Complaint / Review
Flamingo Palms Cuban Bistro
Charged for services not rendered and rude service

I recently visited this local restaurant celebrating their "Grand Opening". When I walked in I saw others seated in the dining room eating their meals. I waited in line approximately 10 minutes before I was asked for my order which was "to go". After choosing 2 dinners @ $10.99 each I waited for my food while sipping a soda. I handed my credit card to the waiter prior to my food arriving and was charged $25.57. When my food arrived I checked it and noticed several items missing, the meals were to include rice, beans, and plantains. One meal had nothing but the meat and the other was missing the plantains and the rice and beans were mixed up together despite my previous request to have them separated. I brought this to the attention of the waiter who called someone else over to help me. This new person stated they had run out of food and instead had thrown in some dinner rolls to make up the difference. I asked to speak to the manager or owner and let him know that I was not interested in the substitution and would either like my full order or a refund to my credit card offering to pay for the soda I had been drinking. He told me that he was not going to refund my purchase and I could either "take it or leave it" because he was not going to put the food back because it was too late to be able to reuse it. He then started accusing me of entering the establishment when it was "closed" and what did I expect anyway. The employee prior had indicated the restaurant closed at 5pm on Sundays and I had walked in prior to 4:20pm considering my receipt was time marked at 4:37pm. I ended up leaving with no food and a transaction made on my credit card. I had to call my card company and the local police to place complaints with them. How can a business treat their customers in this fashion and expect to stay in business for any length of time? The owner could of easily credited my card back with an explanation and apology and I probably would of returned on a later date but instead he sacrificed his reputation and business ethics in front of me and the other patrons over $25.57. I most certainly be passing on my experience to others in this town which I have lived in for over 20 years!!