Dear John,
Thank you for taking the time to write a review. Although I appreciate that you felt your experience to be disappointing, it is equally so from my viewpoint that you have decided to take to this forum after we spoke at length, in person, on the day.
To repeat your concerns on a review site after having already relayed your feelings in person is, in my opinion, quite unnecessary. I outlined to you on the day that the expectations that you arrived with in terms of timings were always unrealistic and a schedule of service was outlined with the organisers prior to the event taking place. The call to sit was to be at 4pm and service was to begin at 5pm, providing that all parties had arrived and were seated ( as agreed with organisers ). As you noted, and pointed out in our conversation, this did not happen as many tables were yet to be occupied when we began to take the order. It was a little after 5pm when all orders had been submitted to the kitchen and service began. It was not a set menu as you describe, but an extensive offering of a choice of 3 starters, 3 main courses and 3 desserts along with the addition of a full childrens menu. We had all patrons served ( including coffee ) by 7.15pm, which is in line with a standard timeframe that a menu of such variety and a room containing in excess of 130 persons, many of which were children, who children being children, did not remain seated throughout the service, inevitably causing some minor delays.
Although it is extremely disappointing to note that you felt that the staff were inexperienced, you are in fact, correct. Our team on the day in question, and indeed most days, are new to the Hospitality industry and although they need some time to gain the relevant training and experience, I am proud that these young people keep showing up and continue to improve, in what can be a very unforgiving environment at times. It is very discouraging to any young person to receive such negative and unnecessary feedback, and as such I have chosen not to share this particular review with them ( almost all customer feedback is shared amongst the entire team normally ).
I apologise if you felt let down or disappointed in your visit to Roganstown and I respect your choice in not returning. We will use your feedback to improve and development our team here at Roganstown and we will use it to learn as a Management team. Thank you again for taking the time to write your review.
Kind Regards
Ken Battigan
General Manager
Roganstown Hotel & Country Club