The restaurant scam of the week -- maybe of the year
Unfortunately for Patrick Rocko, he didn’t know that one of the best things about Baltimore is that it’s a small town disguised as a city.
A Federal Hill restaurant got a very negative e-mail from him through the contact page of its Web site. Naturally the staff was unhappy, and wrote back immediately, offering to send a gift certificate as an apology (standard procedure). Rocko, properly grateful, sent them an address in Canada to mail it to.
But meanwhile the chef was talking to the chef of another Federal Hill restaurant, and his restaurant had gotten the same complaint, word for word.
The first restaurant did some Googling, and found Rocko’s name on two Web sites offering coupons and deals. ...
It seems this guy writes to restaurants all over the country and sits back to wait for the gift certificates to come in. Then he sells them on the ‘net for 10 percent off their full value. He’s probably making a nice little bit of change off the scam. I have to admit the ingenuity of it amuses me.
Once our restaurants realized what was going on, they sent e-mails to other restaurants and customers in town alerting them. A PR person from one of the restaurants forwarded it to me.
Sorry, Rocko, not in Baltimore you don’t.
Here’s the e-mail he sent originally. Note how carefully generic it is:
Subject: unhappy with recent visit
Hey, we recently, well, about two weeks ago, came back from another family outing, concluding the shopping there with family, we stopped off at .... This time around, as always, we stopped by there simply because we love the food, ambiance, and atmosphere of the place. I've heard nothing but good things about it a few years back. It is definitely one of our favorite restaurants. It has always been a great and welcoming place to take the kids, as well as for more formal occasions, and we end up there monthly with the entire family. I even took some clients there recently who've never heard of it and they fell in love with the place too. Every time, the service is at least very good or better, but recently, it has been sub par.
I went in as usual, and we were finally seated. When we were, we had noticed that the table wasn't clean, and there were a few scraps here and there left from prior. Normally, I'd expect to be moved to a new table, but the server came back with a moist towel and began cleaning it right than and there.
Some scraps came to rest on our laps as she did it in haste, and than smiled, as if she had done her job well. We than began to order our food when she had come back. We had ordered our meals, and the kids' meals came without a problem. When my wife and I received our meats, we were happy and began eating only to find that the meats were medium rare at best, not well done as we had asked for before. We had to wait around 10 minutes until the server appeared again, chewing gum, looking as casual as ever, in order to exchange our food. They came a while after, finally cooked right, and our kids were already done their meals. I had to order them dessert as they were getting fidgety, something I don't normally do as I believe they are useless calories and not something I like to buy for them. When we had finished, I had gone into the male's bathroom, and found the seats to be messy, they were wet and had loose toilet paper around the bowl. I can't blame the restaurant, its the patrons that use them and they're cleaned every so often, could happen anytime/anywhere.
After having been to your restaurant numerous times before and always praising you on how excellent and great the food and service is, this was a disaster. It was not even an alright experience on any account. I am giving you my fair take on it, and I have lost a lot of integrity for the restaurant and its quality in the service and food department because of this lone situation. I'd expect this kind of incompetence and service if I stopped by at a fast food place like Burger King, but I go to your establishment for a reason, a promise, a reoccurring promise of quality. I do not normally point out every flaw but feel this experience was as negative as one could possibly be. I was not initially going to complain, but since we have dined out a lot since than, daily if not more, I have not found a suitable replacement, and I still have the positive experience in the back of my mind speaking volumes as to how much regard I have for this place. I realized I'm keeping a childish grudge and would rather write to you and see what you have to say/what you think about it. I would like to hear your opinion of this, as I, as a long time customer and loyal patron feel like this experience was uncalled for and not something to expect from your restaurant.
Have a nice day. Waiting to hear from you.
Regards,
Patrick Rocko
Comments
For those who think this may be an internet rumor, I've got the email that came into our website from procko@gmail.com.
I don't know if we're one of the locations that are referred to in the blog, but we're located in Federal Hill as well.
Posted by: Trouble | September 16, 2008 12:27 PM
It's a shame there are people like this in the world. However, shouldn't the Canadian mailing address have set off a red flag? Especially since the email makes it sound like he's local...
Posted by: Tom | September 16, 2008 12:30 PM
Sounds like a variation on the old dry cleaning scam, where a con man sends a letter (to every restaurant in town) about a server spilling something on him and includes a receipt for a reasonable small amount of money for dry cleaning. Ka-ching
Suggestions for future criminal activity:
1) Pick a name that doesn't look made up and isn't so easy to google. (Rocko? Nobody is named that. Maybe Rocco.) Try Thomas Johnson for example. There's a million of them.
2) Canada? Hmmm, that sounds suspicious. Clearly that's a dodge against Federal mail fraud.
3) Too many words in your generic letter. It is the flip side of the generic praise that restaurant owners post on citysearch, metromix, etc.
Posted by: voodoopork | September 16, 2008 12:34 PM
Try contacting the FBI: internet fraud is a federal issue, I'm pretty sure.
Posted by: Robert (the Single One) | September 16, 2008 12:46 PM
There is a downside, as well as an upside, to operating a business with the philosophy "the customer is always right."
Sometimes the customer is a con man.
I still think that, on balance, businesses are better off treating all customers well.
Not that it matters to me, because I don't live there, but if I did I would want to know the name of the restaurant that you are talking about, EL. I'd go have a meal there, just to "even the score" a little and encourage them to keep treating their customers right, even in the face of all the Patrick Rockos.
Posted by: Bucky | September 16, 2008 12:58 PM
"When my wife and I received our meats, we were happy and began eating only to find that the meats were medium rare at best, not well done as we had asked for before."
That line alone would make me suspicious!
Posted by: MD Canon | September 16, 2008 1:13 PM
How long must we live with the national nightmare of Canadians infiltrating our society? They are everywhere. The most insidious thing is that they look just like us, like the beings in They Live or (fill in any other sci-fi movie here). Time to build another fence eh? And now Caribou Barbie is teamed up with the Manchurian Candidate. Alaskans are just Canadians with a better army.
Posted by: Owl Meat GoHomeCanucks | September 16, 2008 3:47 PM
This just makes me really angry. I have written letters to management on occasion and been compensated, but I didn't do it maliciously, and my only purpose was to let them know of the problems, not to beg for a voucher. I hope that this can somehow be prosecuted. eBay may be interested in hearing about this.
Posted by: Summer | September 16, 2008 3:58 PM
eBay knows about it. They are the biggest fence for stolen goods ever, Organized groups of thieves fill warehouses full of stuff that they sell on eBay. There was a article in the New Yorker about it a few weeks ago.
and this on e-fencing
http://www.hotlpjobs.com/news/121/ARTICLE/1105/2007-10-13.html
Posted by: Joe Friday | September 16, 2008 4:44 PM
I sent a comment to Clyde's of Columbia awhile back about a bad dining experience and when the GM responded he asked for our server's name, when we were there, and what we ordered. I would say based on the questions asked that this has happened to Clyde's in the past. When offered a gift certificate I declined because I didn't want the GM to think I was complaining just to get a free meal.
Posted by: Elite Elephant Lover | September 16, 2008 4:52 PM
Owl - And now Caribou Barbie is teamed up with the Manchurian Candidate
LOL -- that would explain sooooo much, if true.
As for the scam -- Bless you, EL, for posting this. May he now get what he deserves.
Posted by: Cheese Girl | September 16, 2008 5:00 PM
Surely the restaurants know which certificate they sent off to this leech. Is reselling a fraudulantly obtained gift certificate illegal? Could someone who buys such a gift certificate on E-Bay or otherwise face legal action when he or she uses it? If someone passes you a counterfeit $20 note, you are the one who will, at least, be out the $20 when you try to spend it. Note that I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on this blog. Just wondering what might happen.
Posted by: Retired in Elkridge | September 16, 2008 5:41 PM
i work in cleveland oh at a seafood place and have received this exact e-mail his a scam!!!
Posted by: sous chef | September 16, 2008 10:31 PM
Am I the only one reading this who thinks it is absolutely harmless? No where in the email did he ask for compensation. If restaurants are willing to send it to him, they are the ones who have not done their research and their customer service needs to take on a more stringent approach. Personally, I know how a scam looks like, this would be very hard to prove it's a scam by the way it's worded. Seems like any place deciding to send him anything is doing so out of goodwill. All you can say is he's a liar, not a scammer.
Posted by: William Marski | September 17, 2008 10:21 AM
Mr. Marski wrote:this would be very hard to prove it's a scam
It is, admittedly, an artful scam in that I don't believe he's done anything illegal.
But IMHO, it's a scam, nevertheless.
When you take advantage of someone by lying, I don't know what else you can call it. I see no real difference between this letter and putting shards of glass in your mostly-eaten entree, in order to get your meal comped.
Posted by: Bucky | September 17, 2008 10:48 AM
The damage such scams do is to desensitize us to the real problems in life. Will the restaurant owner react as favorably to the second, fourth, or tenth such letter, even if from a local address? Oh, and it is harmful to the restaurant. That $20 gift certificate sent to a scammer comes out of their profits which, if I can believe the stories here and elsewhere, are getting very thin. I'm also still waiting for someone knowledgeable to say whether the resale of such certificates, for profit, is legal.
Posted by: Retired in Elkridge | September 17, 2008 11:34 AM
Instead of a gift certificate, I would simply tell the so-called "patron" (oe anyone else for that matter) that the way I'd make it up to him is to come in for a comp'd meal, provided they can provide a receipt. I would comp them a meal worth the total amount of the bill, plus another 10%.
Posted by: Donny B | September 17, 2008 12:13 PM
You'd comp the meal, "provided they can provide a receipt"? I guess I'd be out of luck, since I've never asked for a receipt from a restaurant. I never charge restaurant meals because I don't want to get a bill a month later for something I can barely remember.
Posted by: OldPhil | September 17, 2008 1:07 PM
How about a Top 10 gracious rightings of wrongs?
Posted by: chowsearch | September 17, 2008 2:27 PM
Print the return address- we can all send him stupid postcards and sign him up for crap that will fill up his mailbox with endless amounts of junk mail!!!
Posted by: Mather | September 17, 2008 5:50 PM
I do think his actions are illegal (attorneys?). He is clearly committing fraud by describing a situation that never happened whether or not he actually asked for some form of compensation.
Posted by: Henry Miller | September 18, 2008 7:51 AM
He is clearly committing fraud...
Is your legal opinion based upon viewing Matlock or the one with Captain Kirk? I get all my legal knowledge from JAG. :O)
Posted by: VDP - Counselor at Pork | September 18, 2008 11:30 AM
we also received an email complaint from "procko@gmail.com", so NOW WE ADD HIS EMAIL TO AS MANY FORMS AS WE CAN>>>> HE"S A TOTAL SCAM.. just google his name.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 19, 2008 6:31 PM
Just a heads up that this character has been selling these gift certeficates received from various restaurants for profit on a well known website - redflagdeals.com
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=633214
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=633214
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=633214
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=633214
Posted by: RFD | September 23, 2008 11:35 AM
I clicked on the link and the scam guy is requesting the mods remove the thread, "nothing to sell here" he posts.
Scrolling down, someone posted a link to this thread exposing the guy for what he is.
Posted by: PCB Rob | September 23, 2008 12:57 PM
This guy took his "Fake" name from Sponge Bob. Two of the characters are Patric and Rocko lol
Posted by: Steve | April 18, 2009 9:58 PM