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Boston Pizza  Jim Treliving
Too focused on profit?

Assume you frequented a restaurant you like but you were always puzzled about their lack of service.  Finally, you go to their web-site and provide feedback by asking a few questions about their service.  You don't get a response.  Initially, you were just curious but now, not getting a response, you are put off and you write again.  Finally, you get a response but none of your questions are answered and furthermore, the party that answers was not the party you sent your questions to.  You now get frustrated and somewhat annoyed, but you don't give up.  After a few months of writing e-mails, letters and going to the very top, to Jim Treliving, chairman and owner of Boston Pizza and also a participant at CBC's  Dragons' Den, you come once again to the realization that big business makes a lot of promises but doesn't live up to its commitment.
Cloaking yourself in respectability does not make you respectable.

Below is an exchange of letters and e-mails between us and Boston Pizza that came about because of one simple question:  Is not getting food served on plates corporate policy?

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June 11, 2014

Perry Schwartz
Boston Pizza
#100-10760 Shellbridge Way
Richmond, BC
V6X 3H1

RE:  Lack of communication

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to you because your office has been unresponsive to my previous web-based requests for information and before I put my concerns to rest, I thought I give it one more try dealing with you directly.

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May 3, 2014        I sent the following inquiry to you via your web-form:

"We enjoy your Pizzas at your restaurants. Your food is not cheap. We go to restaurants to dine out and also, to be served.  Boston Pizza is the only restaurant we know that drops off the stack of plates with cutlery on the table, delivers the pizza and then the server takes off.  We have to distribute the cutlery, place the plates in the right spots and then put food on the plate.  If your food would be cheap, we might be able to accept this, but this is not the case.  This makes Boston Pizza to a restaurant with hardly any service and thus, why should we tip the server?  For service, your restaurants get an absolutely failing grade.  We eat at your Kanata location and even though the servers there are friendly, they don't deliver the minimum service standard.  It is my sense, that this is corporate policy and unless changes are made, we have two choices: Eat at Boston Pizza without tipping or eat elsewhere.  Your response would be appreciated."

No response was received

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May 24, 2014        My next web-based e-mail using your form stated:

        I sent you an e-mail using this form on May 5, 2014 detailing my concerns regarding lack of service at your establishments.  As of yet, I have not received a response.  I will pursue this matter further through different channels if I don't receive a satisfactory reply soon.  Disregarding the dining date indicated - without a date your form can't be submitted.

May 24, 2014        An automated response was received indicating that all feedback would be answered within 24 hours.

May 29, 2014        Not 24 hours (2 days) later, but 5 days later we received a response from the Kanata Boston Pizza, indicating that this was the first they heard about our complaint and we were asked if we could forward the original complaint.

May 29, 2014        We sent a copy of the original complaint to Kanata Boston Pizza management.

May 29, 2014        We received the following response from Kanata Boston Pizza:

Dear Mr.Reebs,
Thank you for your response. It is always good to get guest comments to ensure that we can improve on our weaknesses. Your points are valid and we will strive to improve on the comments that you have made. 
We will take steps to educate our staff to ensure that they improve on the points that you have raised.

Thank you,

Vimal Sockalingam

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June 10, 2014        We returned to the Kanata Boston Pizza and again, were served by a very friendly, efficient and polite server.  Just as before, the plates were dropped off in a stack on the table with the cutlery on top, the pitcher of beer and empty glasses were delivered and placed on the table and so was the pizza when it arrived.  We distributed the plates, cutlery, filled the glasses with beer and placed the pizza onto our plates.  No change from previous visits!  No service to speak off - going to Boston Pizza can hardly be called a dining experience…

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Summary
Boston Pizza Headquarters, to whom we sent our original complaint on May 3rd has never responded to any of our inquiries other than with its automated reply of May 24th which it did not live up to either. Our original question as to whether or not it is company policy of Boston Pizza not to supply service was never answered.  Perhaps it does not need to be answered since there does not appear service at any other Boston Pizza's either and hence, we can conclude this to mean a corporate serve-yourself policy. 

As you can see, we are not impressed.  Initially, we were not acknowledged and when we were finally noticed, you did not live up to the commitments you made.  What would you conclude from that?

Sincerely,


Roland Reebs
General Manager
Helicopter Tower Installation, Quebec, Canada during the winter of 1997

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