RD Complaint Letter Sent!

During that time, we were informed by a manager that the group had arrived an hour late for a 6:00 pm reservation. Despite being asked to leave by Eventide, the group remained at table. Moreover, one of the patrons was verbally abusive to my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and me. We were informed by this woman that it was a 40th birthday party, and as such we should immediately cease "hovering" and that they were entitled to stay as long as they wanted. Our entreaties to allow our rehearsal dinner to begin were met with further hostility.

By the time we could finally begin our meal, our older guests were dropping asleep, everyone was famished, and our families were disappointed and feeling less than celebratory. Moreover, we had planned to meet friends downstairs for cocktails at 10:30, making us late to our own party.

Frankly, I believe the extended stay by the previous group was due to mulishness and discourtesy on their part, and resistance to being asked to leave. (more)

However, I am aware restaurants cannot always control the actions of their patrons. My larger area of concern is that a group was still seated after arriving so late, and possibly not informed that they had a fixed departure time due to their own late arrival. If they were not late, then we were misinformed by Eventide staff, which is even more disconcerting.

My hope is that Eventide came to some sort of arrangement with my father-in-law, whether for gift certificates for future visits, or, preferably, a reduction in his overall bill. I will be very disappointed if this has not already taken place. As I see it, Eventide did not meet the expectations for the event, and as such owes recompense to the host.

I had very much enjoyed Eventide in the past, and my in-laws chose your restaurant for this once-in-a-lifetime event on my recommendation. As such, I feel partially responsible for such a disappointing evening.

Regards,

Shannon S.

(Phone Numbers)

It's kinda sick how much I relished reading that. Superbly well written! I hope you hear back from them, and let us know what sort of arrangement they propose...

The former teacher says, "Well done!" I also hope your FIL receives compensation. A good manager would also compensate you.

Analy, so did I.

Can't wait to hear the response

Thats really good, but i have no idea what a snafu is lol

Very well written. Hope they try to make it up to you.

Jazleen - Situation Normal All Fouled Up. It's a military term civilians use to say somebody f*cked up royally.

Orchids and Onions...You have a very well written "onion" to your RD venue. (An Orchid would be a letter of praise for an exceptional job). I hope that they will compensate your FIL for the "snafu"! Most businesses that succeed place customer satisfaction high in priority, and they will want your (and family members) future business. Good luck!

Thanks everyone - hey, if this doesn't work, there's always: forwarding the letter to the Washington Post food critic, posting the letter to our personal blogs, Facebook war, etc. There's always more to do!

Wow that is really bad that they would do that, they better have a good response to that..

And, regarding the writing, well, gotta use that journalism degree for something. I've found complaint letters that convey disappointment get more response than the "ME ANGREE!!!! WANT FREEBIES!" kind.

Very well written letter.

Hopefully they get back to you and makeup for all the trouble.

Definitely keep us updated!!

Good letter! And I even learned something not wedding related. I knew the general meaning of snafu, but not that it was an abbreviation!

Thumbs up lady! Very to the point and well written. I'm also sorry you had to go through that. I would have been so disappointed!

HAHA Shannon, "ME ANGRY! WANT FREEBIES!" That made me laugh!

God i love a good complain letter. Send away and good luck.

ANGREEE!!!!!! FREE STUFF!!!

I don't think FIL addressed things with the restaurant, so I thought I'd put my oar in and see what happens. I figured if DS did it, it would be a scarier letter (he's a lawyer).

Good for you! I am just like you......sometimes it embarrasses my FH but if something isn't right it needs to be fixed. I'm always polite and to the point.....as you were! Awesome letter!!! I hope they do the right thing!

Good job! I'll keep you in mind if I ever have to make a written compaint!