Not only did the food come extremely late but I would have appreciated if the manager had told us the truth from the beginning. Although we were told they were understaffed and there is a huge delay an hour and a half into waiting for our food. We were told multiple times that the food is coming out within 5 mins. It took a 30-45 mins to receive our full order, so in total we had waited almost 2.5 hours. By the time we had received our last order, most people had already finished their food.
We did have a bigger group and yes, we would have probably left if we were told they were understaffed from the start. But it would have been for the better for both parties. We would have been a lot more understanding and this would not have spoiled a chain of events we had planned for the evening.
Not to mention the udon was served with the server's finger in the soup.... For extra flavour? No thanks.
Lastly, a friendly suggestion, if your customer had received such terrible service on their first visit. I don't think a free stamps card to free ice cream and 'special accommodations' on their next visit would convince them back. Yes, we did have to pay FULL price but hey... We CAN get free ice cream if we come back.
All in all, I am very disappointed that the manger did not make better protocols and judgement in this situation.