KIKKA, PAARL, CAPE TOWN - WESTERN CAPE - The Worst service ever received and no response from Management

<p>On Monday, 6th March 2017 – I had a scheduled appointment in Paarl late that afternoon. After a long drive from Cape Town we decided to pop in at a little florist/coffee & deli shop called Kikka, which was established in 2004. I am actually amazed that this little florist/coffee & deli shop has been of existence for so long. The shopfront looks very attractive but inside it looks dilapidated and the service is not so great.</p> <p>When we first arrived, we waited 20 seconds for one of the staff to seat us. In general, you would normally wait to be seated in any restaurant. Anyway, the waitress who queued us, walked behind us … I have no idea why. Eventually when we got to a table we were handed our menus on the table and not given in our hands.</p> <p>The menus are definitely something different probably the size of an A2 sheet. The logo on the menu differ from the logo on the outside. On one of the menu’s the name “Kikka” was not printed in full. The menus were torn, filthy and some of them even had liquid damage. It was not so hard to guess why the menus looked like that, because clearly it was not waterproofed and it had no protection.</p> <p>The place wasn’t busy. The waitress who took our drinking order wasn’t the same waitress who brought our drinking order. We actually had no idea who the waiter was. I am referring to the waitress as “she” because none of them introduced themselves. When we received our order the waitress did not know which beverage belongs to who. I ordered ice tea, when I received my drink she did not offer to open the can (even though I wouldn’t have let her, it’s the idea that counts in the hospitality industry). She then asked us if we would like to place an order to eat something, but we said no for various reasons, and I am glad we did not, because it took about 5 min for our beverages to arrive. I have no idea why it took so long because drinks need to arrive within 1 or 2 minutes.</p> <p>Only after we have been served with drinks did someone else ask us if we were helped by leaning against the wall with their hands behind their back. Now I am not sure if this was the owner or the manager, but clearly, this person does not lead by example and had no clue what was happening on the floor or maybe they just don’t care.</p> <p>Whilst sitting in that specific section where It appeared to be the place where they prepare certain foods, the platters that they were busy preparing was placed on the tables where customers are supposed to be seated. While I was sitting there I noticed that the walls needed filling and painting. The floors needed attention. It looked like the section’s floor opposite us was painted, but from all the walking it formed pathways and it looked dusty and dirty. In between observing the walls and trying to figure out why this place even existed I could hear the gossip between staff members, which I thought was very inappropriate.</p> <p>We probably spent an hour there and in that time, nobody came to ask us if we would like more drinks or anything for that matter. However, every now and then a different person came to check if we were still at the table and it made us feel like they are just checking to make sure we did not leave without paying. Kikka closes at 17:00 none of the staff had notified us that we were able to place last rounds, they just ignored us. Our friend wanted to place an order but nobody had come to ask if we needed anything else he waited about 15 min. Our best guess was they were avoiding us.</p> <p>When we wanted to pay the bill at the front desk, I noticed that the staff in the front of house were just standing there, the one girl in particular who seated us was more worried about the flowers in the shop than asking us if she could assist us. Everyone else standing around did not offer assistance. It took a few minutes to pay the bill because we also did not know who the waiter was. In conclusion, we won’t be returning, the place provides a slow service, which is annoying, the staff has poor work ethics and has had no professional training and Kikka obviously does not have any standards what so ever.</p> <p>*An email was sent to the Kikka asking them to state their side of the story for providing a bad service, and a notice was given to respond within 24 hours - No response was received</p>