Hotel Chantelle

Review: Automatic tip of 20% was added to our bill for a party of two in violation of NYC consumer protection rules. In addition, there was no mention of an auto tip on the menu. Management avoided attempts to resolve issue over the phone.Desired Settlement: Mandatory tip should be refunded and restaurant should be fined.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Hotel Chantelle regarding complaint ID [redacted].

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

In

our restaurant, we use a number of third-party vouchers and other deals, many

of which stipulate that the venue will collect gratuity upon redemption.

How about we is one of the businesses we use to promote dining, however the

gratuity should not have been added and upon research, was an oversight on the

part of the server. I have taken measures to re-train the staff on the usage of

gratuities in regards to vouchers and reiterated our automatic gratuity policy

to them.

I apologize for this incident and would be more than happy to refund the amount

to your credit card.

If you would like to communicate with me directly, I would be more than happy

to discuss this with you.

Review: My sisters: [redacted] and [redacted]a and I purchased a deal through Eventbrite (http[redacted]) for a lobster dinner at Hotel Chantelle. We were there in August [redacted] and not only did we wait close to 2 hours to get our food (with the waitstaff paying us no attention at all) but when we were served, our food was cold and spoiled (the corn was rotten and one of the lobsters was literally black inside). We spoke with the Manager ([redacted]) who assured us that this wasn't customary, gave us his card and asked us to contact him so we could receive credit to dine there another day. Our experience was already ruined and we just wanted a refund. My sister [redacted] contacted [redacted] about this and tough he initially responded (albeit a few days later) and said he'd refund us, we've yet to receive any follow up or refund. It is now almost a month later and this issue has not been resolved. Below, please find the email chain:

August [redacted] sent by [redacted]a to [redacted]:

My name is [redacted] and my sisters and I were at your restaurant last night for the Lobster Bake Party (we purchased tickets via Eventbrite: http[redacted]). We asked to speak with you before leaving and you gave me your business card to follow-up. Here’s a quick recap of our evening:

--My sisters and I waited an hour and a half for our lobster dinner to come out (which is nuts considering that lobster involves minimal preparation. I understand that you guys were not prepared for the amount of people who signed up for the event but you were aware of how many tickets you sold so, as you stated yourself yesterday, there’s no excuse for that kind of delay). In the meantime, we watched as other guests who arrived AFTER we did, were served BEFORE us. We’d like to give you guys the benefit of the doubt but we were the only group of black diners in the restaurant and the thought did occur to us that perhaps we were not as…valued…as your other patrons.

--Also contributing to that feeling was the fact that we weren't given so much as a piece of bread or anything else to tide us over while we waited for our meal to arrive. We eat out a lot and as far as we’re concerned that’s service 101 for any reputable restaurant. So we went ahead and ordered fries and tater tots hoping that we could snack on those as we waited. That order never arrived.

--In general, absolutely no effort was made at the front of the house to offset the fact that the kitchen was obviously overwhelmed, or to make us feel comfortable or valued in any way. We couldn't even get drink refills (in an hour and a half!) because our waitress was almost impossible to track down when we needed her. And I’m sorry but your dining room wasn't that busy by New York standards (the bar area was empty and there were several free tables). When I tried to walk up to the bar to get a drink myself, I was left standing there alone for several minutes before I finally just gave up and returned to our table.

--When our food finally arrived (and to our waitress’ credit, they were once again about to serve another table before us, even though those people had arrived at least an hour after we did, but she stepped in and made them give the lobsters to us instead), all of our corn was rotten, neither of my sisters had potatoes in their buckets (and I only had one lackluster small piece) and as you saw with your own eyes, the inside of my lobster was coated with a blue/green layer of slime. I know your chef said that was a "normal" part of the lobster (“the liver” I believe?) but I've eaten a lot of lobster and that's not normal. That was spoiled – and disgusting. Even the outer shell was discolored. I was also able to show the picture I took of it to 2 chef friends of mine - and they were as horrified as I was that something like that was actually served at a reputable establishment. I could have gotten seriously ill from that and the more I think about it, the more outraged and offended I am at the situation.

We did a lot of advance planning for this evening – purchased our tickets early, made the trek all the way down from Harlem, and after a day spent FASTING for Ramadan, we were expecting a far better meal and experience than what we were given. Instead we got spoiled food and, perhaps even worse: indifferent, insulting and borderline non-existent service.

I've lived in NYC a long time, and I work for a television network so I attend a lot of industry events (including some at the Hotel Chantelle) and eat out quite often as part of my job – and I've never encountered this level of service and treatment anywhere. It’s beyond unacceptable.

So all that said - we appreciate your offer to have us come back for another meal but given all the reasons above, we are absolutely not interested in returning to your restaurant. I am sure you can understand why. Instead we will be reaching out to Eventbrite in order to request a full refund of our ticket price. We paid for a Lobster Bake and we didn't get one. End of story.

Thanks for reading this. And I hope your future events go more smoothly.

FK

After this we tried to go through Eventbrite's website and as per the instructions on their website request a refund. Neither of us ever heard back.

Here is what [redacted] responded on August [redacted]:

From: [redacted] [mailto:[redacted]]

Sent: Friday, August **, 2013 6:04 PM

To: [redacted], [redacted]

Subject: Re: 8/4 Lobster Bake Party: spoiled food, awful service, unhappy customers

Hi,

Thank you for the feedback and again I apologize for your experience. Please know that after that Sunday snafu there have been a number of meetings regarding this event and have worked to rectify our issues, as good service and food is something that we pride ourselves in and always strive to offer. Unfortunately, this sometime falls short and in this case was unacceptable.

I spoke with [redacted] and he will be refunding the full amount to you. Please confirm with me when it has gone through so I can be sure it was properly handled.

Thanks,

[redacted]a responded:

Thank you for the reply, [redacted]. And I’m sorry if my email was a little harsh but I was pretty upset when I sent it. I do understand that sometimes things don’t go as smoothly as planned but I am glad you have worked to iron out the issues surrounding this event.

I will let you know once the refund comes through. Also, I want to confirm that my sisters will be receiving their refund as well. Their names are [redacted] and [redacted] and they too purchased their tickets via Eventbrite and put in a request for a refund through the site last week.

Thank you for your attention to this matter,

-[redacted]a

Since then we have not heard back nor have we received a refund. Our last follow up was August [redacted] and we still haven't heard anything.Desired Settlement: My sisters and I would like to receive a refund in the amount of what we paid for this deal: $32.56 as soon as possible.

[redacted]a

We paid by credit card.

Thank you for you attention and we look forward to a speedy response.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, my complaint, ID [redacted] regarding Hotel Chantelle has been resolved. We received reimbursement checks today 9/**/2013.

(By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)

Sincerely,