New Brew Cafe Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Upper Harbour

We were invited to a birthday party held at New Brew Tavern tonight & had the worst service experience we’ve ever come across. Because of the number of guests our food was pre-ordered which was understandable but as soon as the food was ready, the owner was calling out the names as if he was running an auction. He was shouting & sounded very obnoxious. Fast forward when it was time to eat the birthday cake, the owner wasn’t happy to give us any cutlery for the cake because he said the cake was not ordered from them & commented that the birthday organiser should have brought their own cutlery. We spent over $100 on our food & drinks & there were 41 guests & this guy didn’t even want to provide the cutlery for the cake. In the end he ended up giving us a fork which he chucked on the table. Yes HE CHUCKED THE FORK ON THE TABLE in front of many witnesses. This guy had the audacity to deny what he did but he was confronted by people who saw what he did. I couldn’t believe this guy is the owner & didn’t care that he’s upset a lot of customers. No apologies whatsoever! What a legend! This guy possesses the best formula on how to go out of business. How can a business owner lack such basic skills in customer service & how can he train his team to a high standard in customer service when he majorly lack the skills himself? I have read some of the poor reviews this establishment received in the past & the key word that can best describe the staff is RUDE! CUSTOMERS DON’T DESERVE THE POOR LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SERVICE THIS ESTABLISHMENT HAS TO OFFER. ———-

Response to New Brew’s absolutely poor & unacceptable reply to this customer experience:

Having been in customer service for a good number of yrs, I find that responding to a complaint after 15 days of the incident is definitely a 1 out of 10. Since it took New Brew 15 days to think of a very poor response to justify their actions, I’d like to respond to the excuses made on your reply.

“Low on cutlery” Incorrect! Witnesses said they SAW a lot of cutleries.

“Staff disrespected” It was your lady staff who went overboard & put her hand on one of the guest’s arm to stop her from reaching for a single cutlery that she requested to which your lady staff said she would get. Apart from your lady staff putting her hand on this guest to which can be considered assault, she even told her off for reaching for the cutlery.

“Guest just cannot take cutlery & demand extra service” I believe the birthday celebrant is an acquaintance of the owner which is why this venue was chosen & was told there were approx. 60 guest. Now, if I was the owner & an acquaintance of mine gave me the honour of using my venue to bring in approx. 60 guests for his birthday, from a business perspective, I would make sure that PROVIDING JUST 1 CUTLERY to eat a cake which is how all this debacle started, is not magnified as “demanding extra service.” Asking for a single cutlery to eat a cake even though the cake was not purchased from the venue is not “demanding extra service.”From a customer service perspective it’s actually called GOING THE EXTRA MILE FOR THE CUSTOMER.

“Providing service within reasonable boundaries & those boundaries were crossed.” If asking for a single cutlery to eat a cake although the cake did not come from the venue is considered crossing your business establishment’s boundaries, then I can honestly say you are definitely in the wrong business.

“Providing cutlery & clean up for external food incurs cost.” May i suggest to make it more economically viable for you that providing wooden spoon/fork & dessert size paper plates for any similar future occurrence that might take place is such a small cost for bringing in approx. 60 guests to your business. No washing needed.

“Personal attacks directed at the owner.” THE OWNER THREW THE CUTLERY AT ONE OF THE GUESTS & there were witnesses! The review wasn’t a personal attack, it was describing a customer experience!

I’ve also noticed all your 1 Star ratings over the last 5 yrs points to 1 thing - POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE! Key word being...

I had anticipated a warm, welcoming experience from Julian for my birthday gathering with close friends. However, I was EXTREMELY disappointed by the level of customer service provided.

Several of my friends expressed concerns about the service and the attitude shown towards us. As a consumer, I won’t be recommending this bar/restaurant to anyone in the New Zealand fashion industry.

We genuinely felt as though we were being rushed out of the restaurant at 11 p.m., despite Google listing the closing time as 1 a.m. on Saturdays and confirming this on their website. OR FIX YOUR TIME PROPERLY. Even while we were still conversing—and having already paid for food and drinks—it felt as though we were being hurried out.

Additionally, I was unexpectedly charged $1.00 per plate for serving my birthday cake, which was surprising on the day itself. I also discovered yesterday that one of my close friend had bought another small cake from the bar? Which I already brought in my own birthday cake.

Julian was aware from the very beginning that this was a "Special occasion" small birthday function, communicated electronically via e-mail. It would have been courteous to inform me of this fee beforehand, as it came across as a HIDDEN charge.

This experience felt extremely unprofessional, leaving me and many of my guests very disappointed. Unfortunately, neither I nor my guests/friends will be returning.

I also have significant PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and an anxiety disorder, which I manage by seeing a counsellor and taking medication daily. Mentally and emotionally very challenging every single day. Their poor hospitality and lack of customer care severely triggered my past traumatic experiences, causing an anxiety attack despite my vulnerability.

This experience has made it extremely difficult for me to focus over the past few days and has, until now, caused significant emotional distress due to the unprofessional service and approach.

My small birthday gathering was intended as a step outside my comfort zone, a way to confront my trauma and fears; however, their unprofessional service and approach made this effort significantly more challenging.

This was deeply disappointing and one of my WORST nightmares. It was actually the FIRST birthday gathering I've ever had in my life with close adult friends.

I don’t recommend this bar/restaurant to anyone AT ALL.

I had to put at least 1 star because there was no option to submit without a rating,...

Guy Asked what I wanted to start with, I said could I please grab a coke and curly fries, but before I could finish he rudely took my menu and walked away, when I said I'm not finished he came back all impatient, I asked for sweet Chilli sauce instead of BBQ he left...I got my Coke, but my chips came out, NOT CURLY FRIES and my sweet Chilli but no aioli. He was in a bad mood so I didn't even bother to mention it. If you're too understaffed to the point you can't even respect a paying customer, maybe don't open.

Next night I ordered uber eats pizza to my home, chicken and cranberry, oh boy! Don't even bother ordering anything takeaway, tasteless bland inedible! Waste of money.

Since I cannot reply to your reply, No they did not like your service, which is why they asked if you were having a bad day You arent being truthful, I did not say no for now, I was mid way through my order when you walked away. Yes covid hit everyone, I also own a business, but every single customer who walks through that door i treat with the upmost respect, you never smiled you never said hello, you weren't nice. You came running over with your Pass scanner though. Implying that I didn't pay my own bill is totally unacceptable. Implying they are my friends is also unacceptable. You should find a different career path, or attend a stress...