Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Busy tone at Nobu = frustration

We are off to the big apple this weekend for JR and Jenny's wedding. So, since we are already in the city, we thought why not check out a few resto's while we are in town.

I have been to NYC several times and have eaten at some amazing places, but this time 'round, I wanted to go to Nobu New York. Although not the most famous of Nobu properties (London is the one that gets all the hype) - I have already been to Nobu Next Door and loved it...so wanted to try something new.

A lot of restaurants still don't take online reservations and Nobu is one of them. Their website says they don't take resys by email or fax either. So at 10:00 (when they start taking reservations, I start to dial...busy...again...Busy...again...BUSY!

I think I tried about 10 times before I decided to email them to make sure the number was correct. In a matter of 10 minutes, I got an email back stating yes, indeed it was the correct number and that they experience a high volume so keep on trying.

And I did...another 10 times or so before I gave up.

Why so frustrated?

- In the age of online resys - I was able to make a reservation on Open Table for Gramercy Tavern within minutes. They are also a premiere restaurant.

- Nobu restaurants are found all over the world - I am surprised they don't have a centralized call centre or at the very least, an answering service.

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