Bentleigh RSL — Restaurant in Melbourne

My friend and I visited the establishment and unfortunately encountered a distressing incident. My friend had ordered a steak which turned out to be tough and chewy. She politely returned it and accepted a lamb shank worth $32 as a replacement for her $44 steak. However, she rightfully requested a refund for the $12 difference. To our surprise, the manager came to our table while we were trying to enjoy our meals—although I had to endure mine cold due to the lamb shank's delay—and handled the situation very poorly. Instead of addressing the issue professionally, the manager seemed confrontational and insinuated that my friend was lying about the quality of the steak. He even claimed that three kitchen staff members had said the steak was perfect, denying any refund. The whole encounter left us feeling uncomfortable and undervalued as customers. The manager's attitude was unprofessional, and his tone was dismissive. It was evident that our concerns were not being taken seriously. As if that weren't enough, my own order was a letdown as well. I ordered the fatty pork belly dish, expecting flavorful pork ribs. What I received were two measly pieces of pork belly swimming in an unappetizing, yellow milky sauce, accompanied by just three pieces of stringy broccolini. For a total bill of $76, this was deeply disappointing. When we attempted to get a refund at the counter, the situation only escalated. The manager was uncooperative and argumentative, insisting that they never provide refunds. This resulted in my friend receiving $32 instead of the $12 we initially requested. The behavior displayed by the staff, including kitchen staff's reactions, was unprofessional and added to our unpleasant experience. Overall, the leadership and service at need significant improvements. The lack of empathy, unprofessional conduct, and disregard for customer satisfaction have left me deeply unsatisfied. I hope that my review serves as constructive feedback, urging the management to reflect on their practices and prioritize customer experience...

I have been a consistent guest with the Bentleigh RSL and most of my experiences have been a pleasure. However last night I attended a dinner which was perfect with a highly respectful staff in the bistro.

Once my party and I had finished our meals we proceeded over to play Keno in the sports bar, once we placed our bet and sat down me and a member of my accompany party proceeded to check our bets and collect our winnings.

Once we approached the gaming booth, I stood seperate to wait and deal my transaction separately, as my accompany party discussed playing another round with the employee by the name of ‘Ayran’ who was managing the games room

He began to get agitated not understanding the simple instructions being given. The party I accompanied then left to get money to place this bet rather than argue with him.

Once she had left he went on a VILE tirade that include various insulting and disgusting expletives

once she had returned and placed the bet, he dealt with me and had another outburst due to his lack of understanding regarding clear instructions -

This was taken up with duty manager Joel who did his best to rectify the situation - which was appreciated and acknowledged

However the unprofessional and disrespectful nature of this is beyond inappropriate. ESPECIALLY Within an establish that is deals hand-in-hand with lots of Veterans and active services members of Australia’s military forces.

This is not appropriate conduct for a professional business and this man is not one who should be dealing with veterans or representing the RSL.

I won’t be returning as a guest due to this disgusting behaviour - I will also being informing the various veterans and active duty members that are known through groups associated with us.

and I hope that as a business and a group this issue is acknowledged and improved on. I expected better and I am disappointed to have seen this...

What a HORRENDOUS experience!! We met with another family and within a matter of 10 min we were reprimanded for the increased noise levels from our children (ages 4, 6, 6 and 7) who were simply excited to see each other. Also they were excited as they headed over to the enclosed play area so all seemed quite normal (yes noisy, but normal). With almost no time to attend to the direct and abrupt instructions given to us (actually about 3 min), security was then called over to further reprimand us. Even in trying to discuss the facts of the situation with them led to a comment like... 'just call the police and let them deal with it'. What is going on here is all that I could think and I went as far as requesting from the Manager that he replay the security camera footage to fully see the sequence of events as well as the facts (yet to hear back from him on this as I demanded an apology). ...and here's where I say let the facts speak for themself but after our shocking experience we saw an article online from another family with almost the same feedback, highlighting the aggressive attitude and tone from the same individual. So the 1 star by the way goes to the other employees there that continue to make a good effort despite having to work with some shocking individuals. By the way the photo is clear and we have no issue with its intent however they were explicit in telling me that at least one parent will be in that space at all times to regulate their children's...