Bad Experience The Bob House Restaurant/Moultonborough

[KonaChick]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

First, I've known the owner since she we were both kids. She has never shown any of this behavior at all. To the contrary, quite the opposite. Second, she is not a short blonde. I will be contacting her to get the other side of the story.

The woman we had the confrontation with was a shorter blonde woman and was identified to me as the owner by the manager. I have absolutely no reason to lie about her appearance or the fact she was identified to me as the owner. I encourage you contact your childhood friend the owner and would appreciate knowing what her take on it was, if you're so inclinced. Feel free to pm or if you'd rather it be public knowledge here that's fine as well.

[hazelnut]

It's the whole dumping of the pepper on her daughters food that irks me. If she did that to one of my kids and then berated them I would absolutely snap on her until SHE cried!

That being said the kid was wrong and the owner/manager should have addressed the parent and the PARENT only. She should have made the parent responsible for fixing the situation. For example were I the owner I would have taken the Pepper Shaker plopped it in front of K.C. and said "re-fill this as your daughter thought it was funny to put sugar in it." Then I would have said (as suggested) "You folks need to split up and sit with the kids, sorry but your kids are goofing off too much."

Knowing what I have read of K.C. she would have probably been apologetic and embarrassed and fixed the situation.

The restaurant owner has severely damaged the business reputation with this behavior and I will never patronize this establishment based on this story.

[KonaChick]

I agree with everything you said hazelnut except I wouldn't be filling the pepper shakers, my daughter would be and if the owner had handled it in this manner she would be filling more than one pepper shaker.

[hazelnut]

Originally Posted by KonaChick

I agree with everything you said hazelnut except I wouldn't be filling the pepper shakers, my daughter would be and if the owner had handled it in this manner she would be filling more than one pepper shaker.

Even better! That in itself would probably stick in my kids mind for a long time and deter them from that kind of behavior for many years to come.

[BernerGuy]

As a restaurant owner, I have a different(not right or wrong) way of looking at this.
The trouble started when the party of 9, (reservation?) was seated. Now, we see about three children a month at our place (Not in NH), though all of our servers and hosts/hostesses know that no table is to be all children. There should/will always be an adult at the table. With an adult at each of those two tables, everything goes smoothly and all have a great time.

That didn't happen, so the child's table needs more visits than your average table. The server needs to be around more often. The manager should be checking in that everything is okay. The host should come by and greet both tables.

Most importantly, the ticket that went into the kitchen, and I don't know how busy it was or how they operate their kitchen, could have had a rush on it. When kids are waiting around for food is when trouble can start. Those silly place mats, available from ALL food vendors, work. We have used register tape and crayons to keep kids busy.

The child was wrong, but the "owner" or whichever adult(s) raised their voice in the restaurant was most wrong. We have had unruly customers, and a calm, cool, and collected voice generally in a step forward. In the four years we have been open, we have had three instances that have had to be logged in our incident book. Twice, it was the same person. Not once did I, our manager, or anyone else on staff raise their voice.

I hope The Bob House does well. It's good to see independent places do poorly. I will be in this weekend to give it a try, and I'll try to refrain from messing with the pepper.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by hazelnut

It's the whole dumping of the pepper on her daughters food that irks me. If she did that to one of my kids and then berated them I would absolutely snap on her until SHE cried!

That being said the kid was wrong and the owner/manager should have addressed the parent and the PARENT only. She should have made the parent responsible for fixing the situation. For example were I the owner I would have taken the Pepper Shaker plopped it in front of K.C. and said "re-fill this as your daughter thought it was funny to put sugar in it." Then I would have said (as suggested) "You folks need to split up and sit with the kids, sorry but your kids are goofing off too much."

Knowing what I have read of K.C. she would have probably been apologetic and embarrassed and fixed the situation.

The restaurant owner has severely damaged the business reputation with this behavior and I will never patronize this establishment based on this story.

Ok, I'm going to give part of the owners explanation here before this gets out of hand. She told me that in no way did she poor pepper on the kids food. The plate was an empty plate that they were finished with and she simply poured out a little of the pepper on the plate to show that the kids were messing with them. How did that turned into throwing pepper at my children? After the guests left several empty sugar packets were found under their plates. I also just talked with her son who witnessed and confirmed this. The owner was concerned that these kids were putting all kinds of different things into the condiments and thus her worry about other customers using them and hurting her business. I'd say a pretty legitimate statement. I'll let the owners tell the rest.

HZ, I've always thought of you as very levelheaded with reasoned posts. It surprised me that you state you would never patronize this place based on this one persons view. Remember the Lobster Pound thread and how that turned out? No pun intended here but we need to take some things with a grain of salt.

[hazelnut]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

HZ, I've always thought of you as very levelheaded with reasoned posts. It surprised me that you state you would never patronize this place based on this one persons view. Remember the Lobster Pound thread and how that turned out? No pun intended here but we need to take some things with a grain of salt.

True and I appreciate the comment. I guess I was basing my opinion on a first hand report from what I feel is a trusted member of the forum who has pretty good credibility in my eyes. I'll wait and see what else comes out but I'm thinking the owner is probably going to try and paint a different picture to cover herself. No mention on whether or not she yelled at and made a young girl cry? Pepper or no pepper it's out of line and uncalled for. I will temper my statement and say this. I'll think twice about going to this restaurant. At any rate this story is bad for business and the story comes from a reputable member of this board, not some troll with an axe to grind. As a parent when you hear of adults yelling at children that are not their own it strikes a nerve. Thanks for the post SIKSUKR maybe both parties learned a lesson?

[SIKSUKR]

For what it's worth I was told there was no yelling as has been claimed. She might have gone about in a better way maybe. From an outsider not being there, this incident sounds like the Cambridge police and Professor Gates.

[KonaChick]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

For what it's worth I was told there was no yelling as has been claimed. She might have gone about in a better way maybe. From an outsider not being there, this incident sounds like the Cambridge police and Professor Gates.

I'm not sure if I'm Professor Gates or the Cambridge Police An awful strange thing to compare this situation to.

I have been a member of this Forum and a regular contributer on many posts since 2004. It is my opinion that you can tell the sincerety and perhaps even some personality traits about forum members through their posts. I have never lied on this forum and have made a conscience effort to examine any facts I post before I post them and to be totally honest about my opinions even if they may hurt someone's feelings. I always state my opinions in what I consider to be a respectful manner, perhaps others feel differently. I did not hatch a plan to diss The Bob House on the forum on the drive over to dinner, that's just not in my personality to be cruel like that. The owner absolutely did open up a bottle of pepper and dump it over my child's dinner plate which she was still eating. She absolutely did yell and cause a scene. She absolutly did not let me get a word in edgewise even when my daughter cried and admitted she had done this. I don't believe there were sugar packets under the plates, frankly I don't believe a word she says or will say on this forum. When I got home my motivation to call the restaurant was not to get the meal comped but to let them know that first and foremost we understood my child was in the wrong and to let them know she was given consequences for her behavior. Second I was determined to let them know the owner's actions were outrageous and severely out of line. When the manager said to me "What do you want me to do about it" the first that that came to mind was to tell him I just wanted him to know how I felt and that perhaps they could comp my child's meal. In other words my motivation wasn't to get a free meal but to let them know that kind of behavior was outrageous and as a paying customer we shouldn't have to deal with it.
Now anyone reading this post can and I'm sure will make up their minds about what they believe. I'm not going to try to sway anybody anymore. I feel this forum is about positive AND negative experiences that we have on Lake Winni and I will continue to post as honestly and with as much integrity as I can on both. My daughter made her bed when she choose to put sugar in the pepper shaker and now she has to lay in it. The owner of The Bob house made her bed when she reacted in an innapropriate, unacceptable manner in front of her whole restaurant, and she needs to lay in it too. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[Commodore]

KonaChick,

How old is your daughter?

[phoenix]

sounds like time for a beer with the President

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

Ok, I'm going to give part of the owners explanation here before this gets out of hand. She told me that in no way did she poor pepper on the kids food. The plate was an empty plate that they were finished with and she simply poured out a little of the pepper on the plate to show that the kids were messing with them. How did that turned into throwing pepper at my children? After the guests left several empty sugar packets were found under their plates. I also just talked with her son who witnessed and confirmed this. The owner was concerned that these kids were putting all kinds of different things into the condiments and thus her worry about other customers using them and hurting her business. I'd say a pretty legitimate statement. I'll let the owners tell the rest.

HZ, I've always thought of you as very levelheaded with reasoned posts. It surprised me that you state you would never patronize this place based on this one persons view. Remember the Lobster Pound thread and how that turned out? No pun intended here but we need to take some things with a grain of salt.

Siksukr,

No question there are 2 sides to every story, but I am surprised that we have heard nothing from the owners at this point. I know if it were my place being talked about and I had a conflicting story, I would be registered and responding in a heartbeat!

[angela4design]

...nobody and I mean nobody... gets to scream at my kids like that, I don't care what my kid may have done, screaming, threatening and physical intimidation just will not happen and will bring an equal response to the aggressor, with me between the aggressor and my kid.

I feel the same way as ITD. If that's true, I would have hit the roof. If you have a problem with my child, talk to ME.

This story, btw, reminds me of my many years as a server where kids and teens would unscrew the caps from the S & P shakers (which would pop off the next time someone used them). Solution: REMOVE the shakers in question when you know that has possibly happened. Fix it! The damage is done. How expensive is salt? It never dawned on me to be mad about it. It was a childish - and common - prank to mess with whatever's on the table! If you can remove while the kids are still at the table, even better for them to see that staff watches what's going on in the restaurant! Daily sidework involves checking over the items on the table. I guess I still don't understand - why the big deal about it?

KC seems to be pretty level in previous posts, so the emotion behind the initial post here points to an obviously uncomfortable situation for all. I'm curious to see which details the owner might have to contest in the argument. A little pepper, a lot - WHY take issue, either way?

[ironhorsetim]

Originally Posted by angela4design

And, I'm curious how old the child is, six or sixteen? It would make a difference in my perception.

Originally Posted by KonaChick

My daughter is definetely old enough to know better

Originally Posted by Gilligan

Angela4Design asked how old your daughter is, 6 or 16 makes a difference. You don't give a direct answer

Originally Posted by Commodore

KonaChick,

How old is your daughter?

Even though it sounds like it was over the top for a business to handle it that way,I think it really makes a differance...So.....how old is she Please?

[publicdocker]

How can the confirmed stories be so different???

[KonaChick]

Drum roll please....My daughter is 11 soon to be 12. As I stated definetely old enough to know better but still young enough to cry when yelled at by an adult. To be honest I feel strang posting identifying information about my daughter but I do understand it's an intregal part of this.

[Newbiesaukee]

In today's world I also am reluctant to post anything of an identifying nature on the internet, particularly as it concerns children. IMO given your child's age, the behavior you describe from the "owner," is even more inappropriate. With a 16-17 year old who should know better the owner's action would, PERHAPS, be more understandable to some people (altho IMO even an adult should not be treated in the manner you describe). I appreciate your releasing the information which supports your understandable reaction to the incident.

[dewitt]

Kona Chick, Having 3 daughters 5,9,11 I know how you need to get them out and learn/teach how to act properly at a restaraunt. Most of the time it works and sometimes you need to take them aside and discipline. Sounds like you had the bases covered and this manager/owner was way out of line. I compliment you on your composure.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by VitaBene

Siksukr,

No question there are 2 sides to every story, but I am surprised that we have heard nothing from the owners at this point. I know if it were my place being talked about and I had a conflicting story, I would be registered and responding in a heartbeat!

VB, neither owner seems to up on the forum thing like we are. She had me call her son who understands this stuff better. He has told me that he registered yesterday. The rest is up to them.

Kona, I have no bone to pick with you. I was not there and can't give my version. I saw the thread and know the owner you had the run-in with and thought she should know about it. What I've posted here reflects that conversation. I'll leave it at that. No hard feelings please.

[hazelnut]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

VB, neither owner seems to up on the forum thing like we are. She had me call her son who understands this stuff better. He has told me that he registered yesterday. The rest is up to them.

Kona, I have no bone to pick with you. I was not there and can't give my version. I saw the thread and know the owner you had the run-in with and thought she should know about it. What I've posted here reflects that conversation. I'll leave it at that. No hard feelings please.

SIKSUKR, As a reader of the forum I appreciate your comments. If it were my friend who owned the restaurant I probably would be in the exact same position as you are. Thanks for notifying your friend of the discussion going on here. I don't think any of us would hold any of this against you! You my friend are merely the messenger!

[ironhorsetim]

KonaChick....Thank you,I totally understand your reluctance to throw things out on the internet also. With that said "I think " 11 is still young enough to not fully understand that little pranks come with a pricetag. And if anyone treated my children or grandchildren poorly they would be dealing with me. Again thank you for your honesty and your well thought out posts. I for one enjoy reading your opinions

[Irrigation Guy]

I too can't see KC exagerating to make her point and if someone was that way with my child I hope I would have been able to keep the same composure she did. Hats off to you KC, for handling the situation as well as you did under the circumstances.

I have been wondering how this place was but there are enough places around to take a wait and see attitude. I will be avoiding this place for some time, and mentioning my reluctance when this restaurants name comes up.

[luvmypups]

Oh my gosh, I cant believe this story. I guess I can see both sides as a parent and someone who has worked in restaurants for years. I think the owner was concerned because obviously any other customer could have used those condiments and then food gets sent back, meals gets comped etc etc extremely troublesome to those in the kitchen and the management. If she really did pour pepper over the remainder of your daughter's uneaten meal then I would say that's going a little far but I know the majority of restaurants I worked at, the management would have been livid if that happened, maybe not gone that far but they would probably have been pretty pissed off. ON THE OTHER HAND, depending on your daughter's age, kids will be kids, they do things they arent supposed to and that's what they do. I would never let someone scream at my child that way and like Konachick, would have appreciated it if it was settled between adults and I would have offered for my child to fix what she did. I've heard the owners are very nice people and that they started that business for their young son to take over one day ( which is really great of them ). Sticky situation you've got here, I wouldnt go contacting the police but I know you must feel very bitter. They feel they were wronged and you feel you were wronged, I dont think anyone wins here unfortunately.

[jeffk]

I'm sorry, unless someone is being VERY aggressive there is absolutely no excuse for an angry confrontation. Messing up some condiments? Really? Sounds pretty childish to me. Oops, they were kids. Threatening her business, come on. That's an enormous exaggeration to try to justify the owner's anger.

If the owner was upset she should have calmly requested the parents to supervise and removed all the condiments from the kids table. If the owner really wanted to keep her cool she could have just replaced the condiments after they left. There is certainly no money issue here, all the condiments couldn't have been worth more than a buck or two. This was just an attitude thing on the part of the owner.

Sorry to all all who are defending the owner but even now, KonaChick doesn't come off as angry or nasty. I believe she is telling the story as it happened. Yeah, different people see things differently but not this differently. The owner got confrontational over a couple of kids being foolish and there is simply no justification. The owner now has to save face in this discussion and I have doubts about her denials. KonaChick sounds mostly embarrassed about the whole thing and annoyed at what her kid did. Frankly on the 'annoying things that kids do scale' this only rates about 3 of 10. From behavior I have seen in restaurants by obnoxious adult patrons it sounds like the owner is going to have a stroke when she eventually runs into one of them. The owner did FAR more damage to her business by yelling at customers than the kids did. If you were at a restaurant and you witnessed an blowup by one of the staff would you want to go back there?

Just to be clear, I'm not letting the kid off the hook. Neither is KonaChick. But how about a proportional response?

[sa meredith]

No one has stopped to consider that putting sugar in the salt shaker is actually a pretty funny practical joke.
Why, just yesterday, while have breakfast at VK, I emptied an entire bottle of Tabasco Sauce into a Ketchup bottle. Feel bad for the next person who got that bottle.

[wifi]

Originally Posted by sa meredith

No one has stopped to consider that putting sugar in the salt shaker is actually a pretty funny practical joke.
Why, just yesterday, while have breakfast at VK, I emptied an entire bottle of Tabasco Sauce into a Ketchup bottle. Feel bad for the next person who got that bottle.

The jokes on you... I dumped all the Ketchup bottles into the Tabasco the day before

[SAMIAM]

Soooooo.....that's why everyone asked for more water.

[wifi]

Actually the funniest thing I ever.... errr... that I observed was to take a full glass of water, put a coaster on it,
turn it upside down, then slide it onto the table. Drove the busboys nuts...

Its great to be in your 2nd childhood

[Newbiesaukee]

It is fortunate that although we can't stay youthful, we can be immature forever.

[phoenix]

and inconsiderate at times

[breathe easy]

Just had dinner at the Bob House and found it to be reasonably priced, friendly, good and varied menu and good service. No sugar in my salt shaker.....