Athena pizza — Restaurant in Saanich

The food was decent but the service was extremely unsatisfactory.

I had ordered two donairs from Athena's which came to a total of 31.25 after tip and tax. The food as previously stated was decent but the issue stemmed from the delivery man and who I can assume is the owner or manager.

Upon delivery I was told the price and given the machine to pay by debit, gave a decent tip and was told my card was declined. This was strange because I knew I had the funds, but I told the delivery man I would try again. I tried again and the machine accepted and after confirming with the delivery man that I would only be charged once he left, much like any other delivery service.

The real problem began when I checked my on-line bank statement the next day. I saw that I had been charged twice, racking up a bill of ~63 dollars for two donairs. This seemed a bit unreasonable so I decided to call Athena's to see if I could get a refund, big mistake.

Immediately I was greeted by a grumpy cook who refused to give me a refund, arguing that it was the fault of the bank and no problem of his, he told me to go discuss this with the bank and get my refund through them. To the bank I went. At the bank I told them of my issue and they gave me a printed statement to show to the owner and perhaps that might bring him to giving me a refund.

I went to Athena's with the statement and the man from the phone insisted it was the banks problem and not his, even though all the evidence pointed to me being charged twice and the money being in his hands. Fed up I finally went back to the bank to see if there was any hope to get my money back. They said they could issue a dispute but it would take up to 30 days to conclude with no guarantee of getting my money back. I issued a dispute.

Two weeks later I decided to check whether I had been reimbursed for this lengthy process and found I had not. I called up Athena's once more to see if we could get this sorted, big mistake #2.

After being yelled at for even suggesting that I get a refund (I doubt this man has ever heard of customer satisfaction or even the word respect) he told me if it meant that much to me I should call the police and hung up. I did. The police were a great help, even though I felt super foolish for calling. They essentially told me what I assumed would be the case, that it was a civil dispute matter and if I wanted to get the money back I would have to go to court. My time isn't worth that little that I would go this route, so Instead I wait on my bank to get me a refund (fingers crossed) and wrote this review to dissuade people.

TL;DR I was charged twice for my food. After being yelled at by the owner that he would not give me a refund he insisted I go to the police. Extremely poor customer service, get your donairs and pizza...

All three of my room mates and I used to order from Athena's about 25 years ago but I had to move out of town for work. When I got back to Victoria, these incredible guys were the first place I called for the "moving back" dinner for all my friends who helped me that day. The chef at Athena's makes the best foot long donairs I've ever tasted anywhere. Every donair is stuffed full of meat and the herbs and spices will send you to the moon. "No Lettuce or Tomato Just Extra Onion" is my fav and their sauce drizzled over the meat is just phenomenal. I am a pretty big guy and their donairs are the size of my forearm but the flavors are mind blowing. Every Greek salad is made when you order with so many fresh delicious ingredients they need to use a domed lid to contain it all. Once you add their homemade one of a kind dressing, you will take your taste buds to another world. I often enjoy the awesome Greek salad alone as a meal, with a massive dinner plate sized piece of their heavenly garlic toast. I recommend Athena's to all my buddies and pass out their cute little menus because they fit right in your wallet for easy ordering when your racing home in traffic. The people working there are friendly and take care to make your eating experience a hit. Last winter during a snow storm, I ordered a donair and salad before I headed home from an appointment down town. Everything was hot, fresh and ready to go when I arrived, but a person in training forgot to add my donair sauces to my bag. I phoned them right away to see what time they closed because the snow was coming down really hard by the time I got to my place at Mt Doug. After I explained that my sauce was missing from my order bag, the wonderful owner who answered the phone, personally sent her delivery man all the way to my home through the snow, because she wanted me to stay home where it was safe from the storm. That was so incredibly nice, because I am disabled and she was worried about me driving or possibly slipping in the snow. Wonderful people and incredible food so I hope everyone will give...

Here's an honest review of them. The donairs and pizza are great, tons of toppings and big portion sizes, but that's where the good ends. I have been and still am a regular customer thanks to the amazing taste of their food that I can't find anywhere else, but everything else about them is horrible.

They rarely answer their phones even during the hours they say they are open (several times I've given up and ordered elsewhere) and even when they do they are unfriendly and sound like they would rather be anywhere except talking to you on the phone. They make you feel like you calling them is actually a burden on them and it doesn't feel good. They mess up the orders frequently and the customer "service" (I use that term lightly) is consistently by far the worst I've experienced at any restaurant I've ordered from or been to. It's not a one off, don't expect good customer service here.

I've even pointed out to them the areas in which they can improve and increase their business including updating their hard to navigate/read website and improving their customer service to blank stares and defensive postures/answers. So if you can get past that aspect they're great and the only reason they still have my business is the food they make is delicious.

I really wish they'd change their attitude and start caring and treating their customers with dignity, they'd get a whole lot more...