Nu Restaurant Restaurant

Alcoholic

As one of the "hottest restaurants in town", hubby & i are truly disappointed. It was my dear mom's birthday, & she wanted western food. So, we decided to treat her to try Nu on last Sunday, May 4th. I made my reservation online for 6:30 for six people.

Food:
- not that it wasn't good... but nothing astonishing i would say. when i tried C a few years ago, it gave me a better impression in comparison, although, it is relatively cheaper than C.

Service:
- SSSS = SUPER SNAIL SPEED SLOW
- (this wasn't a big deal, but just to include more details) We arrived at 6:15, and the table wasn't even ready yet. the restaurant was fairly empty. The hostess said that "there were people crowding around the table that was meant for us" so that's why she cannot set it up yet. so we were offered to sit in the lounge area for 15 mins until our table was finally ready.
- the waitress that served us was nice, but she's not attending our table enough. not that we're the type of customers that ask for a glass of water, & when she brings it back, we ask for toothpick sort of thing...nothing like that. there was the 6 of us at table, she gave us a platter of bread (cut baguette size) with only 7 pieces. of course, we finished that in a mere 3 minutes, so she was smart enough to bring us a 2nd platter with more bread.
- it took her 15-20 minutes to come back to check on us for ordering after giving us water. it took 30 mins after we finished dinner, to come back to offer us the dessert menu AND another 10 minutes to bring us the bill, another 5ish minutes to bring the transaction slip back for my hubby to sign.

Ultimate reason for my death sentence:
our bill total comes to $270 (6 people...not bad for 6 entrees & 3 appies to share, 3 desserts, no booze)
so my hubby wrote down $300 because it was just WAY too slow even for western dining, & we were left unattended a lot of times. we already decided that we will not go back because it's not worth our while.

the day before yesterday , he checked his visa online.... & the damn restaurant charged him:
1. $306.72
2. $121.06

so the first charge wasn't even what my hubby wrote down originally. plus, even if they were unsatisfied with the tips, they still had no right to change it. and secondly, how can they charge us the 2nd time on the same night with the $121?! that's so ridiculous!

so my hubby called the restaurant, the girl who answered took down the information (name of reservation, date, original invoice amount) and said that would check & call back later as they're busy. so, my hubby emailed the restaurant to be on the safe side in case she doesn't call back soon. eventually, the manager replied, asked for authorization #, etc etc....my hubby gave him all the relative information. but still, it's been the 3rd day now, and they still haven't fixed it up yet! at least the manager should call my hubby back in person so apologize and not just ask the most SIMPLE questions through email la! there's not even an apology in the emails!

so, i'm utterly disappointed at the service & professionalism of this restaurant, & will just give it a death sentence.

[ 本帖最後由 Alcoholic 於 2008-5-9 11:37 編輯 ]

marimo

I think you should call the card center instead of waiting for the restaurant to fix the problem, so the card center will be aware of it and perhaps send a warning or something to the restaurant. I don't think the restaurant is taking your concern seriously.

From looking at the email responses, the manager is certainly very unprofessional. You can't even compare it to White Spot. One time I went to White Spot and I wanted to pay with my gift card, but the waiter checked and said my card is invalid. When I went home and checked the balance online, it still has money in it so I called and talked to the manager. She apologized several times in the phone (I wasn't really blaming anyone, only trying to figure out why and how I could use it next time) and sent me a letter with 2 coupons to apologize again.

whitecho

Can you call the card center and tell them that was not an authorized transaction ?

Alcoholic

so ridiculous... now the manager reply my hubby saying that he has the next 2 days off... so won't be able to "fix the problem until monday". WTF....

what kind of award winning restaurant is that?!

puZZle

the emails sound so... cold?
ya the manager should've did it > sincerely

Alcoholic

Edit:
i asked my hubby if he gotten any response yet... he said no.
also, he did say that when he called, he did talk to the manager & he did say sorry.
however, hubby & i both feel that the restaurant lacks professionalism, not manners.

even though we did get there early, and our table was ready by 6:30, i already said it's not a big deal. it's just the fact that when you dine at a western restaurant, when you get there, the table should be ready, & usually, they're ready a bit early anyways from turnover... unlike chinese restaurant where they make you wait 30-45 mins after you arrive. i mentioned this only because when we arrived, the restaurant itself was only 10% full with people and other tables are set up already, but not our table. and our reservation was so considered early, so i would have expected that we're the first round of customers lor... that's why.

we sat down at 6:30ish. i too, agree that western dinner easily takes 2 hrs. i was thinking that dinner should be done by 8:45, & then drive back to my place to cut the cake with mom. BUT, we didn't leave until 9:45 approx.

i know that if we needed anything, we can signal our designated waitress to come over... but the point is: SHE'S BARELY TO BE SEEN!

another point why i said the service was slow is because after we all finished our entrees, all 6 empty plates were left on our table for like 10 minutes unattended. and another 15- 20 minutes to give us dessert menu   by that time, the restaurant was getting busy... she was serving other tables & didn't look over at our's. so we just sat & waited... there are so many times that we waited that we were too tired to have anything to talk about   plus the fact that we waited 15 minutes to take order... so i think that was pretty unacceptable...

and as i mentioned... (although i did found out that the manager did apologize over the phone), but the email composition lacked professionalism.

emails:
**************************
manager to my hubby

Please send me your phone/contact info + the wrong billing amount and the last 4 digits of your credit card.
Cheers,
XXXXXX
Manager bleh blah
**************************
hubby's reply to manager

name, 604-xxx-xxxx
last 4 digits of credit card: xxxx

May 6, 2008 Nu Cuisine Vancouver $306.72
May 6, 2008 Nu Cuisine Vancouver $121.06
***************************
manager's reply to hubby

Mr. Alc,
I also need to know the correct amount we should have charged your CC and which charge was additional based on your records.
Cheers,
XXXX
Manager blah bleh
****************************

Or issit just me? i personally think the manager could have better written the email. afterall, it's THEIR mistake on this whole thing and with wrong charges & over charge, it could be taken very seriously if we weren't so nice about it.
like what Sazabi said, my hubby also said that with a mistake like that, we could have easily called the card center & claim anauthroized charges... which is true ga wor. my hubby said we will give them 1 more day to fix this. otherwise, he will call the card center.

SAZABI

原帖由 akshea 於 2008-5-9 12:01 發表
- I don't think it's such a big deal for the slow service.. I went there a few months ago... I find it ok to take time .. it's not unsual for people to spend 2 hrs on dinner.. especially for white people... In fact I would feel uncomfortable if they are rushing me.. plus. if you need anything .. you can always call ur waitress over...

I don't quite agree with this lor.  Service is never mechanical that the server should expect all the customer like to be served the same way.  Some people like quicker (alcol), some like slower (you).  The server should pay more attention to the table to try to accommodate the customer.  (e.g. if the people are holding the menu chatting, likely they need more time.  If the people have the menus down on the table and chatting or rolling eyes, go take order lol)  Yes, it is tough, but that's how they earn good tips by providing good service.  I only expect chinese restaurant or 茶餐廳 to serve mechanically, but those places never earn more than 20% tips from me.

Alcoh,
If I were u, i just call the card center and tell them those are unauthorized charges and they will sort that out for you.

shutterbug

better call the card center first

布小熊

- it took her 15-20 minutes to come back to check on us for ordering after giving us water. it took 30 mins after we finished dinner, to come back to offer us the dessert menu AND another 10 minutes to bring us the bill, another 5ish minutes to bring the transaction slip back for my hubby to sign.

Well my dinner usually take about 3 hrs.. haha
But Alc still has her point here. 15 min before order is ok if the customer need time to view the menu and already ordered drinks but they didn't. And 30 AFTER they finish dinner for dessert... amm.. if they have already cleared out all the dinner plates and I had to sit there for another 30 min (without food nor drinks) to wait for a dessert menu... I won't stay for dessert.
Anyway, service did look slow and Alc still did pay some tip...
I think the extra $1xx must be a mistake from another transection and 3 days IS definately too long to figure that out.

btw.. I never liked Nu...

[ 本帖最後由 布小熊 於 2008-5-9 12:18 編輯 ]

akshea

- You made a booking for 6:30 and your table is ready by 6:30 .. what's the problem there ?
- I don't think it's such a big deal for the slow service.. I went there a few months ago... I find it ok to take time .. it's not unsual for people to spend 2 hrs on dinner.. especially for white people... In fact I would feel uncomfortable if they are rushing me.. plus. if you need anything .. you can always call ur waitress over...

Your last point is clearly unacceptable however... They shouldn't over charge you and spend more than 3 days to fix it.