The Saga Continues
Have I mentioned lately how you shouldn't eat at Daniel's Broiler? Just including that in the hopes of working my way up the search engine rankings, so some stranger will stumble across my rants one day.
I got a voice mail from the general manager today, and an e-mail from the company's VP of Operations. I left VP a voicemail, then responded with an e-mail of my own. He returned my call and got my voice mail, but he has yet to respond to my e-mail yet. Just for fun, I thought y'all might enjoy reading his e-mail and my response. Names have been altered/changed.
His e-mail:
Dear Swankette,
First of all you have my sincerest apology for obviously a bad situation. The success of our company in the last 30 years has been based on quality and taking care of our guests. Something I want to do now; not because of your new mission, but because it's what we always try to do. This is what I've personally done for over 30 years here at Schwartz Brothers Restaurants.
Obviously, our manager did not handle this situation very well and that's inexcusable. I promise this will be addressed with this individual. For that treatment I again apologize.
On the issue of MSG I can vouch for the fact we do not use it. We specifically made the decision in the late 1980's to stop using this product in any of our recipes. We go out of our way to insure that any pre made product or ingredients we purchase do not have MSG in them. This has been one of our business practices for a long time, so it's very probable this was not the source of the issue.
Bottom line is we feel badly your special date wasn't very special and we'd like to fix it. Please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx Ext xxx or email me so we can turn this negative into a positive.
Sincerely,
Exec. V.P., Operations
Schwartz Brothers Restaurants
My response:
VP,
I just left a message for you as well. What was a pleasant evening capped by an unfortunate event has turned into a farce, and the further we delve into this the less confidence I have in Schwartz Brothers quality and customer service.
To recap:
Saturday night we had dinner at the Lake Union location.
Our waiter was a bit cornier than we desired, but all things considered that's not going to give me a negative opinion of our restaurant. A few times my fiance commented that the food (specifically the bacon wrapped prawns and the filet mignon) seemed overspiced. In hindsight, this was likely the MSG.
Upon arriving home he became violently ill. The sort of ill that is precisely how his body reacts when he has eaten MSG. He has suffered food allergies for years, and when it comes to MSG it is very easy to tell when he has eaten it inadvertently. I will spare you the gorey details. It was unfortunate, but given the fact that we had not specifically asked about MSG we chalked it up to our own mistake. Generally we are careful about such things, and we were definitely careful to ask about egg (another food my fiance is allergic to), but given the reputation of your restaurant we didn't even think to ask about MSG.
Monday, once he was feeling better, my fiance called to confirm whether or not there was MSG in the food. [Hostess] answered the phone and told him there was MSG in certain menu items, and shortly transferred [Sweetie] to [Manager], the manager.
My fiance was explaning to [Manager] how a restaurant of your quality should not use MSG anymore. [Sweetie]was stern, as he was upset about the situation, but was in no way rude or disrespectful to [Manager]. Then [Manager]LAUGHED AT HIM. THIS was the moment that our experience with your organization became negative. When my fiance lost his temper at this [Manager] told [Sweetie] to watch HIS tone. UNACCEPTABLE!!!
However, in his conversation with my fiance [Manager] indicated that he could provide a list of foods you prepare that do not contain MSG. Now, if Schwartz Brothers stopped using MSG over 15 years ago WHY did two people at the restaurant level confirm use of MSG and WHY did one of them offer a list of foods that do NOT contain MSG for our reference? Based on this information and based on the illness my fiance suffered I, frankly, don't believe a word you've said regarding your company's use of MSG. And if I can't believe this basic information, then how can I believe anything else you have said to us?
Had [Manager] simply apologized for the unfortunate mistake when [Sweetie]had called earlier we'd be well past this. Were planning on buying gift certificates for participants in our upcoming wedding. As it stands now I cannot imagine what you, or anyone from your company, could do to make this better. Because now in addition to the poor quality (use of MSG), and disrespect (your manager LAUGHING at us) we now add dishonesty to the list (because SOMEONE is lying about your company's use of MSG).
Regards,
Swankette
By the time this adventure is over perhaps we'll be able to add the seven deadly sins to the list of grievances.
I got a voice mail from the general manager today, and an e-mail from the company's VP of Operations. I left VP a voicemail, then responded with an e-mail of my own. He returned my call and got my voice mail, but he has yet to respond to my e-mail yet. Just for fun, I thought y'all might enjoy reading his e-mail and my response. Names have been altered/changed.
His e-mail:
Dear Swankette,
First of all you have my sincerest apology for obviously a bad situation. The success of our company in the last 30 years has been based on quality and taking care of our guests. Something I want to do now; not because of your new mission, but because it's what we always try to do. This is what I've personally done for over 30 years here at Schwartz Brothers Restaurants.
Obviously, our manager did not handle this situation very well and that's inexcusable. I promise this will be addressed with this individual. For that treatment I again apologize.
On the issue of MSG I can vouch for the fact we do not use it. We specifically made the decision in the late 1980's to stop using this product in any of our recipes. We go out of our way to insure that any pre made product or ingredients we purchase do not have MSG in them. This has been one of our business practices for a long time, so it's very probable this was not the source of the issue.
Bottom line is we feel badly your special date wasn't very special and we'd like to fix it. Please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx Ext xxx or email me so we can turn this negative into a positive.
Sincerely,
Exec. V.P., Operations
Schwartz Brothers Restaurants
My response:
VP,
I just left a message for you as well. What was a pleasant evening capped by an unfortunate event has turned into a farce, and the further we delve into this the less confidence I have in Schwartz Brothers quality and customer service.
To recap:
Saturday night we had dinner at the Lake Union location.
Our waiter was a bit cornier than we desired, but all things considered that's not going to give me a negative opinion of our restaurant. A few times my fiance commented that the food (specifically the bacon wrapped prawns and the filet mignon) seemed overspiced. In hindsight, this was likely the MSG.
Upon arriving home he became violently ill. The sort of ill that is precisely how his body reacts when he has eaten MSG. He has suffered food allergies for years, and when it comes to MSG it is very easy to tell when he has eaten it inadvertently. I will spare you the gorey details. It was unfortunate, but given the fact that we had not specifically asked about MSG we chalked it up to our own mistake. Generally we are careful about such things, and we were definitely careful to ask about egg (another food my fiance is allergic to), but given the reputation of your restaurant we didn't even think to ask about MSG.
Monday, once he was feeling better, my fiance called to confirm whether or not there was MSG in the food. [Hostess] answered the phone and told him there was MSG in certain menu items, and shortly transferred [Sweetie] to [Manager], the manager.
My fiance was explaning to [Manager] how a restaurant of your quality should not use MSG anymore. [Sweetie]was stern, as he was upset about the situation, but was in no way rude or disrespectful to [Manager]. Then [Manager]LAUGHED AT HIM. THIS was the moment that our experience with your organization became negative. When my fiance lost his temper at this [Manager] told [Sweetie] to watch HIS tone. UNACCEPTABLE!!!
However, in his conversation with my fiance [Manager] indicated that he could provide a list of foods you prepare that do not contain MSG. Now, if Schwartz Brothers stopped using MSG over 15 years ago WHY did two people at the restaurant level confirm use of MSG and WHY did one of them offer a list of foods that do NOT contain MSG for our reference? Based on this information and based on the illness my fiance suffered I, frankly, don't believe a word you've said regarding your company's use of MSG. And if I can't believe this basic information, then how can I believe anything else you have said to us?
Had [Manager] simply apologized for the unfortunate mistake when [Sweetie]had called earlier we'd be well past this. Were planning on buying gift certificates for participants in our upcoming wedding. As it stands now I cannot imagine what you, or anyone from your company, could do to make this better. Because now in addition to the poor quality (use of MSG), and disrespect (your manager LAUGHING at us) we now add dishonesty to the list (because SOMEONE is lying about your company's use of MSG).
Regards,
Swankette
By the time this adventure is over perhaps we'll be able to add the seven deadly sins to the list of grievances.
posted by Swankette at 5:14 PM
2 Comments:
Wow.
After eating at a "No MSG" restaurant a few years ago during my lunch hour, I staggered around all afternoon as if I had been anesthetised ... liars, liars, liars.
I'd also note the number of errors in grammar and punctuation in the V-P's message...
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