After having several good meals at Jino’s we decided to order a ‘for collection’ take out for my mother in-laws birthday on 4th March. Unfortunately, the standard of the food and the mistakes made with the order were enough to warrant a complaint. I called the restaurant the next day to let them know the problems with the order. 4 x of the dishes were incorrect; 3 Tom Kha soup instead of Tom Yam and 2 of these were prepared with mixed seafood rather than prawns. Also, we ordered 2 green curries with chicken but only received 1. The overall quality of all of the food was extremely disappointing and lacking in flavour. The total order cost £80.75. Often mistakes happen in restaurants and quality can also be an issue on a particularly busy service, however HOW this is dealt with and rectified is the most important factor and makes the difference for customers who will return and those who wouldn’t come near the restaurant again if they were starving. The next day I called and spoke to the owner Mark. This is where I felt extremely let down and disappointed. I felt that now the owner had our money he didn’t care in the slightest. First of all on the phone he was abrupt, and rude, when I explained the soups were made with mixed seafood and not prawns his response was ‘well you still had prawns in them didn’t you?’ I responded explaining that yes we did but it wasn’t what we ordered and that there were mistakes in other dishes also. To this he replied that he had a busy restaurant to run and didn’t have time to talk to me and to put my complaint on am email. A big NO when you are in hospitality. He said I should’ve called the same night of the order rather than the day after – I explained that that wasn’t appropriate as it was a birthday dinner. He asked me ‘what I wanted’ and then offered a discount the next time I came into the restaurant – I explained that this wasn’t an option as having experienced his attitude on the phone I wouldn’t be paying any more money to him. I felt a 50% refund of the meal was the most appropriate solution – although I was prepared to negotiate on this, he refused and said he had to get back to his customers as he had a busy restaurant. At this point I told him I would post my experience on-line and ended the call as I was so upset and shocked by his poor attitude. After I had chance to calm down, I called Mark once more and gave him another opportunity to put the situation right. He accused me of ‘threatening’ him with a bad review and said ‘obviously you’re quite used to doing this’. Absolutely diabolical and perhaps more a reflection of his own moral compass. Never have I felt more like an establishment has robbed me. What was supposed to be a celebratory family dinner was ruined by poor quality, but more upsetting was an owner who takes no pride in his brand or places no importance on customer care. I was labelled a blackmailer for simply standing up to the owner and refusing to accept a poor-quality meal and many mistakes with the order. I will not be giving Jino’s my money again and want to make sure that as well as my network of family and friends, that as many people as possible know about my poor experience. For restaurants who offer excellent standards with food and service go to Sukhothai across the road or into Leeds City Centre where there is Zaap and Thai a Roy Dee, both excellent choices.
Jinos Thai Cafe – Headingley