GOGI KOREAN BBQ & KARAOKE — Restaurant in Christchurch

I don’t often write reviews, but I feel compelled to share my experience at GOGI on 7/12/2024. This review isn’t about the food (I didn’t eat there) but about how the staff handled a serious mistake.

I went to GOGI for karaoke, and as part of their policy, I handed over my drivers licence and credit card as a bond for the room, which seemed reasonable. However, after finishing karaoke, I discovered that the staff had accidentally given my drivers licence and credit card to another customer who had already left.

While this mistake alone was concerning, it wasn’t the reason for this review—everyone makes mistakes. My concern was how the staff handled the situation. If it had been my debit card instead, the other customer could have spent the money in my account, and there would have been little I could do. My advice to others: always leave a credit card in such situations, as charges can at least be disputed.

The issue was the staff's response to their mistake. Although they apologised initially, they offered no real solution. I locked my credit card immediately, but I had no idea how long my information had been at risk.

Since they didn't have the other customers number they suggested they would could call me when he returned. However, since we were only visiting Christchurch and leaving the next day, this wasn’t helpful. Without my drivers licence, I couldn’t drive anywhere, and it was already 7 PM, so there weren’t many options for us.

After that they just treated us like we weren't there. My partner and I were left awkwardly standing at the front counter while they tended to other customers. We weren’t offered a seat, a glass of water, or even an update while we waited for the other customer to return (with no timeline in sight).

They didn’t take my problem seriously and made me feel as though my situation wasn’t important. It felt like if the person who took my cards returned two hours later, the staff would have been content to let us stand awkwardly at the front for the entire time.

I had to suggest contacting the customer’s bank so they could reach out to them (since their bank card was still there). When I asked to see their bank card to gather the necessary information, the staff hesitated to show it to me, which is understandable. However, the other customer now had access to all of my personal information—essentially every piece of sensitive information I had. Yet, I wasn’t even allowed to use their card details to contact the bank.

We even told the staff that if they didn’t trust us to handle it, they could make the call themselves. Despite this, they still refused, claiming they were too busy. They couldn’t spare even one staff member to address what was clearly an urgent matter. In their view, it simply wasn’t urgent.

No one took responsibility for the situation. The staff seemed content to let things unfold on their own, hoping for the best—and luckily for them, the situation did resolve itself. After nearly an hour of awkwardly waiting, the other customer returned with my cards. The staff essentially did nothing to assist; in fact, I feel I did a better job of waiting for my cards to come back. I really wouldn’t have minded waiting, but they could have at least made our wait a slightly more pleasant one.

Throughout the ordeal, no manager or senior staff member stepped in to provide guidance or take charge. The staff didn’t offer any additional apologies, compensation, or even basic courtesies like a seat or a drink while we waited. We were left completely dumbfounded by their lack of action and care.

Having worked in hospitality myself, I understand mistakes happen. However, how you handle those mistakes matters.

They apologised once, but it didn’t feel sincere. Throughout the entire interaction, their attitude suggested they weren’t truly sorry. Even after my cards were returned, there was no acknowledgment of the stress caused or the nearly hour-long wait we endured just standing there. Instead, it felt like they were simply relieved the situation was over and eager to...

We had a lovely experience eating here on Sunday. It had been recommended by a couple of people. We weren’t immediately sure what the process was as there wasn’t anything to direct us to the counter at the rear of the seating but were then greeted by some lovely people and seated. We did have to wait quite a while for someone to take our order and weren’t sure whether to order at the counter or if someone was coming to take our order but my husband spotted a button to call for someone. As it was our first time we could have done with a bit of guidance about choosing, how it works, sizes of meals. After we had ordered the 2 person BBQ option with beef a very enthusiastic server came and brought us the kimchi pancake which was delicious. I’m usually pretty proficient with chopsticks but we struggled with the metal ones. Not long after the pancake another lovely server came and set up the in-table BBQ and set the meat up. The meat was very tasty but a little gristly. The large scissors for cutting things were great. This cooked on a grid and the side dishes were new to us so it was fun trying them. Some time later a hot Dish with rice was brought to the table and then a bit later they came and change the BBQ set up and the second meat dish was set up. This had a sauce and was a combination of boiling the meat in the sauce then putting the meat onto a kind of hot plate to brown while the sauce reduced. So, so good. We couldn’t finish it all but my husband eats smaller portions so I think it would be plenty for 2 normal people’s portions. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and trying new food. The staff were lovely and we definitely intend to go back. Oh, we didn’t try the Karaoke because we had been at rehearsal and been singing for about 3 hours but who knows,...

Food and atmosphere was okay BUT overall it was a bad experience. We had an important family celebration after a month long visit to new Zealand and we wanted to end it on a good note, so we booked a table for 12 people 2 weeks in advance. The day before the booking they contacted us to confirm and we thought everything was okay. The moment we arrived we found out that they gave our table to a Korean family celebrating a birthday and they put us on two tables of six people. When we asked why would they do that since we're a family and we can't really be away from each other and celebrate, they only said "sorry, nothing we can do". It was very disrespectful and we felt really let down and ignored. Tried to talk to the manager and ask if we could combine some tables or find a way to actually have what I booked which is a table for twelve but they didn't offer us a solution. In the end I was forced to sit on a chair between two tables and couldnt really enjoy any of the food or atmosphere because I wanted my relatives to have a decent time at least. If you're a small group it's a good place to visit but if you're planning a bigger celebration, don't bother with this place. I'm only giving it two stars because the food somewhat made the experience bearable. Overall, very disappointed and wouldn't...