Saturday, August 16
It’s been a very lethargic day today, due to my flu still, it’s the block nose thingy that makes your mind feel floaty and all, or maybe it’s the wine tasting that I forgot will happen so I took 2 cold flu panadols about 30 minutes before it that makes my head feels floaty.
This feeling didn’t help when I called up this Italian restaurant to check their closing hours etc and the rudest customer service lady I’ve ever met, picked up the phone.
It’s not like I am out to tarnish the name of the place since I don’t believe I have the power to, plus it already have mix reviews online if you bother to do a search.
It was Trattoria Lafiandra, the Italian restaurant near art museum.
It was a usual Friday night out for dinner with my sister etc, and this time, Trattoria was our target of visit. As I off work at 10 pm every Friday night, I usually want to make sure that their last order for food wasn’t earlier then 11 pm. At the same time check out their corkage charge etc.
I asked my brother to check online for their phone number so I could give them a call, and he did. It turns out there are 2 numbers on the internet, one of it was their prinsep street branch which apparently wasn’t there anymore ( I found out on the phone ) so anyway…. Here is how the conversation is like, not the exact same words, but I didn’t make it sound worse than it is, I just can’t remember, too angry I suppose. I called the number provided for their prinsep street branch since it’s nearer to where I live.
Me : hi, is this trattoria at prinsep street ?
Lady : yes this is trattoria ( some disruption, sound was choppy )
Me : is this another branch from the one at the art musem?
Lady : no, the one at prinsep street has already closed down
Me : (thinking, maybe the distortion before, so when I asked if it’s prinsep street she didn’t hear properly ) oh closed, so this one I am calling now is located at art museum yeah?
Lady : yes.
Me : May I know what time is your last order and what time do you close ?
Lady : our last order is at ( forgot what time, quite early ) and we close at eleven ++ ( I think)
Me : oh, ok ok thank you
This is where the super rude part starts
Lady : can I know who is this? (not in a polite manner at all, very unpleasant already, she sound like she have been constipated for a week or something, pissed…)
Me : ( a little shock but I reckon they might want a name in case I want to make reservation ) erm.. Miss Ho.
Lady : can you at least give an introduction of yourself since you asked so many question? Is this a survey? ( in that super pissed off everyone in the world has offended her kind of tone )
Me : eh… I was thinking of going there for a meal….
Lady : so do you want to make a reservation ? ( Not a pleasant tone as well, in fact super rude and I don’t deserve this )
Me : eh, not now……
Lady : ok bye. (hangs up)
I was dumbfounded. I was in customer service line for quite a while, not too long not too short, but never ever in my life of this line that I have been so rude to anyone before, even to much more fussy customers, I have manage to keep my cool even if every part of my nerves was bursting inside out repeatedly, plus I was merely asking a few questions! I don’t even want to go into what I assume she might have thought where I am from, it is not a valid reason at all to be so freaking rude. It’s not as if I am sexually harassing her or what.
If I have the ability to write a powerful complain letter or some sort, I would! And I am thinking of doing that by reading some powerful complain letter and try to mimic them. It’s not my forte after all plus my language skills aren’t good. But it will only happen if my anger didn’t subside after today, coz I highly doubt I have the energy to do up such an email after being sick and intoxicated the whole day.
This adds to my list of “dislike without having tried” thingy. Like the fade out color for clothes and accessories that have been popping out everywhere. Love it -> felt like getting one -> see it everywhere -> haven’t got one -> got sick of it already.
This restaurant… I haven’t tried their food, I dislike that place already.
I remind me of my dad who also condemn people without having known them first. This sucks.
So after some complaining and collected reviews from the net, we decided not to go to that hard to pronounce restaurant and through my brother’s research, we end up choosing a harder to pronounce restaurant to visit. Not Italian though, it’s French this time.
Try pronouncing this name and you’ll get what I mean, “Le Bistrot du Sommelier” Ok la, maybe not THAT hard to pronounce, I just don’t know how to pronounce that “sommelier” word. It’s one of those that you know the meaning of yet not know how to pronounce word.
I asked my brother to check up on the corkage charge, ( don’t know since when I always feel much better with a bottle of whatever wine, beer, cocktail now adays when having meals like such. ) it’s the 1st time I heard of such method. Maybe I suaku la but, they didn’t need us to pay for corkage charge, but we must buy a bottle of wine from them.
I heard their cheaper bottles ranges about 50 – 60, and I guess it isn’t that bad, I doubt they will those super cheap ones, so if a sells about $35 dollar in retail outlets, and they sell at $50, it will just balance out the corkage charge to be $15. One of the cheaper ones I know already other than FOC.
So I asked my brother to get the white I already have in my room to chill and bring it, so we can have a choice of red or white to go with for our meal ^^ not bad too. Plus I heard they have a wide range of wines too.
If the food there was extra ordinary, I would post it up some days later about how it goes. I sure do hope they don’t have as shitty customer service as Trattoria whatever place.
Guess what, I am back home but drunk, so I will post about it once I am free and sober the next time. All I can say now is that... its freaking good!
