General Discussion

As a resident of Dawlish I am always keen to support our local traders and regularly do so. However last week I witnessed a cafe owner in our town, speak to some customers, without any reason as far as I could see, in the most vile and rude manner. She obviously had qualified with distinction at the Basil Fawlty school of charm in Torquay. People power has already spoken in this town and we will vote with our feet! I for one will think twice again before I set foot in this establishment. Politeness and a smile thankfully is one of the few things remaining that costs nothing!

Name and shame!

Yeah name and shame.

Yes, I agree. Name and shame this establishment, and do everyone a favour.

Seconded - who are you referring to?

otherwise your's was a pointless mail.

@Vanguard. that is so true.

I think that you are being a little unfair to maricon99, guys. Even if the poster does not wish to name the person concerned, the post serves as a reminder to all that local businesses need their customers in order to survive. Even without a name, we all know the places where we receive a friendly reception and those where we do not.

For no other reason that it made me smile 'Maricon' in Spanish means ' homosexual' and dont jump down my throat I have nothing against peoples lifestyle.

Thank you Don -I couldn't have put it better myself. My intention in posting was not particularly to name and shame the establishment but a general comment on the effect of poor customer service. However for those who are interested it was Cafe No 1 on the corner of Queen Street. I am also pleased to see ,User 4549, that we have a Spanish speaker amongst us!

"I am also pleased to see ,User 4549, that we have a Spanish speaker amongst us!" I meant no disrespect with my comment, and yes I lived in Spain for 30yrs.

I've had nothing but good friendly service and quality every time that I've been in Cafe No.1 - and I speak as a regular in there. You must have caught the owner on a bad day - though that's no excuse because in the world of customer service there should be no such thing as a bad day.

Never been in Cafe No.1 so i might try it out to see what the customer service is like.

tried taylors cafe on saturday for the first time. had twin babies and a toddler. service by two young ladies was exceptional - nothing too much trouble. food pretty good too. they were talkative and interested in whetherv we were visitors, what we planned to do etc - first rate!

I agree that Taylors is an excellent establishment and deserves to do well. We popped into Tummy Yum Yums on Sunday for a quick light lunch and can't praise the staff, service and food high enough. I don't like the name of the place though, but that's my opinion. Of other places we've visited recently, I'd also give out praise to John and his wife at the Terrace and also to the people at the Beach Cafe. The lady who served us at the Beach Cafe on Saturday morning was clearly new in the role but was very attentive and helpful - whilst the breakfast was spot on. A thought Is there any chance of the webmaster setting up a Restaurant Review section on this website - I'd be more than happy to contribute honest reviews to it (I've always wanted to be a restaurant critic!). I'm sure that something like that would enhance the website - what do you think?

You seem to know the Basil Fawlty school of charm well. :)) The person you speak of probably deserved to be spoken to that way I don't know I wasn't there, But to say you are never going there again is a little silly. If they have given you good service over the years and not some one else then the fault lies with them. Who needs them? One out of how many? If you follow the person around soon you will only have each other and no cafe to maon about :) Did you all rush to the manager/owner and complain... um... NO! you sat there and watched it and it gave you some thing to bash your gums about on here. You have a choice to enter or not to enter, but the grumpy individual entered a property that doesn't belong to them and is providing a service, to use it's facilities and abused them. Now would you like some one to come into your home/office/shop etc, and start moaning about how crap you were at making coffee or telling you, you didn't turn my egg over... We are human and we all make mistakes, well I do and probably will to the end of my days. I am still learning, not like some who know it all. Anyway I am sure that they won't miss a few customers who moan that their toast is not done the correct way :) The way that some customers speak to owners and assistants warrents them being put in their place. If I had a miserable customer i'd tell them to go eat some where else to. Some folk do it because it's their only entertainment and they have nothing better to do but piss on some one elses parade... Treat people how they treat you. Providing a service is all part of being a shop owner or assistant in a shop cafe or what ever, we know this, but, show me where it says you have to take the abuse and shit from some moany grumpy individual/individuals who is having a bad day. Isn't it funny when you do some thing right, No one remembers, but when you do something wrong, no one forgets... cest la vie...

BTW. Bay Windows does a good Breakfast.. burp :))

Sid We all know the way that some customers behave and I agree that it is to be deplored. However, maricon99 did not see anything unreasonable from the customer on that occasion and did not name the establishment until pressed to do so. I don't quite understand why you feel that an attack on maricon99's post is warranted. Don

Thank you Don. Sid I think you have completely missed the point of my original post. In addition you are making tremendous assumptions and as you say you were not there. "Did you all rush to the manager/owner and complain... um... NO! you sat there and watched it and it gave you some thing to bash your gums about on here." WRONG - People, including myself, did make comments directly to the Manager/Owner as it was the Owner who was so rude! Perhaps they were having an 'off' day! However we have a number of Cafe's in this town and it seems from comments on here that many provide exceptionally good service! I agree with you we are all human and we all make mistakes. Some customers are exceptionally rude but in this instance from what I saw the customer was not in the wrong and was very polite indeed considering. I am not sure I would have been so polite. I agree with Dawlish Man - a Restaurant/Cafe review on here would be very useful for locals and visitors alike. So users of Dawlish.com - post your comments. As i said in my original post I am keen to support our local traders. So Sid, I look forward to seeing you in Bow Windows for that Breakfast. If anyone else has had good experiences and received good service in Dawlish let's hear about it.

Careful, Maricon99, Soon, someone will accuse you of being me, or vice versa. Don

On my visits to CafeNo1 , the place always seems ok. The women is very plesent(to the eye lol). Its slightly pricy for what it is, and sometimes you have to wait a fair while for your food, but then i'd rather wait than have undercooked food. Dawlish has a number of good eating places. Witches bowl(great homecooked veg,tasty pies,good menu at night) Taylors(cheap and cheerful,good size helpings and very friendly owner, backed up with good staff). Ugly Duckling (excellent carvery). The Terrace (cheap and cheerful, although his roasts are now over-priced compared Ugly duckling carvery, but he does a great fry-up and his puddings are good, also very, very friendly, going out of his way to talk to locals and holidaymakers). Tummy Yum Yum (shocking name for a buisness, makes it sound cheap and tacky, yet the food is excellent and very good value) Baileys (lets just say the hygene/clenliness leaves alot to be desired) The Mill (over-priced but good for the tourists, food ok). As you can see there are a few i've never been in, but i would like to add Marine Tavern to the list,. they do a cracking pizza, and the Ploughmans is brilliant and very good value , washed down with a pint of otter.

I don't eat out very often in Dawlish, but i did notice that Too Delicious wasn't mentioned in the previous list. I agree with some of the comments that have been made about some establishments, but feel that Too Delicious deserves a mention also. Great food, portion sizes not too big, not too small, staff have always been friendly, and, yes, i will certainly be eating there again.

Has it been sold yet do you know? I agree that Dawlish should have quality establishments like Too Delicious and it will certainly be on my list of places to include in my reviews. I'm hoping for these to be weekly, or maybe fortnightly - the first one will be coming soon.

"as far as I could see"... this suggests that you do not actually know the full story. You have also not stated what was said by both parties.