The owners of an Indian restaurant have hit back at a customer who claimed they were left waiting an hour and a half for their food to arrive.
Sai Surbhi in Fulwood, Preston is regarded as one of Lancashire’s higher-rated eateries for south Asian cuisine and currently has a rating of four and a half out of five on TripAdvisor.
Recent reviews have highlighted the restaurant’s ‘authentic Indian style’, ‘fantastic food’ and ‘very smart’ service. But one recent customer did not agree, reports Lancs Live.
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In the review, which was titled ‘I Would Rate 0 If I Could. Extremely long waiting times’, the customer said they were left waiting an hour and a half for two curries and accompanying bread, which had been pre-ordered on the phone.
The customer said they eventually received a refund from the restaurant after being ‘told no three times by the staff member’.
The full review states: "Ordered only two curries and a bread that still wasn’t ready after 1h 30min of waiting. When asked how long the the food would be, the same answer was given “shouldn’t be too long now”.
“I ended up getting a full refund which was challenging as I was told NO three times by the staff member and I that I can wait for my food. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, clearly the staff need training.
"No organisation and understaffed. I can’t comment on the food, if it was ever put on I would assume it was over cooked."
Sai Surbhi responded to the review to allege the customer had ‘berated’ staff and ‘threatened' to give a bad review because their order was just ‘10-15 mins late from its allocated time’.
Outlining the experience from their point of view, the response said: "Your order had an allocated time of 9.30pm, you were kicking up a fuss at 9.40pm. Your refund was processed by 9.45pm.
“How you were waiting an '1hr 30min' for an order that was refunded within 1 hr since the time of the phone call made placing the order which you showed us, just shows again your nature.
"As it was a Saturday night all orders were all allocated 45mins-1hr. Minimum, Because we are that organised & we know how long our kitchen takes. We don't just knock out curries, we make each dish individually so it's not just a case of 'I only ordered 2 curries'.
“After I heard you berating my staff for having to wait, which she repeatedly apologised for, I stepped in and explained to you we had your order down for 9.30, it was now 9.40pm.”
The response added that the dishes ordered took ‘longer to cook’ than other meals and the restaurant was also busy at the time. While accepting that the order was running late, Sai Surbhi said it had offered the customer a discount for the delay.
"You had ordered the lamb shank (excellent choice) a very tender dish that is slow cooked so the meat falls off the bone in a delicious curry sauce, and it takes longer to cook. We are busy, so it is running late (there was a full restaurant to view).
“As I explained this to you, you abruptly instructed us that on our website we are offering 15% discount off which you should be entitled to. Which my team member then informed you that this discount had already been applied without you even realising or asking(You're welcome)."
The management team then continued their response by going into detail about where the alleged 'threat' of a bad review came from. They added: "Following this information of no further discount you then threatened you'd be leaving us this bad review for being kept waiting, as if you should have been compensated? So we told you to go ahead with your review. Had you not done this, things would have been different.
"I then left to check on your order which was minutes from ready. Upon my return 5 minutes later you stated you wanted a refund. I said no, correct. As I told you then, I will tell you again. I don't like the way in which you spoke to me or the threats of bad feedback because you're order is 10-15mins late from it's allocated time.
"You then apologised and I instantly began actioning your refund. Whilst your refund was being actioned at 9.45pm your food arrived which we sent back to the kitchen."
To end the review, the response referred back to the reviewer’s original claim that they couldn’t ‘comment on the food’ because they didn’t get to eat it, the management said it was ‘great’ and later enjoyed by staff.
"Correct, you can't comment on the food,” the response concluded. “But it went down a treat during our staff meal at the end so we can tell you it was great!"
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