In summary, do not go if you are going alone because Boston Pizza does not seem to welcome individuals. I've included the email fax I had sent to them detailing the situation, which I have not received a reply yet still (I've tried emailing/faxing to both head office eastern coast office online compliant).
"I've sent an email earlier but never received a response. I want to make a complaint regarding the manager, Lorne, at the Sheppard & Yonge Boston Pizza in Toronto. I am sending this fax hoping that the head office will hear my situation.
On Wednesday June, 16th, 2011 at around 20 min to 8p.m., I was waiting for a table at the restaurant. I waited for a long time and noticed that people behind me on the waiting list were already getting seated. I heard the waitress telling the couple behind me that they will be next after me, meaning that I will be the next one to be seated, so when the couple got seated before me, I asked the waitress. The waitress told me that it was because I had only one person, so the manager would only give me a seat if a space is available at a bar, and that the small tables were only given to two people, to fill up the seats.
However, I saw that three people were being seated at four-people tables, and specifically the couple who got seated before me in the end was seated at a four-people table. I even saw three men seating at a six-people table. So why are people who are eating alone being discriminated? It was nearly impossible to wait for a seat to free up at the bar as everyone there was staying to watch the Stanley Cup. Is Boston Pizza not welcoming people eating alone there? I do not remember a policy about not letting customers sit at small tables if he or she is alone. I asked the waitress if there is any such policy, and she said it's the "manager's policy". After talking to the manager, he was extremely impolite and rude, and still insisted on his policy, and it was the waitress who in the end paired me up with another single person that I finally got a table.
I know that Boston Pizza is a franchise, and I have never experienced such problem at another branch. I hope the head office will clarify for me if there is such a policy so I will not go if I am eating alone. If there is not, I hope this issue will be dealt with as I was being treated unfairly. If there really is a "fill the seats" policy, then it should be applied consistently to everyone, meaning that three people should not be allowed to sit at four-people tables, etc. I totally understand that it would be unfeasible to sit an individual at a big table, but I believe that the Sheppard & Yonge Boston Pizza branch should treat individuals fairly, not limiting them to sit at bars, and will not put them last on a waiting list just because they are eating alone.
Please give me a response. Thank you for your attention to your matter."
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