Misstreatment by Management:
Jersey Gardens-HMS Host
651 Kapkowski Rd Jersey Gardens Mall
Elizabeth, NJ 07201 US
908.282.4813

First of all, I’d like to stay that my wife and I are regulars to your wonderful establishment! Many of the Waiters and Waitresses know us by name! But this is an oversight by the way we were unfairly treated on May 7, 2004 at 8:00pm, at the Chili’s Restaurant / Bar and Grill, in the Jersey Gardens Mall, Elizabeth New Jersey:
It started out with the fact that we were following the stores rules of submitting our names, then waiting politely to be called on a First Come, First Served Basis. Everything was going along smoothly in this fashion, until approximately 30 minutes later, when 3 women walked in ahead of an already long line of couples to the reservation booth…and were promptly seated!
At first, we all thought that they were just submitting their names. But we witnessed the 3 women still at the booth for more that 10 minutes, frantically talking to the 2 Hosts. Shortly after, one of the 3 women went over to the manager who was behind the bar. After they talked with the manager, the women went back to the Hosts…who then took the 3 women to be seated! We saw and heard most of the conversation, because my wife and I were the next ones to be seated!
We all immediately asked to see the manager as well, but were given the ‘brush-off’ by the Hosts, saying that the manager was busy. I went to the manager anyway (like the 3 women did!) and asked, “How can we be treated fairly when we all follow reservation guidelines, when others do not, and are allowed to just walk in and be seated in front of an at least 4 couples ahead of them?”
Instead of addressing the situation, the manager became defensive, arguing that the 3 women were there before us. We (my wife, I and the other couples) explained to the manager that this was not true, and that he can check the list to verify. He refused to do so, and remained behind the bar! I asked for his name, so that I could report him to the Regional Management, be he refused to do that as well!
· Why did he not assist us, by checking / verifying the list? The 3 women had never signed in!
· Is there any significance to the fact that the remaining 4 couples were Black, and the 3 women were white? I’m seriously thinking about mentioning this to the Media…

Sincerely,

Joe Williams and Family    [08 May 2004 05:58:20]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 

     ­Joe Williams, Consumer   jwalias1 at msn dot com