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| - I visited Toronto from the US and some friends took me to brunch at the Old Mill Inn. I was disappointed with the water-soaked lobster, the so-so maple-glazed ham and even the pretentious scrambled eggs! Neither the food nor the service was very good.
What followed was a little hard to believe: the manager, sporting a green suit and the name tag 'Darren', came over to our table and announced to us three that we have 20 minutes before we have to vacate our table! I had to speak. I informed Darren that I have worked in fine dining restaurants for well over a decade, in Canada and in various places in the US, and that I never heard anything like that in my life. Telling a guest it's time for him to go?! I wasn't even done with my coffee and fruit plate! Darren said that "It's too bad, but that's the way it is here when we're busy." He didn't even seem to think he was being rude or doing something wrong. He said we have to leave near the two hour mark, in about 20 minutes. My friends later remarked we actually had closer to 30 or 40 minutes, since they remembered when we were sat and that Darren was mistaken. Also, we got there at 10:30 AM, which is their opening time, but they asked all the guests to wait because they were not ready to open and so we stood around for 15 minutes. But that is clearly not the point.
I have dined in 4 continents and in dozens of countries and I have never been treated so rudely. I have also worked many double shifts, some with no breaks, and was on the verge of collapse a few times, but I still had to wait until my guests were gone before I could leave, so that I could personally wish them goodnight. That's the way it is in the hospitality business, if you want to succeed that is. Obviously, the Old Mill have no clue what hospitality is.
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