Shame on thieving waiters at the Safari Park Hotel

Yesterday was a joyous occasion when a colleague got married at the Safari Park Hotel.

Everything ran like clockwork at the reception ...the meal was served buffet style...and we all had a soft drink with the meal.

The hall where the reception was held was not entirely full..some guests had not shown up.

Meanwhile, as the entertainment wore on, I figured I could do with a second soft drink, so I strode over to a waiter (my previous attempts to catch the attention of any waiter had not been successful) and requested to have a soda brought to my table.

After a further ten minutes had elapsed without my soda having arrived, I strode again, more determined, to the said waiter and demanded to know why my soda had not arrived.

He managed to tell me in a number of phrases, that the sodas that had remained were to be paid for cash, at Kenya Shillings 200 each.

I thought this was a ridiculously high price, but without saying so, I asked the waiter to bring me the soda quickly, he should not assume I was not good for the money.

In less than a minute, a cold soda was placed before me, opened with gusto, and the waiter then hung about expectantly, waiting for me to give him the Kenya shillings 200 he had previously indicated to me.

Having taken a long gulp of the soda, I turned to the waiter and asked him to bring me the bill, so that I could pay for the soda.

Five, Ten, Fifteen, Twenty and finally Thirty minutes elapsed, before the waiter came to my table with the Manager.

The Manager explained to me that whereas each guest had only been entitled to a single soda, the fact that some guests had not arrived meant that there were still sodas available, all fully paid for, and there was therefore no bill for me to pay.

The manager even asked if I wished to have another soda, but i thanked him, saying I was quenched of thirst.

I was, needless to say, furious at the waiter, who had attempted to steal KES 200 from me, knowing fully well that there were many free sodas still available, and knowing further that a soda at the hotel was only KES 100 bob.

Indeed, I later came to learn from other guests, that they had been made to pay KES 100 each for a second soda, without a receipt having been issued.

The lesson for customers of this hotel is simply never to pay for anything without an appropriate bill having been tendered. Its waiters, as at yesterday, were less than honest.

This was most unexpected of an otherwise highly regarded Safari Park Hotel, and it is hoped that its management will implement suitable mechanisms and procedures to avoid theft of funds from its guests by its waiters.