The Madhatter

Thank you for forwarding the formal complaint on behalf of [redacted] dined at the Madhatter on 8/14/2014. We recall the incident cited as we do not take any complaint or guest concern lightly.
It was a busy evening in our establishment and our staff was doing...

its best to accommodate our guests in a timely manner. Upon hearing that a customer was unhappy with their meal, I went over to the table to introduce myself to [redacted], who was sitting at a booth with two of his friends. I greeted the three gentlemen and asked them what I may be able to help them with, [redacted] stated that his burger was overcooked (it was ordered medium well). I apologized for that and asked if I would be able to offer him a new burger, cooked to his liking, free of charge. He stated that this would not be acceptable as he did not want to wait. I personally apologized and told him we would not be charging him for his meal. I also offered him to come back at a later date to dine with us and receive a complementary burger cooked to his liking. He responded and stated he would never be Corning back. said I was sorry to hear that and hope that he would change his mind. The two other gentlemen at the table were smiling and chuckling as [redacted] and I spoke back and forth. I proceeded to ask how they liked their meals and they stated that everything was fine, I thanked them all for Coming and returned to meet with our server, Laura, to remove the one burger from the check.Five minutes later I was asked by a staff member to return to the table again. [redacted] stated that server, Laura, disrespected him by "rolling her eyes" and laughing with other staff members, I told him that I did not believe that she was in any way intending to direct any disdain to him or his friends, Laura consistently receives great reviews from our diners and I do not believe she would ever act disrespectfully to one of our guests. This is simply not the type of behavior she or any of our Staff have ever exhibited in the past, However, I apologized again mentioned I would address his concerns with Laura after the shift, [redacted] responded, “that's not enough.” At this point, I did not know what else we could do and I responded honestly with, “what would you like me to do". In no way was being disrespectful to [redacted]; we slmply were just trying to make him feel accommodated and rectify the situation as best we could.At the end of the shift, Laura mentioned that she was very busy and may not have been able to provide as quick of service to her tables as she would have liked. She was noticeably upset during our conversation in regards to the voiced complaints from [redacted].The Madhatter is a family owned and operated business having been established in DC for more than 30 years, We pride ourselves on providing good food, great service, in a fun and friendly atmosphere. Our longstanding and consistent effort to make people feel welcome has been the key ingredient for our long tenured success in the District.We once again apologize to [redacted] in regards to his poor dining experience and thank you again for bringing this to our attention,Eric H
General Manager Madhatter DC

Review: Dear Revdex.com of Washington D.C.,

I appreciate your time and effort in reviewing and taking action with my complaint with Mad Hatters DC. I am a local in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area and I love trying new places all over the City. On August 14, 2014 at about 8:00PM, my friends and I went to Mad Hatters DC to have dinner. We were greeted by a very polite gentleman and hostess. We were seated at a table right away. After that point the customer service experience went down hill, and down hill fast. Since we were new to this restaurant, we did not know what we wanted to order yet. We decided on calamari but wanted another appetizer, so our waitress, Laura, I believe her name was, said she would put in the order for the calamari and be back to take the order for the other appetizer. It took her about 7-8 minutes to come back to take our order for the other appetizer. At that point we were ready to order our entrees as well. She took the order for the [redacted] chicken wings but did not take our entree order. When my one friend politely informed Laura that we were ready to put in our entree order she said and I quote "Let me put in this order of wings for you guys and I'll be right back." About another 5-7 minutes later Laura appeared. She took our order and I asked for The "BMF" Burger cooked medium well. After we placed our order for our entrees, I asked to get refills on waters since our glasses were empty and she had yet to refill them since we have been there, mind you that all we were drinking was water that night, so it was clear we needed refills. After I asked her for water she said "okay", turned around to walk away and rolled her eyes at me. I found that to be really disrespectful as a guest, but I took it with a grain of salt. Finally, one of the bussers was generous enough to refill our waters for us as Laura was late to appear with water. On a side note, I did notice that Laura was serving on the patio and a large party along with our table and I understand she was busy as her tables were not in the same area, however neglecting a table is not the right solution. Our burgers finally came out, mine however was burnt and was not grilled medium well. When the food runner delivered the food, I asked to speak to a manger knowing that Laura would not appear for a while to fix my burger. About 5-6 minutes after my friends were half way done with their meal, Laura appeared and asked how everything was. I said "fine" since I thought a manger was coming. About 10 minutes into asking for a manager, no one showed up and I had to politely interrupt one of the bussers clearing a table next to us, to get a manger. Finally, about 12 minutes after asking for a manger twice, one shows up. The managers name was Eric, and apparently he was the General Manager. He apologized and offered to get me a new burger but I lost my appetite at this point and did not feel like waiting for another one to come out. He took my burger off the check. About 2 minutes later Laura appears and says "I heard about your burger problems" with a smirk on her face and attitude. She clears some plates and then walks towards the kitchen and in plain sight of my table and view, rolls her eyes again and starts laughing about my situation to the food runner who neglected to get a manger the first time for me. At this point I was livid and felt so belittled and disrespected. When she came back with the check we asked her to split it and I asked to speak to the manager again. The same gentleman, Eric, came. I told him about how I felt, that I did not appreciate being disrespected and he apologized and said "He would have a talk with Laura at the end of her shift." I asked for the contact information for the owner or General Manger, not knowing the first time I spoke with him, that he was the General Manger. He told me that he was the General Manger and gave me his card. I told him I felt so disrespected and humiliated, and his response was "Well what would you like me to do", acting like I wanted everything to be free. At this point I felt so disrespected by everyone, I just wanted to get out of there. I did not want a free meal, that was not the point, I wanted him to know how disrespect and humiliated I felt and he just made things worse. It took Laura 10 minutes to process our payment, which was entirely too long, but I did not care at this point, I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and never see the people that I was belittled by ever again.

Thank you for reviewing and taking action on my complaint and I look forward to hearing back.

Thanks,

[redacted]Desired Settlement: The desired outcome would be to receive a personal response letter from the Owner or highest person running Mad Hatters DC.

Business

Response:

Thank you for forwarding the formal complaint on behalf of [redacted] dined at the Madhatter on 8/14/2014. We recall the incident cited as we do not take any complaint or guest concern lightly.It was a busy evening in our establishment and our staff was doing its best to accommodate our guests in a timely manner. Upon hearing that a customer was unhappy with their meal, I went over to the table to introduce myself to [redacted], who was sitting at a booth with two of his friends. I greeted the three gentlemen and asked them what I may be able to help them with, [redacted] stated that his burger was overcooked (it was ordered medium well). I apologized for that and asked if I would be able to offer him a new burger, cooked to his liking, free of charge. He stated that this would not be acceptable as he did not want to wait. I personally apologized and told him we would not be charging him for his meal. I also offered him to come back at a later date to dine with us and receive a complementary burger cooked to his liking. He responded and stated he would never be Corning back. said I was sorry to hear that and hope that he would change his mind. The two other gentlemen at the table were smiling and chuckling as [redacted] and I spoke back and forth. I proceeded to ask how they liked their meals and they stated that everything was fine, I thanked them all for Coming and returned to meet with our server, Laura, to remove the one burger from the check.Five minutes later I was asked by a staff member to return to the table again. [redacted] stated that server, Laura, disrespected him by "rolling her eyes" and laughing with other staff members, I told him that I did not believe that she was in any way intending to direct any disdain to him or his friends, Laura consistently receives great reviews from our diners and I do not believe she would ever act disrespectfully to one of our guests. This is simply not the type of behavior she or any of our Staff have ever exhibited in the past, However, I apologized again mentioned I would address his concerns with Laura after the shift, [redacted] responded, “that's not enough.” At this point, I did not know what else we could do and I responded honestly with, “what would you like me to do". In no way was being disrespectful to [redacted]; we slmply were just trying to make him feel accommodated and rectify the situation as best we could.At the end of the shift, Laura mentioned that she was very busy and may not have been able to provide as quick of service to her tables as she would have liked. She was noticeably upset during our conversation in regards to the voiced complaints from [redacted].The Madhatter is a family owned and operated business having been established in DC for more than 30 years, We pride ourselves on providing good food, great service, in a fun and friendly atmosphere. Our longstanding and consistent effort to make people feel welcome has been the key ingredient for our long tenured success in the District.We once again apologize to [redacted] in regards to his poor dining experience and thank you again for bringing this to our attention,Eric H

General Manager Madhatter DC