The Duck Dive

As a PB local, I just don't very much like this place. It's certainly classier than the Shore Club or some of the other most bro-tastic PB haunts, but it's still just too much. Too loud, too obnoxious, too many of the adjectives that give PB a bad rap.

I appreciate the aesthetics of the place but despite their attempts to keep things modern or classy, it just isn't working with the patronage. The food was overpriced and generally consists of fancy names given to fairly common bar and grill food.

Typically, I do not write reviews if products or services meet expectations, because most businesses satisfy basic customer needs. In some cases, unfortunately, businesses fail to understand that creating customers is the fundamental purpose of a company--without customers, businesses cannot exist. Here, I reflect on an experience with The Duck Dive that illustrates how one incident can permanently damage customer relations.

After ordering a $7 IPA with a debit card, the bartender returned my card without offering an open tab or mentioning the $10 minimum for card use. Then I ordered another $7 IPA, and this time the same bartender alluded to the $10 minimum on card purchases.

Since I had already accumulated a bill exceeding $10, I questioned the bartender why he had not opened my tab earlier. Rather than addressing the issue then, he argued that I would be in the bar long enough to accumulate an additional $10 minimum. Incidentally, he stated that his bosses had condemned him earlier for the same mistake, so he could not repeat the same blunder. I did not think this would be an issue, so I complied for the time being.

Then at the end of the night, I asked for my card back from the same bartender. Contrary to his belief, I did not meet the $10 minimum on the "new tab." As a result, he insisted that I purchase another drink to meet the requirement. I calmly explained that I had spent more than $10 throughout the entire night; also, he had not given me the option to open a tab at the beginning. He rejected my request, so I asked to speak to his manager. Upon hearing this, he stated that he was the manager even though he claimed earlier that his superiors had reprimanded him for a similar error.

At this point, I knew that the bartender would not admit fault, so I asked for the most inexpensive drink to meet the $10 minimum. Upon stating that I would never return his bar, he literally shrugged and said "I don't care."

In Pacific Beach one would think that bars would do everything in their power to maintain customer satisfaction, because too much competition exists to damage customer rapport. Instead, the bartender's actions demonstrated how The Duck Dive places little importance on customer satisfaction. Needless to say, this bar fails to value the customer, so I will not continue patronizing it.

Ultimate Bloody Mary are best around - good food.