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Wilson 1010: it is not about money! it is about professional conduct of business.
In a very expensive restaurant, while dining with VIP's, I would not make any comments about the food. I usually never comment the quality of food when I am invited and didn't choose the restaurant. I might make a comment in a "regular" restaurant, when dining with friends, family or alone.
I do eat out a lot too. In some places I am a regular. There is a reason, why I am a regular there: the food/service is good, and the wait staff AND chef knows the special ways how I like my food prepared and served. Nothing fancy or extraordinary, just making an extra step to please a customer that comes often and leaves a nice tip. They know that I want my soup extra hot ( boiling, not spicy), gravy or salad dressing on the site, and if possible, they try to prepare it with less salt, but more spices. They are observant: when I leave gravy or lettuce untouched, next time they would ask if I want the gravy on the side and if I would like more tomatoes instead of lettuce. They know that I want my drink with very little ice. I don't need to repeat myself, but sure seeing that they remember and care make me feel appreciated. With restaurants almost on every corner, I could go somewhere else, no?
If you order an entree and then you don't like it -- it wasn't what you expected or you just really can't stand it -- do you feel it is right to send it back and not be charged for it?
I have been having this conversation in my mind and wonder what others think.
On the one hand, eating out is a risk you take and just because you don't like a dish that you ordered doesn't mean it was prepared improperly. Should the restaurant be forced to take a loss on it?
On the other hand, some would say that this is the price of doing business, and that you have to satisfy the customer, even if he is being unreasonable or unfair.
Also, would it make a difference in your answer if the entree were, say, an inexpensive Mexican or Chinese meal, vs. an expensive lobster or steak meal?
If it is something normal that is just not prepared properly, then you should be able to send it back and not be charged. Obviously, if it is not prepared properly then you should not be stuck with it.
However, if it something that you have never tried before and it turns out that you don't like it, then that is a risk you took. And you should be a good sport and pay for it.
One time I ordered seared tuna. Not realizing that the seared part was the only part that was COOKED on the thing. No way, Jose am I going to eat raw tuna. Sorry, ain't going to happen. It was a "very" ritzy restaurant and I was very embarrassed that I didn't know that seared tuna was raw. Nevertheless, I asked the waiter to take it away. They were very gracious and offered to take it off my bill, but I insisted on paying for it because I made the mistake not them.
Most good managers are not going to charge you for something that you don't like. Their food costs are not so great that they can't afford to write it off, unless it is a $50 entree, LOL (their food cost is probably still only about $6 anyway).
Wilson 1010: it is not about money! it is about professional conduct of business.
In a very expensive restaurant, while dining with VIP's, I would not make any comments about the food. I usually never comment the quality of food when I am invited and didn't choose the restaurant. I might make a comment in a "regular" restaurant, when dining with friends, family or alone.
I do eat out a lot too. In some places I am a regular. There is a reason, why I am a regular there: the food/service is good, and the wait staff AND chef knows the special ways how I like my food prepared and served. Nothing fancy or extraordinary, just making an extra step to please a customer that comes often and leaves a nice tip. They know that I want my soup extra hot ( boiling, not spicy), gravy or salad dressing on the site, and if possible, they try to prepare it with less salt, but more spices. They are observant: when I leave gravy or lettuce untouched, next time they would ask if I want the gravy on the side and if I would like more tomatoes instead of lettuce. They know that I want my drink with very little ice. I don't need to repeat myself, but sure seeing that they remember and care make me feel appreciated. With restaurants almost on every corner, I could go somewhere else, no?
As I said above, I am sure your etiquette is impeccable. I was really speaking to the question as opposed to you personally. To me, this interaction is never worth doing. If you do it well and it is important to you then I'm sure you handle it fine. The money means nothing to me. I just want a nice pleasant meal out with no business being conducted, especially bad business with a waitress or, God forbid, a manager. If I haven;t had enough to eat because of a bad entree, I've been known to order desert, even at lunch!
If a food you order is not served as requested, of course you should send it back and it should be removed from your bill. The point isn't whether your wallet can withstand the hit, that's a ridiculous hypothesis. The point is whether the food is as you ordered. If it was food that has spoiled, came out of the kitchen burnt, overcooked, undercooked, dripping in oil, fried overly crispy in dirty/old/overused oil, or sauced within an inch of its life or does not match the description on the menu, of course it should be sent back! No discussion required on this topic!
If you ordered something you've never had before and you don't care for it once you taste it on your palette, honey, that's your problem and you should pay the bill gracefully.
Even if you send the bad entree` in the first paragraph back, it's not the waitstaff's fault, thus you should tip them on the original order, including your returned food.
Having worked in the food industry for some 40 years, I'm stunned at some of the bloviated opinions on this thread that come across as superior in attitude and knowledge (although obviously lacking). Kshe, you rock!
The kitchen can not improve its output if it doesn't receive honest feedback. AND, if the food is tainted or spoiled, you could be saving the life of a fellow diner who might have a compromised immune system.
Check your superiority at the door. Go in and be a human being. If the food sucks, tell someone about it. Be glad you live in a country where you can go out to eat with so many options available to you, and in a country where you have the right to complain when something is not as advertised.
Last edited by CoastalMaine; 11-20-2010 at 10:27 PM..
The kitchen can not improve its output if it doesn't receive honest feedback. AND, if the food is tainted or spoiled, you could be saving the life of a fellow diner who might have a compromised immune system.
The restaurant should pay to have its food reviewed. I'm there to eat dinner, not provide feedback. And it certainly isn't the responsibility of the patron to ensure fresh food.
The restaurant should pay to have its food reviewed. I'm there to eat dinner, not provide feedback. And it certainly isn't the responsibility of the patron to ensure fresh food.
Prog: So agree. Just what I don't want with my dinner is any dialogue at all with some assistant manager/host who wants to talk about my dinner. Get him away from the table and leave me alone.
Good restaurants have their own quality control procedures in place. Managers inspect the meals as they are delivered to the servers on a systematic basis. People who do not know this are just not familiar with how restaurants other than mom and pops work.
Complaints are logged and mostly ignored because restaurants know there are many people who will complain about anything, good, bad or mediocre, as evidenced by this thread.
If I made a list of things I could complain about in dealing with my retail experiences I would not get anything done. Should I complain if the hardware store has the nuts and bolts mixed up? Should I complain if there are potholes in the street? Should I complain if the lawn boy leaves some grass on the sidewalk? Should I complain if the printer cartridges are in the wrong bin at Staples? I really don't want to be a citizen quality control department for someone else's business. I just want something to eat.
I went to a Chinese buffet with a girlfriend once. Neither of us liked any of the food we ate, and we tried a wide variety of it. Still paid for it though...we just decided we'd never go back.
If you taste your food and it is unacceptable, it is okay to politely signal your server and explain your displeasure with the dish, respectfully. It doesn't matter what kind of food it is, or how expensive it is. What matters is your manners.
It would not be appropriate to eat more than one or two bites before making your comment.
Normally, your server will offer to bring you another dish, or make some other amends.
I recently experienced a disastrous meal at a local restaurant here in Dallas.
The salad on the menu was described one way. What arrived was not what was described; the lettuce was iceberg when on the menu it stated "mixed greens", and the other vegetable ingredients were extremely paltry. Sorry, but I'm not paying $11 for a pile of iceberg lettuce with chicken on top.
Also, the chicken fajitas were included in the price of the salad so even though I no longer eat much meat, I told them to include the chicken figuring I'd just set it aside and take it home so the BF could munch on it. On the menu they had 2 options for chicken fajita meat: traditional and lite, which was supposed to be grilled with no oil. I asked for the lite option.
I received pan-fried chicken tenders...whole, not cut into strips...swimming in oil. They were served on top of the salad so the oil wilted and ruined the lettuce. I was not pleased. I sent the salad back after 2 bites with no intention of having them re-do it. I also did not plan to pay for it. The waiter insisted on having them re-do it and it came back with even more oil...and less chicken. Before he could even set the plate down on the table I told him to take it away and take it off the bill. Between his attitude and the traditional stereotype of kitchen staff wiping their butts with food sent back to the kitchen, there was NO WAY I was going to touch anything he brought me. If they don't get it right the first time, they don't get a second chance. If it looks edible I'll try it...but if it's too wrong, I won't eat it. I'll send it back and ask for it to be removed from the bill. I should add that I'm not all that fussy when I go out...I usually ask for salad with the dressing on the side and for meats/veggies to be prepared with no oil or butter. I don't think this is at all unreasonable.
We got out of the restaurant without paying for either meal and with a $25 gift card to boot. It's a very long story but essentially, not only did they screw up the meal and try to rip me off, the waiter was extremely rude and ignored my very simple requests from the get-go. He didn't even bring the right salad dressing...and the restaurant had only 4 to choose from.
I thought the gift card was generous but I felt the manager was completely right in comping the entire meal since my BF's meal was also ruined by me sitting there staring at empty space while they treated me like crap. Needless to say I will never go back to that restaurant. I'll probably re-gift the gift card.
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