A lengthy rant: Bife de lomo = a chorizo?

There are 16 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 3,094 times. The latest Post () was by Rice.

1st Official Post

    We went to a long-time favorite restaurant, 1880 Parrilla in San Telmo just one street from La Boca, as an early birthday celebration for my husband. It's a long trek (walk to subte, go to the end of the line, then walk for another 30+ minutes), but we've been going there for many years and have always enjoyed not just the food but the 1940's decor and the congenial staff, including Oscar who has been a waiter there for 26 years.


    This time was no different. Having eaten 'way too much, I asked to take the larger part of my bife de lomo home, and I also ordered an extra chorizo to take with us. As we were about to leave, our waiter became a little stressed because our go-box seemed to be missing. But he eventually brought it, smiling and clearly happy with what was possibly his largest tip of the day.


    Odd that the plastic bag was tightly knotted on top, since go-boxes here usually consist of a plastic box wrapped in paper and placed in an open bag. But we didn't pay any attention until we got home and I went to transfer the lomo and chorizo into refrigerator containers. Cutting my way around the knot in the bag, I opened the wrapping and instead of half a bife de lomo (540 pesos) and a chorizo (85 pesos), I found no lomo and two barely cooked chorizos. Was this done by Oscar, our long-time waiter? By the asador, not telling Oscar? By the encargado?


    I was mad as a hatter. If they'd been honest and admitted that they had discarded the steak, that would have been one thing. But to substitute a raw sausage for it, say nothing, and cover up the offense by knotting the bag so there would be no chance we would discover the cheat until safely away from the restaurant? A completely offensive act, and a sneaky one.


    I called and spoke to Carolina, who seemed to know exactly what I was talking about before I completed the description. Or maybe that was just my suspicious assumption. Asking where we lived (they have delivery now) and hearing Palermo, she said they would have sent out a replacement, except that they didn't deliver that far. Please? You admit that you or your staff created the problem, but you won't pay the delivery guy to take it a little farther than the usual delivery area, to make it right?


    I am sure that if we returned and explained the situation again, they would replace the steak (or, probably, PART of one), but because that would involve 2.5 hours of travel time for us, that's not going to happen.


    In the end, it is not the loss of a chunk of meat that bothers us; rather, it is the loss of a restaurant that we always counted among our favorite places to go, because who would want to return to a place that would intentionally cheat its customers?


    And why would a restaurant do such a thing, not just to years-long, recognizably repeat customers, but to ANY customers? Not only is it a dishonorable way to conduct business, but it is a sleazy sleight-of-hand practice that is absolutely guaranteed to be found out and not mistaken for an unintentional act.


    We are truly disappointed and actually sad to be losing a restaurant that we considered to be a place that would always be welcoming and would make us look forward to the next time.

  • Rice

    Changed the title of the thread from “A lengthy rant: Bife de lomo = a raw chorizo?” to “A lengthy rant: Bife de lomo = a chorizo?”.
    • Official Post

    La Boca to your area is about 10Km and on a bike, that could be done in about 20 minutes, which is no great sweat.

    Having said that, customer service in this country is now diabolical, to such an extent that they couldn't seem to give a shit if they lose you as a customer.

    Total indifference seems to be the order of the day wherever I go nowadays - from supermarkets to small businesses. And what irks me is if they don't have what you want, or you want a slightly different version of what they have, out comes the old indignance card.

    And don't start me on millennials playing at customer service...

    • Official Post

    Poor Rice , you got the royal Argentine treatment.

    We know how it works here, but it never fails to disappoint every time, ain't it?


    As a show of support, I'll share my last disappointment.


    We broke the wooden deck chair after a stride of 10 days of rain and we have been looking for a replacement both at the greenhouse on Scalabrini and on Mercadolibre.

    Prices in store for outdoor furniture are sky high, so we turned to ML.

    After acquiring and mastering everything there is to be known about locally made deck chair (type of wood, type of paint, type of wheels etc.), I found an ad about a deck chair with three layers of paint. 'This is the kind of attention to detail I like' - I said to myself, also because our terrace is totally exposed to the weather.


    So we immediately called, 3 days before national elections, agreed on a price and wired the money.

    We are still with no deck chair, because they make them on order. They are at least nice and keep us updated on the progress. About 10 days ago we were at the stage where it 'just' needed to be painted, but 'the paint store was out of paint'. I am sure that in a City of 10 millions there is only ONE paint store... :rolleyes:


    Last update is that we can go pick it up on Friday 9 AM or Saturday 9 AM. Stay tuned!

    Quote from serafina

    We got our deck chair today at 9 AM. Had to ride on the back of the car like in London Taxi. It wasn't fun to see vehicle approaching fast on Panamericana, so I lied and watched the sky.

    When we arrived in Palermo I was watching trees and the top of houses and it was really nice. The bad stuff is at the ground level.

    Probably my fault serafina but I'm not quite sure what you're on about? Were you sitting on the deck chair at the back of a pick-up?

    • Official Post
    Quote from UK Man

    Probably my fault serafina but I'm not quite sure what you're on about? Were you sitting on the deck chair at the back of a pick-up?

    No, we have a city car and the only way to fit the deck chair in the car was taking off the head rest on the front passenger seat and resting the chair onto said passenger back rest. I.e. I couldn't sit in the passenger seat.

    I had to sit in the back (rear seat, that was folded over to make room for the deck chair), using the same back rest as my husband's (the driver). We were sitting back to back and it was like riding a cabby. But then I saw a police car and to avoid any trouble I lied flat in the back of the car, and I admired the world from the big back window.

    Rice ......


    Such a shame.....

    But seriously, knowing this country quite well, not so surprised!!!!


    How I would deal with it.....

    Don't let the restaurant go.....would be a shame.....go there again..... And just pretend nothing happened.......then see how they react.......if no reaction, try n slide a small nasty passive/aggressive comment in between......but not to focused on that event........

    At the end u wanna be the winner.....threat them as babies......

    I'm sure if u play it right u can end up being the winner in this whole story, both mentally and financial!!!!!


    Stuff like this makes me go crazy to, but I downplay it and try to mental them into the corner.....

    And when they are finally in that corner and have giving in, then u start beating them up...... hahaha

    (Just making fun!!!)


    :D

    Must admit I'm all for forgiving a mistake but there's more to this one than meets the eye. I wouldn't feel comfortable going back and eating there so would go elsewhere....it's not as if there's a lack of choice in the capital.

    such a shame.....X/


    I worked at the register here un ba by a friends restaurant.......sometimes stuff like this would happen, because you can't keep an eye on everyone in the kitchen......so sometimes they would make a horrible burger or a cold one.....even with out me noticing it or my friend, the owner. So could have been one Bo-Bo in the kitchen just looking to get fired!!!!


    serafina ......when I said passive aggressive I meant AGGRESSIVE, just wanted to sound nice..... hahaha

    :D

    I agree with you......would be the same as trying to confront a piquetero with his own crap...... hard to imagine going out as a winner.