lmaguire12's Qype profile

I had heard good things about Made In Belfast and so I decided to book a table for my birthday this past Saturday. I phoned 2 weeks in advance to make the reservation but could only get a table for 9:45pm. That was fine because I figured it's quite a popular place. My friends and I arrived at the restaurant only to be told by the manager that they had double booked and they weren't sure if they could fit us in. After a few minutes he informed us it would be about a 15 minute wait for a table, so we sat down to wait. My friend works in a restaurant herself and so asked the manager if he would be sending over complementary drinks as a goodwill gesture for messing up the booking. He said no, but he promised we would receive impeccable service. We sat for 10 minutes without being given a drinks menu. He finally brought one over but nobody came to take our drinks order. After 20 minutes of waiting I approached the manager to ask for an update on the table. I can't even describe how rude he was. He kept repeating that he'd already told me what the situation was when we first came in, but I think as a paying customer I had the right to ask what the situation was, as we'd been left sitting for 20 minutes without an update. He refused to give any complementary drinks, and told me that nobody there had the authority to do that, which I find hard to believe. When I told him that I was surprised at their lack of customer service because I work in customer service myself he replied 'good for you.' He said he was unable to tell me how much longer a table would be, and when I said I was quite insulted at how he was speaking to me he accused me of being aggressive towards him, which I really wasn't. At this point I decided to leave because I was actually disgusted at the way we'd been treated and the way I'd been spoken to. It was 10.15pm on a Saturday night and so we were extremely lucky that another restaurant was able to accommodate us, or my birthday meal would have been ruined. The proprietor of Made In Belfast actually phoned me on Monday because a member of staff had contacted her to tell her what had happened. She said she was mortified that I'd been treated that way, and apparently when we left the restaurant our table was almost ready, and she had no idea why the manager didn't tell me this when I approached him. She also said we should have at least been offered complementary drinks, so apparently somebody does have the authority to do that. She said he would receive disciplinary action and that she would call me back later that day after speaking with him, and she also promised me vouchers for their sister restaurant Hooligans as compensation. It's now Thursday and I still haven't received that call. I really appreciated her calling me to apologize but I feel even more frustrated now that she promised me something and then didn't follow through with it. I'll certainly never be going back to Made In Belfast, or it's sister restaurant Hooligans, and neither will any of my friends. I've received better customer service in McDonalds.