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I will definitely avoid a grocery store when I get rude or blatantly inattentive service by the checkers, but I also contact mgmt to let them know, to give them a chance to rectify it by training or downsizing.
Agreed with all this. I've found awesome service at Harris Teater though, but Kroger and Food Lion are definitely lower in service. I think you just have to know what to expect, and if you dont like it, vote with your wallet.
kjchess, as a restaurant manager, when is an appropriate time to provide (negative) feedback about one's dining experience? I'm not talking about simple being inattentive or being overwhelmed with a neighboring 10-up, but when I'm taking my party our for a special occasion and we're having/had a really horrible dining experience. I've always felt that is was appropriate to vote with my money, that is, to not return to the restaurant, but then feel like nobody would every know we were upset. People say to take it out of the tip, but having worked in a restaurant, I don't feel that's appropriate either. Furthermore, there are plenty of people that receive good service and still leave a crappy tip. So, what to do?
And no, I haven't felt that there are *way* more bad servers at restaurants lately. If anything, with dining rooms appearing less busy, I've felt I've gotten more personalized attention at the restaurants I'm frequenting.
We make it a point to tell management about extra good or extra bad service.
Heard on the radio this morning that restaurants are nixing bus boys (to save money) and expecting the servers to take on that responsibility. Is that happening here in the Triangle?
When I wanted tables over 20 years ago (in Raleigh), we didn't have busboys and had to bus and set our own tables (at one restaurant), so this isn't necessarily anything new.
kjchess, as a restaurant manager, when is an appropriate time to provide (negative) feedback about one's dining experience? I'm not talking about simple being inattentive or being overwhelmed with a neighboring 10-up, but when I'm taking my party our for a special occasion and we're having/had a really horrible dining experience. I've always felt that is was appropriate to vote with my money, that is, to not return to the restaurant, but then feel like nobody would every know we were upset. People say to take it out of the tip, but having worked in a restaurant, I don't feel that's appropriate either. Furthermore, there are plenty of people that receive good service and still leave a crappy tip. So, what to do?
And no, I haven't felt that there are *way* more bad servers at restaurants lately. If anything, with dining rooms appearing less busy, I've felt I've gotten more personalized attention at the restaurants I'm frequenting.
I am very picky about the service I receive when I goe out...very picky. I will let the manager know as I am leaving and as other mentioned judge my returning to the establiment on the managers response to my complaint. If I am with a group I will typically call back at a later time and speak with the manager. I am also quite blunt with the server if I felt the problem was there. I want them to understand exactly why I didn't tip them generously.
I tip 25% for great service, 20% for good/fair service, and 10-15% FOR substandard service. (With an explanation of what I was not happy about) My wife gets upset because I will literally turn the slip over and leave a bullet list of things that could have been improved. Call me an a-hole but the servers who have had me and did well, remember me and give me good service. I have seen servers run over and whisper to a server waiting on us, and we more times than not get great service.
It is not just Raleigh, it is all around. If one more server comes to the table where my husband and I are sitting and asks, "What would you GUYS like," I think I will say, "To eat at a place where ladies are not called GUYS" and get up and leave. I hate the word GUYS and think no one serving the public should ever address ladies and gentlemen in that way. It is a very bad habbit and should be stopped.
Shortened meaning of the word "Guy." A person of grotesque appearance. Fellow. It is really a demeaning term meant to lower the status of the person being addressed. If I am going to be paying someone to serve me, I don't want to be addressed as "someone who plotted to blow up the English House of Parliament."
I do not like being called a guy either. Some people may make fun of southerners saying y’all but at least it is gender neutral.
yeesh. I tip the standard 15% for service unless it was esp good (or esp bad).
I also know someone who was infamous for complaining about meals....the mgr comes out, she (in a doe-eyed soft cell kind of way) explains how the meal or service or something was substandard, and regularly got free meals out of it. I started to wonder if she ever paid for a meal out in her life.
Agreed with all this. I've found awesome service at Harris Teater though, but Kroger and Food Lion are definitely lower in service. I think you just have to know what to expect, and if you dont like it, vote with your wallet.
My in-laws came down from Michigan and were shocked to find out that around here it is commonplace for (if not expected that) grocery store baggers will offer to carry a large order of groceries out to your car.
Having lived most of my life in the south, I really didn't know any other way. When I worked at the Winn-Dixie in high school every old woman expected you to carry her bag out.
Standards change, though, especially as labor gets more expensive and profit margins become more thin.
If one more server comes to the table where my husband and I are sitting and asks, "What would you GUYS like," I think I will say, "To eat at a place where ladies are not called GUYS" and get up and leave.
Oooh, I hate that! It's especially bad at a nicer place, where you're not paying "you guys" prices.
Another pet peeve is the overuse of the word "awesome." Why do servers feel compelled to squeal, "AWESOME!" after I place my order?
I tip 25% for great service, 20% for good/fair service, and 10-15% FOR substandard service.
I tip well, too, unless the service is arrogant and rude.
I still like to eat out a couple times a week, but to save money I'm cutting back on what I order. Instead of full dinners, I usually just get a salad or pasta, and a simple cocktail or glass of wine. The servers still have to work, though, so I try to compensate for the less expensive food by tipping 25% - 30%. I imagine if people are spending less, that their overall tips are decreasing.
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