LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:

Four of us traveled to Nantucket on September 28 for a brief vacation. None of us had been to Nantucket before and we were all looking forward to time away from our busy lives and commitments and to relaxing at the Wauwinet. On our first evening, we joined the happy crowd at the gala at the Whaling Museum and the fabulous museum filled with food and champagne was the perfect start to our stay.

On Monday evening, we had a reservation at a restaurant which also happens to have a place in New York City where two of us live. One of the women had eaten there and raved about the food and in late August, made a reservation for the 29th. We heard that it was a cash only place and so a call was placed about 4 p.m. on the 29th to determine whether that was true and at that time she left her name and our location at the Wauwinet.

We took a cab from the Wauwinet and were a little surprised at the fare which even the New Yorkers considered unduly high. The driver said he would return to pick us up and gave us his card.

At the restaurant, we were informed that there was no reservation for us and that we had needed to confirm as they are very busy in August. Since this was September and that place was nearly empty, we had our first indication that this was not going to go well. The waitress accompanied us to our table and stood at the table and continued to lecture us on our responsibility to confirm the reservation as the staff just didn't have time to do so. We were then seated in an area that one of us of described as "the kiddie area" far off in a corner away from the main dining room. And there we sat and sat and sat. The only time we had service was when someone passed by, usually the bus girl and we made a request to place an order. And when it came, it was of very poor quality.

There was no follow up about dessert and coffee and we received the bill.

For the first time for all four of us, we decided not to tip.

A call was placed to the cab and the driver was questioned about the cost of the first trip and he said that if we didn't like it, we could call a Bulgarian. Frankly, this comment made absolutely no sense to any of us.

The bus girl who had been the only person to take any interest in serving us was asked about a cab company and she offered to make a call. We left the bill in full minus a tip and went outside to wait for the cab.

Suddenly a "waiter" appeared and angrily asked why we had not left a tip. We explained that we had paid for the food, but not for the non-existent service. He shouted at us "well you ate the food" and then went back into the restaurant only to be followed out by a "waitress" who shouted at us that we would be waiting a long time because OUR CAB HAD BEEN CANCELLED.

We were in shock as four women in their 60s and 70s stood outside in the dark at 10 p.m. in a completely unknown place. The Wauwinet was called and with their superior service said a cab would be there in 10 minutes. By a stroke of luck, the cab we called from the restaurant had come to the area and we hailed him and he took us back to the Wauwinet.

Even as I write this days later, I find all this completely shocking. We spoke to many people about Nantucket hospitality and were told routinely…. oh, people just get tired of dealing with the tourists and are ready for everything to shut down.

So here's the moral of this story: There's a recession going on and none of us need to travel by train, plane, boat or car to a place where people are waiting for tourists to leave. Except for our time at the Wauwinet, our experience of Nantucket…are you paying attention Chamber of Commerce…is of unfriendly people who give poor service and feel that that is their right to do so. Over the remaining days, we discussed many times how the restaurant and its staff could have handled this incident to a successful conclusion. As it is, we have written to the owners of the restaurant in New York and to you. One experience can spoil a trip…and it did.

Shirley Swardenski