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We had lunch today--or I tried to--at a chain diner. I ordered a meal with chunks of potatoes, veggies, and eggs. When it arrived, the spuds were undercooked-not quite crunchy, but not something you'd want to eat I sent it back, they remade the dish, the spuds were cooked just the same. I told the waiter to take it off the bill, and that I didn't want anything else. My husband was halfway through his lunch, so he finished up. They comped his meal; I ate at home.
I could have ordered something else, but had lost my interest in eating there. I did wonder if the cook might spit in any replacement. My husband likes the place, but they always seem to serve mine cold or undercooked. I won't go back.
I've found that some chains vary by location. Where we used to live there was a place we loved for breakfast, especially the homemade corned beef hash. We moved to a new city and found another one of their locations. They sent out a plate that was not even room temperature. I sent it back and they stuck it in the microwave. I talked to the manager and he seemed to care less. Won't go back to that location. The food wasn't the same as the original location we had gone to. However, I never blame the wait staff for kitchen issues.
I have no problem sending back food that is too cold, too salty, undercooked, overcooked or burned, or otherwise grossly mishandled.
I will also send back dishes with foreign objects or glasses with lipstick on it. And why not? I am a paying customer. They want my money, and I expect quality.
Never had any problem with that or noticed a bad attitude. Things can happen even in best places and wouldn't get corrected if no one complains.
However, the complain should be done discreetly and in a nice way.
The wait staff in most cases is not responsible for the quality of food they serve.
In an upscale restaurant everyone cares on their own level, and such incidents are a seldom occurrence.
A caring chef would come out and apologize for his mistake, and try to make it good to you by sending extra dessert or wine, depending how much he cares about his image and and the image of his restaurant.
Don't expect it in a chain restaurant, but still in most places they will take that dish off the bill, offer something else or at least apologize.
It's a two way business - if they want to sell something, they should make it appealing enough for me to buy.
I wouldn't have sent it back. To me, this seems like a personal preference. In a dish like you describe, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed crunchy potatoes. But I would never order it again (I would also be willing to go back if DH likes the restaurant.)
But I DO occasionally send food back when it's flat out cooked wrong. A hamburger that was left on the grill so long that it's hard on the outside and dry as cardboard. Hard, crunchy pasta. The most common is when I order prime rib. I ALWAYS say the same thing to the server: "If it's not going to come out really, really rare, please let me know. I'll order something else, and we'll both be happier. " Consequently, I eat Prime rib at home WAY more often than in restaurants because they don't listen.
But never when it's a matter of personal taste. I consider that My Bad for ordering it.
This topic has come up many times. I NEVER send food back. I worked in restaurants while in college. I have seen some pretty creative ways of cooks, servers, etc dealing with customers. The ones who send food back for minor things typically get the problem corrected quickly. The chronic complainers or customers who are never satisfied are definitely remembered by the staff. I have no intention of ticking off a cook who is handling my food. Seen too much to take that chance. It am pretty laid back and don't take my food too seriously. Only things like raw chicken or hair in my food would cause me to not eat it. Even then, I would just say I don't want anything else, just remove the item and I will eat later.
I wonder if you would act the same with every unsatisfactory service that you have to pay for.
I mean, those not-so-crunchy potatoes are a petty thing, I would just leave them on my plate and eat everything else what was on it. And just mention to the waiter that they were undercooked. That's it.
But I wouldn't compromise on major faults. No way.
We are all getting too tolerant and happily accept mediocrity.
I wonder if you would act the same with every unsatisfactory service that you have to pay for.
I mean, those not-so-crunchy potatoes are a petty thing, I would just leave them on my plate and eat everything else what was on it. And just mention to the waiter that they were undercooked. That's it.
But I wouldn't compromise on major faults. No way.
We are all getting too tolerant and happily accept mediocrity.
If you are talking about something other than food, like cable, car repair, etc, probably. Something that I am putting in my mouth to consume, nope. I honestly don't eat out much anyway. If you worked in a restaurant and saw what I saw you may have a similar attitude. Maybe not. I will say this, my father went to a restaurant looking to complain. Everything was always wrong. He never had a pleasant meal. He complained non-stop and was just embarrassing to be with in a restaurant. I can't imagine all the stuff done to his food over the years.
I wouldn't bother to send it back at a chain but if it's a "real" restaurant they should be told that their food is substandard.
Even some "real" restaurants fall short because they have a captive audience. Like tourist places that see virtually no repeat business. I've noticed they could care less about their food, because people aren't really there for the food. The view, the location, the experience...nor do they hire "real" chefs.
I rarely send my food back if it is a mistake in the details of the order, for example, last week I ordered cheese enchiladas and got beef. It tasted fine, so I just ate it.
On the other hand, if something is cooked improperly, like a rare filet served well done. Or worse, something dangerously undercooked, like pink chicken, or something otherwise inedible, I would certainly send it back, politely.
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