I usually refrain from posting reviews about chain restaurants with international branches, but it seems that every establishment has its weaknesses. While Max’s Restaurant Cagayan de Oro is renowned for its delicious food, attracting many customers, particularly during holidays and special occasions, my recent experience at their Cagayan de Oro branch was disappointing enough to warrant this feedback.
This is my first time writing a negative review about a restaurant, but I feel compelled to share what happened.
Last Sunday, April 18, 2010, we held an SEO Mini Forum event in the function room of Max’s Restaurant Cagayan de Oro. The room rental was 2,500 pesos, which was supposed to be consumable. However, the function room lacked essential equipment, providing only a speaker box and microphone, which we didn’t use. Since this was a Mini Forum, we needed a projector for presentations, which we brought ourselves. To our surprise, a staff member informed us that we would be charged 500 pesos for using the projector, even though it was our equipment. Reluctantly, we agreed to avoid disrupting the event, but we felt this charge was unfair.
As the event progressed, participants ordered food. When it concluded, we asked for the bill for the function room, excluding the projector charge. The bill amounted to 2,258 pesos, so we ordered additional food to meet the 2,500 pesos requirement for the room rental.
After settling the 2,500 pesos, the officers argued that we should not be charged for using our own projector, especially since this was not mentioned during the reservation. The staff insisted it was our fault for not informing them in advance about the projector. During the argument, the supervisor or area manager did not intervene, instead handing us a calling card. This lack of resolution and communication was frustrating.
To expedite our departure, we paid the total bill of 2,800 pesos, which included the projector charge. However, it took nearly an hour to receive an official receipt, which is unacceptable for a computerized system. This delay and the overall experience suggest significant management issues at Max’s Restaurant Cagayan de Oro.
In summary, the restaurant's handling of this situation reflects poor customer service and management. Who is at fault here? Is it the group for not informing the restaurant about using a projector, or the restaurant for not clarifying their rules during the reservation?
I believe Max’s Restaurant Cagayan de Oro needs to improve its customer service and management practices. This experience has left a negative impression, and I hope they address these issues promptly. Despite its good food, the service at Max’s Restaurant Cagayan de Oro needs serious improvement.
28 comments:
Ay ganun... we plan pa naman na mag get together with my family and relatives at Max's this next month for welcome party for my aunt from abroad. Well find another place nalang. Sayang...
as they say, you can't please everyone, but the area manager should see to it that matters like this will be resolved at the customers pleasures, the customers request is valid, who the heck would charge you 500 pesos for what? power consumption? unreasonable... my sympathy to you guys... i use to love the food, but admittedly, the service sucks, so the food will also suck! too bad... hmm i think i knew someone from the top management... perhaps this blog should reach people who are in the position to change things....
aiii..ganon..sayang naman may plan pa naman kami ng batch namin na dyan e held ang batch re-union namin..ahehe..will look for another place nalang..salamat sa info..:-)
Good day to all!
This is James Avellana of the 'Social Network Group' of the Max's Group of Companies. First of all we would like to thank Mr. "Balason Mix" who posted this link in our Max's Facebook page.
We are saddened to hear about your experience during your SEO Mini Forum. As of this time, I have coordinated your blog-site to the concerned departments to investigate the said incident.
We appreciate your patronage always and am glad to hear that the food is still being sought after. However, we do empathize with your experience.
We shall update your group thru Mr. "Balason Mix" as soon as we get more information.
Thank you again!
James Avellana
Social Network Group
Max's Group of Companies
i would like to extend admiration to cdobloggers for shouting this and letting everybody know how strong and capable you are . what you really did ,shows the freedom (the org-two thumbs up!) to write ,the freedom to speak. the mismanagement ,should not place into blameless actions.
Hi Sir! Thank you for posting your feedback at our facebook account. Thank you also for bringing this to our attention.I apologize for the inconvenience this experience has brought to you and your fellow bloggers. We would like to get more details about your experience at our restaurant at CDO. I hope you could email us your contact details (i.e. landline, mobile number) so we could get in touch with you.
We hope to hear from you soon!
Max's Facebook Team
email: facebook@maxschicken.com.ph
First of all your statement: "I admit that the food of MAX’s Restaurant tastes good because they have lots of costumers who eat in their restaurant particularly during Holidays and Occasions." doesn't relate at all. The food tastes good because of the ingredients - NOT the people.
and Second, "costumers" must be spelled as CUSTOMERS.
Anonymous said...
First of all your statement: "I admit that the food of MAX’s Restaurant tastes good because they have lots of costumers who eat in their restaurant particularly during Holidays and Occasions." doesn't relate at all. The food tastes good because of the ingredients - NOT the people.
and Second, "costumers" must be spelled as CUSTOMERS.
====================
The one who commented this really do admit that it is because of the PEOPLE hence agree that MAX in CdeO needs to have a customer service seminar!!!
Furthermore, the issue here is NOT THE SPELLING but on how should MAX handle their customers well!!!! bayuta!
WE LOVE MAX"S RESTAURANT
We have celebrated many occasions at Max' Restaurant since they opened, and have used their functions rooms for diverse events many times and have always been very satisfied with their customer service.
Your experience may have been an isolated one; we will still go back to Max's.
Spelling is not the issue indeed, another (Grammar nazi detected).
Anyway, I agree, their foods tastes so good, I even blogged about it few years ago because 'sulit' even though it is a bit pricey for you to eat there regularly.
But last Sunday's experience of your group is one pathetic mismanagement of that restaurant's management. How could they charge you with 500 pesos for electricity you used for the projector? That amount could be a month's bill to some households who only have few appliances. And no visible waiter along the function rooms where you can call everytime you need to order something.
With this issue, I will never ever refer my friends or even business partners and clients to gather at max's restaurant. We don't want to spend time explaining with simple issues that the Max's Management can't settle.
The foods are expensive yet tastes good but what the customers like in a restaurant aside from the food is the quality of service.
I WILL NEVER HOLD MEETINGS AT MAX'S RESTAURANT AGAIN.
And if possible I will never dine to that place again... better yet they will open a new branch and make sure the service is satisfactory, because that place has been already marked with X for me.
Good day. A friend shared this to me on Facebook and I'm a bit shocked about this post. Pardon my grammar, hope you will understand a bit of my response here.
I don't have anything against Max's Restaurant as it's one of the best restaurants, serving delicious and finest foods in the country. Unfortunately, this CDO group of bloggers just experienced something that a customer didn't expect.
The bill and some info that were not clearly delivered shows management issues here knowing that the manager didn't even bothered to settle the issues.
I understand the author's feeling as I, myself, even experienced the same thing to other restaurants and fast-food chains. I hope this post will not be misunderstood by others as destructive but instead, serves as an *can-opener (*kidding) to all.
The restaurant personnels need to do some explaining as somehow they lack some of their responsibilities.
To the author of this site, thanks for sharing and hope this issue will be settled.
First of all your statement: "I admit that the food of MAX’s Restaurant tastes good because they have lots of costumers who eat in their restaurant particularly during Holidays and Occasions." doesn't relate at all. The food tastes good because of the ingredients - NOT the people.
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Not related? Man you need to think more. Why do you think people patronize MAX even if the food is expensive? Its because their food taste good period.
Baka kulang sa training ang managers.
MisterGameMaster: Like duh??? that is not the issue here. Duh??? FAG SHORE oi. Bayuta ka... baka lover ka ng baklang manager kaya gusto mong ibahin ang topic... get lost bayuta ka.
business will look another side of it just to gain another extra income..
what happened to you is not that bad...just try to think that what if you will have that kind of business dn what else u can do?
Here's the link to CDOBloggers President ChiQ Montes' response to this issue.
http://www.chiqmontes.com/in-response-to-maxs-cdo-issue/
500 pesos for a projector that isn't theirs? how is that? I would understand if there's an additional charge for the electricity used (for the projector that is), but 500 is way too much. Max's management better clarify this. Is this a policy or Max's CdeO management just didn't get a clear grasp of the policy behind all this chaos?
Hoi Anonymous, all businesses wanted to gain but that is waaaaaay too much to charge for the projector that they didn't own. Yes, business is business and they wanted to gain always as in ALWAYS and we know that (We're not that idiot to say that they don't want to gain) because they are not a charity institution, they are food chain or restaurant.
But they should lay it all to their customers, no hidden charges or shall I say no f*cking behind because what they did was just like that. they tried to f*ck the group by not informing about the policies in the first place. How could they told the group about the 500-peso charge after the whole event has finished? In the first place they don't have any written notice or even verbal notice when the group booked the function room.
If they want to get rich by dumping huge charges to their customers, then they better make it crystal clear that they are charging 500 for the use of this and that.
Good customer service should be practice at all times in all businesses if they want to gain.
FAG SHORE BAYUT KA!
Back read po pls. In the first statement I was just quoting the comment of an anonymous to defend this post(WTF).
I believe we are on the same side?
If you wanted to cast some hate comments please direct it to the right persons.
Hi. I feel bad bout this situation. I know the owners of Max's in CDO I'm pretty sure it was just a clear form of miscommunication. They should just have been upfront about whatever charges they have before engaging into a contract. Should you have brought cameras and studio umbrellas, maybe they will charge you also but then again, they wouldn't know about it. :)
what's really the purpose of blogging. Is it to ruin others? its not only that establishment is the issue here, no one is perfect and we can't please everybody to be satisfied. Man in nature is uncontented of everything.Let's be professional in using our rights to express.
max's restaurant happens to be a great place to dine. with the first max's restaurant in cagayan de oro way back in the 1970s most cagayanons are familiar with the tradition of good food from this restaurant. i sure hope that the experience of "malilibog" is an isolated one. i believe in supporting local businesses especially in this tough economic times. "malilibog" could have used the power of the written word and the influence of his cdo blogger group to influence the restaurant to change their procedures and policies. instead he used an internationally accessible media to bash a local business, a fellow cagayanon, a fellow filipino. is this the goal of the cdo bloggers? are they too myopic and insignificant to realize that they can either effect positive change on their surroundings or be a destructive force through careless words? to those amongst cdo bloggers please police your own ranks and exercise due restraint with your blogs. there are people who do read blogs about cdo; people who can actually spell and write in proper grammar. this is not a blanket defense on max's restaurant but a request for fellow cagayanons to support the local businesses.
many thanks,
cdo23
Ive been following this blog for some time now...and frankly you are being unfair by generalizing everybody was at fault, even the store.what you should have done was took the name of the person involve and focus your disappointment on him,her or both as you have put it.
Kawawa naman the other staffs who works hard to earn a living only to be dis credited by this blog.One final note,Max's has been one of the oldest restaurant here in the Phils...they would'nt have lasted this long if they (max's) don't know how to provide good customer service.
Again..
Here's the link to CDOBloggers President ChiQ Montes' response to this issue.
CDOBloggers President's Response
Wow....cdo23 really made a point on her/his comments.what's the saying..."with great powers comes great responsibility"...you guys are like 3rd generation journalist but wheres the responsibility in all of this....where?
Before anything else, let me just say "WHOOA" (with eyes opened-wide). I've been to Max's before and I would agree that the food really taste great, and I will say it again, Max's food do really really taste great and no questions about that. The only rant I have with Max's cagayan de oro is that the customer service ain't really good compared to the other restaurants in the city, that's the reason why I do not recommend it to my friends. The issue here is not the food but the customer service, if only the manager and the staffs knows how to delight their customers I'll probably still be going back there over and over again, but they're not. MAX's CDO must change management because the truth is, MAX's CDO isn't the only restaurant who can serve delicious food, there's Sentro 1850 that can provide the best of both, food and customer service (minus the service charge). So if MAX's group of companies wants to stand out for what it do best -- that is delighting their customers -- then they should do something before their not-so-customer-service-oriented manager in Max's CDO puts them to another spotlight-of-shame
the owner of this blog can write whatever he wants to write. so stfu. that's how he/she felt about the situation so that's how he wanted it to be expressed.
so what if Max's has been around for quite a time? it does not mean that they are perfect in all aspects. and support local businesses? true. but who would want to support an establishment with poorer than poor service? this is actually an honest post. i'd rather read a heartbreaking review than an ass-kissing post that is full of verbose bullshit. and you guys should really stop being so particular about grammar! fuck!
kids, remember that in business, the downfall of one is the downfall of all. so it would not really matter anymore if the author was particular about the people involved. the business is what really at stake.
let this be a lesson to all establishments. it is time to give what is right and that is the correct hospitality without bias.
God Bless the Philippines.
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