Disappointing dinner

We tried a new Mexican place for dinner. It sucked. It's not repeating on me thank goodness; but it was so bland. :yuck:

Mom had the arroz con pollo, dad had the chicken quesadilla and I had the enchilada platter. I couldn't eat the ground beef enchilada, the texture and notebook paper taste were unpalatable. I did manage to eat the bean and shredded chicken enchiladas. Though I had to pour the salsa that came with the chips on it to give it flavor. :irked: Everything was flavorless. :mad: I have never had such a pathetic excuse for a Mexican meal before.

It gets better, the only reason we went to El Tapatio's was because my parents had a coupon for a free dinner for two which they had received from the local senior center.

Before placing our order we showed our waitress the coupon. She went in the back and came back and said the coupon was good for $25 off our meal. At the end of the meal she informed us that the coupon was in fact no good. That it was to be placed in a box for a monthly drawing for a free dinner. That's right our coupon for two free dinners morphed into a $25 discount, then into a raffle ticket for a free dinner. :wtf1:
I was pissed, so was mom, but she is a firm believer in not complaining in a restaurant and never sending back food in case they spit in it or worse. :rolleyes::mad: I looked at her and asked if she planned on coming back? She said, no. I said, then it doesn't matter. :biggrin1: I proceeded to give the manager/cashier a good talking to. I explained that someone had dropped off about 50 of these alleged coupons at the local senior center and they should expect more elderly people to come in. I also explained that many elderly people are on fixed income and they would not welcome the surprise of a $30+ bill when they were expecting to not pay anything. She apologized profusely. I said that the least they could do was to comp us one of the three dinners since the error was theirs and we did show the coupon prior to ordering. She just smiled and said "sorry." That stupid putana. We left, we won't be back, and tomorrow when my parents go to the senior center everyone will hear about what happend.

I'm betting they don't last long. I know times are tough but good customer service is priceless.

Comments

WOW! That does suck. =(

I had a lame dinner tonight too... I went to TGI Fridays on a date... he blabbed on and on about work and I never had a chance to even say a word. What made things worse is that it was extremely loud in there and i could barely understand him. At least the food wasn't horrible. It's too bad you couldn't have been there with me instead of him. We could have flirted with the cute waiter!
 
Unbelievable. You should have said "chinga tu madre, puta" and walked out flipping her off. :mischievous:

There's authentic Mexican food around, but you usually have to go by word of mouth. Every try Yelp, NJ?
 
That is terrible!
Be sure to go back to the senior center and tell them about the coupon scam. They need to throw the tickets in the trash.
Word of mouth can kill a business, I would spread the word.
 
Call and get the owners name. Talk to the owner and let them know you plan on letting EVERYONE you know what happened. Sounds like a rip off scam.
 
Ya what Jason just said. Call them & tell them this & be firm. " Customers that are treated badly or food that was bad will make them tell friends not to eat there. & You know word of mouth is your best advertisement" .
 
Hmm...I have the exact same hangups as your mom does about restaurant workers spitting (or worse!) in my food if I'm the least bit demanding.

Definitely a rip-off....sorry to hear of your experience.
 
I worked in the restaurant business for 18 years, and have some thoughts on what makes a successful restaurant. Your experience is a red flag that the company won't be in business for long. Extra money to go out to dinner is hard to come by these days. When people get burned, the word gets out.
 
Those coupons amount to an offer to the holder. All it takes to have a binding contract is an acceptance in accordance with the terms of the offer. When you went to that restaurant, presented the coupon and sat down, you accepted the offer. If they don't honor the coupon, they are in breach of contract. Unless it clearly stated on that coupon that it was only an opportunity to be in a raffle, then they are obligated to give you that free meal. I know it's only a little bit of money, but I would go to your local small claims court and bring an action for your money back. I would also report them to your local Dept. of Consumer Affairs. Restaurants are usually highly regulated and there are probably strict rules/laws about false advertising in your area. If you fail to do something, others will suffer...
 

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