Erica
User's reviews
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The Royal Tea Room & Restaurant
I had heard many good things about the Royal Tea Room in LaPlata, MD so I decided to take a close friend of mine to try it out. The house was very beautiful, well decorated and made us feel like we went back in time (in a good way). Then we meet our waitress. Messy hair. Greasy Face. She asked us what we were having to drink. We ordered hot tea and asked for a listing of the tea selections (since there was no menu for the tea choices). She wouldn't tell us our options, she said first she wanted us to try a special tea that you can't buy anywhere else. I asked what kind it was and she just stared at me. I asked if it was supposed to be a surprise or something since she wouldn't answer me but then she sort of scoffed at me and told me that she was going to present it and go over what's in the tea and that if we didn't like it then she can give us something else. Then she came back several minutes later (with no tea) and took our orders. I asked for the 1/2 sandwich and tea cup soup meal which sounded good for the price and for my small appetite. The waitress informed me that the sandwich I wanted wasn't part of the offer because it was a hot sandwich. She said her mom should have made it more clear on the menu that you could only get a cold sandwich with the soup. So I said, 'That's fine I'll just have the soup then.' She said, 'Are you sure? You can still order the sandwich and the soup.' I said, 'No thanks, I'll just have the soup.' Then she said 'You could order the larger soup. The tea cup is pretty small.' I said 'No that's ok, I just want the small soup.' I wasn't that hungry anyway and I really wasn't interested in any of the other sandwiches and wasn't sure if I'd like the soup. Then she started arguing with me. She said, 'That's a big diffence between getting half a sandwich with soup to just getting that little cup of soup. Is it because you can't get that sandwich with your soup? Because you can still order the sandwich and soup seperate.' I said, 'Yeah well there's a price difference ordering it seperately and I won't be able to eat all of it anyway.' She said, 'Well you could take the rest home.' I said, 'I know that but I don't want that, I just want the soup.' Then she continued with, 'So this is a money issue huh?' I couldn't believe she said that to me and loudly too. It was embarassing. Especially after learning that she was the owner's daughter. I then told her for the last time that it was ok and I just wanted the soup. By the time she asked my friend what she wanted, she was disgusted by her behavior and didn't want anything. A few minutes later this same waitress went to the table behind us that was a bigger group and said really loudly, 'I'm going to be serving you the rest of your meal. My coworker was kind enough to switch tables with me.' While waiting a ridiculously long time for our tea we had to listen to her telling these people personal details of her life and how she's struggling to make ends meet with insurance issues and having a kid. Then finally a totally different waitress brought us the tea. We still didn't know what it was so we asked her. So much for the 'presentation'. The tea was actually very delicious and we loved it so much my friend and I bought some on our way out. Through out the rest of the meal however, it was very unpleasant. The first waitress was still being obnoxious and loud with the other table, saying how much she appreciated their big tip saying 'It's sad that we have to be all about money but money is what makes the world go round.' I felt embarassed again because of how she had implied earlier that I was cheap and then she was making a huge deal over the money with the other table. I've never been served by someone so unprofessional and rude as her before. I was going to plan my mother's birthday party to be at the tea room since she loves tea so much but I'm glad I tried it out first so we can spend our money at a more respectable environment. My advice to people going to the tea room: Make sure you bring 4 or more people and flash your money on the way in so you can be guaranteed good service since the management is so hard up for money.
Tearoom response:
You have our sincere apologies regarding your recent experience. Your statements are accepted as matters of fact, and employee reprimands are forthcoming. This sort of behavior by a server won't be tolerated. Any customer should feel free to ask for supervision to intervene to rectify an uncomfortable situation, or make an adjustment after service. Again our apology is extended.
Your situation was representative of the mistakes of one employee and don't, I feel, warrant your advice to future customers. I also won't tolerate attacks on personal appearance of an employee on a public forum. Rude behavior, unfortunately has been displayed on both sides of this transaction. I think we can mutually agree not to conduct future business.