Friday, March 11, 2011

My Crib Experience in LB Square = FAIL!

We're supposed to have a good lunch after four straight hours of lecture in grad school class. With a group of five hungry people, every thing on the menu should look and taste good. Gutom nga eh, papatulan yan! But it wasn't good. Not at all.

Please be informed that this is a group rating. To avoid reviewing this restaurant as seen in a very subjective eye, I asked my fellow classmates about their individual rating. It was all 2 ouf 10, and 10 being the highest. And as customers, we're supposed to be always right.

MyCrib coffee shop and restaurant is located in elbi square, beside the Arirang Korean Restaurant and Hop Scotch Bar and Restaurant. This establishment is located near the parking lot of elbi square, opposite Bugel's food house. It was supposed to be a good experience because it looked very cozy.


Ate, the server, was telling us about the videoke/KTV room that they have for rent, for 150/hr. It was supposed to be cozy. (Excuse my low res shots, these were taken from our camera phones.)

The "Private Room" for rent for DVD watching and KTV, it's Php150 per hour
There's this sign says: "This room is for REcreation, not PROcreation". LOL!
While waiting for our meal, we were enjoying our stay in the non-smoking area, enjoying the bean bags and air conditioning on this hot Friday afternoon in UPLB.
Little did we know, there is a charge of Php 25/hr to stay in the area, exclusive of the order. 

Then the food came:
It wasn't the fastest service, plus there's no sign of additional fees in the area. The server did not educate us that there is an additional charge because all along we thought that it's just a non-smoking area. We didn't know that we'll get charged for staying, on top of the food that we ordered.

On with the food... since food establishments around UPLB area is famous for having student budget-friendly meals, it's not a surprise that we see meals that costs Pho40. This is how the food was presented: 
Porktapa Meal Php40
Tuna Alfredo Something. Php 75
Pork tapa with egg Php 45
Omelette meal, Php45
But the catch is, if you paid 40, you will really get Php40 worthy of presentation and size of food.

Presentation: 3 out 10
Taste: 5 out of 10
Service: 1 out of 10

On a separate occassion, I went there before with another friend but we just stayed in the smoking area so we did not get any ridiculous charge.

I ordered this choco chip shake. I thought it looked funny.
Chocochip , Php65.
My friend loved her shake with "Baileys" in it.
Shake with Baileys, Php65
Now the catch of all catch:

  • The owner, or at least one of the owners, was in a bad mood and it shows. She was speaking very loudly over the phone, ranting and telling the person on the other line how pissed off she is with what she's doing. She didn't care that there are customers inside the enclosed area ( who wanted to relax ) and she kept on ranting on the phone. She also asked why am I taking pictures of the place (she asked in a  mataray/ snotty way) . I told her that I am going to send it to a friend who's getting married because we're organizing her bachelorette party and were thinking of holding the party there... well, not anymore. She was far from warm, considering they are in customer service. I bet when they get to see this blog, they will have to put on a sign that says: No Picture Taking. Better brush up on your customer service 101 as well. 
  • We were inquiring about the rates of renting the place, the owner wouldn't even look at us in the eye or put on a decent face at least. Hello, pera kaya kame
  • We were told that we already reached an hour, like as if she's indirectly saying: Get out or I'll charge you an additional fee. We were told that by ordering drinks, the Php25/hr charge will be waived but it wasn't. So we left. We were blindly robbed. 
  • The refillable iced tea that costs Php40 can only be refilled up to three times. Sometimes they immediately refill your glass even if it's only half empty.
  • They have free WiFi... at least.
  • Bad customer service. Like really.
  • No proper setting of expectations.
  • Food is so-so. Wasn't really worth the money even if it's only forty pesos. First time I was there, I ordered for Pork Tapa and got Porkchop instead. Then I ordered Pork Tapa and got disappointed. 
Over all Recommendation: 
If you have friends that you want to piss off, recommend this place. If you are brave enough to try it out for yourself, we just hope that you won't get the same experience that we had. A friend of mine who was with me during this experience wouldn't dare to go back again. 

Tsk-tsk.





2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hindi pa nga ako tapos uminom ng mango juice eh parang gusto ng waitress na umalis na kame dito. dapat talaga lahat ng mga nag-ooffer ng customer service - small or big business, will have training as in BASIC TRAINING! it is expected that no matter what kind of customers you will have you will always treat them with a sunny and jolly character kahit masama ang simula ng araw mo.

Anonymous said...

ang panget talaga ng service, food and again for emphasis, customer service dyan. i think dati ok lang siya pero for some reason, pumanget na ng pumaget. sayang ok pa naman sana yung place. besides, it's supposed to be a cozy resto cafe. fail!

i would really not recommend this place. at all. whoever the girl was (who seemed to be one of the owners since she was giving orders, using their personal pc, answering our inquiries etc), was the biggest turn off. there is no redemption for that establishment