Halligan's Pub Incorporated

February 21, 2014
Dear Revdex.com,
We have received your notice regarding the complaint issued against our restaurant, Halligan's Pub.
After 19 years of successfully running our business, we pride ourselves on the excellent reputation we have built....

We are a family of integrity, so we take this complaint very seriously.
One of the most difficult events to plan in our industry, for the family and the venue, is a funeral luncheon. Not only is it highly sensitive for the family, but it is also very difficult to know exactly how many people will come to the luncheon.
Typically, the luncheon venue is announced at the burial and then guests decide whether or not to come at that time. From the venue's perspective, this is very hard because we do not want to make too much food and then have it go to waste and lose the revenue for those hard goods, but we also do not want to run out of food and then disappoint our clients and damaging our reputation.
In the hospitality industry, the standard operating process is to ask for a "guarantee" number 48 hours before the event. This is the number our client is "guaranteeing" and hence the amount of food we purchase. The "guarantee" means that the client is obligated to pay for this number of people whether they show up or not since we are (1) taking the space off the market and thus making it unavailable to other client use (2) we are purchasing the goods based on the guarantee and (3) we are staffing the restaurant based on the guarantee. (It should be noted that we turned away three other funeral luncheons since this client rented out our space.)
It is also standard operating procedure that on the day of the event, the client pays their final bill based on the actual number or the guarantee number, whichever is higher.
All of this was clearly explained to the wife of the deceased who was our initial contact. She guaranteed 100. The next day, the son of the deceased called and decreased that number to 60. In good faith, we let him decrease it because we had not yet ordered the food. We also extended a discounted rate to assure our client's satisfaction.
When the son of the deceased asked for a final total of the bill, we again explained the procedures and told him that until we had an accurate count, we could not give a final total. However, we agreed on a package price of $14 per person, plus 6% state tax and 20% gratuity, with a guarantee of 60 people.
When the funeral party arrived, we counted approximately 100 people. We count them as they come in the door, and then also by plates. Although 100 came, we again, showing our integrity, noticed that some guests just went to the bar and did not eat. We decided to only charge the client for 85 people. This is not a standard in the industry. Typically, you pay for how many people show up as it is not the venue's responsibility to police who is eating and who is not. This would be impossible.
Although we felt that we had exceeded expectations by discounting the menu, and allowing for a 15 person reduction to the actual number, the client was not happy.
Although 85 people (or more) ate, the client wanted to only pay for 60.
This client has since gone on line and used social media as a tool to essentially blackmail us into giving him his money back. At $14 per person, there was already a very low profit margin on this luncheon (about 60% cost when standard is 30% cost).
As much as we would like to make this client happy, we are a family-owned business and simply are not in the position to end up having to pay out of pocket for goods and services that were consumed. We are fair people (again, hence the discount and allowable reduction), but we feel strongly that this request is not fair or ethical.
Thank for taking the time to understand our position. We are happy to provide countless past funeral luncheon event hosts who will provide references to our outstanding reputation, specifically as it relates to service and integrity.
Regards,

Review: Hosted my father's funeral luncheon here on February 1st, 2014. I had made the reservation for 60 people and made our budget clear. When I got the bill at the end of the night and got charged for 85 people. They said they counted how many people came in and ate, and charged us for that. I reiterated the fact that I had only ordered food for 60 people and they never cleared the additional food with myself or any other member of the party. When I raised the issue they basically said tough luck we charged for who we counted. Completely unprofessional and disgraceful on an already horrible day. From the business we brought to the bar alone on a Saturday afternoon in February you would think they would have sucked up their mistake of not clearing the additional food orders.Desired Settlement: I would like a refund for the additional 25 people added to our bill plus the additional tax and 20% gratuity charged. Not to mention I had multiple people complain about the horrible service and the 20% would have really been 10% if it wasn't already tacked onto our bill.

Business

Response:

February 21, 2014

Dear Revdex.com,

We have received your notice regarding the complaint issued against our restaurant, Halligan's Pub.

After 19 years of successfully running our business, we pride ourselves on the excellent reputation we have built. We are a family of integrity, so we take this complaint very seriously.

One of the most difficult events to plan in our industry, for the family and the venue, is a funeral luncheon. Not only is it highly sensitive for the family, but it is also very difficult to know exactly how many people will come to the luncheon.

Typically, the luncheon venue is announced at the burial and then guests decide whether or not to come at that time. From the venue's perspective, this is very hard because we do not want to make too much food and then have it go to waste and lose the revenue for those hard goods, but we also do not want to run out of food and then disappoint our clients and damaging our reputation.

In the hospitality industry, the standard operating process is to ask for a "guarantee" number 48 hours before the event. This is the number our client is "guaranteeing" and hence the amount of food we purchase. The "guarantee" means that the client is obligated to pay for this number of people whether they show up or not since we are (1) taking the space off the market and thus making it unavailable to other client use (2) we are purchasing the goods based on the guarantee and (3) we are staffing the restaurant based on the guarantee. (It should be noted that we turned away three other funeral luncheons since this client rented out our space.)

It is also standard operating procedure that on the day of the event, the client pays their final bill based on the actual number or the guarantee number, whichever is higher.

All of this was clearly explained to the wife of the deceased who was our initial contact. She guaranteed 100. The next day, the son of the deceased called and decreased that number to 60. In good faith, we let him decrease it because we had not yet ordered the food. We also extended a discounted rate to assure our client's satisfaction.

When the son of the deceased asked for a final total of the bill, we again explained the procedures and told him that until we had an accurate count, we could not give a final total. However, we agreed on a package price of $14 per person, plus 6% state tax and 20% gratuity, with a guarantee of 60 people.

When the funeral party arrived, we counted approximately 100 people. We count them as they come in the door, and then also by plates. Although 100 came, we again, showing our integrity, noticed that some guests just went to the bar and did not eat. We decided to only charge the client for 85 people. This is not a standard in the industry. Typically, you pay for how many people show up as it is not the venue's responsibility to police who is eating and who is not. This would be impossible.

Although we felt that we had exceeded expectations by discounting the menu, and allowing for a 15 person reduction to the actual number, the client was not happy.

Although 85 people (or more) ate, the client wanted to only pay for 60.

This client has since gone on line and used social media as a tool to essentially blackmail us into giving him his money back. At $14 per person, there was already a very low profit margin on this luncheon (about 60% cost when standard is 30% cost).

As much as we would like to make this client happy, we are a family-owned business and simply are not in the position to end up having to pay out of pocket for goods and services that were consumed. We are fair people (again, hence the discount and allowable reduction), but we feel strongly that this request is not fair or ethical.

Thank for taking the time to understand our position. We are happy to provide countless past funeral luncheon event hosts who will provide references to our outstanding reputation, specifically as it relates to service and integrity.

Regards,