Bad C.S. at Coral Reef- December 28

[WDWDecember]

Hello all, we just got back from our first WDW trip Dec. 27-31. All in all, it was a wonderful trip! I'll try to post pics and a general review soon.

I wanted to share a bad experience at Coral Reef. The food was good, but the C.S. was awful. i"m writing a letter of complaint.

In short, we had an ADR for 7:40 p.m. They were running behind. We chatted with a few families in the same predicament in the area just outside the front door of the restaurant. It was about 8:15 and one of the families, same number in the party (four people) with an ADR of 7:50 then got seated before us!! I knew the time of the ADR and the family even expressed surprise that they were being seated before us. So I talked to the manager and he was extremely rude, he said that he had made that decision because 'one of the family members had been extremely difficult about them running behind'. So I asked him if I had been 'difficult', would we have gotten seating ahead of them? I dropped it and we got the next table but I did tell this manager I would write a complaint letter and he told me to 'do whatever I wanted to do'. I know I can't post his name here so I won't. But I couldn't believe his attitude.

Other than that however, all other WDW people we met were just wonderful.

 

[msce2]

Wow! I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through that. Not a very "magical" attitude to have towards customers.

I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!!!

 

[elyse43230]

I have to say that my last trip in March of 2008, the Coral Reef was our worst dining experience because of the customer service, too!

Like you said, food was great, but service was horrible.

We got seated on time, but we had the rudest waiter of all time. He literally walked up to our table without making eye contact and asked us if we wanted drinks. It took between 15-20 to get our drinks (no joke) and then more between each course. We never got our drinks refilled either. He would walk by our table 5 or 6 times before acknowledging us. It totally killed our enjoyment there.

However, being two 21 year olds females, we usually expect to be ignored in Disney World. I don't think waiters see us as a good "investment" for their time, because it's just the two of us and we're not a couple. Also, being on the Dining Plan doesn't help to get stellar service.

Though we had a lot of okay service, Coral Reef was by far the worst. So understand what you mean.

*Sigh*

 

[ilandrazdsw]

We were there the same night! UGH...the wait and attitude of the people at the desk was horrible. We checked in early and had a 50 minute wait in total. I asked if the pager would work if wer to go walk around and she said it would only work as far as the drink station outside in a snotty, its not my fault manner. Now I realize that it wasn't HER fault they were running behind, but I wasn't even being confrontational! Fortunately we had a terrific server and the food was worth the wait.
I wonder if running behind for ADRs happens frequently...if so maybe they should give some more room between ressie times. We had the same experience at Sci-Fi...long wait and it just went down from there.
Sometimes the squeezy wheel gets serviced.

 

[pixiefairy]

We had some pretty non-Disney like service here in June for a late lunch. It began with our arrival. We were early, but the cm's at the counter acted as though we didn't exist. Noone was waiting to be checked in, either. We got our pager and went to wait outside, since there was nowhere (that we could see) to sit down. We waited outside for a good 45 mins, went back in, asked what was going on and got no real answer. The girls behind the counter looked all of 14 and just seemed completely disenchanted with their jobs. We wandered to the area between the check in counter and the front doors. Our youngest was 13 months old...and tired of being in the stroller and carried, so I let him run around. My 3 year old then fell asleep, so DH sat on the FLOOR and held him. We waited for another 40 minutes before our pager went off. I was fuming at this point. They just wasted nearly an hour and a half of our time, then, we noticed a SEATING AREA beyond the desk. These girls saw us with a sleeping 3 year old and a 2 other small children, and said not ONE word about an area that we could sit on that might be comfy. *sigh* We went to our table, and our waitress proceeded to get drink orders...insisting on a drink order for a sleeping child. My DH drinks only diet whatever they have, and ordered that. The waitress came back about 10 minutes later...with root beer. We sent it back...came back again....root beer. She blamed the bartender. I was ready to leave, but the kids were all hot, tired and hungry. They also messed up on the surprise I had requested for DH for his birthday (menu) but somehow did get my 13 year old's made. I was in tears at this point. The food was just ok, IMO. The desserts were better than the entrees. I emailed the manager and complained. She wasn't happy, but at least she responded. We'd NEVER go back...even if they comp'd us a meal.

 

[natalielongstaff]

shame about the bad service

 

[happymommy]

I am wondering, where would you write a letter to let them know about the bad service?

We had an awful time at Chefs de France, and I am about to write a letter (yes it was that bad). Don't know where you would send it though.

TIA

 

[DWFan4Life]

Hello all, we just got back from our first WDW trip Dec. 27-31. All in all, it was a wonderful trip! I'll try to post pics and a general review soon.

I wanted to share a bad experience at Coral Reef. The food was good, but the C.S. was awful. i"m writing a letter of complaint.

In short, we had an ADR for 7:40 p.m. They were running behind. We chatted with a few families in the same predicament in the area just outside the front door of the restaurant. It was about 8:15 and one of the families, same number in the party (four people) with an ADR of 7:50 then got seated before us!! I knew the time of the ADR and the family even expressed surprise that they were being seated before us. So I talked to the manager and he was extremely rude, he said that he had made that decision because 'one of the family members had been extremely difficult about them running behind'. So I asked him if I had been 'difficult', would we have gotten seating ahead of them? I dropped it and we got the next table but I did tell this manager I would write a complaint letter and he told me to 'do whatever I wanted to do'. I know I can't post his name here so I won't. But I couldn't believe his attitude.

Other than that however, all other WDW people we met were just wonderful.

Hmmm... Bad attitude in treating customers, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I'm glad you still enjoy your trip. I'm looking forward to read your other reviews.

Have a nice day.

 

[xoprincessmomxo]

We had horrid service here in August. So bad, I will never go back. Our waiter was incredibly slow, filled our drinks and never offered again (even though we'd finished those before our meals even came). He came back with our meals (my mahi mahi was cold and the worst meal I've ever paid for anywhere) and we asked for more drinks. I also ordered an alcoholic drink, but didn't have my ID. I don't look under 21, had my 3 kids there, but whatever. He was doing his job. No biggie. But, he never even brought us our regular drinks! We finally flagged down another waiter asking for our deserts. They must have sent our waiter back, and he stood there with his pen and paper out and didn't say a word. Just glared at us while we told him the deserts we wanted. He finally brought us our deserts nearly 30 minutes later, pretty much threw them on the table, not even in front of the right diner. We switched them around, quickly ate them and he comes over with the check. (We'd also asked for refills again: nothing!) With the check, his entire attitude changed. He smiled, tried to joke with us, and reminded us twice where we circled the tip. He was the only waiter on our trip who got the measley 18%, and even that was too much for this piece of work.

 

[salukidog]

We had a similar experience in June. My family went the previous September and enjoyed in a great deal. The food and service were great. This past June we took my mother-in-law with us to WDW, she has been there before. We made reservation for the last nite at Coral Reef based on our previous dining experience. Our waiter was not only non existent but told how busy he was all the time. We observed him not so busy talking to other cook staff and wait staff and not really doing his job. Late with drink orders, late with food and dessert. Then the bill arrived and we thought he was our best friend. Well we paid the bill. The tip was $0 and our tip was to the Food mgr who we told her word for word what happen. We are going again in about 5 days and have not made reservation there, not because of that incident, but we want to try other restaurants.

 

[Iott Family]

We have ADR's here for our first time dining at this TS on feb 5th. You are all scaring me!

 

[ITmickey]

We have ADR's here for our first time dining at this TS on feb 5th. You are all scaring me!

Don't worry too much. If you stay in this boards long enough, you will see bad reviews for each and everyone of Disney's restaurants.
We went for lunch last December, and while the service was not outstanding, it wasn't bad at all.
The only thing we didn't like was an appetizer (meat and shrimps in a skewer) which was far too small for the price (only 2 shrimps and small piece of meat for $8 aprox) but again, absolutely no problems with the service. Lunch was good, would do it again.

 

[kimgof]

We have ADR's here for our first time dining at this TS on feb 5th. You are all scaring me!

Don't worry , everyone has a good and bad experience with every restaurant. This was one of my family's favorites from our last trip. The food was excellent and the kids loved the aquarium. We only waited about 15 minutes for our table and our waiter was very friendly and cordial. Anybody can have a bad experience if their waiter/waitress is poor. Unfortunately it is the luck of the draw. Good Luck!!!

 

[purpliequeen]

We were there Dec. 29 or 30, I can't remember. We also agree that the food was FANTASTIC . We were fortunate to have to wait only a few minutes after our ressie slot and received a good waiter. We were given the farthest table from the dining room doorway, but at least it was right next to the tank.

My main complaint was the noise. Yes, I expected it to be loud, but it was as loud as a fraternity party at my school (yes, my school is known to be nerdy, but we also know how to party)... if not louder. The extent that we had to yell at each other in order to be heard was ridiculous. I am aware that this is a children's restaurant in that the kids are so excited to see aquatic life- who wouldn't be? ("SHARK! SHARK! MOMMY, IT'S A SHARK!" or "TURTLEEEEEEE"), but just the general commotion and craziness in the restaurant makes me never want to go back. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

 

[YesMickey]

We were there Dec. 29 or 30, I can't remember. We also agree that the food was FANTASTIC . We were fortunate to have to wait only a few minutes after our ressie slot and received a good waiter. We were given the farthest table from the dining room doorway, but at least it was right next to the tank.

My main complaint was the noise. Yes, I expected it to be loud, but it was as loud as a fraternity party at my school (yes, my school is known to be nerdy, but we also know how to party)... if not louder. The extent that we had to yell at each other in order to be heard was ridiculous. I am aware that this is a children's restaurant in that the kids are so excited to see aquatic life- who wouldn't be? ("SHARK! SHARK! MOMMY, IT'S A SHARK!" or "TURTLEEEEEEE"), but just the general commotion and craziness in the restaurant makes me never want to go back. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

Sounds like you experienced the downside of dining next to the aquarium. Not only are you sitting next to about a foot of glass that all of the sound in the room is bouncing off of but also you have to eat next to people taking pictures next to your table of the aquarium. The best place to be at the Coral Reef, which is where we sat both times we went, is right in the middle of the restaurant. You get a good view of the tank and also it is not as loud. Oh well, we aren't going back again, the food just wasn't that good last time we went and we waited almost 45 min. past our ressie time.

 

[Disney owl]

wow what an attitude.

I hope you wrote your letter

 

[maxiesmom]

We had horrid service here in August. So bad, I will never go back. Our waiter was incredibly slow, filled our drinks and never offered again (even though we'd finished those before our meals even came). He came back with our meals (my mahi mahi was cold and the worst meal I've ever paid for anywhere) and we asked for more drinks. I also ordered an alcoholic drink, but didn't have my ID. I don't look under 21, had my 3 kids there, but whatever. He was doing his job. No biggie. But, he never even brought us our regular drinks! We finally flagged down another waiter asking for our deserts. They must have sent our waiter back, and he stood there with his pen and paper out and didn't say a word. Just glared at us while we told him the deserts we wanted. He finally brought us our deserts nearly 30 minutes later, pretty much threw them on the table, not even in front of the right diner. We switched them around, quickly ate them and he comes over with the check. (We'd also asked for refills again: nothing!) With the check, his entire attitude changed. He smiled, tried to joke with us, and reminded us twice where we circled the tip. He was the only waiter on our trip who got the measley 18%, and even that was too much for this piece of work.

Just so you know if this happens again, you can have the tip amount lowered, or even taken off completely. You need to speak to the manager, but they can adjust the tip amount for you.

 

[figmentfan2009]

Sounds like you experienced the downside of dining next to the aquarium. Not only are you sitting next to about a foot of glass that all of the sound in the room is bouncing off of but also you have to eat next to people taking pictures next to your table of the aquarium. The best place to be at the Coral Reef, which is where we sat both times we went, is right in the middle of the restaurant. You get a good view of the tank and also it is not as loud. Oh well, we aren't going back again, the food just wasn't that good last time we went and we waited almost 45 min. past our ressie time.

We were there in November and while I was extremely impressed with the service (they were falling all over themselves with us) I was not impressed with sitting next to the glass.

It was an "event" for 5 different people in the same family of 5. You know... those events where they send divers down with messages... the family not only stood at our table to take the pictures, the mother made my son get out of the picture because she didn't want his earring (yeah, he has a guage and he is a little left of center... ) messing up her memory and then they none too politely told us we had to move so they could get their pictures taken with each of their signs. Yes, I understand it was their event, but they could have been a little less snotty at us for having that table (which would not have seated their party) and for being in the way of their magic.

When the mother knocked my husband's drink all over him in her attempt at a better picture (we really were being unreasonably rude for sitting at our table... I mean really) the staff fell all over themselves to get the jacket cleaned and dried before we were done with dinner.

Already have reservations for there next trip. I figure my luck can't be all bad and maybe this time we won't have quite such snotty fellow diners. Not the restaurant's fault... luck of the draw

 

[patsal]

We were there in November and while I was extremely impressed with the service (they were falling all over themselves with us) I was not impressed with sitting next to the glass.

It was an "event" for 5 different people in the same family of 5. You know... those events where they send divers down with messages... the family not only stood at our table to take the pictures, the mother made my son get out of the picture because she didn't want his earring (yeah, he has a guage and he is a little left of center... ) messing up her memory and then they none too politely told us we had to move so they could get their pictures taken with each of their signs. Yes, I understand it was their event, but they could have been a little less snotty at us for having that table (which would not have seated their party) and for being in the way of their magic.

When the mother knocked my husband's drink all over him in her attempt at a better picture (we really were being unreasonably rude for sitting at our table... I mean really) the staff fell all over themselves to get the jacket cleaned and dried before we were done with dinner.

Already have reservations for there next trip. I figure my luck can't be all bad and maybe this time we won't have quite such snotty fellow diners. Not the restaurant's fault... luck of the draw

Holy Crow! I cannot believe it, but of course I can because the world is ful of ME! ME! ME! No wonder they discontinued the divers! Special things are only special if you let them be--come on 5! And then to think they are so special they can just shove others out of the way--I'm sure I would not have been so kind as you!

 

[LONES]

We were just at Disney the week of Jan 10-19th. I don't remember the exact date, but I took a chance and popped into Coral Reef at about 11:30 am and asked if there was any chance of getting in for lunch for 6 without an ADR. She told me it would be a 15 minute wait, and handed me a pager. I asked if the pager would work outside, and she said it would up to about where the strollers were parked. I went outside, told my party we were good, and proceeded to wait. After 30 minutes, I went inside and told her we had been waiting outside, and asked if there was any chance our pager had gone off, but not worked? She looked at me, and in a very annoyed voice said, "No, it's fine!!!" We waited about 15 more minutes, and my mother asked her if she had any idea how much longer the wait might be. At this point she became extremely rude, and said, "Look, we're waiting for a table for 6 to open up, and even when it does, there are two groups of 6 ahead of you that actually have ADR's, so I have no idea how long it will be!" I handed the pager back to her and told her we'd rather find somewhere else to eat.

Now, I completely understand that we didn't have an ADR.... if they would have told us from the beginning that they had no idea how long it might be, we would have moved on. What I don't understand is confidently telling us 15minutes, and then getting rude with us when we inquire after that time has doubled and then tripled.

Although it seems kind of cool, I have no real urge to go back.