|W|P|Hi Nadia,I guess you haven been to Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar alot of times. I was there a couple of times and in contrary to what you had observed, I enjoyed the service provided by the staff. Yes, ther were busy, but they really tried their best to cater to my need. There was once my daughter had her balloon floated to the wall. The staff, though the place was busy, offered to help us by borrowing a long metal rod from another shop in Esplanade.
We, as consumers, too many a times felt that service staff is obliged to be our servants due to the 10 percent service charge in the total bill. It is also important that we, as customers, show some respect to the staff. I am really disappointed by the behaviour you showed to the staff at Fiesta. That really reflects on you and why you did not receive good service from the staff.
Maybe the restaurants should blacklist you instead.
Regards
|W|P|Hi Nadia,seriously i agree with you the place sucks big time. the service was bad and we waited for an eternity for the fondue to arrive only to discover the difference between a $20 fondue and a $30 fondue was a few more pieces of soft bananas and strawberries.
I've been to the one in sydney and even though i have a feeling that the type of staff that are employed by the establishment has the same attitude, ie. rude and ignorant. But i swear the desserts were much more nicer. the chocolate was thick not diluted, the menu had a bigger variety and the service was prompt.
while i sat there fuming that we had to pay $30 for crap i wondered what the hell the staff was really doing behind the counter. they were oblivious to the angry customers who had to sit and wait for the food while they were happily talking to each other behind the counter.
i am very dissapointed in the max brenner here and cannot wait to have the real deal in australia. for those who has never been to the one here. DON"T. cauz you'll be seriously disappointed.
|W|P|Hi Nadia,I totally agree with you that Max Brenner's service SUCKS big time. I was there one weekend with a friend and was waiting at the door to be served. There were apparently quite a few seats that were empty but we were left standing at the door for no less than 15 minutes and nobody gives a damn about us at all.
Having waited for so long we guessed that maybe the staff were too busy to direct us to our seats and since they do not accept reservations i reckon that the empty seats were not taken and went over with my friend to the table.
First, the table were not cleared and no waiters seemed interested in clearing the table. We finally got hold of a guy(should I say gay instead) who seems to be the restaurant manager and politely requested for out table to be cleared. To my horror he actually said, "Yes, yes I am clearing and you are not supposed to come in yourself!" He then cleared the table very unwillingly and spilled some water on the table on purpose. We were really disappointed at such behavior from such a fine chocolate bar like Max Brenner. Following that, we waited for another 20 minutes just sitting there waiting for our orders to be taken but no one bothers.
Finally I walked out of the restaurant swearing that I'll never ever visit Max Brenner again..
Seriously I give two thumbs down for the restaurant and will never recommend it to anyone.
|W|P|Hi Nadia:Me, and my 4 gal friends went over to this infamous chocolate bar in Esplanade. Waited outside for people to attend to us, but to no avail.
Decided to walk in and was told to go out again? Soon, we were ushered by a waitress (P1) to a table in front of the counter. Spotted a better place, we requested to shift to another table.
As we approached the seats, the “manager” pushed the table very near to another customer’s with barely 3 cm apart!
P1 asked the manager for the near distance while walking back to the counter, he said: “ Since they want to sit there, let them sit nearer lo!” and gave a rude stare at us. I felt discounted at that point of time.
While my girl friends were excitingly choosing their beverages, “he” talked to one of his waiter and gave a rude stare to us again while pointing to the table we were supposed to sit and also towards our direction. I believe I need not tell you guys what the details of the conversation were.
After we ordered, I requested the P1 to invite the manager to come over and clarify his comments on us. Not successful at all, as he chose to ignore P1 and carry on doing his work with that snobbish face!
Drinks came. I requested this waiter to invite him to come over to speak to us. Once again, we were ignored! We then decided not to touch the stuff till he come over to address to us. Waited for at least 10 minutes, he chose to stand behind the counter still.
Fine. I asked again for his presence in front of us immediately. The pathetic waiter once again, walked over to him and pestered him to come to us. Still, he did not.
A while later, P1 came to us mentioning that she got the “authority” to address to our problems. What? Authority? Why do I even need that authority? All I want is to get him to clarify on his actions and comments to consumer like us. Is it wrong for customer to choose the seats they want to? If unwillingly to do so, why the request wasn’t declined at all? And why should there be such comments on us?
Why? Despite of customer requesting to see the manager in person, he did not walk out to address to our problem? Instead, pushed an innocent waitress who claimed to have the “authority” to assist in our situation? Saying that her manager got things to settle. Is there anything more important to address to customer when being asked to than to settle other’s billings?
This is NO customer service! I had been victimized! There is no channel for me to seek redress at all. The manager’s name is Felix? Or Phoenix. A Freaking faggot, with thick plastic spectacles on that snobbish looks. Dare to comment on us and dare not speak up for himself. I am very disappointed. There’s no word for me to describe my feelings.
Now, I WILL NEVER STEP IN CHOCOLATE BAR IN ESPLANADE AGAIN! We should do something to it isn't it? To the fucking faggot!
Nadie|W|P|As for the last two anonymouses, it seems like you guys got the same manager type person as me. Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences.
Nadie|W|P|Reposting because my first reply was full of too many typos which were pissing me off. To the first Anonymous...
Every time I've passed by Max Brenner's, they have NOT been crowded. And when I did go there, staff were unhelpful. And I was actually very restrained, despite the fact that I was starving and looking forward to a hit of chocolate.
I'm glad that you managed to get great service at Max Brenner's. Unfortunately, the rest of us, as you can see from the comments, have not. Maybe its a case of preferential service because you had your young daughter with you, and the staff have a weakness for cute kids.
As for fiesta, maybe I should be more clear with what happened. The reason I was whiny at fiesta was that I ordered one measly piece of sushi, and waited nearly TWENTY minutes for it. I don't think sushi takes that long to prepare now does it? Additionally, I kept asking the waiters for my sushi, and one after another, they forgot. It was only when I got the manager that I got my food.
Were you there at fiesta when I was being cranky? In fact, are you ever there when I get pissed with service staff? Big fat NO to both... unless of course you are a stalker. I never kick up a fuss unless necessary, so don't jump to conclusions and be "disappointed" by my behaviour.
In fact, most times when service is up to par, I am quite the courteous patron. I thank my waiters when they clear my plates/refill my glasses. I smile at the cashier, and even make small talk and compliment the food and service from time to time. Even at fiesta, when I complained about the time they took to serve my sushi, I did so calmly. Trust me, when I am mad, you do not want to be anywhere near me.
You've completely missed my point. Considering Max Brenner's is an international name, you would think that service is one thing they would like to uphold. They charge a lot for their meals, and yet, the service is bullshit.
To a certain degree, Fiesta had some leeway for a slip up in service - when I went there, it was nearly a full house. Obviously manpower is strained, although I still think that it doesn't justify too long a wait. And thankfully, the manager thought so too, and he apologised to me. Which I fully appreciated.
I do believe that Singapore consumers do deserve good service because of the ten percent service charge. In Australia, you're NEVER charged for service, except during public holidays in some places, and service is still fantastic.
Yes, I agree that service people should be treated with respect. However, respect has to be EARNED.
|W|P|Their service is horrible. Went there once and the place was full but there was no queue outside. The waiter told us to come back in 15mins and did not bother to take down our name our phone number. When we went back later, a queue had formed outside and when we asked the same waiter if our table is ready, he looked as if he has forgotten us and told us to join the queue or give him our phone number so that he can call us when there's a table. We reminded him that we had just come minutes earlier but he insisted that we join the queue. And by that time, in addition to the fairly long queue outside, the list of phone of phone numbers had also gotten considerably long.
We were appalled by the service (without even stepping into the bar!)
Some of my other friends experienced extremely poor service too. The standard of their food also varies greatly and is inconsistent.
|W|P|Nadia, the ingredients of the souffle that needs to be imported comes from Israel. Its the chocolate stupid. I personally had a great experience at Max's. And the chocolate is awesome. And thats what should be imported. So naive. Are you really a food critic? Sheeesh. Nadie|W|P|Hi anonymousI'm sincerely happy for you that you received good service from Max Brenner's. However, as you can see from the list of comments, I am not the only one who's had bad service from the same branch.
Also, unless I have amnesia, I do not think I griped about the chocolate souffle - I don't think I've even tried ordering it.
That said however, I will engage in your point.
Quite honestly, the fact that the chocolate has to be imported from Israel, should be enough warning to staff to order supplies ahead of time. A good restaurant NEVER runs out of non-fresh ingredients.
I can understand a restaurant running out of fish, crabs or vegetables. These are items with a limited shelf life - they have to be bought every day or every few days. However, chocolate has a significantly longer shelf life. I do a fair bit of baking and chocolate making myself, and I have a lindt 70% cocoa bar which I bought two weeks ago, and expires in April 2006. So really, there is no excuse for not stocking up when supplies are dwindling.
No, I am not a food critic. Just a girl who appreciates good food and good service. Honestly, I feel that good restaurants/cafes should be the ones who treats everyone well. Regardless of your professional status.
There are less food critics than there are normal diners like myself. It's easier to suck up to the occasional critic than to keep a constantly good reputation. And its the latter establishments that I prefer patronising.
Cheers
Nadia
|W|P|I am SOOO glad to come across this complaint of Max Brenner. I for one can testify its supreme BAD service. The fact that after so many years and I can remember the experience must mean something. Afterall, in Singapore, it's so easy to come across bad service in restaurants that it takes exceptional bad service to really stand out.The first time I went to Max's was when it just opened a few years ago. Feeling into choc that evening, me and partner decided to check out their menu. We stood in front of the outlet waiting to be served, seeing no menu posted near the entrance. That wait took quite many minutes though there were a good numbber of staff. When eventually one of them came forward, we asked to take a look at the menu before being shown a table. We were told there were no menus! OK, guess it meant there weren't enough to go round though the place was not full. We told the staff that we'll wait for a menu and she disappeared with a second look. We waited for the elusive menu at the same spot near the counter (standing quite stupidly) when eventually we spotted some on the counter - well well, guess the waiters didn't know where menus were kept! Being nice and courteous customers we wanted to let someone know before taking it, but none of the staff gave us the hoot. So, we did the ungraceful way of taking one from the counter ourselves. And to top off the lousy service with this - there's no price on the menu!! Hats off! Rounded up one of the staff, asked her and the reply was, 'oh, just let us know which item you like and I'll let you know the price!'. Urh, thank you very much but this is no way of operating a business and I have no wish to spend my precious time on a dessert place (which is supposed to deliver sweet experience) that sucks big time.
So there, I'm really glad there's someone else getting pissed off with their attitude and have posted comments about it on the net cos many more need to know and avoid that place. I told myself that they were not getting my business and will never be unless there's a huge change to their way of service and business operandi. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
|W|P|I hv not been 2 Max Brenner's b4 but from wat i've heard of my friends who hv been there, comments were less than satisfactory. That place is definitely overhyped! Nadie|W|P|Although the one in Singapore is horribly overhyped, I've not heard anything about the Sydney branch - save for the comments above. |W|P|hi nadia,i am a regular patron of max brenner in the philippines and i have received good service over there. the food, ambience and service were great. ever since i moved to singapore i have been looking forward to visiting their outlet here when i knew they had one. i think i'll take a shot at it this december. hopefully i get the same, if not better experience.
wish me luck!
|W|P|Hello Nadia,i would recommend a revisit to Max Brenner's Singapore but with a twist this time around.
Do the visit with a mobile hp video recording the time you spend there and make it into youtube vid for circulation.
That will be interesting i say.
|W|P|Thanks for posting this up! Max Brenners sucks big time indeed. The one and ONLY time I went there was 2-3 years ago. So my party of 4 ordered fondue, drinks and the works. Apparently the staff forgot about the cookies we ordered as well. We politely asked them about it, and the manager (thick specs guy) was absolutely RUDE and BLAMED US for "not ordering" the cookies in the first place. What the hell? We were so pissed! My friends and I who are chocoholics have sworn to never step into Max Brenner's again. Instead, we simply walk over to the Haagen Daaz for their yummy fondue and good service!
|W|P|The Max Brenner's in Melbourne (Melbourne Central) has terrible service too.