Sunset — Restaurant in Waitematā

Had such a horrible experience at the Sunset Bar because of the executive secretary (bouncer) standing at the front desk.

The man was exceedingly condescending, belittling and constantly gaslit me. When I asked what other forms of ID they would accept because I did not bring a physical copy of my passport, he asked “why are you getting so upset?” and that I was “ruining his job,” because I said that dealing with upset customers is apart of customer service. When I showed him my RealMe, he accused me of “faking a website that anyone can make.” He ushered me to the side to sit on the couches, while I waited for my passport to be delivered. Once I got my passport and showed it to him, he asked me to go over to his side of the desk and grabbed my passport and started profusely flipping through every page of it, as if I was a criminal who made a fake copy of my passport. When I asked him for my passport back, he told me not to be so defensive. All the information about my identity and privacy was basically taken from me. He also accused me of swearing at him, even though I had never sworn at him; I only asked him nicely which other forms of ID they accepted. He was being passive aggressive and belittled me even further by saying “I have the authority to not let you in,” despite the fact I was completely sober and over 18.

This bouncer is horrid and ruined my night. I felt that I was verbally harassed by this man. I hope the Sunset Bar is able to look into this man and educate him on the bare minimum of customer service. Employees should not treat their customers like criminals, be passive aggressive nor should they make condescending comments towards their customers.I also hope that the Sunset Bar takes responsibility for their employee - my privacy was basically forcefully taken from me without any consent (I only showed him my passport but he grabbed my passport and looked through all of its contents.)

I have read other reviews and this is not the first time the man has exerted his superiority complex over the customers.

I would not recommend this place, unless you like being belittled, looked down upon or receiving horrid service...

Having been to plenty of bars in Auckland, I’ve never encountered such unprofessional and disrespectful treatment from any staff member as I did from Pradeep, the Bar Manager, during our visit.

We had reserved a table outside for six people and arrived to find it completely empty. I took a seat that was positioned at our table, only to be abruptly and rudely told to move because it “belonged to another table.” No reason was provided for this, and the manner in which it was communicated was entirely uncalled for. We were all respectful, and minding our own business throughout the evening, with no behaviour that warranted such treatment.

Upon going to pay, I decided to raise this issue with the manager, politely expressing how uncomfortable and unwelcome this interaction had made us feel. Instead of addressing our concerns professionally, Pradeep became defensive and aggressive toward us, speaking in a raised tone in front of other guests. His response was shocking, unprofessional, and entirely unsuitable for someone in a customer-facing role. Pradeep’s demeanor came across as confrontational and dismissive and very disgusting and embarrassing to the bar and the brand.

After this experience, I looked online and found a review from another customer describing a similar incident, where they had also been treated poorly by Pradeep. This consistency in negative experiences is troubling and suggests a pattern of behaviour that needs to be addressed.

Pradeep lacks the experience and temperament required for a position in hospitality, where respect and professionalism should be paramount. His aggressive approach and lack of empathy made what should have been a relaxed evening out...

A potentially good experience ruined by the rude, aggressive and bullying behavior of the Bar Manager- Pradeep. Had booked an exclusive area for my daughter's Farewell drinks on Friday night . we had called and asked specifically and were told that bar will be open till midnight ( which is what the website says anyway). Friends kept coming in at different times and we must have had 30 odd people come in. Suddenly just before 10 Pm Pradeep decides to abruptly close the bar and would also not allow some of our friends who were downstairs to come up, which was very embarassing for us. When we requested him to allow them and questioned him how he can suddenly close, he was very rude and said he could do what he wants and even called the Bouncer and threatened to throw me out.( The security guy was quite sweet as he understood the issue and kept smiling and tried to politely move me away) . No one was misbehaving or was drunk. Pradeep's behaviour was totally obnoxious, rude. People like him go crazy with a little bit of power. No wonder the bar was empty on a Friday night! Now our 30 guests will each tell 5 of their friends and 150 people will not go to this bar because of Pradeep. He has no business working in a hospitality job, let alone a customer facing role. A beautiful location and ambience and a possibly great experience ruined singe handedly by Pradeep. Well Done!!!! I guess all the other reviews of bad service must be about Pradeep. A otherwise possible 5 star rating is now only 1 star ( should have been Zero , but there is no...