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I'd rather complain when I got home then to send anything back at a restaurant. I don't care how nice you think it is-I've heard horror stories of the things they'll do to food once its back there. Gross. And it never hurts to call, write or email corporate. You may even get a voucher or something out of it.
OK. I have to admit I am a bit steamed!!! Sorry, but I really need to reply to this post!
I have been a server/waitress for 12 years at various restaurants. I am very good at what I do. I've been a trainer for other incoming employees, floor mananger and such.
Now why someone would walk out on a bill is beyond me! Do you realize that in most restaurants that I have worked at, if the bill is not paid, it comes out of the server's pocket??? I work midnights alot and last week I had a walkout on a $70.00 tab. I gave them great service. I checked back with them, refilled their coffee, pre-bussed the table and joked with them awhile and they were happy(and very drunk). Well they walked out and I had to foot the bill.
I mean I have NEVER complained about cold, underprepared food... EVER; not matter the caliber of the restaurant. And why on earth, when you do complain, do you have to be so rude about it? If your food is cold, politely say, " Excuse me, my food is cold, would you mind getting me another? " Instead I always hear someone snapping their fingers or screaming "MISS, MISS my food is cold!" Or they push their plate over to the edge of the table and yell at me that their food is cold.
Do people leave their manners at home?
Also do you realize that many waitress/waiters/servers are only paid a very small hourly pay rate? Where I work we get $2.65/hour. I rely on my tips to make ends meet, to feed my 3 kids and to put myself through Nursing school. It's hard enough to work a 40 hour work week and then only bring home $200 that week because the other half of the money went to walkout tabs!!
No It's not good to walk on a bill, But Waiter Know when order went in they Know Whats Going on In the Back, Had this Waiter Braught Us our Drinks appitiers No Food < Came back refresh our Drink No food , ask us if we wanted salad or soup 45 minutes past when food order went in WE walk out Paid for what we ate and Drink , Gave waiter a tip for being up front with what happening with our order never been back aka Red Lobster early dinner 6pm worst Christmas Gift Card
JenM ... while I sympatize with the realities of your line of work ...
I have to ask:
Do you pay in full for incomplete services on your car?
Would you pay in full for work not completed on your home?
Would you pay in full a doctor's bill for services that weren't provided?
Would you pay in full at the checkout counter of a grocery store for items you didn't have in your basket?
Would you pay in full for any labor services where the parts weren't installed properly or at all?
Would you pay in full for items rung up at the cash register in a clothing store that you hadn't bought?
Now, I'll bet you'd look at these examples and say "of course not, I'm not paying for goods or services I didn't receive" or labor services that weren't performed that gave value added to the product.
Let's look again at a restaurant scenario. There's a lot more to a dining experience than just stuffing our faces with a few bucks worth of food. One pays a premium price for the ambiance, environment, and overall professional services one expects to receive as a fair value for the price.
You go to a McD's for a burger and expect a certain quality of food and the world's best service (your own, of course), while you go to an upscale eatery and pay many more times that price for a burger with similar trimmings. Maybe that upscale burger is better quality, better prepared, better presented, and better served ... for a lot more money which is perceived to be of value to us as clients and we pay a lot more for the waitstaff, too.
So, when food isn't prepared, presented, or served consistent with the price point of the restaurant, a customer has a right to be disappointed with the product/experience. Starting with the waitstaff, then onto the manager if need be, I'll let them know of my concerns and disappointment (when I ask for a "rare steak", I want a rare steak ... not a well done gray hunk of foodlike substance).
I've visited with the executive chef in restaurants to let them know that their kitchen at the time was a disaster ... politely, of course, but in no uncertain terms. I think that folks in the trade know when their kitchen is having one of "those nights" from time to time. Even some very high end places can have an "off" night, and will be very accomodating about the dissappointing meal.
Some chefs are embarrased .... some are adamant; I got food poisoning from a bouillabase seafood dish at a high end restaurant in the Denver area a while back. Called the owner later that same evening to let them know of my problem, expecting some apology or adjustment, and I got nothing but an earful from them. I called several others in our group from that evening who had the same "special" I did and found out that we all had gotten poisoned with severe gastric problems. My next call was to the health authorities; that chef obviously didn't know how to keep or serve seafood and was poisoning people.
Again, in my own personal experience ... I won't eat a bad meal, no matter how pretentious (or not) the restaurant, or the occasion. I'll give them ample room and opportunity to make it right .... but, as my prior post relates, I've been in restaurants where the replacement food was just as bad as the first go-round. Sorry, I'm not paying for that ... it's time to seek out others who will provide a meal and service.
A good waiter can really make a meal ... a bad waiter can destroy it. I've been there in both situations, and tipped accordingly.
JenM ... while I sympatize with the realities of your line of work ...
I have to ask:
Do you pay in full for incomplete services on your car?
Would you pay in full for work not completed on your home?
Would you pay in full a doctor's bill for services that weren't provided?
Would you pay in full at the checkout counter of a grocery store for items you didn't have in your basket?
Would you pay in full for any labor services where the parts weren't installed properly or at all?
Would you pay in full for items rung up at the cash register in a clothing store that you hadn't bought?
I understand what you are saying about not paying for services/products that you didn't actually recieve, but in every case, isn't is proper (and legal) protocol to inform the service/merchandise provider of the problem and afford them the opportunity to correct the problem? Most of the examples given above you would actually pay and THEN discover an issue, so in some ways, I think they are not good for comparison to people who walk out on a bill. No, I wouldn't pay for things that aren't in my basket, but if the cashier made a mistake, I wouldn't take all of my (unpaid) items and leave the store, either, claiming that I owe them nothing because of the mistake. I would be shoplifting. Walking out on a restaurant bill is the same, IMO.
And now for this big question... Does Dingler ever respond to his own posts?
Hi Everyone!
I have questions and would appreciate your input.
When you're out at a restaurant, ( $$ or $; doesn't matter ) and
when you first sit down ( whether you seat yourself or not ) how
long would you wait for a waitress/waiter to show up to even begin
to wait on you?
Susposing the restaurant was busy and there seems to be one waitress;
would you wait less than 5 minutes? 5 minutes? More?
The restaurant is not busy and the waitresses are socializing with each other?
How would you respond?
Two business men near me the other day, yelled out a passing waitress that
they wanted to be waited on. Would you resort to that or walk out if you were not waited on in a timely manner?
Many questions; thanks for your input.
I think waiting a full 5-10 minutes is sufficient time for someone to come over. Anymore than that and it is bordering on painfully slow service. If there is only one person on waitstaff working and a packed restaurant it is the restaurant's problem that they are understaffed. I wouldn't hold it against the waitstaff regarding tips, but if that was a regular occurrence I would choose another restaurant next time.
If the restaurant is slow and the waitstaff are socializing while I sit waiting for 15 minutes, I would call someone over to take my order. I have had some bad service in my life but I have never walked out of a restaurant.
A friend and I walked out of a restaurant once since no one seemed friendly and no one was waiting on us. We were early and the first ones there for lunch.The staff seemed more interested in socializing with each other.
We quietly got up and left and went to their sister restaurant across town where the wait staff was friendly and service was timely.
We have left a restaurant if we weren't approached in a timely manner, and I feel we are generous with the amount of time we wait. Recently we went to a restaurant for dinner, we went early (4ish) because we had our 2 children with us. We were seated right away (the place was practically empty). Five minutes passed and nobody approached our table. Several more tables were seated and had already gotten drinks and chips and salsa (it was a Mexican restaurant). We waited and waited, probably about 15 minutes total, and when the 2 tables on either side of us were seated, served chips, and drink orders filled, we got up and left. As we walked out the door the manager (who had seated us 20 minutes earlier) asked if we enjoyed our meal. We just laughed because he clearly had no clue. It was our 2nd time trying out this particular restaurant. The first time we went, the food was good and service was okay, a little slow but reasonable, but after this next time, we won't be going back.
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I work midnights alot and last week I had a walkout on a $70.00 tab. I gave them great service. I checked back with them, refilled their coffee, pre-bussed the table and joked with them awhile and they were happy(and very drunk). Well they walked out and I had to foot the bill.
waiting in a restaurant for service-questions
