Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Harold Seltzer's Steakhouse's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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Harold Seltzer's Steakhouse has 2 locations, listed below.

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  Harold Seltzer's Steakhouse

  3500 Tyrone Blvd N St Petersburg, FL 33710-1125

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  Harold Seltzer's Steakhouse

  9409 US Highway 19 Port Richey, FL 34668-4625

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/29/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Aug. 25, 2022 at 4:10 PM our party of five celebrated a birthday, 57 Wedding Anniversary and my completing 7 months of treatment at ******* ************** Initially ******, (our server) was friendly, professional and courteous. Beverages and bread were served without delay. However, communication STOP for my husband and I when I stated, "my prime rid is NOT well done. It was medium rare. ****** took the entree plate with my baked potato and did not say a word. No apology, did not ask do I want to keep my potato, do I want something else or do I want to speak with a manager. About seven minutes later ****** returned with my entree and bake potato, no fresh butter for potato. She placed the meal in front of me and did NOT say a word. My husband and I did not leave her a tip and ****** ensured everyone within our area was made aware of no tip. When I stated, I feel this issue could have been handled with more professionalism her reply was, " I did not cook the meal." My husband and I did not reply to her unnecessary comments. Our past dinning experiences at Harold Seltzer have been awesome. Above & beyond food and customer service. St. **** is my home town and we do visit the area frequently to assist my 94 year young mother. Also disappointed ***** the manager did not contact me when I requested in a private message on ********* Thank you for your time and assistance.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/13/2022

  I am submitting our response to ***************** [to whom I will refer to below as mk for shorthand and for her privacy] by email instead of through your portal, for expediency and due to the several attachments which I will summarize as follows:

  1. 1^st 5 are screenshots of the conversation between mk and myself, which she initiated through ******** on Saturday night, 8/27/22 at 6:28pm [her in black type on grey, me white type on blue], most of which have date and timestamp, 10 on the 27^th, 2 on Sunday the 28^th, and the last 9 on Monday 8/29 beginning at 8:44pm, ending after 11pm.
  2. Email correspondence initiated by mk on 8/27 after 9pm and ending with hers of 8/29 @ 10:18 [in response to my earlier email apology & offer of a $25 gift card and to personally take care of her reservation next visit], in which she advised that she had already submitted her complaint to BBB, despite our many contacts and my attempt to call her and my email to her, all less than 48 hours [including Sunday]from her 1^st contact to us of her issue via social media.
  3. The 3 detailed checks and credit card receipts from mks table of 5. Please note that in addition to the $10 of discounts on drinks during happy hour as all our guests enjoy, the table was also treated to 2 complimentary bottles of wine, 2 complimentary napoleons for dessert [additional discount of $40 approx. in honor of the birthday and anniversary we were told they were celebrating], the underdone prime rib dinner of which mk complained [$22.99 + tax] was also removed from her check prior to it being presented for payment.

   

  Yes there are indeed 2 sides to every story and our servers side is different than mk, yet I apologized to mk on her behalf by email. Customer is always right has been our policy for over 25 years, and it  has been my practice, as owner, not only to value each and every customer, new and of long standing, but to try to address customers concerns and complaints personally. Mk was never promised a response by ***** within 24 hours of leaving the restaurant on 8/25 as she stated. *****, the manager was not party to mks communications on /through ********, the 1^st of which was on the evening of 8/27 48 hours later, I did, personally and immediately, while I was working Saturday night, while off on Sunday, and as soon as I finished working on the floor on Monday.

   

  With only the credit card slip emailed to me by mk in hand [I did ask for them to be scanned and emailed to me on Sunday 8/28 but only got copies 3 days ago],  I still offered mk a $25 gift card for her $22.99 prime rib dinner that was underdone, despite our having tried and failed to upcook it to her satisfaction. I was unaware at the time that it had already been removed from her bill along with the wine and dessert. I felt her request for a refund of the entire check was unreasonable, since there was nothing wrong with her husbands dinner.

   

  Once I reviwed th reviewing the dinner checks before responding, I discovered that while her dinner was removed from the check, there was an incorrect  $21.39 charge. Apparently, the manager who compd those 3 items from the check before it was presented [servers do not have the authority to do so], accidentally also hit a button on the same screen that added a 20% automatic gratuity used for larger parties [on the pre-tax total of all 3 checks in the party combined before the check was split in 3]. THAT was definitely an unintentional mistake on our side, and had it been noticed by us or mk [which it obviously was not], it would have been immediately removed.

   

  Our plan for resolution: we offered a $25 gift card before knowing the charge for mks meal had been removed from her check. That offer still stands as a gesture of good faith to a customer who states in her complaint Our past dining experiences at Harold Seltzer have been awesome. Above and beyond food and customer service. We will also refund the $21.39 for the inadvertant charge on her check, and feel that, to apply the BBB standard, have definitely acted in good faith and done everything that could reasonably be expected or is responsible for to resolve this issue. We would expect mk to delete her negative postings on social media as a gesture of her good faith.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/13/2022

   
  Complaint: 17895540
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  We reside in **.  In the past we have moved my Mother from ************ to our home in **.  To utilize a $25.00 would cost us in gas, hotel, time and caretaker for my mother for a meal for one. As I stated to Mr. *********************** we wanted a refund for the meal I could not eat.  What happen between Mr. ********************** and his staff is an internal issue .Our issue is having to pay for a meal that was not eatable and poor customer service.  Our solution is a full refund credit to our credit card.  Thank you for your time and attention.  
  I
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

   

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2022

  We reiterate our offer to refund the inadvertant charge of $21.39. Customer's meal was already comp'd/removed from her check and her complaint was that HER meal was 'inedible'. Her husband's meal was fine and she was not charged for hers so we will not be refunding her husband's meal and 1/2 price beer, just the $21.39 charge. Please provide credit card details if refund is to be issued to credit card or mailing address if she prefers a check be mailed.

  Offer of $25 gift card was a 'good faith gesture' over and above what was requested. That she declines that offer is her choice, and irrelevant to this dispute.

  Thank you,

  Harold

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/14/2022

   
  Complaint: 17895540
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Gift card for in the amount of $25.00 for Harold ********************** in ******* to replace an uneatable prime rib is useless to me.

   Reason, we have moved ninety-four year old mother into our home in SC. When she lived in ** we would make frequent trips to check on her.  It is not economical for us to drive to ten hours to ************, **, pay for a hotel  and pay for a caregiver for my mother to have a $25.00 dinner anywhere in **.

  I do not understand what the standard happy hour cost of alcohol beverages and two free bottles of wine has to due with my prime not being eatable.  The free bottles of wine was for the couple who sat at our table.  It was their 57th wedding anniversary and his 80th birthday.  I did not mention to our server I had just completed seven months of treatment at ******* Cancer in *****.  This was our friends celebration.

  Mr. ********************** mentioned the delay in a staff member sending him our credit card receipts.  In my opinion that is an internal issues and has nothing to do with the poor quality of the entree I was served.  Mr ********************** did not mention the fact I was not offered another entree, I was not given opportunity to speak with the manager

  Even though it is not stated directly, he did mention my post on *********  According to the rules and regulations in the *** we are allowed such posting on several social media sites.  Is Mr ********************** statement libel towards me?

  It is my hope Mr ********************** will refund the money paid for the meal I could not eat.  

  Thank you for your time and assistance.

  *************************

   

   

   

   

   

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************