Giselda — Restaurant in Rome

So, I had an issue that I tried resolving with them, but they made it impossible to talk to anyone.

What happened was that they had a sign saying €10 for a buffet and drink. I'm a tourist, this was my first time seeing this place, and I saw a ton of pizza and pastries and much more from the outside before I walked in. I walked in as it looked good. The first thing you see when you walk in is the register, so I told the lady that I wanted a buffet and as she was typing it in, I asked a gentleman if the pastries were included. He said no, that was fine. I understand that they were extra. But maybe 3 seconds later my friend saw a measly little table with some bread, pieces of salad, and other small things as the buffet. Maybe 1 minute has gone by since I handed the lady my money. I informed them that I couldn't eat that for dinner. It just wasn't really good; they were mainly small appetizers.

She right away got frustrated and started yelling. Not at me but at her coworkers. She yelled at them that she couldn't do that. I told her that I need my money back so I could buy an actual dinner. They refused and later budged and said I could get €10 worth of other stuff. I'm on a tight budget here, so I didn't really want to spend my dinner money on wine or pastries. I went to the pizza section and I told the man there that I'd prefer money back, but I asked what kind of pizza he had. I wanted something with chicken or sausage. He didn't have any of that. It was just pizza with pork and others with vegetables. Now I felt coerced at this point into eating something I didn't want to. Keep in mind I never touched anything and asked for my refund 1 minute after paying. I didn't order anything made to order or anything that required them to do any work that would be lost.

I asked to speak to a manager and they refused again. They said there was no one I could speak to. And again pointed to the stuff around them. Keep in mind, they were aggressive at this point. So I decide to just take whatever. As I was getting some sandwich the guy making it teasingly asked me why I was frustrated. He knew exactly why. I told him," I just can't believe there is no manger or anybody else I can talk to. There needs to be customer relation people here. It's not like this is a third world country."

With a smirk, he replied,"actually I think it is." I was beyond frustrated and felt taken advantage. Again, I didn't buy a specific product. I payed for a buffet that I didn't touch and asked for a refund a minute after paying. My main frustration is that they didn't offer anybody from management to talk to. I still wish to resolve this issue, so if there is anyone willing to reach out to me, I'd be happy to talk. I realize business practices may be different in other countries, but somebody to talk to and explain things to me should be offered in any decent establishment.

I don't think it was beyond their power to give me €10 back. A small amount to them, but a lot to me.

Until then, keep in mind these people are rude and coercive....

This was my second time here as I love their porchetta sandwich.

My only complaint is the service. I ordered a porchetta sandwich and a coffee. So you pay for the items with a separate cashier and then get a receipt as proof of purchase in order to pick up your order. Easy enough. I went to the coffee counter first, showed her my receipt, and she gave me my coffee. However, when I asked for my receipt back, she never gave it back. Then I went to the sandwich guy and got my porchetta sandwich. When he asked for the receipt to show proof of purchase, I told him his coworker at the cafe has the receipt. I went back again to ask for it, but she didn't have it. I understand mistakes happen and she's busy so probably didn't remember to give me the receipt and probably misplaced my receipt.

However, I then got scolded about keeping better track of my receipt and that I have no proof of purchase. Look, I have no control over when the staff takes my receipt and if they give it back to me. Talk to your coworkers, rather than blaming the customer. They need to troubleshoot the issue and make sure the employees know how the system works. Obviously I had a coffee in my hand, so it's common sense that I had some sort of receipt or else the cafe lady wouldn't have given me my coffee. He should have noticed that and talked to the cafe lady as it was obvious she had taken my receipt. If I had tried to be a thief and not paid for the sandwich, she could have verified that my receipt only had a cafe.

Instead of berating customers, here are some possible solutions:

1. if a customer says the cafe lady kept her receipt instead if giving it back to her, ask the cafe employee for the receipt
2. if the cafe forgets to give receipt back to customers (when they order multiple items) then the cashier should print out more...

I visited your place today, on my 30th birthday. Although I’d been there a few years ago, I still find the system for ordering, paying, collecting food, and figuring out the correct sequence very confusing and not at all intuitive. There are no signs or any kind of explanation in your store to help people like me.

After ordering, paying, and picking up the coffee I’d paid for, I went back to the counter to collect my heated food. It was quite crowded and loud, but a woman working behind the side counter was handing out food to other customers, so naturally I thought that was where I should go.

When I gave her my receipt, she seemed quite confused and asked her colleague about my order. That’s when everything went wrong. The colleague from whom I’d ordered my food in the first place started yelling at me, demanding to know why I’d gone to his colleague instead of coming to him. Even after I apologized and explained that I didn’t know who to approach and that I found the ordering system confusing, he wouldn’t stop. He was very rude, and I left with my pizza feeling quite sad.

Since they didn’t give me a plate, I ended up eating a few bites of the mostly cold pizza straight from the wrapping paper. The coffee was really good, and the pizza was okay, but to be honest, I completely lost my appetite by then and left feeling quite down.

Although your food tastes good and your coffee is excellent, I won’t be coming back. It’s simply not worth it for me. I’d like to kindly ask you to treat your customers in a friendlier and more understanding way, because it really can affect their entire...