Christmas is coming—again!
Well, not exactly Christmas. But Amovate has arranged with restaurant owner Paulo Silva that everyone who attended the Christmas Party at O Paulo in Arrifana is entitled to another party, this time with a free meal.
It was with huge disappointment that the meal on December 20th, indeed much of the evening, did not come up to the standards expected.
And Amovate’s committee reacted quickly after consulting a number of the people who attended and who felt badly let down both by us and by what is normally regarded as a restaurant providing a high quality dining experience.
Paulo himself, who was unable to be at the Christmas Party due to ill-health at the time, was horrified to hear our list of complaints when we met with him a few days ago to go through the events of that evening and to voice our deep concerns.
His response was swift and generous.
Paulo would like to offer everyone who attended that evening an opportunity to revisit his restaurant and take up his offer of a free meal (drinks, of course, must be paid for) and he will again provide the music.
He and Amovate have arranged that this should take place on Saturday January 31st and we are writing to everyone who attended on the original date to inform them of this and to see if they will be available on the night.
If you can’t make it, don’t worry!
We are aware that not everyone who attended will be available on the 31st. But those of who cannot attend will be issued with a voucher so you can visit when next you are able to take up the offer—by booking, of course!
(The letter explaining all the details which we have sent to every person who bought tickets can be found further down this page).
Amovate is proud of its place in the local Community and we are aware that what happened on December 20th did us some damage; damage we wanted to put right immediately.
In the interests of full disclosure this is the way the matter unfolded as we sought to put things right…
On January 2nd, after considering all the information we had gathered from people at the party we contacted Paulo asking for a meeting to discuss the issues raised.
We pointed out that, after a couple of Committee members had informally raised the issue on the night, a large number of the 80-plus guests had subsequently made complaints; a completely unprecedented number from any event Amovate has ever held in any establishment.
We pointed out that Amovate has enjoyed functions at O Paulo in the past—Including the very well-received Summer Solstice event—for which we received accolades. However, the consensus of opinion was that this latest event fell well below the standards of what generally is acceptable, not only for O Paulo but for any restaurant.
We told him the general comments from the complainants concerned poor quality of the main courses presented, in addition some also complained about their food being cold.
Paulo was also informed that the external areas got cold as the heaters were insufficient and although the doors and some windows to the main areas were open the heat did not flow through. This point in particular was discussed well before the event, as we reminded him, and we were promised that gas heaters were going to be placed in strategic places in the outside area. The fact that these were not available only became known on the day of the event.
And finally we pointed out that this entire issue clearly does not help the Restaurant as it could cost them some valued customers. And we informed Paulo we would like to see a satisfactory conclusion so at least Amovate can make sure its members and guests complaints were heard after their disappointing evening.
We trust that this new arrangement will serve that purpose and at the same we would like to thank Paulo—who, as we said, was not able to be at the event in question—for his quick and generous response once we raised these issues with him.
* * * *
Now, to put you fully in the picture to explain how the guests on December 20th will be compensated, this is the letter which has been sent out to all those people who bought tickets for that evening:
“I send this note on behalf of Amovate. You and maybe some guests or family went to the Amovate Christmas Party at O Paulo’s Restaurant on 20th December 2014.
After this event several people complained to Committee people about the standard of the meal and some other points, so much so that Amovate decided to talk to the Restaurant about the evening.
The meeting has taken place and although no major complaint was made on the evening, Paulo was horrified at the scale of our complaint. However he would like to offer all who attended an opportunity to revisit his restaurant as he intends to do the evening all over again but to offer you a free meal (Drinks must be paid for) and he will of course provide the music.
We are aware that not everyone who attended will be available on the night which will be Saturday 31st January 2015, but for those who can’t attend then he will issue a voucher so you can visit when next you are available, by booking of course.
The reason for this e-mail is to find out quickly who can and cannot attend on that night so I ask please can you reply to me ASAP to let me know your availability, and of course any guests who were with you.
If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to call me on 282 995 249, Steve Baker on 967 005 227 or Steve Scott on 934 809 043.
Amovate think this is a generous offer and hope the majority that attended on the 20th will attend this revamped version.
Confirmation on the menu will be available soon but the intention is to address the original problem.
Regards
Ian Bedford Amovate Administrator”