepting that kind of embarrassment to my friends.

My bill was $57.11 + $12.89 tip for a total of $70. (I still leave a tip because I'm not taking out your horrible kitchen staff on the waitress) $70!!!!! My table in all paid over $180 for god awful food, and service that kept us there for nearly THREE HOURS. Completely unacceptable.

I expected far better. This was the worst service of my life.

[RebeccaRYoung]

A friend of mine used to work at Kelsey's in St. Catharines. He quit because of the working conditions and unsafe food. He had worked there for over 5 years as a line cook. The food that was kept in the kitchen was often rotten, but he was not permitted by the manager to throw it out. They had mouse droppings, but they didn't clean-up the refrigerators. He thought it was disgusting and didn't want to be associated with a restaurant that served unsafe food. He was also frustrated that it was difficult to make 'good' food when it's all rotten.

In your situation, I would have probably just left and gone somewhere else. I'm sure there are plenty of other places to go to that would have been better.

[Aimz]

I think you should send in a complaint, but perhaps get someone to read it over/edit before you send it in? I do agree that spaced out, professional-sounding letters will probably be taken more seriously.

I've had a few unfortunate experiences with customer service, and I've written in about them. I've never requested a gift certificate or a refund, but it is generally offered when you highlight the fact that service was terrible or your expectations were not met. That said, I do agree that telling them what you want from them would help them understand what they can do to make it right and keep you as a customer.

Finally, I think two things that you should have done while still at the restaurant were: 1) Go to the hostess stand and ask for a server to attend to you there. If there were no servers around, surely there was someone at the hostess stand/someone who could track down a server for you; 2) Checked your boxed food before taking it home.

[Slaney]

I have a question- What wellness did you order you steak? You said it was burnt so if it was a rare steak it shouldn't be anywhere near burnt but a well done steak could possible get burnt. It could also explain an hour wait.
I try not to go to resturaunts around 4pm because that's when staff is usuallly starting & ending shifts. They probably didn't even start cooking your food until after 4.
But no matter how long I wait at a resturaunt I always eat my meal there because the only options are Taking food home to have fries get soggy & cold or to go somewhere else I wait again.

[MomOfOne79]

I think that you have every right to be upset but I would use spellcheck and word the end a little better before hitting that "send" button (state what you want for compensation ie: gift cards, apology, etc) The more professional you sound, the more seriously companies will take your feedback.

I agree. I find it also helps to write you letter and not send it until you calm down. That way you can go in with a clear head and make adjustments to sound more professional. I am so sorry that you had such terrible service, that was uncalled for. I hope that you hear back from the H/O and if not, contact the manager of that location and see if there is any compensation. I have done it before and got some positive results.

We ordered take out from a location of White Spot that we don't normally go to, but due to 'our' location being busy I called the other one. The woman on the phone was quite flustered, got my order wrong and had to constantly ask me to repeat myself. When DH went to pick it up, the order was wrong (though we didn't know this until DH got home), there were items missing and cold. After we ate, I called the location and politely asked for the manager/supervisor in charge and explained to him the situation. He was apologetic about the whole situation. The whole time I remained calm and explained how we love their food, service and have ordered many times over that last 6 years and NEVER had a problem. I then asked for some sort of compensation, to which he did not hesitate to agree and refunded us the entire meal and mailed us a GC for our next order. Now, not every restaurant will do this, but I feel that if you kill them with kindness, you will feel much better in the end and get a much more positive result.

[momof3heathens]

Good luck with your letter. What a horrid time you had.

[Qtpi]

One more idea...I have found that if you can find out who the CEO or president of the company is, in your case Cara foods, write directly to them. You will have to send the letter snail mail, and mark the envelope "personal and confidential". Sometimes by just writing an email to the "contact us" address doesn't work, as whomever answers the emails does not have the power to compensate you accordingly.
I had an issue with Philips Advent bottles after my daughter was born, the "contact us" response was pretty much "sorry, too bad", so I wrote to the CEO, who promptly sent me two replacement bottles Fed Ex; which is exactly what I asked for.

[steen33]

These are some great suggestions and thoughts thank you all very much!!

[steen33]

So we got a reply back today they didnt say much. He defended the server and offered a 25$ GC . It doesnt change the aweful service but atleast he tried =>

[KrazE]

Glad that you were able to get something after the experience you had.

As I said before, speaking up while still in the restaurant most likely would have made a bigger difference as it's impossible for them to dispute the problems on the spot.