If you think restaurants that are being criticized for breaking law 174 (smoking ban) in Lebanon might be feeling a bit ashamed of what they’re doing, then you’re definitely wrong, those restaurants are actually getting ruder by the moment!
One of these restaurant is Enab in Gemmayze, who has basically never respected law 174 and always allowed its customer to smoke indoor. In response to that, IndyACT decided to use their office, which is located right next to Enab, in order to put up a huge banner calling the restaurant to abide by the law, and next thing they knew was Enab’s employees breaking into their offices to take down the banner!
the break-in is old news. better to check the date when the video was released.
Stories like this kill me! Last week, I was sitting inside Lina’s downtown when two women lit up nonchalantly. No one even flinched. I summoned the waiter and asked him whether he knew of the no-smoking law. He shrugged it off, saying that a window had been opened to ventilate the restaurant. I tried to explain to him that there must be open air on three sides for smoking to be permitted, and that one open window wouldn’t suffice. He said management condoned the smoking and didn’t want to alienate its guests. Well, Lina’s downtown certainly alienated me–I won’t frequent there again. The sad bit is it’s a respectable chain, and I would never have expected such base behavior from them.
Dear Danielle,
We would first like to thank you for your comment. Customer feedback is very important to us, and if you ever encounter any problems in any of the Lina’s branches we urge you to contact our offices at 01/499099 or email us at (info@catertainemntsal.com).
As for your comment, we would like to tell you that there must have been a misunderstanding and mistake on behalf of the waiter. Indeed the smoking law allows for smoking inside Lina’s downtown when windows from all sides are open. You were right to point out to the waiter that the other customer should not have lit his/her cigarette at that time, since only one window was opened, but you know about Lebanese customers, they are not always the easiest to please, in particular when they are regulars. If this law, was well implemented and respected it would have been much easier for us to deal with, but like every law in our country, it turned against us.
We have already briefed all our waiters and employees on how to deal with this new law and we can assure you that we take it very seriously.
We would therefore like to apologize on behalf of Lina’s for any inconvenience this may have caused, and invite you to keep visiting Lina’s Downtown. On our behalf, we will take all necessary measures to ensure that the smoking law is respected in all our branches and that our customers remain satisfied.
Thank you for your feedback,
Lina’s Team
Hi guys,
Well I am really disappointed how laws are constantly violated in Lebanon.
My story is even worth. I was visiting Lebanon last Christmas, I can fill a page of complaints but here is the part related to law 174.
In the airport, I wanted to use the toilets and surprise, the ladies in charge for cleaning are sitting outside with each a cigarette in hand and discussing. The toilets inside are the most dirty toilets I have even been to in my life, and I mean it. Flush toilet broken, no soap, no hand tissues, broken hand dryer, …
Outside, on the right, 3 persons wearing personel costumes were also smoking.
Now the most chocking was an officier (internal security most likely) smoking in his office (close to passport checks) and, when he finished his cigarette, he threw it in the corner and smashed it with his foot.
I’ve been traveling for 11 years now, and this is the first time that I see such a mess.
I was wondering what the sign was really about! Nice work 😀
Respect for IndyAct and Lina’s customer support 🙂