We are loyal regulars, but I left on Friday very upset.
My family have been ordering takeout from this location regularly for well over 10 years. My Dad's mother was a fishmonger and he loves fish & chips as it reminds him of her, so my parents get it a few times a month, usually on a Friday.
My Dad usually picks up our order, but he is no longer able to drive as his cancer has spread to his brain. Two weeks ago we learned that the chemo is no longer working and family members from abroad have been making their final visits to say goodbye. My Mum wasn't up to cooking, so she called our order in and I offered to go pick it up so everyone could visit together.
Unfortunately, she mistakenly called the store on King St instead of Dundas (which is actually the same linear street). Her mind is obviously very full of worries for our family & entertaining visitors, it was a silly and forgivable mistake. When I arrived at our usual Dundas shop, the lovely lady behind the counter let me know she didn't recieve the order and asked if we had mixed up the locations.
I relayed the news to my family, and they decided I should just order at Dundas and they'd cancel the King St order. In retrospect, we realized this was also silly as King St had already cooked and packed our order. No sooner had I placed and paid for a new order at Dundas and realized this, and not a minute later asked the lady if I could cancel and get my money back; I would just drive the 20 minutes to King St.
She gave my order slip (which never at any point made it to the cooks) to the manager/owner, who was sitting at a table reading a newspaper, so he could process my refund.
I apologized profusely and thanked him for understanding before he spent the next five to ten minutes ranting at me in front of his staff and customers. He tried to argue that the order was already being cooked and that his store would have told us it was the Dundas location, despite me telling him that the order never made it to the cooks, nothing was prepared or packed, nobody had actually called his store, and he wasn't out any money, product, or business by refunding me.
He would not listen to me and spoke over me, so I had to repeat myself multiple times to get my point across. He made me really uncomfortable and I was at the point of tears, and the lady working was looking at me with a kind pity, she seemed understanding. I give her no fault.
It was a small unfortunate error that could have been quickly and easily resolved and I would have been on my way, 40 minutes out of my way, to feed my family in a trying time. Instead this man made me endure his bad attitude publicly.
He would not give me my money back until I told him (multiple times, again) that our family were regular customers and would not be coming back if he didn't refund me. Having worked in food & customer service for many years myself, I am very respectful and am never the type to argue with service workers, but I felt he was being unfair and vindictive over a small mistake.
He finally relented and although I paid with Mastercard he took cash from the till. He would not hand it to me and threw it down on the counter instead. I left and spent the next 40 minutes getting the meal I had set out to get and trying to calm down before getting back to my family.
I understand that none of the staff knew the context of what was going on in my life at that moment, and I realize there was no mistake made on the part of the Dundas location. But I felt I should let you and your customers know that what was a minor inconvenience that could have been easily resolved became a whole upsetting evening because of the store manager/owner and his reaction.
It's sad, we love the food and it's so close to our house. I honestly don't know if we will ever order here again. I certainly won't, but I suppose it'll be up to my Mum to decide if she wants to risk dealing with someone that unpleasant.
Kindness costs you nothing. Anger can cost you much more. I hope you consider this...
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