Your Neighborhood Chef

Worst. Experience. Ever.
My best friend wanted to give me a really awesome birthday present, so she bought a voucher for me and my partner to take a cooking class from Your Neighborhood Chef, whose address on Unilocal says they are in Alameda, which is where I live.
She gave me the information, and I called and left a voicemail asking the guy to set up a class, leaving my phone number and my e-​mail address in case that was easier for him, and asked him to provide information about how this worked. I got an e-​mail back about a week later, that provided NO information about where the class was, what the class schedule was, what types of classes were offered, NOTHING. He just suggested a few possible dates in November that didn’t work for me because of the holidays, and I had to email him back about that. Once we found a date, he stopped e-​mailing me, and I had to press him to provide information… like where were we supposed to go for this mythical cooking class? He responded (a week later) by telling me he conducts the cooking class right in your home! Great, I thought, and gave him my address in Alameda. He responded (about a week later) by telling me that he is in San Francisco, and doesn’t go to Alameda. He did NOT offer to provide a refund. I had to send him YET ANOTHER e-​mail and tell him I expected him to provide my friend with a full refund (which he eventually did, but I cannot believe I had to ASK for one when the whole thing could have been avoided by him just telling me the setup when I first called him).
In all, the whole thing took about six email exchanges but each exchange took about a week and a half because the guy is NOT responsive. So my friend gave me the voucher in September, and this wasn’t resolved until late October. The whole thing was so unprofessional, I could not believe it. This guy should NOT be running a business. I wish I could give negative stars. My friend felt bad that her birthday present didn’t work out, I felt bad that I had to drag her back into this to get the refund from the guy, and he apparently didn’t feel bad about ANY of it.

Had the most amazing time! The food was delicious (not to mention the redstripe) and the incredibly charming instructor didn’t hurt either ;) We took the «Jamaican me hungry» class, which I absolutely recommend to all! And since its so affordable, I can look forward to my next!
:D

I’ll give a more in depth review later, but this guy is really, REALLY awesome. Smart, helpful, and makes some EPIC food. Totally kicked ass.