Birthday Weekend 40th (Complete Disaster within Restaurant!)

I organised at great length a surprise 40th Birthday long weekend for my husband at Mains of Taymouth, which a great deal of effort was gone to given we don't live anywhere near the area, and had to travel several miles / hours to get to. We stayed within a beautiful lodge which we couldn't fault and had the most lovely 1st night of our short break which dramatically changed once we entered the Restaurant the following evening. Our surprise meal was booked within the Restaurant on site for a Saturday evening. I liaised by telephone and email with the Reservations and even personally met the Restaurant Manager (John) at the time confirming what I would like that evening by which all was agreed and understood. So I thought.... That evening, there were other guests and parties so the place was full and understaffed. The waitress was 17, who proceeded to take our drinks an hour after us all sat down didn't know the difference between a good bottle of Champagne or Wine which wasn't her fault and caused us to wonder how this evening was going. When the food order was taken she didn't know what dishes were what when asked by our guests and indicated she hadn't seen the new menu out. Soon after another staff member came to take our order, again after waiting for an hour or more. When the food finally came out, some of the guests received theirs, whilst others were still waiting. When food was put out some guests starters were cold or undercooked. We let that go and waited for our Mains. Again this took a great deal of time to come out to our table and during that time, myself (who was heavily pregnant) my husband (whose birthday it was) and my brother in law got up to speak to the Manager personally asking if he thought this was acceptable or not by which he totally agreed was not the norm. I went over again (left my food) to speak to John the Manager again and said this was highly embarrassing and we were upset that we had to come over repeatedly to have some assistance. John said to me personally that the Bill would NOT have to be paid and the food we ordered would NOT be charged due to the circumstances we endured that evening. I reiterated this to John to ensure we were both completely clear that this would happen and would be able to continue with our evening without any come back . John said YES! So we carried on. The special birthday cake I had ordered and delivered NEVER came out at the end of the meal. We paid for our drinks and were happy to and checked again with John and his waiter who was new at the time, and left with no fuss so we thought. I did however report back to the Reservations office to inform them of what happened just incase they needed to speak with us prior to our departure so everything was clear. I proceeded to go back again several times over that weekend just to check that they were fully aware of our experience and for piece of mind hoping that a Manager would speak to me personally to discuss how upset we were. Nothing. Even when we came to hand in the keys, nothing. Although were told the "Manager of the Estate" would contact my mobile to discuss - so we left. So, not even half way through our journey home reflecting on the bad experience we had with my husbands birthday, no cake delivered at the table still sat in the fridge and had to take home, no follow up over our stay, I received a call on mobile from the overall Manager. This man rather than simply saying "Im the Manager at the Estate, I hear your party endured a bad experience please can I have your take on the matter" Oh no, I was told that we OWED Money and if we didn't pay he would involve the Police! By no means did this man want to speak to me personally and find out what had happened and why we so upset, nor wanted to hear our side of the story given we were there as residents for 4 days, only abuse down the phone to me as I had answered saying we were Thieves, we were never welcome at Mains of Taymouth again and not to darken their doors, and that I was Rough as a wife! I couldn't even get a word in edge ways and totally dumfounded by what was coming out of this mans mouth! My husband and I are professional people who are trustworthy, genuine and loyal. There is no way we would leave without paying nor cause any upset to others. I did the correct thing by informing the Reservations Manager of our experiences over the days we stayed. We never left without paying after the meal, we were told by John that we wouldn't be charged for any of the food even though we payed for our drinks and left the new waiter who apologies profusely that evening a huge tip for is efforts trying to sort out the disaster and upset that night, and still we were given abuse! We would of loved to of visited the houses again but have been BANNED according to the Estate Manager, my husband is too upset to even discuss it and I myself am wanting someone if a senior nature to at least speak about this with me as to what I experienced. We are not liars, we are not frauds, we are genuine people who booked a trip away for a surprise which didn't turn out that way. We wanted to see what this place was like ourselves personally before considering hosting major company events which sadly will now not be the case. I would be grateful if someone would be able to contact my mobile to discuss. Reservations Julie will have my mobile. Thank you I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Marisa Connolly - 08/03/2016 | report this review