[The Great Fumar]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Please hold your horses here. Human Nature being what it can be sometimes, just think what could happen if an open-ended gift certificate fell into the hands of some really tacky person who brought a giant purse full of plastic bags.
Judge Judy Boomer

" I THINK WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE."

What I want to know is where do we get these plastic bags .

Tacky Fumar ..

[BobKat1]

Ziploc now makes a variety of different sizes of heavy duty storage bags.

[Boomer]

Hey tpop,

Seriously, thank you. I wrote down your recommendations and put them in my purse so I will have them the next time I find myself wandering aimlessly through the wine aisles at the grocery store. I really do not know where to start sometimes. So many wines.

There is a local place that is known for its wine department, and recently I asked the wine guy there a question and he started to talk in that wonderful language of wine that I do not begin to understand, but I sure think it's purdy talk. It sounded like poetry to me, and I followed him around and he told me all about what the wines were doing. One was was "brooding" and another was doing something that sounded much happier, and on and on it went, and I somehow got all caught up in the language of it all and just bought a couple of bottles of whatever he said. I have not opened them yet. I may have to check up on the "brooding" one later. But I can't remember which one it was.....uh oh....shameless confession time.....it was not a couple of bottles.....it was 5 bottles.........

Maybe by the time I get there to TV in the next few weeks, there will be a wine tasting somewhere so I can learn more stuff. Education is important you know.

Anyway, thanks again. I will try those you suggested.

- - - - - - - - - - -

And now, to Tacky Fumar and Helpful Bobkat, to address their discussion of those plastic bags I mentioned earlier............

Well, guys, about those plastic bags......I guess you have heard about wine-in-a-box. And if you look inside the box, guess what's there........ You got it.... A plastic bag!.....Now, you two, just think about that for a minute. Just consider the possibilities of an open-ended gift certificate, all inclusive, and good wine available.......Yes, think about it.....(I know that you are)......Just how so very tacky could it all get? Oh My!

Miss Manners Boomer

Anyway, Collection6, you were really nice about this. Somebody sure goofed but it was not you. I hope they make it good.

[JeanneBeannie]

Originally Posted by KathieI

I agree Cashman, the food is delicious at Red Sauce. We certainly need to support our local restaurants so that they can survive in TV.

A few mistakes by management, however, should keep us wary of their tactics and make sure we get what we pay for. I wouldn't hesitate going there for a nice sausage and broccoli rabe meal... it was out of this world...

Oh Kathie...I sure am glad I read this, I love love love broccoli rabe and sausage, love it served in any way yummy!!! I will definitely go there for dinner while my son is down...he loves Italian food too!!

[cashman]

Here is a question:

Why would anyone use a gift certificate for a meal and think it would be for an unlimited amount of money?

Here is another question:

Why did the restaurant issue a gift certificate without indicating its dollar value?

Sounds to me like two glaring mistakes in thinking.

BUT I WOULD STILL BE FRIENDS OF BOTH PARTIES.

[katezbox]

I really like Red Sauce for a lot of reasons.

First and foremost it is NOT a chain. That means, unlike the Olive Garden, they actually prepare the food on site. I played golf with some friends yesterday and they all love the Olive Garden soup and salad. With no offense to Campbell Soup on this forum, if I want to eat canned soup, I'll buy Progresso.

Secondly, they have a great atmosphere and the chef/owners are LOCAL.

Thirdly, they have a good wine list and offer many wines by the glass in two sizes (the larger being, I think) a "quartino." Like my friend Len, I have been stung there by ordering Sauvignon Blanc without asking the price. Shame on me for not asking about a house white (a pinot/chardonnay blend that it quite good a very good price). Also, the Sauvignon Blanc was pricey for my budget (but not unreasonable given the quality of the wine).

Lastly, I love the deli.

Like Cashman, I hope others will give it another chance. "To err is human..."

[danny123]

I am responding to collection6 only at the urging of many customers and employees. It is not my practice to get involved with any of these posting, in fact I just registered today.
I would like to deal with only facts because I do understand that everyone is entitled to an opinion.
First and foremost we NEVER said that we would not honor a gift certicate.
Most of the gift certicates that we issue for fundraisers (3 last week) are for dinner for 2. These gift certicates always have a line saying "not to exceed $50", this is done only so we can assign a value when the certicate is issued. The fact that this one did not say that was simply employee(human)error. For this I apoligize. The $50 dollar amount is not random, we arrived at this amount by taking our average entree price and doubling it, then adding the price of four(4) glasses of wine and sales tax. We consider this to be a nice night out for two people and a chance to sample our food and service and see what a value we offer.
It is unfortunate that something that was done in good faith to help a worthy organization raise much needed funds had to turn into such an misunderstanding.
Both my partner Rick Dadeo and myself take our customer service very seriously and will do whatever we can to assure that everyone is treated fair. This restaurant is our lively hood we are here everyday working, if Mr. collection6 had contacted either of us directly he could have avoided the feeling of being mis-treated.
In closing I would be more then happy to refund collection6 the $7 in question and apoligize personally for the "misunderstanding" and for the error that one of my employees had made.

Daniel Petrosino

[actor]

and will be sure to stop in for dinner. You seem like a very reasonable person. I cannot understand how some get so worked up over seemingly small details. I don't feel like you have anything to be apologetic about.

[KathieI]

Originally Posted by collection6

The meal did come to more than $50. The certificate was for a complete dinner for two and when won was presented as including appetizers and salad. We had no alcoholic drinks. The owner stated that the manager who donated it to charity should not have put dinner for two on the certificate, but should have put a money amount. The food was very good, but it would have been easier for the owner of the restaurant to accept the certificate as it was meant to be, other than changing the terms. It seems that the people who state that one should just be happy with the discounted meal, are the same people who get bad service or an un-satisfactory meal and just leave without telling anyone. They become the fall guys over and over. Again the meal was good, the server was fine, and we tipped her accordingly, but it was a poor policy on the part of management.

Danny, thanks for posting your point of view. It is good to hear the other side of every situation.

I think however in this day and age of the disappearance of customer service, I think it would have behooved you to realize that this certificate was written in error by your staff member, and rather than have disgruntled customers walk away unhappy, how hard would it have been to honor this ONE error, that was done on the part of your own staff, and just give them the full meal? Another $20 bucks???? You would write it off anyway. I just don't get the point of digging in your heels and forgetting that the customer is ALWAYS right..???? This is not a deal breaker for me, but having been in the retail business all my life, I was taught you do everything possible to make that customer walk away happy!

[Boomer]

A mystery. A mistake. A misunderstanding. But certainly not a deal breaker by any means because if you look back through this thread you can find a lot of really good publicity for Red Sauce.

(Yeah, I know I sidetracked and got a nice Chianti recommendation and I had to act silly about plastic bags, but I never could color inside the lines, and so I digress. I do not hijack. I simply digress. But you can ignore that part if you look back through the thread.)

Anyway, I plan to arrive in a few weeks and I want to have dinner at Red Sauce some night. Maybe more than one night. Lots of good comments about Red Sauce's food and service have shown up on TOTV, at different times, including what Kate said about the food being freshly prepared. (not easy to find sometimes)

So anyway, I hope to be having dinner at Red Sauce sometime fairly soon. (Hey, TH, should I have them send my Chianti bill to you? I think I am supposed to win something for getting ready to hit two years and two-thousand posts here. So just let me know if you will be picking up my Chianti bill, OK.)

Boomer

[KathieI]

Boomer, that means you should be here around Nov 7???? Wow!! Will you still be here for the Crispers lunch. OMG, this should make for good pictures! OOPS, sorry Boomer, forgot. I'll only take you from the back... I promise. I know you have a problem with pictures, I remember the one with your back to the camera... LOL.

Tell you what, you come here and we'll meet at Red Sauce and I'll buy you a Chianti as your second anniv gift. We'll send our bar bill to Tony, for always suggesting you are an English Major. That'll teach him...

Have a good trip. We can't wait to meet the famous Boomer!!!

[katezbox]

Originally Posted by danny123

I am responding to collection6 only at the urging of many customers and employees. It is not my practice to get involved with any of these posting, in fact I just registered today.
I would like to deal with only facts because I do understand that everyone is entitled to an opinion.
First and foremost we NEVER said that we would not honor a gift certicate.
Most of the gift certicates that we issue for fundraisers (3 last week) are for dinner for 2. These gift certicates always have a line saying "not to exceed $50", this is done only so we can assign a value when the certicate is issued. The fact that this one did not say that was simply employee(human)error. For this I apoligize. The $50 dollar amount is not random, we arrived at this amount by taking our average entree price and doubling it, then adding the price of four(4) glasses of wine and sales tax. We consider this to be a nice night out for two people and a chance to sample our food and service and see what a value we offer.
It is unfortunate that something that was done in good faith to help a worthy organization raise much needed funds had to turn into such an misunderstanding.
Both my partner Rick Dadeo and myself take our customer service very seriously and will do whatever we can to assure that everyone is treated fair. This restaurant is our lively hood we are here everyday working, if Mr. collection6 had contacted either of us directly he could have avoided the feeling of being mis-treated.
In closing I would be more then happy to refund collection6 the $7 in question and apoligize personally for the "misunderstanding" and for the error that one of my employees had made.

Daniel Petrosino

Danny,

Thank you for responding. And you clarified for me one point that I asked the original poster to respond to (but which he sidestepped). I had suggested that he speak directly to you or to Rick and allow you to rectify the situation. This is NOT the same as speaking to a "manager" via your wait staff.

Kathie - I have to disagree - again, Rick and Danny could not have a rectified a problem they knew nothing about.

We will continue to be frequent visitors for all the reasons I listed in my previous post.

Kate

[KathieI]

Originally Posted by collection6

Went to Red Sauce on sat 9/19 with my wife for dinner. We had a gift certificate that we won at the soup kitchen fundraiser, for a dinner for two. It was issued by Red Sauce in 5/09. Before we ordered I showed the certificate to the waitress. She went over to the owner/manager to inform him that we were using same. He told her to tell us that they would not honor the certificate for a dinner for two. He said that the manager who issued it was no longer with the company, but he would give us a credit towards our meal of $50. As we had no choice in the matter I accepted it. When I got home I realized that the manager who refused the terms of issuence on the certificate, had in fact put his business card in the envelope when it was donated to charity. Seems to me to be a pretty poor thing to do, make a donation and then change the terms when somebody tries to redeem it.

Kate, he thought the waitress went to the owner/manager. ???

[katezbox]

Originally Posted by KathieI

Kate, he thought the waitress went to the owner/manager. ???

Kath,

I understand. But did you ever play telephone? What was said to the owner/manager is what she said - not what he said and what was report back was also interpreted. Also he never clarified if the owner/manager was really an owner... I think before you post a complaint on a public forum that could negatively impact someone's business, you give the complainant (?) the chance to respond to you directly - not through waitstaff and possibly a management level. C6 never replied to my question as to whterh he spoke to Rick or Danny directly.

Kate

[WSOX47]

I'm glad that this is being resolved. As I had noted, we've always had a good time and a good meal there, and I hope that they stay in TV for a long time. I do think that the owners should try a bit harder to seek out their customer and do a bit more than just refund the $7. As I said a meal for four on them certainly would ---if it were me-- be fully an acceptable resolution.