Tamar Ridge Cellar Door — Restaurant in Tasmania

Booked lunch for a large party of adults, to help celebrate the recent engagement of my partner and I. We had travelled from Western Australia, with guests from Melbourne, Singapore and Perth.

We were treated so poorly, it turned what should have been a great day into one of confusion and disappointment. A combination of the sheer lack of customer service, being spoken to in sarcastic and condescending tones, in addition to passive aggressive ‘pet names’ and comments.. on top of being denied to taste wines AT A WINERY was all really unnecessary. Both my partner and I run our own businesses and were BAFFLED by our experience at Tamar Ridge. It is actually beyond me and the owners need to be aware of their staff behaviour. See below.

Ordering is at the bar and we were served by a middle aged woman with short reddish-brown hair. I put in our food order, and said “as for wine, if we could taste some of your Pinots?” (In order to establish which to buy). Her response “NO, NO, NO DAAAARLING.” That’s it, no reason, no apology, to which I asked in confusion,, “Why not?” Her explanation, “You booked for food, not a tasting and it’s a busy day. See? It’s just far too busy for a tasting DARLING” I was genuinely confused, as were my guests with me and I didn’t appreciate the condescending “DARLING” at the end of every sentence. Mind you, we counted a total of 6 occupied tables of approximately 18 available. No one was waiting behind us to order. She didn’t offer to explain the difference in the Pinots. I said fine, we will order the Research, to which she replies “Ahh, the light one” LIKE RIGHT, how would we know it’s light if we aren’t allowed to TASTE it? I mean we visited a WINERY hoping to taste and buy WINE. I don’t see how simply pouring a small amount of their Pinot would have taken so much time and effort for her when we had the intention of buying multiple bottles of wine, and ordering food for 8 people? In fact, right behind us was a menu board offering their tastings?

In addition, after a different staff member kindly moved us to a table with some shade, the same middle-aged employee we ordered from came over and asked “Who was the SOOKY who couldn’t handle the sun?” sarcastically. WOW. Great way to make your guests feel uncomfortable for simply asking to not roast in the sun mid-day (which, mind you I’m sure she wouldn’t be able to “handle” herself)

My partner went to order more food, and also asked for more crackers for our cheese board. Apparently that was all very difficult to accomodate also. Crackers, for our remaining cheese, you would think is a simple ask. He expressed that he was more than happy to pay. They eventually worked it out but wow - You would think we were asking for the world.

Honestly SO disappointed and had I have known the experience and treatment we were to receive, I would NOT have brought along international and interstate guests. To be spoken to like this on what is supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life, we were all so genuinely confused and turned off by her attitude. Had there have been an alternate option close by we certainly would have left. I really did have to bite my tongue and not respond in the same condescending tone and language for the benefit of my own guests and no other.

I mean, this was a celebration of my engagement at a winery where we were refused a tasting of their wine and were spoken to rather disgustingly in my opinion. I’d be curious to know if other guests of perhaps lighter skin colour or older in age would be treated differently.

I suggest Tamar Ridge do some serious staff training in customer service and review their protocols. I will certainly not be returning, nor will my guests or any of their family and friends should they ever ask for winery recommendations in the Tamar Valley. What an experience to go home...

Seemed a pleasant atmosphere & given a menu. Signage says open till 5 arrived 2.30 with 4 of us - still people around doing tastings or just relaxing. We ordered 2 x cheese plate as listed for $25ea and a bottle of wine to share. We were all a little underwhelmed with size the 3 thin slivers of cheese for the price - didn't stay too long & enjoyed it anyway! When lead hostess came to clear the plate, she made some comment albeit in humor about would have normally came around to offer more wafers but chose not to .. saying that we should feel lucky that we even got a cheese plate at all?? Whilst she was pleasant, her demeanor made us feel that we were putting her out. I think she has lost sight that we were the customers there for the travel experience. Upon paying were were charged $30ea for the platter - ...stating that we were given the wrong price menu on arrival with no offer of adjustment. With a poor attitude to customer service & what would be better described as a cheese tasting rather than a cheese plate & we all left with a bad taste and a spoiled experience. We went on to visit other winery's way different approach to service with way better value and suggest others do the same. Suggest Tamar Ridge take a look at attitude to customer service & a little drive around other winery's to see their...

I visited Tamar Valley Ridge on July 26th around 11am with my family, and we were the only ones there. Unfortunately, we had a terrible experience with an extremely rude waiter, likely an older male. As an Asian Australian, we felt he was judging us racially.

As a massive wine enthusiast, I was shocked when he greeted us by saying, "This place is not for you if you are not interested in wine." When I politely inquired about the wine tasting options, he rudely insisted, "This is a wine tasting place, you are not interested, please leave." His condescending attitude was completely unwarranted and ruined our visit.

Not only did this waiter make us feel unwelcome, but his behavior was also unprofessional and disrespectful. As a wine lover, I was genuinely interested in experiencing what Tamar Valley Ridge had to offer, but his dismissive attitude left a bitter taste. My family was ready to spend money and enjoy our time, but we were bluntly chased off.

Tamar Valley Ridge, you've lost a customer and potentially many more. My family and I were looking forward to a pleasant visit, but instead, we left feeling disrespected and disappointed. I strongly suggest you review the quality of service provided by your employees, as this kind of treatment is unacceptable and detrimental to...