ComplaintsforThe Blueberry Patch

• Initial Complaint

  11/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We waited an 1.5 hrs for food and my husband's food was horrible he ate half but he was starving. Refused to refund, and also manager preceded to say we didn't look like the kind of people that would eat here. My husband and I were very offended.

  Business response

  11/23/2022

  [BBB transcription via mail, see attachment]

   

  This letter is in response to a complaint made by a patron, BBB Complaint ID ******** and dated 11/9/2022.

  I, ****** *********, the General Manager of our family owned restaurant was on duty and had the encounter with patron, ****** ********. The following will be the events from my experience from the evening of November 5th, the night which this encounter occurred.

  Mr. ******** and a group of 13 others had a reservation in our establishment for 7:30 p.m. on the evening of 11/5. Half of the group arrived on time and were seated right away the other half of the group arrived within 15 minutes and were also seated promptly.

  The group was assigned by me to have two experienced servers to take care of the group that evening. Both Servers have years of individual experience in the industry and are trained in Safe Alcohol Sales Training. Two servers were more than adequate for a group of this size.

  Within 25 minutes of the group being sat, one server mentioned to me that a few of the patrons on one end of the table seemed disgruntled. I told her to keep an eye out on them and I would too.

  The group ordered drinks and appetizers before ordering their meals. They had received their appetizers and ordered another round of drinks before ordering entrees. Around 8:10 the group ordered their entrees. By 8:50 all entrees were out of the kitchen and served to the table. In the mean time the group ordered more drinks and again my server had mentioned that a few patrons, Mr. ******** and other guest, were not improving.

  It is worth mentioning that on the evening the restaurant was serving Filet Mignon and burgers as specials, not regular menu items. Mr. ******** tried to order a filet but the last one for the evening was sold to someone else at the table. The server informed me that this also made Mr. ******** visibly angry to the server.

  The group was ready for their checks by 9:20 and they received them by 9:30.

  At this time the server alerted me, in the kitchen, that Mr. ******** would like to talk to me and he at the bar waiting for me. I immediately went to talk with him.

  I greeted Mr. ******** and said "Hello, how can I help you?"

  Mr. ******** stated that he would like me to explain some things on his bill and I agreed to do so.

  On the check was a standard 20% gratuity charge, which is standard practice in many restaurants and is printed on our menu. Also on the bill were 8 Bud Lights, 1 burger and one pizza.

  Mr. ******** expressed his discontent for the 20% gratuity saying that the service was not good. He also said that his food was "****". I apologized and told him that they were assigned two servers to handle their table and asked if he had mentioned his unhappiness with the food, he said no. I then asked if he ate the food, he said yes. I then asked to see his bill. He showed me, and I noticed that they had ordered 8 beers- which in less than a two-hour time frame is a red flag to me and shows me that there server was making frequent trips to the table.

  
  

  I then told Mr. ******* that it would be hard for me to do anything for him at this point—the end of their visit. He became very angry with me and started cursing saying my restaurant is "****" and "**** this place", At this point he is irate. I told him that the way he approached the situation and the way he demanded a refund, cursed several times at me, after not mentioning to the server that he was unhappy with the food and after eating the food, that this did not make me want to remove the food or gratuity from the bill.

  He became even more angry saying he would never be back and he would tell everyone he knows not to come to our restaurant. I said that that is fine because I do not need customers like you.

  He then pulled money out and started counting. His bill was $77.94

  He took $90 and threw it in my face as he walked away from the bar. I asked him to leave. He went and sat down at his table. I followed him to his table and told two people at the end of the table, acquaintances of mine that I do not want him, Mr. ******** to ever return to the restaurant.

  He got up with his wife, they both finished their beers and started to walk out. I followed them out of the door to make sure no damage was done.

  At no point did I raise my voice or get angry with him. He was belligerent and out of control that night.

  After Mr. and Mrs. ******** left their group all approached me and apologized for his behavior they also stated that their food and drink was very good and that they enjoyed themselves.

  Before Mr. ******* left on this night, one of his friends, **** ******, approached one of their servers who and asked to cash out early. He stated he was leaving early because his friend Mr. ******** was "acting like an ******* and he wanted to punch him"

  I hope that this is adequate response to the complaint. I am more than happy to talk discuss further or answer questions if necessary.

  Sincerely,

  ****** *********

  ************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩