verified email -
12 May 2013
First, let's be fair. The chocolate drinks, snacks and so on are very nice and tasty, albeit, overpriced. The atmosphere is good and it would be a nice to place to end the night after seeing a movie. But that's where the good part ends, at least for our regular group of Saturday night movie goers.
The Saturday evening staff, particularly later in the night, should know that when a customer sits at the table, the table should be clean. If it's not, then the staff should be aware and clean the table asap and not have to be asked three times to do so.
On our previous experience, we ordered cakes with our coffees and hot chocolates. They eventually came without cutlery. I asked the staff to bring some cutlery which never arrived. Returning to the counter, I again, asked for cutlery. The waiter grabbed 8 forks and knives from a bucket of used cutlery (from other customers), took a serviette, wiped them and gave them to me.
When I said "you're kidding me, right?", he said "what do you mean". I told him it wasn't my job to explain the importance of hygiene and common sense and that he should ask his manager. His response, "I am the manager".
I called Max Brenner head office the following Monday and politely explained what happened. They listened and said they'd get back to me after investigating. They never did.
Last night, our group of friends wanted coffees after watching Iron Man 3 (great movie by the way..). Max Brenner was the only place open at the complex so again, off we went.
Of the vacant tables, none were clean. We sat down, all 8 of us and we asked a waitress if we could have the table cleaned. A few minutes went by and I saw her leaving and going home. Obviously, she forgot about us. I asked at the counter and finally after a third request, someone came and cleaned the table.
And so, we ordered our coffees and hot chocolates. We also asked for a bottle of water. What we got was a bottle of warm water from the tap. This is why taps are labelled 'H' and 'C'. H means Hot and C means cold. Max Brenner staff, please take note that you only serve water from the 'C' tap.
Overall, whoever is training the staff at Max Brenner needs to be trained himself. Im sure the staff are nice people, but the company needs to improve their level of service, perception and common sense. Some people may be happy to dine in a supposedly upmarket cafe with poor hygiene, snooty and at times, non existent service. Unless this cafe' improves on these points, I don't think we'll be going back.
Very disappointed.
Approximate cost:
$15.00
