Ponti's

Dear Ponti's

I am emailing to inform you of my terrible experience at one of your Ponti's restaurants. I recently visited your resteraunt at Standsed airport, before boarding the plane to Mallorca.
As we were so hungry and parched, we needed some food and drink to solve our prediciment. So we went into Ponti's for a light snack and a juice to keep thirst at bay. After ordering and consuming two orange juice's at £3 and two bacon rolls for £3.20 we were deeply unsatisfied. The price of the orange juice's were abysmal. £3 for the best part of two oranges to be blended, then poured into a glass. This was a absolute rip off!
The Bacon rolls then arrived after waiting a good 10 minutes. Bare in mind, the price of each bacon roll was £3.20. The roll was burnt top to bottom; showing it was cooked with the lowest of care. For my next chapter; the bacon. The bacon rasher inside the roll was a joke. For one, it was burnt. Secondly, it was microscopic. Just imagine my dismay when a member of staff brought the food over.
Overall, I found my experience extermely poor. The value for the food and drink were extremely overpriced. Lastly, I really do think your letting down the Italians by using this as your company summary 'Ponti's offer a satisfyingly extensive menu, good value for money and caring staff who provide friendly service - true Italian hospitality.' Having read this, I can boldly say; that Ponti's was definitely not 'Satisfying', 'Good Value for Money' and certainly not 'true italian hospitally'. I would know; Ive been there.

Awaiting your response

George Worton

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Dear Mr. Worton,

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact us at Ponti’s with your comments on your recent visit. At Ponti’s we take great pride in the quality and value of our food and so I am disappointed to note that you were dissatisfied with your meal.

With regard to the orange juice I can confirm that in order to produce one 16oz glass of juice (over ¾ of a pint), that it is in fact necessary to squeeze very slightly over 1kg of fruit, which is around 7 oranges per glass. Despite well publicised rises in international food costs I am pleased to say that we have not increased the price of our orange juice for close to 2 years. While I note your comments on the price I can say that the product and its price are clearly on display and that we have many other cheaper juice options available, including pure apple juice at 2.70 and blackcurrant juice at 1.10.

With regard to your comments regarding your bacon baguettes I can only say that I am fully confident that had you raised your concerns at the time that the duty managers or indeed any of the counter staff would have been pleased to arrange immediate replacements. I understand that in the airport time is often an issue however a full refund could also have been made with ease.

Please be reassured that we do endeavour to provide “true Italian hospitality” but sometimes this becomes truly apparent if we are given the opportunity to correct our occasional mistakes. With this in mind, and as a gesture of goodwill, I would be delighted to send you a voucher which may be redeemed on your next visit to Ponti’s. If you would be so kind as to forward me your postal address I will make arrangements for it to be sent. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have any concerns or comments in future,

Yours sincerely,

Adrian Russell

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Dear Adrian Russell,

Since our last exchange of emails, I have visited another one of your Ponti's restaurant's with the complemetary vouchers you sent me. At first I thought, ''great, I can get some money off a lunch'', but now I am truely dissapointed and annoyed.

Last week, I recieved my university exam results through email and was over the moon with them. I got a 2:1, better than expected. After contacting all 11 family members to tell them my results, my grandmother decided to take me out for a ''congratulations'' meal in London, as I was already up there for a hospital appointment. After my anger management, my grandmother and I were ready to eat as we hadn't eaten since breakfast, bearing in mind it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon already.

Before I set off for hospital, I remembered my Ponti's voucher that I thought I could use to save some money, considering the credit crunch and all. As we walked down Oxford street, I saw a Ponti's Italian Kitchen, which we then quickly decided we would eat in. The meal was excellent, the service was heavenly and the food was delicious. We had a whale of a time. Anyway, as we paid I handed my grandmother the Ponti's voucher so she could use them to shave pounds of the price of the meal. When she gave the man the vouchers he took them to the till to see if they were valid. A minute later, the italian waiter came back saying these vouchers were not available to use at this Ponti's chain. I was full of rage. I came into the restaurant expecting to save £10, when in reality, I saved £0!

Ponti's really need to sort out their act, there was absolutely no way that anyone would be able to see that these vouchers wern't valid in that restaurant. So what now? Im stuck with £10 of pratically useless vouchers ( I do not want another bad meal at the aiport thankyou very much) which were issued to make up for a previous poor experience I had with the company.

I hope you can sort these issues out quickly, as Ponti's has great potential, however the execution is lacking in quality.

Awaiting your response,

George Worton

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Dear Mr. Worton,



Thank you for your e-mail concerning our Restaurant at Oxford Circus



Please accept my apologies that the vouchers you were issued were treated in such a manner in Ponti’s Italian Kitchen. I would like to confirm that the vouchers you have are acceptable in all Ponti’s outlets (including Ponti’s Italian Kitchen). I will shortly be visiting the restaurant in question and I will have a discussion with your waiter for me to understand his reason for behaving in such a manner. I am sure that following my visit everyone in this restaurant will be aware how to handle these vouchers.



Yours sincerely,

Alasdair Deakin