I had reserved a table at Fego for Sunday brunch. I had booked for four persons, however, we had a last minute addition (my partner who came off a night-shift at Guys and St Thomas Hospital). The restaurant was busy but our table would easily have coped with an extra chair at the table. Not according to the manager unfortunately. He made it very clear that this was against the company's policy and that he could not accommodate an extra person. There are two ways to pass on this kind of message to a customer:
1) I am terribly sorry sir, however, we are just unable to accommodate you just now, however, if you can wait perhaps fifteen minutes, we can reshuffle some tables and get you guys seated.
2) You should have booked for five when you called up originally. There is nothing I can do at all.
The manager of Fego Caffe had opted for the second approach. I was flabbergasted. It would not have taken a rocket scientist to work out that one more chair at a a table was not going to ruin his breakfast sitting. I tried to reason with the manager however, as my blood began to boil somewhat it became apparent that I was either trying to rationalise with the irrational or Fego takes the view that St Johns Wood's generalised reputation for snobbery is an appropriate platform for a rude reaction from the manager if a potential customer makes a request for anything other than what he had originally asked for.
In these times of austerity, I would suggest that people support the more customer-friendly foodie places on the High Street (Maison Blanc, Cafe Josephine) rather than pay money to a company that is unwilling to show even an iota of goodwill or understanding to the very people who keep it in business. I cannot comment on the standard of food, however, if it equates to Fego's level of customer service, I don't suspect it will be up to much.
Name: HBL
Location: London
Fego
Cafe at 64 St. Johns Wood High Street
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Opening Times
Monday |
Open 08:00 - Closes 17:00 |
Tuesday |
Open 08:00 - Closes 17:00 |
Wednesday |
Open 08:00 - Closes 17:00 |
Thursday |
Open 08:00 - Closes 17:00 |
Friday |
Open 08:00 - Closes 17:00 |
Saturday |
Open 08:00 - Closes 17:00 |
Sunday |
Open 09:00 - Closes 17:00 |
User Reviews
HBL
from London
from London
Jan 16, 2011
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