Queuing Out of The Door. - Good or Bad?
It appears that ‘overbooking’ may be a business policy of 29029. – We have suffered from this at both Sandford and Broadstone Restaurants.
Most recently we booked a table for 8:30pm on Saturday 6/10/17 and arrived on time. We got speaking to another couple who had already been waiting for their table for half an hour. After five minutes, staff assured us that our table would be ready in ‘a few minutes.’ Two separate parties of six and then ten arrived. It was ‘crammed’ in the foyer and people were waiting outside. – Of course, the parties of six and then ten were seated before us, even though tables had to be moved around. – All of us were already murmuring about going elsewhere, so obviously being only two of us we were right at the bottom of the pecking order.
Whilst we were still waiting for our table, some friends left who had booked their table for 8pm. – They told us that they had only been seated a short while, when staff asked them “how long they were likely to be eating their meal!” – Given that they left at 8:50pm, they were clearly rushed. – 50 minutes to ‘enjoy’ a meal out is disgraceful.
By 8:55pm, having been staring at an empty table for two for 15 minutes, we had had enough and left. I discussed the situation with staff and explained that we had had a very similar experience at 29029 at Sandford where people including us had waited standing and (again some outside) for half an hour for their table and they were obviously habitually overbooking. – I was told that they are not and that people were taking too long over their meals. – Really? – 50 minutes for what people may have intended to be a three-course meal, plus coffee and perhaps an after-meal drink? – This is disgraceful!
I’m sure that none of this matters at all to the decision and policy makers at 29029 and we are just another ‘two customers.’ However, to us, it’s a whole evening ruined that we had very much been looking forward to.
You have done it to us twice and you won’t do it again! We are local regular diners with a passion for food of all nationalities and we are particularly supportive of The Nepalese people that have served our Country. However, we won’t be treated like this!
We have lived in the area long enough to know that every other restaurant that has occupied the premises at the corner of York Road and Lower Blandford Road has ultimately failed. I put this down to the fact that the premises are fully glazed floor to ceiling on two sides, so to a certain extent, you feel like you are eating in a ‘goldfish bowl’ on full show to passers by. The reputation of the quality of the food may be enough to have 29029 thriving in Broadstone at the moment, but if they continue with this policy of obviously overbooking and losing customers such as ourselves, they may well find that they suffer the same fate as other restaurants that have failed on this obviously ‘difficult’ site!
8 October 2017
Unprompted review
