A customer who queried his bill after being overcharged at an Italian restaurant was told to 'shut up' by the owner. Samuel Port, a reviewer, says he regrets ordering from Franco's after the terrible customer experience and 'sloppy' food.
The journalist visited the Italian restaurant in Leeds for a takeaway and was left stunned by the whole experience after being told to wait double the expected wait time for his pizza. The Leeds Live reviewer gave the establishment at Thorpe Park a damning one star after staff failed to make up for the extended delay for his food.
Then to top off his miserable meal, he was blasted by Franco's owner for questioning the bill after it appeared that he had been overcharged for his food. In the end, staff corrected the complaint and he ended up paying £2 under the odds for his pizza's and fries.
However, despite that Samuel was quick to dish out a scathing review in the publication, writing: " I rang up the restaurant on a Thursday night, made my order and was told it would take 30 minutes.
"This was great as I was planning to see a film at the nearby cinema, so picking up a pizza and having it to eat just beforehand felt convenient. The conversation over the phone was very relaxed and easy going.
"Then around 35 minutes later, I arrived at the venue and it was busy with waiters darting across the venue. It seemed like there was a hurried atmosphere and it was difficult to flag anyone down.
"I finally managed to speak to a member of staff who told me my order would take further 10 or 15 minutes, which was going to make me massively late.
Despite the added time meaning Samuel would be late for his film, he decided to hold off cancelling to see what resolution the establishment would offer to the inconvenience. He added: "I considered just leaving it but readers have expressed online in the past when we’ve reviewed a place poorly that we should give the takeaway or restaurant a chance to resolve the situation more amicably.
" I also thought it would be a good litmus test to see how they responded to a complaint and what sort of resolution they would offer. So I asked the manager, who seemed like a nice guy, politely if they could make it up to me in some way.
However, the manager was stunned by the reviewers request for a discount and went to get the owner Franco who blasted the journalist. Samuel said:" [The manager] asked "like what?" Since the price for a takeaway is already 10 per cent off the menu prices – I suggested 20 per cent.
"I expected him to come back and say they can’t do that but we can make it up in some other way. Like even just a can of Coke to sit down with while I waited. He went off to ask the owner Franco and came back to me with a point-blank refusal to make any sort of allowance for making me about 20 minutes late.
Samuel says despite not getting the discount for his wait, he was happy to square up for his food at full price. However, the Leeds Live writer was flabbergasted when the bill he was handed was charging him more money than expected.
He said: "When we came to settle the bill, the prices didn’t quite match up with what I had calculated prior to my visit. With the fact the order was running so late, I wasn’t happy with paying more, out of principle.
"The waiter seemed confused and annoyed by what I was saying, I even took out my phone calculator to show him how I’d worked out my price. He came back once again and the order had now climbed almost £4 over the price I had been expecting.
"I wasn't happy after I’d been waiting for my food for so long and the unpleasant atmosphere I’d had to endure up to this point.
After this Samuel was then presented face to face one again with the owner Franco, who said he'd get 'no freebies' from the restaurant. Samuel said: "The waiter brought the manager Franco over. “No freebies!” he said, presumably still under the impression I was asking for a discount.
"I attempted to tell him that I wasn’t asking for a discount, just that I was being overcharged. Shut up for a minute! he shouted at me, visibly annoyed.
"Franco then demanded a menu from his staff and then announced the prices had been changed that morning. The menu in the restaurant was indeed higher than the one provided online.
"Franco said to 'just give him the price he wants,' flinging the menu back down on the counter. The manager came over again, and as I said before, he seemed like a nice guy and charged me £2 less than what I was supposed to have paid.
"I am not the type of person who will tolerate rudeness and if someone is rude, I will address it. So I calmly told Franco that he’d provided the worst customer service I’d ever experienced, which was true.
The writer claims the owner offered a lack lustre apology for his actions before stating his rage was something well known by his customers. Samuel said: "He sort of half-apologised about it – but not really.
"He said something along the lines of “I am known for my rage. There’s a sign up on the wall which says ‘Franco throws out!’.” - attempting to chuckle it off (I can't confirm if such a sign does actually exist).
"He explained that it had been a busy night and how they shouldn't have even taken my order in the first place. At that point, it had taken about 50 minutes from when I made my order over the phone.
"We were then waiting around for another five or 10 minutes, I can’t quite remember, and Franco came back and shouted over at his staff “Where’s this guy’s food?!”
“It’s there, someone shouted back, pointing over at the boxes on the counter beside us. A member of staff had left my order there without even telling me.
In his closing comments, the reviewer stated the food was 'average' and he has had far better pizza's with the 'pandemonium' inside the establishment perhaps causing the dough to be undercooked. Samuel said:" The pizza in all honesty was average, a bit sloppy, but perhaps all the pandemonium had caused the chefs to rush the order and under cook it.
"I have no quarrel with the chefs, there was a lot of meat on my pizza, beautifully named the Gargantua. Plus my dinner guest was pleased with their Funghi pizza.
"The portion of fries was quite large - but they are £3.74. The food was perfectly fine but I’ve had far better pizzas from other Leeds Italian restaurants, Pizza Fella and Rudy’s to name a few.
"I regret ever ordering a takeaway from Franco’s."
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