meal?
I've noticed a few "worst experience ever" threads that share a few similar characteristics:
1. Expectations for the restaurant were set extremely high by other posters ("Best meal ever!").
2. The diner goes on a busy night (usually Friday or Saturday) and complains about crowds OR
attentiveness of servers.
3. The diner goes on to complain about how the soup was over/underseasoned or that the salad
didn't "knock my socks off." (Is any salad capable of this? We're talking about leaves and
dressing, right?)
4. They're either indifferent to the main course (excessively high expectations maybe) OR they
order something for which the restaurant isn't well known for (steak usually, or some food at an
ethnic restaurant for which that ethnicity isn't really well known for cooking well).
5. Instead of telling the servers immediately, they say they got tired of waiting for the server to
show up, then proceed to eat the entire meal because they were hungry.
6. Diner tries to get the meal comped. Sometimes the manager does this grudgingly; sometimes
they offer a dessert or drink.
7. Diner claims this as their "worst meal ever."
I'm not doubting the diner had a bad time. I think everyone has had meals that didn't meet
expectations. But I have to wonder how much of this is the fault of the restaurant and how much
is because of unreasonable expectations perpetuated by other Hounds? Check any thread
discussing "Best Restaurant in (insert any city)" and amid all the glowing reviews, there are
always a handful of "Worst Meal Ever" or "Most Overrated" posts. Comping meals isn't "free;"
the cost of those meals comes out of the restaurant's bottom line and that cost is passed on to
every person who dines there. I guess my point is "is the customer really always right?" and if
not, should the restaurant comp the meal anyway, even though the diner probably still won't be
happy with the experience?
1. Years ago I worked as a waitress in a restaurant and diners baffled me with their creative
ways of trying to get their meals comped. I personally feel they should be comped if they
took a couple bites of the meal and really didn't like it. Or, if the meal took so long to
prepare that by the time it arrived they couldn't eat it because they had to leave. You
shouldn't have to pay for what you don't consume.
If a customer consumes an entire meal and then tries to say it was terrible and they want
their money back, I don't think that is appropriate. I wouldn't give them anything except a
customer appreciation card!(Since they ate all their food, they surely must come back for
more!)
If the service really was so bad that the diner got their food delivered late or condiments
delivered so late they couldn't eat their burger, surely they should be comped. But
restaurants can't afford to constantly comp a meal. This is where good managierial
decision making is important.
1. Years ago I worked as a waitress in a restaurant and diners baffled me with their creative
ways of trying to get their meals comped. I personally feel they should be comped if they
took a couple bites of the meal and really didn't like it. Or, if the meal took so long to
prepare that by the time it arrived they couldn't eat it because they had to leave. You
shouldn't have to pay for what you don't consume.
If a customer consumes an entire meal and then tries to say it was terrible and they want
their money back, I don't think that is appropriate. I wouldn't give them anything except a
customer appreciation card!(Since they ate all their food, they surely must come back for
more!)
If the service really was so bad that the diner got their food delivered late or condiments
delivered so late they couldn't eat their burger, surely they should be comped. But
restaurants can't afford to constantly comp a meal. This is where good managierial
decision making is important.
1. Restaurants should only comp meals if there was a big mistake made on their part. If a
diner simply doesn't like their dish or it didn't "wow" them, that is the risk of dining out.
If people expect a comp every time they got a less than stellar meal, restaurants would go
out of business fast.
This reminds me of a poster who asked about offerings in my town. Numerous people,
including myself, recommended a local favorite. The poster went and ordered the only
non-fish, non-meat meal on the menu - something that nobody suggested - and then said
the food was way over rated and over priced. Um, why not order what people raved
about? If you wanted vegetarian, nobody would have suggested that place!
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