I have been to The Mission several times, over the last few years and have always been a fan of theirs. The food, service and ambiance have always been fantastic...it's troubling to write this, as my experiences have never fell short of my expectations, until last week. We called to book a small birthday party (16) on the patio; it was confirmed and invitations were sent.
Imagine our surprise when 4 days later we were informed that the time we requested (and they confirmed) was not available, that we would need to guarantee a minimum of $100 per person, exclusive of tax/gratuity (this was the first time anyone communicated this) and that a party of 16 was too large for them to accommodate on the patio. Furthermore, the woman who delivered this information was outright rude and offered no suggestion as to a remedy.
At this point, my friend (whose birthday we were planning to celebrate at The Mission) called back to speak with the same woman and attempt to understand how such a thing could have been so horribly miscommunicated and again, no apology or suggestion of remedy, rather, she defended her "rudeness" by saying that we were rude to her first and that there was nothing she could do.
Now, I appreciate that we were frustrated and that was apparent, however we were not to blame here, nor were we rude. It's entirely possible that this was an isolated occurrence, however, it's important to remember that your customer's should not be made to feel that your error is theirs.