A Hertfordshire man took restaurant establishment owners to court after being served a cold drink warm and being subjected to view a picture on the wall that was not at a straight angle.
John Smith, 36 went into the Pizza Express in Watford High Street last month expecting an evening of luxury cuisine and relaxation, but he found himself seated approximately 15 feet away from a portrait of the Mona Lisa that was tilted at a 20 degree angle.
This caused distraction to the victim who was unable to concentrate on reading his copy of The Sun because every time he raised his head, he would see the wonky frame and would be put off and have to start reading the article from the start because the distraction caused him to lose his place.
After re-reading an article about 7 times he got fed up and requested the restaurant staff to correct the angle of the portrait but they refused by saying that it wasn't their position to do so and that the manager would "kill them" if they touched the decor.
To add insult to injury when Mr Smith ordered a Coca Cola, a beverage which states it is "best served ice cold" he found the offending drink to be "almost 1.1 degrees Celcius" - above freezing and described by the victim as "almost lukewarm."
It is reported that the victim was so disgusted with these errors that he gave Watford's Pizza Express an "unsatisfactory" review with a 2 star rating on Yell.com. However he felt that giving the restaurant bad publicity was not enough and decided to legally challenge them regarding these two issues which caused emotional distress.
John Smith told us: "I had a terrible night at the Pizza Express in Watford. There was a wonky picture of Mona Lisa in front of me and they served my drink 1 degree over the recommended optimum serving temperature.
"When we go into these restaurants we expect a certain level of satisfaction, and I feel that as a result of these issues, I do not feel satisfied. I will never be eating in Pizza Express again if this is how they treat their customers."
The case was heard at Watford County Court where the judge found in favour of Mr Smith and ordered that Pizza Express pay him £100,000 in damages. £50,000 for the wonky picture and £50,000 for the drink.
The restaurant was also given a court order to rectify the problems discovered by Mr Smith. Pizza Express' Watford management have 30 days to comply with the order or they could face further fines.
No comments:
Post a Comment