Sesame Chinese Restaurant: FAIL
For those who knew me, my birthday is coming up soon. I've been organising a night out with a bunch of friends on Friday, and had decided to do it at this Sesame Restaurant and Bar (Chinese) in Hills Road, Cambridge.
Albeit never dined there, I felt confident from the good review from LocalSecret website. I had never managed (even now) to get anything out of their website (http://www.sesame-restaurant.co.uk/). All I get is just some chinese characters I obviously can't read, and empty boxes of different sizes. The deciding factor was the fact that they have private room we could use for karaoke.
I phoned the restaurant for the first time to enquire and book about four weeks ago. The guy (manager) who handled my booking explained that all I had to do to 'qualify' to use the private function room was to exceed £50 but I have to stay for a minimum of 4 hours. That did strike me as very odd, and had a laugh with my friend Tosha afterwards who was there when I phoned the guy. Since I wasn't very convinced of my thorough understanding of the situation, I called the place up again, the same guy answered and confirmed my understanding. Total of £50, minimum of 4 hours, we can even bring our own karaoke dvds. Great, so I thought.
About two weeks back I went to the restaurant to check on the venue, the private room, and confirmed the booking. I meant to pick up a copy of their menu too, but the lady who showed me around said she would have to print the copy for me since they don't have enough to use at the restaurant if she give one to me. She asked me to pick up the menu the next day, and I said yes, but I called her up later asking her to email me the menu instead, and they did.
I was satisfied with that, and thought everything was ready for our Friday night out. How wrong was I.
Yesterday (Tuesday 4pm, 3 days before the aforementioned night out), I received a call on my mobile from the restaurant. It was the lady who showed me around, as I recognised her voice. She said she called because she found it odd that I booked for 6 people for the private function room, and she had a feeling that it was due to the previous manager's fault for not explaining the terms properly. The guy who booked me was the previous manager and had now just left the business. She told me that to book the room for Friday night, I have to spend at least £50 *PER HOUR* and must stay for a minimum of 4 hours. Doesn't that make sense now why the guy said a minimum of 4 hours? She completely blamed it on the guy who took my booking that he didn't explain things properly to me and now have left me (and her) in a difficult situation.
Now, £200 pounds is not something I was willing to spend on, nor would I be comfortable in asking my friends to chip in. It's just not right to spend that much money. It would make more sense if there were more people, but this wasn't the case.
I offered her a solution which I thought was a compromise for both of us. I said I was willing to pay £150 and stay for only 3 hours. Which doesn't break her £50 per hour rule, and it would be in her good business gesture to forego the 4 hour-minimum rule. She blatantly refused.
I asked her to give me a few hours to decide since I thought I need to tell my friends if we should go ahead, cancel the plan altogether, change the date, or do something else. After talking to them, (and how sweet they were in supporting me) I decided to cancel the booking. When I called the lady up again I told her that I was cancelling, and I also told her what she had done was utterly unprofessional. She literally forced me to cancel the booking, only 3 days prior over £50 and leaving me with no booking for my night out. I promised her I was going to tell all my friends about this and she again defended herself rudely that it wasn't her fault but the previous manager's fault who had left. As far as she's concerned, him and his faults are none of the restaurant's business anymore. She hang up on me and did not apologise even once for the sour situation she had put me into.
Well I am writing it here to make sure that it would still be their business. You can say it is out of spite and bitterness, but I think the public should know that the way they do their business was completely unprofessional, and you can't blame me for being so disappointed.
There's so many things you can do to advertise for your business but nothing beats the word of mouth. I will make sure the words spread around. I haven't even tried their food so I have nothing good to say about them.
Albeit never dined there, I felt confident from the good review from LocalSecret website. I had never managed (even now) to get anything out of their website (http://www.sesame-restaurant.co.uk/). All I get is just some chinese characters I obviously can't read, and empty boxes of different sizes. The deciding factor was the fact that they have private room we could use for karaoke.
I phoned the restaurant for the first time to enquire and book about four weeks ago. The guy (manager) who handled my booking explained that all I had to do to 'qualify' to use the private function room was to exceed £50 but I have to stay for a minimum of 4 hours. That did strike me as very odd, and had a laugh with my friend Tosha afterwards who was there when I phoned the guy. Since I wasn't very convinced of my thorough understanding of the situation, I called the place up again, the same guy answered and confirmed my understanding. Total of £50, minimum of 4 hours, we can even bring our own karaoke dvds. Great, so I thought.
About two weeks back I went to the restaurant to check on the venue, the private room, and confirmed the booking. I meant to pick up a copy of their menu too, but the lady who showed me around said she would have to print the copy for me since they don't have enough to use at the restaurant if she give one to me. She asked me to pick up the menu the next day, and I said yes, but I called her up later asking her to email me the menu instead, and they did.
I was satisfied with that, and thought everything was ready for our Friday night out. How wrong was I.
Yesterday (Tuesday 4pm, 3 days before the aforementioned night out), I received a call on my mobile from the restaurant. It was the lady who showed me around, as I recognised her voice. She said she called because she found it odd that I booked for 6 people for the private function room, and she had a feeling that it was due to the previous manager's fault for not explaining the terms properly. The guy who booked me was the previous manager and had now just left the business. She told me that to book the room for Friday night, I have to spend at least £50 *PER HOUR* and must stay for a minimum of 4 hours. Doesn't that make sense now why the guy said a minimum of 4 hours? She completely blamed it on the guy who took my booking that he didn't explain things properly to me and now have left me (and her) in a difficult situation.
Now, £200 pounds is not something I was willing to spend on, nor would I be comfortable in asking my friends to chip in. It's just not right to spend that much money. It would make more sense if there were more people, but this wasn't the case.
I offered her a solution which I thought was a compromise for both of us. I said I was willing to pay £150 and stay for only 3 hours. Which doesn't break her £50 per hour rule, and it would be in her good business gesture to forego the 4 hour-minimum rule. She blatantly refused.
I asked her to give me a few hours to decide since I thought I need to tell my friends if we should go ahead, cancel the plan altogether, change the date, or do something else. After talking to them, (and how sweet they were in supporting me) I decided to cancel the booking. When I called the lady up again I told her that I was cancelling, and I also told her what she had done was utterly unprofessional. She literally forced me to cancel the booking, only 3 days prior over £50 and leaving me with no booking for my night out. I promised her I was going to tell all my friends about this and she again defended herself rudely that it wasn't her fault but the previous manager's fault who had left. As far as she's concerned, him and his faults are none of the restaurant's business anymore. She hang up on me and did not apologise even once for the sour situation she had put me into.
Well I am writing it here to make sure that it would still be their business. You can say it is out of spite and bitterness, but I think the public should know that the way they do their business was completely unprofessional, and you can't blame me for being so disappointed.
There's so many things you can do to advertise for your business but nothing beats the word of mouth. I will make sure the words spread around. I haven't even tried their food so I have nothing good to say about them.
posted by Monica | 8:53 AM
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2 comments
