Condescending and inappropriate management at Doppio Zero Mall of Africa

I, together with my 2 colleagues, visited Doppio Zero at Mall of Africa on 09 February 2022. We were assisted by a waitress, Zinhle, who provided below average service. Reason being, she disappeared for sometime and we had to place our order with a different waiter, Chris. We were having an informal business meeting, so the below average service that we were receiving was not very problematic, as we were busy.

The problem came in when we had to place an order with Chris, as I mentioned above, we called on him to take our order in the absence of our waitress. Prior to calling on Chris, we noted that there was lady (not wearing uniform) that was very friendly to the table aside us, she was personally taking their orders and dropped of their drinks in a matter of minutes. We had hoped that she would attend to us with the same energy, seeing as we were visibly sitting at a table with empty glasses and actively trying to get assistance. The lady, which we later learned worked as HR, named Vanessa did not come to our table. I eventually called for Chris to take our orders and as he was doing so, Vanessa (HR lady) came to Chris and started pulling his arm and squeezing his shoulders (he looked uncomfortable). We looked at Vanessa in disbelief and she looked back at us and gave us a **** smile. Vanessa finally broke Chris' attention away from us and whispered in his ear and pointed at the table she was gleefully assisting. Once she left, we were left in shock and Chris apologized and had to retake our orders. We were left feeling like we were nothing, like we didn't matter, like the money we were going to pay with was of less value.

We later needed to order water and called on Vanessa, as she had walked past our table again to check on the well being of the other table. I asked if she worked there and she responded with "No, I am cleaner" and laughed, she said she was joking and took my order and walked two feet and gave the wrong order to Zinhle (the absent waitress).

We voiced our frustrations to Zinhle, who then called the manager, Vincent. Vincent apologized for Vanessa's behavior and assured as that he would be assisted by him from that point forward.

It is understandable that restaurants will have regular patrons that are treated well and shown appreciation. However, that extra service that they receive should not be at the detriment of the other patrons. Vanessa was condescending and disdainful. The staff was aware of her behavior and all we got as an apology from the wrong people and one slice of cake for us to share.

The experience was extremely unpleasant and disheartening.