Czech Republic’s reputation in customer service is not outstanding, however, for the most part with a little strength and patience one is able to survive.  However, there are certain points in time where all the bad managers, rotten customer service specialists, inept bank clerks, nasty waiters, insolent taxi drivers, and idiotic bureaucrats decide to converge on you in orchestrated effort to ruin your mood, test your patience and raise your blood pressure.  Thursday and Friday of this week saw one of those ‘bad service’ streaks, where I felt that the customer service fairies had it out for me.  At the recommendation of the co-authors of this blog, this post is a concerted effort to purge myself of any bad customer service mojo, and to start the weekend fresh, blessed by smiles and helpful hands. 

So, who’s behavior do I take issue with?

Hotel U Prince – Quite often colleagues from outside of the Czech Republic organize training sessions or workshops in Prague, with us as the main organizer or as a liaison.  I am always quick to recommend U Prince as an excellent location to host a dinner for training/workshop participants or to just go for a drink. One of the highlights at Hotel U Prince is a rooftop terrace with a view onto Old Town Square, and 3 times in the past 2 months I have made a reservation for a group to enjoy either cocktails or dinner ON THE TERRACE. 

On Thursday of this week, I called U Prince midday and made a reservation for 10 people ON THE ROOFTOP TERRACE for 7.30 that evening.  The person I spoke with was very polite and accommodating and assured me that all the details were confirmed.  Upon arriving at the location, we were told that we did NOT have a reservation, and the scene that followed when they called the manager upstairs was something out of a sitcom and had me thinking that maybe I had accidentally slipped into a parallel universe.

Manager: “I’m sorry, but we do not take reservations for the rooftop terrace, therefore you could not have possibly made a reservation.”

Me: “Really? Because I’ve made reservations here, ON THE TERRACE, three times in the past two months.”

Manager: “That isn’t possible, but in this case I will do what I can to accommodate you.  However, you will have to wait a short while.  In the future please be aware that WE DO NOT TAKE RESERVATIONS for the rooftop terrace” 

Me: “Really?” As I take a step to the right revealing a ‘Reserved’ sign on a table ON the rooftop terrace “Because, it seems that there is a ‘Reserved’ sign on this table.”

Manager: “Oh, aren’t you SOOOOOO clever. Please go downstairs and wait by the entrance, we’ll let you know when a table is available for you.”

Happy that at least they’ve been kind enough to find us a table, we go back down a flight of stairs and wait by the main entrance to the terrace, only to over hear the following exchange:

Couple entering the restaurant: “Hi, reservation for ******* for 8pm.”

Hostess: “Oh yes, please come with me.”

In the end Mr. Manager asked what company we were from, and upon hearing what it was changed his song, half offered an apology.  Soon our party settled down to dinner, which had the regular ‘Dining in the Czech Republic’ issues: slow service and nasty waiters.  But, it was when they brought us the bill that I was truly shocked:

Me (in a very polite voice): “Do you think that we could split the bill up?” (This is regular practice for the Czech Republic, and if they can’t do it at the table, they will usually simply offer that you pay at the bar).

Waiter: SCREAMING at me – something about how it would take 30 minutes to do so, and blah, blah, blah – really, the substance was irrelevant, as the delivery was truly shocking.

In the end we managed to split the bill into two parts, but at what cost? And, since when do restaurants in 5 star hotels allow their employees to scream at people? Even if I had behaved badly, he should never have raised his voice, and in this case my neutral question should not have elicited such a response. 

What do I recommend? AVOID Hotel U Prince like the plague.  The cocktails are overpriced, the food is not that great, and the atmosphere, as magical as it may be, is most certainly poisoned when you are berated by the service personnel.