Sending food back

I usually deal with poor food and service by never returning to the place again. The coward's way out, I know. But, sometimes even cowards have to stand up for themselves. A few years ago, I was having lunch with three friends at a local establishment and decided to have dessert - strawberry shortcake. It was sort of a pound cake, covered with fresh crushed strawberries and a mound of whipped cream. A few bites into the dessert, I found a large (about 1 inch in diameter) chunk of what appeared to be rubber. It looked like a piece of tire! I wasn't going to say anything, but my friends pushed me to ask for another slice. The waiter apologized and seemed all too happy to take the first dessert back. A few minutes later, I had a replacement. All was well. That is, until I moved some strawberries and discovered a black-stained inch-wide hole in the middle of the cake! They had just removed the rubber chunk and piled more strawbereries and whipped cream on top of the same piece of cake! Talk about the mouse that roared! That really did it! The manager seemed to be very embarrassed and comped all four of our meals. We never went back, nevertheless.

good for you, to stand up for yourself. they dont deserve your business, for pulling such a move. not everyone in the business belongs there. i hate putting my self at risk with someone i dont know. thats what we all do when we go out to eat, unless we know the chef personally. just plain scary!

quote:

Originally posted by Crimsicle

I usually deal with poor food and service by never returning to the place again. The coward's way out, I know. But, sometimes even cowards have to stand up for themselves. A few years ago, I was having lunch with three friends at a local establishment and decided to have dessert - strawberry shortcake. It was sort of a pound cake, covered with fresh crushed strawberries and a mound of whipped cream. A few bites into the dessert, I found a large (about 1 inch in diameter) chunk of what appeared to be rubber. It looked like a piece of tire! I wasn't going to say anything, but my friends pushed me to ask for another slice. The waiter apologized and seemed all too happy to take the first dessert back. A few minutes later, I had a replacement. All was well. That is, until I moved some strawberries and discovered a black-stained inch-wide hole in the middle of the cake! They had just removed the rubber chunk and piled more strawbereries and whipped cream on top of the same piece of cake! Talk about the mouse that roared! That really did it! The manager seemed to be very embarrassed and comped all four of our meals. We never went back, nevertheless.

I'm not sure you roared loud enough ... What is the name of this place ???

The one time I can remember raising a ruckus about food quality was in a cruise-owned hotel restaurant, where the food simply was as mediocre as it was expensive and the maitre d' insufferable. As I had eaten it, I neither expected nor received any reduction in my bill. Similarly, I never complain if I simply don't like something; that's a risk I take with my own cooking at home! But if the food is somehow "defective" I'll say so. That includes over- or under-cooking as well as ingredient quality. But it pays off to be pleasant about one's complaning.

Due to my travels and business associates, I often ate at chains that could accommodate groups of 8-10. If I was dissatisfied with either service or quality of food, I casually mentioned it and if nothing was done, I did not make a scene. I e-mailed the company and nine times out of ten, I received some type of compensation.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

My ex-mother-in-law would pull this stunt every time we dined out. She would order her sirloin Very VEry well done, eat 2/3's of it and then complain that it was tough in order to get a free meal. She bitched about the iced tea (too weak) the lighting (too dark or too bright) the music (too loud). I HATED going with her. She would kick up a fuss when I refused to eat off of the buffet (NO Way NO how, I've cooked too many of them), then ask for a to go plate and fill it up and WALK OUT THE DOOR).I was freaking (not to be confused with tweaking) mortified. I swear I wore dark glasses and a wig to circumvent being recognized.I would pull the wait staff to the side and tell them not to give her a rat's behind only a "free" dessert for which I would gladly pay.
I believe in quietly and courteously pointing out when something is wrong, but I can't abide a dang freeloader.

Copper

quote:

Originally posted by Caramel Copper


I believe in quietly and courteously pointing out when something is wrong, but I can't abide a dang freeloader.

I completely agree. When I was in high school, a friend of mine worked in a local ice cream shop during the summer. He told me of a woman who would come in a few times a week and order a large hot fudge sundae. When it was served, she would insist that she had only ordered a small. The manager would come over and apologize for the mistake, and tell her to just eat what she could, and she would only be charged for a small one. Invariably, she would finish it. To me, that is unconscionable. But there way too many people out there that do it, knowing they can and will get away with it.

And, getting back to the original question, that is why I am reluctant to send something back unless it is a glaring mistake.

quote:

Originally posted by jvsmom

quote:

Originally posted by Caramel Copper


I believe in quietly and courteously pointing out when something is wrong, but I can't abide a dang freeloader.

I completely agree. When I was in high school, a friend of mine worked in a local ice cream shop during the summer. He told me of a woman who would come in a few times a week and order a large hot fudge sundae. When it was served, she would insist that she had only ordered a small. The manager would come over and apologize for the mistake, and tell her to just eat what she could, and she would only be charged for a small one. Invariably, she would finish it. To me, that is unconscionable. But there way too many people out there that do it, knowing they can and will get away with it.

And, getting back to the original question, that is why I am reluctant to send something back unless it is a glaring mistake.

I don't have a problem with sending food back if it is wrong. I am an avid fan of appetizers. I order 2-3 for my entree'. I inform the wait staff it is to be my meal, and to be served with the plates of my guests. If "she" is sharp she will catch it and take care of me. For that she gets a big tip. If it is cold......1 out of three times, I let her know. And it gets fixed or I raise Cain. It doesn't take but a few minutes to replace an appetizer(s) I think it is important for wait staff to be sensitive to the customer. Unfortunately she is usually working on overload. Is it her fault? No. The owner/manager needs to know.

Copper

written as a small successful nyc restaurant group owner

it's good biz to allways satisfy your customers
1.if something is wrong correct it
2.ask the customers prefrence for correction then exceed their expectations
3.it's the customers right to get whatever they want provided we can do it and it's not unreasonable

I recall once some time ago when a customer came in and was unsatisfied with her entree (it contained gorgonzola dolce latte)...it was a taste issue not a preparation one.....when asked if we could prepare another item she refused and thought that her orginal choice could be done better....after 3 more attempts at the same dish she was satisfied...all 4 dishes were exactly alike....she only paid for one and got a glass of $8 wine on the house as well....she is still a regular customer enjoying the same dish weekly some 3 years later...presented as an example of the sucessful long term NYC restaurant biz

quote:

Originally posted by Crimsicle

I usually deal with poor food and service by never returning to the place again. The coward's way out, I know. But, sometimes even cowards have to stand up for themselves. A few years ago, I was having lunch with three friends at a local establishment and decided to have dessert - strawberry shortcake. It was sort of a pound cake, covered with fresh crushed strawberries and a mound of whipped cream. A few bites into the dessert, I found a large (about 1 inch in diameter) chunk of what appeared to be rubber. It looked like a piece of tire! I wasn't going to say anything, but my friends pushed me to ask for another slice. The waiter apologized and seemed all too happy to take the first dessert back. A few minutes later, I had a replacement. All was well. That is, until I moved some strawberries and discovered a black-stained inch-wide hole in the middle of the cake! They had just removed the rubber chunk and piled more strawbereries and whipped cream on top of the same piece of cake! Talk about the mouse that roared! That really did it! The manager seemed to be very embarrassed and comped all four of our meals. We never went back, nevertheless.

Hi Crimsicle, I'm sorry, I had to laugh at this one, not at you, but at the audacity of one or more people on the restaurant staff to try and pull such a childish stunt. It may have been the last bit of shortcake in the house and they didn't have anything to replace it with, in which case they should have come forth and offered something else, but to send out the same piece again thinking it wouldn't be noticed is a bit outrageous. I hope you tore them a new one.

Risotteria,
Your comment made me recall a customer many years ago who ordered gumbo w/ extra oysters.
Our gumbo was made in fifteen gallon batches and the rice was made in twenty five gallon batches.

She sent the first bowl back becausee it tasted "muddy and burnt". Our gumbo is almost black but not burnt. I brought out the next bowl myself w/ a comp glass of wine. She told me it was the same bowl and we had simply carried it through the kitchen...in one door and out the other. I assured her it was a new bowl but the gumbo was from a single large kettle...would she like a bowl of she crab soup ( a higher priced item) or french onion?

She wanted to see the first bowl...so we (the lady and her whole party of three other ladies) troop into the kitchen to see her first bowl sitting on the back counter (bus boys weren't about to toss this nectar in the trash because of this biddie). She now wants to see me make a third bowl, w/ four oysters in each bowl we're now at a dozen oysters and three bowls of soup.

This one was the charm. It somewhow magically was right. She was a great customer until I sold the place although she would require that I prepare her gumbo from then on. She would reserve our private dinning room at least once a month and rave about the gumbo, requiring everyone to get a bowl. Which was a shame because when we could get good blue crabs our she crab soup is better.

She is now one of my best catering customers w/ a standing order for two parties per year. We even fix her Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners even though I refuse to do anything more than prepare it and deliver it.

She's demanding but is willing to pay for service. I once told her that if she told me to jump I would ask how high on the way up. She got this twinkle in her eye and said that's why your invoices never get questioned and are paid in one day.

I guess my point is that problems are truely an opportunity to show your commitment to your business. If humans are involved mistakes will happen. One of my South American busboys brought in a hampster or the like (national dish of theirs) to be deep fried. You got it...we served it to a customer, on a Friday night. Comped his dinner and everyone around him. Still get comments to this day...Is rat the special?...I'm sorry, this is a great buffet but where is the deep fried rat?...What sauce (or wine) do you suggest for rat?

I have to say I'm a guilty party in the "picky department"... HOWEVER, I make it VERY clear to wait staff when ordering (in a polite manner!) or ask for specific details on inclusions (such as onions) ... that being said if a meal comes to me improperly cooked (as when I order steak, I always ask for it to be "butterfly cut, well-done, please tell the cook to LITERALLY char it!") I would expect it to be re-done properly... there is NOTHING worse then having a meal come out wrong and having them take it back, bring it out again and it's STILL pink, then expect me to be happy with them taking it back a third time while everyone I'm with is done eating... However if on the second try they do it right, then hell, I'm a happy camper and don't expect a comp anything (although I always feel better about it if they OFFER, which I have never taken anyone up on the comp dessert offer as I don't usually have room!) ... I'll only send something back if it wasn't done at all like requested... undercooking is usually the ONLY reason I send something back... or if something is covered in onions when I request none :)

The WORST experience I ever had happened a few weeks ago...

WARNING - kind of lengthy!!!

We went to Charleston's (Mesa, AZ) and I ordered a Jamaican 10 speed and an appetizer of artichoke spinach dip... I generally LOVE that stuff...

Waitress brings the appetizer (I'm still waiting for a drink by the way) and I have a couple of bites... for some reason I am REALLY not happy with this mix... I notice it has an awkward taste to it... So being the "classy lady" I am I pick up a spoon and start stirring the bowl and lifting it up and dumping heaps back into the bowl... I find a substance I know I don't like all mixed in... Explains the damn weird crunchy taste! I ask the waitress if those are onions in the dip (have to act non chalant about this) and she says that they are not made with onions... Classy lady again scoops up a scoop and dumps it on a little plate and says "these really DO look like onions"... (menu says nothing about onions on it, nor have I ever had onions in it...) so she goes and checks with the "head cook" who says they put a "few" onions in there... In the meantime I find a whole grip of them and am thoroughly disgusted now (I know, most people LOVE onions, I'm just odd!) She comes over and gives me the verdict and I relay to her my extreme dislike of onions and the fact the menu did NOT state there are onions nor have I ever seen onions in this type of dip... She says "oh sorry" and walks away" ... wtf?!?!?! I'm looking a little bewildered at this point...

Ten Minutes later a manager walks over says sorry about the whole incident and then proceeds to say he'll "take care of it" and offers me another appetizer... Fine, I don't want it, but I'll try the chicken satay... why? Cause I'm REALLY hungry by now!

So he brings that at the same time my soup and salad I ordered show up... along with my fiance's dinner... my soup is COVERED in these disgusting little substances we refer to as onions (told ya, I don't like them!) ... I'm looking at the waitress like "wtf?!!?" and she simply drops the soup and proceeds on with walking away.. I'm pissed now...and generally I can be calm about all this...

The manager comes over again to check on things in a few minutes and looks at my soup and says "oh, I should have caught that" and walks away... the waitress then comes over and says " well how do you feel about some chicken noodle soup?" and I say "not too great, I don't want it..." she says "well just try it, it's good!" and walks away... then manager dude comes back over and advises me all soups have onions and offers me a baked potato... FINE! whatever... I'm not even hungry anymore at this point... So to make an insanely long story shorter, I didn't eat any of it (the chicken satay was NOT authentic at all, it had more of a salsa type sauce on it?!?!), got the bill after boxing everything up, and realize EVERYthing that touched that table we got charged for... so much for customer service...

and to make matters even WORSE, the waitress offered my son Ice cream and I say " he's not done with his meal yet" then she turns to him and asks "well do you want chocolate sauce and whipped cream and cherries on it?" ... "HE IS NOT DONE WITH HIS DINNER YET!" ... "Ok, well I'll just get it made" and she brought it right over as my son still had half his food left which resulted in an argument with my son about having to finish his dinner first...

I have to say that was THE only time I have ever been thoroughly UNSATISFIED with a place so royally...I didn't even bother trying to talk with the manager again figuring he had been to our table three times and still nothing was right... and this dinner cost us $130 after the $15 tip... I cried on the way home I was so upset! ::Sigh:: Lesson learned, won't return there...

Most of the time restaurants are MORE Then gracious with offering a comp of some sort if something goes awry and I'll usually reject it with the thanks for the offer as just the OFFER makes me want to return... I hate sending things back though for fear that they'll end up with some secret sauce or something

I only complain if there's something wrong with the food. Once I got a rotten, spoiled batch of fried oysters and I sent them back and did not order anything else, because let's just say the first bite was enough to put me off my food for the rest of the evening. I did not penalize the waiter for this, as it was not his fault, and everyone else's food was fine, and the manager came out and bent over backwards apologizing after taking one whiff of the oysters. I guess they just got a bad batch. He took oysters off the menu for the rest of the evening.
They way I look at it, if I order something that's cooked well and is as described on the menu that I just don't like, I have nobody to blame but myself and put it down to experience i.e. "I don't like that and I won't order it again".
I think the best thing for restaurants is to have those comment cards on the table with the little pencils. Yes, they'll get a few "prank" cards left but most people will be honest and if they see something that most people consistently find wrong, it is time for a change in that area.

Andrea

Paubaby,
Write a letter and attach a copy of this posting. Wonders shall fall from the heavens, trust me.

In a perfect world, the server notices that I am not eating and offers a replacement dish. It is done quietly and respectfully, and I always tip double.

I am also OK with a half-hearted apology and will even pay for the uneaten food, quietly, if somewhat begrudgingly. If I am not charged for the food, I still tip on what would have been the total.

What makes me insane is when the server stands there and argues with me in front of everyone, especially when I have tried to be very quiet and discreet so as not to have other diners notice. Antoine's, of all places, served my husband and I spoiled oysters and a crab salad that was half shell. The server challenged my husband, "Have you ever eaten oysters before?" and told me that the shell was how you know it's real crab. We cancelled our entrees, but paid for the drinks and uneaten appetizers.

To the totally egregious: Once I was dining with a friend of mine, and her roll was moldy. She pointed it out to the waiter. He picked up her roll with his bare hands, pulled off the piece of mold, flicked it away, and handed her back the roll!

quote:

Originally posted by Slick

As an owner this is my policy:
I offer samples of my sides and desserts so anyone can decide ahead of time if that's what they really want. If they don't like the BBQ I replace it with their choice of another meat from the BBQ menu. (Hasn't happened yet, but if it ever does...) If there is something wrong with a major meat it's fixed or it's free along with a card for a free meal. If we take too long getting a meal out, their next meal is on me.

I give the free meal card away because I don't want that person walking away and never coming back. I want to them to know that I'm bending over backwards and that that experience is not what we represent.

You don't get many second chances in this business, so I figure I've got to do all I can to stay in the game.

And while we're here please don't think you're doing a restaurant a favor by keeping quite about the quality/taste of their product. I need to know what the likes and dislikes are of my guests. In other words, I can't fix it unless I know it's broke.

What a great attitude! You must do very well.

Paubaby

Sorry you had such an awful experience. Your description had me sitting right there with you.

This may bring a bit of controversy from the group, but having been in similar situation....I would have refused to pay for the meal. Let me rephrase that, I would have told the manager I found everything to be unacceptable and expected him not to charge for the meal. If he refused to comp it, I would have paid...but certainly would not have left a tip.

Sounds like you were so "fed up" that you did not want to see him again!!

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

In a perfect world, the server notices that I am not eating and offers a replacement dish. It is done quietly and respectfully, and I always tip double.

I am also OK with a half-hearted apology and will even pay for the uneaten food, quietly, if somewhat begrudgingly. If I am not charged for the food, I still tip on what would have been the total.

What makes me insane is when the server stands there and argues with me in front of everyone, especially when I have tried to be very quiet and discreet so as not to have other diners notice. Antoine's, of all places, served my husband and I spoiled oysters and a crab salad that was half shell. The server challenged my husband, "Have you ever eaten oysters before?" and told me that the shell was how you know it's real crab. We cancelled our entrees, but paid for the drinks and uneaten appetizers.

To the totally egregious: Once I was dining with a friend of mine, and her roll was moldy. She pointed it out to the waiter. He picked up her roll with his bare hands, pulled off the piece of mold, flicked it away, and handed her back the roll!

I have so much respect for that you mentioned about the server doing her/his job, and tipping properly..... In so many cases, a server bends over as backwards as they can without jeopardizing their jobs in a case with a bad meal, and 9 times out of 10, we get stiffed when it was the kitchens fault to begin with.
I have taken drinks off, meals off and given free appetizers, and this is many many times, and still got a big fat zero as a tip...Meanwhile, the cook still gets his regular paycheck at the end of the week......
Thanks for saying that Elise T!!
Kudo's for you!
Much appreciated!
Tara

quote:

Originally posted by imsofull

Paubaby

Sorry you had such an awful experience. Your description had me sitting right there with you.

This may bring a bit of controversy from the group, but having been in similar situation....I would have refused to pay for the meal. Let me rephrase that, I would have told the manager I found everything to be unacceptable and expected him not to charge for the meal. If he refused to comp it, I would have paid...but certainly would not have left a tip.

Sounds like you were so "fed up" that you did not want to see him again!!

If the service was acceptable, why would you take it out on the server?....This stymies me why people always take bad food out on the server?.. We didnt cook that crappy meal.....Its bad enough that we get $2.50 or less an hour to take abuse from lots of people that do it just for fun. I call those people professional B--l busters....
And there are many out there that make us run just for the heck of it.. I can spot most of them right away and take care of them with lots of smiles, while meanwhile I am cussing them out in the kitchen, but always give them a smile and make them laugh when I return.. But I may be out of the norm for a server also.....I anticipate my customers needs and make sure that I am prepared so that they all eat right away when their food is delivered to the table.
But dont make the server pay for the crappy food.. crappy service, yeah, makes sense.. but we dont cook it!

I too agree with not penalizing the server if your food is improperly cooked or you just don't like it, as long as it's what you ordered. I cringe when I'm dining out with rude people who make the server fetch and step. Nothing ruins an evening faster, and I tell you I am a rather assertive person.
If you don't like your food, take it up with the cook or the manager or owner but don't penalize the server as long as you got what you ordered and the service was good.

Andrea

quote:

Originally posted by AndreaB

I too agree with not penalizing the server if your food is improperly cooked or you just don't like it, as long as it's what you ordered. I cringe when I'm dining out with rude people who make the server fetch and step. Nothing ruins an evening faster, and I tell you I am a rather assertive person.
If you don't like your food, take it up with the cook or the manager or owner but don't penalize the server as long as you got what you ordered and the service was good.

Andrea

Thank you Andrea!

Tara

I can count the number of times on one hand that I have had to send food back. It was once for spoiled food (rancid meat) and another time for extremely cold food and congeled gravy. It takes a lot for me to be dissatified.

Two times I wanted to send it back but was put off for some reason. At Crappleby's my grandmother got some creamed chicken soup that was horribly salty. We like salt too. She declined. At the same meal, my daughter asked for strawberry lemonade and got back overly watered down Hi-C or Kool-aide. What a horrible place.

The second one was at Outback where I ordered a rib eye and got what seemed to be a New York. I alerted the waiter to the mistake and he told me that I was mistaken. I mean, how on earth could one not be able to tell the difference? I didn't make a fuss as I was with a date. I never went back there either. They can stick their bloomin' greasy onion.

I don't send food back very often, but if something is wrong I will.

The last time I had to it was something for my daughter. She is 7 and ordered the child's meal at a local family owned restaurant. This was our first visit to the restaurant (it's been around for 3 generations).

My daughter ordered the kids mac and cheese. It looked good when it arrived -- a nice sized portion of mac and cheese with a orangy sauce and a side of french fries.

She was eating but then I noticed that she was just eating the fries and ignoring the mac and cheese. I reminded her to eat everything -- thinking the fries were just more kid appealing. She ate some of the mac and cheese but then went back to the fries. She is a slow eater so I didn't think much about it.

as we got towards the end of the meal my daughter told me that she did not like the mac and cheese -- an odd statement from my daughter. I tasted it and found it to lack taste completly. The sauce was the right color but had no cheese flavor to it. The waiter came over and I told him that the mac and cheese was not good. His reaction -- "oh." He cleared the table.

Feeling a little ticked I decided to walk upfront to the host (who was also one of the owners) I told him about the mac and cheese lacking flavor and he told me he would check on it. He came to our table a few minutes later to tell us that we were right -- there was something wrong with the batch and he took it off our bill.

He did the right thing and we left happy.

Speaking from the other side of the counter.

If we screw up an order (and it does happen) we will gladly fix the problem and go out of our way to retain the customer. We have a good customer service policy that is preached to every employee.

But speaking from an owner's point of view, here are some things that just burn me up...

When a customer reads the menu, takes their time to select the right item but fails to tell the waitress (or car hop) no onions, no cheese or whatever else is plainly stated on the menu. The customer screwed up, don't send it back and expect us to be happy about it. Your stupidity is slowing us down and preventing us from serving customers that can read.

When a customer has a special request that is deliberately changing the menu. For example, and I've had this happen, when a customer orders a BBQ sandwich with no sauce. Our sauce is prepared with the BBQ and we are unable to do that...please don't act snooty when we can't honor your request or that we are wrong. You wouldn't go to Wendys and order a Whopper, would you?

And to the person that wants a burger with the cheese not melted, mayonnaise on one side, ketchup on the other and leaf lettuce instead of chopped lettuce and double thick slices of tomato. That is pushing your luck! If you are that picky then you need to eat at home and not in a public restaurant.

And for the el'cheapo if you order ice water instead of a drink, yes you will be charged. In case you haven't noticed we pay for the water, the cup, the ice machine and that waitress with the smile on her face to serve you. At .25 per cup it's still one heck of a bargain, so get a life and open up that squeaky billfold.

And let us not forget those senior citizens, most are great and wonderful customers, in fact we give a 15% discount instead of the usual 10%. But please don't ask for that discount on sale items, we're not going to give you our food for free, our families have to eat too. And for those that say they are senior citizens just to get a discount, don't be pissed if somewhere, sometime someone asks you for your ID.

We make what is called a Cherry-Lemon-Sundrop. It's a drink served over crushed ice with a citrus beveridge (Mt. Dew) and real cherries and a chunk of lemon. Marchino cherries are expensive and we are going to charge you for them if you want extra. And if your son wants 13 refills on his $1.59 16oz drink, yes you will have to reach a little deeper when the bill comes. Warning, don't act offended that we charged you.

And for my final enraging comment, if you don't tip a waitress you are simply and plainly cheap. Don't give excuses about this or that, you are cheap and not worthy of any type of service, good or bad. Pack a brown bag lunch and go to the park next time you want to eat out.

I'm sorry for the outrage in this post, it just burned me up that every time something goes wrong in a restaurant that it is the restaurant's fault. Many restaurant owners are small independents that must bend over backwards to retain and keep customers. I apologize for the rage.

Restaurant Owner

I don't know. If I go to McD's and they fail to add something or whatever thats one thing. When I go to an alleged 4 star and pay big money for a great steak and it is not to my liking, thats another. If I order Med. rare thats what I expect. I send it back, politely of course, until I am satisfied. I do not however expect to be compt. If they offer something great, I'll take it. But if not that is okay. But I make sure to always be nice. Remember.. you can't see what is going on with your food after it goes back to the kitchen! My wife complains about something it seems everytime we eat out, and that includes McD's! I try to curtail some of her pickiness to no avail. Once at a local steak house her steak was sent back 6 times! So she started making everyone mad. I advised her to cool it, or the next time the steak may come back with some'"extra ingredients" that she would not want.Just food for thought.

I try to do what's quick and fair.

I immediately take care of service problems.

Remember drinking has not made YOU any smarter.

Some people substitute complaining for personality and revel in their mastery of centering inane situations into total table trauma, I can smell these sorts.

We can repair almost any problem but never personalities.

If you are a picky eater - you should stay home and prepare your own food.

If I go to a restaurant - I will get something similar to what I ordered from the menu.

I expect good food and friendly service - but I don't expect a discount if one is lacking...

Learn from the experience and eat somewhere else.

I'd rather prepare my own meals - then I have only one person to blame.

Burgerman,
Yours is a restaurant I would probably never return to. I under stand that in places where paper/wax cups type cups are used that those cost money.

However, in a sit down place I expect ice water on the table with a smile. Your attitude about cheap people is out of place when it's all that some people can do to eat out once in a while at all. When financially, things were not very good a few years ago I could often not afford the extra $3 each for a drink. Sounds chintzy, but this money was reserved for the tip. I wanted to treat my little one occasionally and show my appreciation to the server. I know that they work hard. Squeaky billfold huh?

In nicer places, I also appreciate a basket on bread or a relish tray. When a server puts and extra cherry in my child's Shirley Temple my daughter is all smiles and thank yous. So am I. There are places I return to and tell my friends about. What a difference an unsolicited cherry makes.

To be outraged at seniors on a sometimes fixed income (yeah, they will push it) and miserly over an extra cherry makes your place sound unwelcoming and unfriendly. Yes 13 reflls is exceptionally bad manners on their part, but if you say free and charge; you are in the wrong. That cannot be the norm anyway.

Customers are really turned off at a place that is obviously weighing food (in front of customers to the .0001 oz and counting ice cubes. Being thrify and economizing is smart. Acting like the workhouse despenser of porridge sends a bad message.

Catracks, I appreciate what you are saying and really do agree with you, but you are making me out to be the bad guy, and I assure you that I am far from it. I do have 4 restaurants, one of those has been open for 44 years, all are very successful. We are known for having the "Best Burger in the Carolinas!" Most patrons don't complain about additional charges or the other items I wrote about because they perfer good food and service for a reasonable price.

But the people that I spoke of are the exceptions. There is a big difference between being cheap (frugal) and cheap & demanding.

We give seniors a 15% discount, not the usual 10% that most restaurants seem to perfer. We do take care of our senior citizens because they are a growing part of our business. What I don't appreciate is when they want the 15% discount on a promotional item that has already been discounted 20-25%. Granted it doesn't happen very often, it just amazes me are the individuals that think that we owe them both discounts because they are senior citizens. If they are in a position that they must be concerned about such a small amount, then they shouldn't be dining out.

And as far as the cherries, let me do the math for you. For a serving of two marchino cherries is an approximate cost of .10. For a 4oz cup, which is approximately 10-12 cherries, then the cost is appox .50 to .60. For a 16oz drink that wipes out a majority of the profit, and drinks are something a restaurant depends on for a large portion of its profit. And BTW, that 4oz cup of cherries costs .50 and we only charge .50.

I do appreciate the fact that you want to treat your child and take care of the waitress, but as in any business, if you desire more product or services then you should be prepared to pay the price and not complain when the total is presented.

Please don't fool yourself, every restaurant that you enter is concerned about portion control and the amount of revenue generated. And as I said before, the examples I made are a minority and not majority, but thank you for reinforcing my point and showing how some people can be cheap and demanding.

I use these forums as a learning tool and for writing about the foodservice industry. I apologize to everyone for using this forum as a vent for my personal outrage, that was unprofessional and uncalled for.

Burgerman1

quote:

Originally posted by Burgerman1




Please don't fool yourself, every restaurant that you enter is concerned about portion control and the amount of revenue generated.
Burgerman1

"Portion control"....... I tell you I'd be happier if some sit down restaurants gave smaller portions than they do. I don't find this to be a problem at a burger place, as you can order a single, a double, a triple, super-sized, monster burger, etc. so you can control the size you get.
I find it unappetizing when dining out and your meal arrives and it's enough for a family of four? And, at the same time, if you're aware of the portion distortion and order one meal to share you get a dirty look? Yes, you can take the left-overs home but some things just don't keep well overnight. Chinese food and pasta do pretty well in the microwave the next day, but some things.......no.
As for the water issue, why not serve those who are dining in the restaurant their water in a reusable glass or reusable plastic glass? Or refill their water in the same wax cup? I would be completely put off if my water refills were charged. If I'm going through the drive-thru, I have no problem paying .25 for a large cup of ice water, because I know the cup costs money, but when dining in "NO" regarding charges for refilled water. Of course, if I drank 10 glasses of water while dining in I would not expect a lemon or lime slice with each one either.
It's a balancing act, and some places do it well and some do not.

Andrea