The Verdict — Restaurant in Palmerston North

I became a regular here with a group of mums amazing place food good bit pricey but foods always good! Upstairs very handy for babies so us mums can actually sit down and eat or drink .. however! Last time I was in couple weeks ago it was busy I came in with my pram I ordered hot food a slice and hot drink .. the lady behind the counter could clearly see I had a pram and my toddler with me so hands were full… I asked may I please grab a slice … her reply “ can you grab it and then I’ll put it through.. I said oh ok sure ( I thought maybe they could of grabbed it ) there was a massive line so I had bit of trouble getting it but customers moved to help.. I then ordered a hot drink … I was told by the ginger headed girl making coffee oh since your going upstairs you can take ya drink with you and dumped it on my tray I had to get to try manage the pram a toddler and food and now a hot drink she could clearly see I was stuck but walked away … the blonde short headed lady and the ginger headed one don’t no there names but they both clearly saw I had my hands full… that’s no way to treat mums or customers ( I thought they have waitresses to help with that ?) in that fact Ive also heard that they clearly say mums use them for the play area?? Of course we do after spending at least 30$ or more on food n drink we have every right to use the play area when we have our kids with us! Not on verdict cafe won’t be returning!! ( the lovey dark headed lady ) thank you for your kind service when u have being there and correcting mistakes when they happen hope u get treated nicer...

If I could give -5 stars I would. Literally one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve had I thought it would be a nice place to take mum for lunch so I suggested we try out the new Verdict and I’m literally embarrassed that I did. The older blonde woman was so incredibly rude. Without writing an essay, we asked her politely to clear some plates that had been left on our table the whole time we ate (we chose to sit on the couches) and she was immediately offended I had asked her this. She then proceeded to have the audacity to argue with us on why it was our fault they weren’t cleared and that we chose to sit at a dirty table and we should have told them to clear it. She then went behind the counter and pointed at us while talking to another staff member about us. I will never ever go back and make sure nobody else I know does either. The food was also below average to top it off. Still shocked that people with zero customer service skills continue to try work in customer service roles. I hope nobody else is treated the way...

Staff are abrupt and surly. Not one smiled once during the 35 minutes I was there. My approaching the counter to order coffee and food seemed to be quite the inconvenience for staff. It wasn't particularly busy and plenty of staff were moving around however clearing tables of leftover food and dirty crockery etc did not seem to be a priority.

All of the above is perplexing given these recent comments made in local media:

"... Verdict Cafe owner Carole Hawely said the eatery had just spent a lot of money moving to its new location by the Palmerston North City Council building on The Square. It was still setting up in March and hasn’t totally recovered from the hit of a forced closure and restricted trading.

"'We only just survived last time... and we were just getting back on our feet when, next thing, it happens...