RE: Sending meals back. (Full Version)

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MysticFireTopaz -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/26/2011 6:40:35 PM)

I rarely do, but when it has happened, it usually has been due to meat being undercooked. I am fanatical about all meat being well-done. If it is rare or medium, I don't hesitate to send it back.

Once or twice, the waiter made a mistake and brought me something I didn't even order, so of course I sent that back.

I have a friend who won't hesitate to send food back two or three times. She's vanilla and not even a Domme (though acts like one, LOL).



littlewonder -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/26/2011 8:33:20 PM)

I have a friend who everytime she orders a meal it first takes her at least 10 minutes...leave off this, don't forget this, make sure it's fried till it's almost burned, more salt, toast the bun, blah blah blah...and then she gets her meal and sends it back at least twice until it's exactly how she wants it.

It got so bad that I have just refused to go out to eat with her anymore and I never invited her to my home to eat. I've heard so many people talk badly about her behind her back because of her pickiness and rudeness to just about all service people no matter where it is. She never seems to figure out why people treat her the way they do. I've been known to just walk away from her because of her attitude.





NuevaVida -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/26/2011 10:01:34 PM)

littlewonder, I worked with someone like that.  She once sent a drink back 4 times. There was no way I was taking a sip of that once they brought it to her "correctly" - I had no idea what they may have put in it!

She was so picky and then always complained, complete with a sneering look on her face (once because there was TOO much food on her plate and it looked unappetizing).  I stopped going out with her.



SweetDommes -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/26/2011 10:22:49 PM)

I have, but it's rare. Raw chicken goes back without fail (has happened twice). Anything that shows up with bell peppers in it after I've asked if it has any in it goes back without fail (I'm allergic - I try very hard not to order anything that has them in it - I understand that people can't change their menu for me so I always ask before I order something new - this one tends to happen more often). And if I ask for my steak to be medium well or well done and it comes back red, squishy and still bleeding - it freaking goes back (has only ever happened at one particular Logan's). The mac & cheese that had undercooked pasta and slimy cheese went back too (same Logan's, only happened once).

However, in general, even if it's not that great, I'll eat it and just let someone know that it wasn't very good. Fortunately, I've never eaten out with someone who sent back food for piddly little things - if it goes back, then there is a good reason for it.

ETA: With Holly, she is allergic to wheat and yeast, so she'll order burgers without a bun ... and it's amazing how many times it comes with one, and of course it sticks to it, so she can't eat it at all - those go back too.



tazzygirl -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/27/2011 1:26:57 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: poise

I've only had one unpleasant meal while dining out, and it was due to my own ignorance.
My son loves sushi, and as I have yet to be inspired to pass any of that between my lips,
I thought I would just simply order something non-raw-fishy.

I thought the Steak Tataki sounded delicious, and since it was beef, what's not to love?
Suffice it to say that I am now of the opinion that barely cooked beef is even more unappetizing than sushi. [:'(]

I happily settled on a plate of vegetable tempora.



Oh poise, do give sushi a try. Ask the waitress for the cooked selections... or the vegetable ones. Things like topico, wasabi, roe can be left off.. or better yet, on the side, for those at the table who do like them.



tazzygirl -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/27/2011 1:40:09 AM)

~FR

A good waitress can bypass many of the mistakes I have read here simply by slowing down a moment. Unfortunately, most restaurants want volume... they offer cheaper priced foods... not necessarily cheap food... but to offset the lower cost, table turns are a must.

I make mistakes as a server, and I quickly apologize, fix the mistake, take the heat from the kitchen and management, and will comp something on the bill.

The kitchen makes mistakes... again, a quick apology, more heat from the kitchen and management, and something will be comped.

I have even had instances of a customer making a mistake.. especially neglecting to mention allergies. Another quick apology.. the meal is fixed with the head chef complaining... no comp, sorry, that was your mistake.

If you say you dont like the meal, but want a dogie bag to take it home to someone else, you will be paying for it.

If you eat 90% of the meal, then complain about it... no comp. If you dont like something, why eat it? I wouldnt.

If I, as a customer, make a point to ask for something to be left off or changed, and the server agrees, then it will be returned if its not right.

If a customer asks for something to be left off, I will ask the rest of the table if they wish to have that item. Like avacado... not everyone likes it. But its added into the cost of that meal. Its offered to the rest, and goes back to the kitchen as "avacado on side". Why not? You are paying for it. And you can ask for that item you dont want, but someone else may, to be on the side.

Im some restaurants, the management is going round to tables on busy nights, seeing if food is prepared to order and that customers are happy. If that isnt the experience in your favorite restaurant, you may want to chose another.

If I take out a meal from the kitchen, and its not how you ordered it, and I didnt make a mistake on the order (the check will reflect how it was ordered) then its my fault. I should have checked better. We utilize food runners on busy nights. They dont always check.

My point is, dont assume its the servers fault. Sometimes it is, and a good server will quickly own up to the mistake. Sometimes its not.

Lately, I really have come to hate comped meals. People tend to tip off the total, neglecting to remember that 25 dollar steak dinner they ordered that was overcooked, corrected, the customer enjoyed, and was comped.



DarkSteven -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/27/2011 3:56:51 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lizi

I showed a guy how to eat a lobster once and the thing sprayed eggs across his forehead when he cracked it. I tried to get it all off but they were everywhere and I"m sure he found them in his clothes at the end of the night. He was an amazingly good sport considering he was on a first date with someone.



lizi, you actually did the guy a favor.  First date, and he got something silly to break the ice with the woman.  Something to remember for both of them, and a golden opportunity to show his good humor.

To answer the question - I have only sent back food when it was something other than what I ordered.



samboct -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/27/2011 5:35:21 AM)

The last time was actually earlier this month- when I was at a restaurant with a group and a kid who'd sailed with me before ordered grouper. We were all paying for our own dishes, and to a college kid, the $20 for the fish wasn't chump change. So most of us are happy with what we've got, but the kid comments that his fish is overdone. I take a bite, and sure enough, it is. I asked the waiter to bring the kid a different piece of fish- which he does in reasonably short order. Was it comped? Nope. Did we care? Nope- it's only till reading this thread that I realized it probably should have been. However, the waiter got a healthy tip, the kid was impressed with my savoir faire, and everybody went home happy.

Sometimes its the fault of the menu designer. Friendly's has a burger on it with Vermont cheddar cheese, and they also have some egg and bacon sandwich with cheddar with very similar names. I ordered the burger, got the egg sandwich. A buddy split his burger with me and we said nothing.

At a nice Peruvian restaurant- a date and I asked for a bottle of wine, and the waitress said two glasses. English wasn't her native tongue. She brought two glasses. Date didn't want to kick up a fuss, so we drank the two glasses and then ordered a bottle. (I still didn't get lucky...) On the other hand, since we didn't finish the bottle, she let us walk out with it along with a doggie bag. I still like that place.

It's been a long time since I was comped, I no longer even think about it.


Sam



soul2share -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/27/2011 6:13:05 AM)

I absolutely will NOT eat beef of any kind that is still raw/rare.  I order any beef medium well, and I make a point of letting the server know that I do NOT want my beef still mooing.  I have sent back a steak only a couple of times because it's not cooked right.  Both times it was a $30 peice of steak, and if I'm paying that kind of money, I expect it to be cooked to my order.  I don't expect a new steak, just toss the one back on the grill for about 5 more minutes.  When I grill steaks, I end up putting mine on first, then everyone elses.  I get jokes about shoe leather, but if it's done correctly, medium well is still juicy and good.

Eggs are another food that WILL Be cooked thoroughly.  When I say hard or scrambled hard, I mean just that.  I won't send them back if they are snotty, but will let the server know the reason why they are still on the plate.

I worked as a waitress in college, and relied on tips, because alot of restaurant servers don't get even minimum wage.  I know how hectic a kitchen can be, I know I wouldn't want to be in one on any weekend night.  No one's perfect, and I know that the occasional mistake is made.  Quite frankly, my thought is that life is too short to sweat the small stuff.....I have never seen a restaurant not try to correct a mistake, even when it's the customer's fault.  I don't like cheese, eggs or bacon bits on my salad, just veggies.  99% of the time, I remember to ask and tell them to omit that stuff and add extra tomateos or cukes.  If I forget, well, I just scrape it off and pick around it.



poise -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/27/2011 12:10:14 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

quote:

ORIGINAL: poise

I've only had one unpleasant meal while dining out, and it was due to my own ignorance.
My son loves sushi, and as I have yet to be inspired to pass any of that between my lips,
I thought I would just simply order something non-raw-fishy.

I thought the Steak Tataki sounded delicious, and since it was beef, what's not to love?
Suffice it to say that I am now of the opinion that barely cooked beef is even more unappetizing than sushi. [:'(]

I happily settled on a plate of vegetable tempora.



Oh poise, do give sushi a try. Ask the waitress for the cooked selections... or the vegetable ones.
Things like topico, wasabi, roe can be left off.. or better yet, on the side, for those at the table who do like them.

It's not that I don't have a sense of adventure when it comes to trying new things. [;)]
However, I don't like fish of any sort, even if it's cooked, so I knew sushi would be a hard limit.



LaTigresse -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/27/2011 7:02:57 PM)

I don't eat out very often. Most of the time I would prefer to cook at home. Better tasting and lower priced.

However, when I do eat out I expect to get what I pay for. If, like last night, I am eating a sandwich at the ball park, I expect to not get food poisoning and that's about it.

If I am eating a meal that ends up costing more than $ 100.00 for two......it had better be a perfect experience. I do not often eat steak out.....waste of money for me.....but if I do it had better be rare and fucking awesome. If I ask for eggs over hard, they had better not have any disgusting runny shit.

If it's not right, I make sure it gets righted. That being said, I am not going to be a cunt about it. More flies with honey and all that. Besides, I worked in the biz for a long time. I understand that everyone, even a pro, can make mistakes. It's how those mistakes are handled that matters to me. If the mistake is handled well I make sure they know how much I appreciate it.

If everything about a restaurant experience sucks, and I have had that happen, I contact the owner and tell them, in detail, what I felt was wrong and what I feel could be done to improve things. One didn't and they went out of business in less than a year.



LinnaeaBorealis -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/28/2011 12:31:58 PM)

One time, I went into a truck stop for dinner. Nobody waited on me. I saw wait staff at other tables, but I was ignored. None of them would even make eye contact with me. I finally went to the buffet & served myself. When I was finished, I went to the cash register to pay & told the cashier why I didn't have a check. Then I went out to the truck & sent an email to their management. That was probably my worst dining experience ever. And yeah, I know it was a truck stop & not a 4-star restaurant, but I didn't see that as a good reason to accept that.

I have often been given less attention in a restaurant than males at other tables. I believe this is because wait staff still believe that men tip more generously. Of course, it becomes self-fulfilling because since I don't get proper attention, I don't feel that I should tip as though I did. And as a general rule, I will over-tip rather than under-tip, so they're just shooting themselves in their proverbial feet by treating me that way.




zephyroftheNorth -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/28/2011 12:35:49 PM)

I find that I actually have more of a problem with take out or order in meals than those in the diningroom. A lot of restaurants take less care with those than they do with face-to-face customers for the obvious reason that most can't be bothered to complain. There are some restaurants I don't order from anymore because they fuck up the order almost every time.



littlewonder -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/28/2011 12:50:19 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: zephyroftheNorth

I find that I actually have more of a problem with take out or order in meals than those in the diningroom. A lot of restaurants take less care with those than they do with face-to-face customers for the obvious reason that most can't be bothered to complain. There are some restaurants I don't order from anymore because they fuck up the order almost every time.


Now that I've had on numerous occasions. The Papa John's in my former town always always forgot our soda. The first time I let it go and just didn't pay for them when they delivered our meal. But when they continually forgot I just stopped ordering from them.

The second time was a local pizza joint in the same town who always always got our orders wrong...everything from wrong toppings to completely different meals from what we ordered. Again, first time I told them it wasn't ours and they came back with the right order. Second time I took the order because I was exhasperated. Third time I called and complained, refused the order and a new order and refused to ever buy from them again.




zephyroftheNorth -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/28/2011 1:14:57 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

quote:

ORIGINAL: zephyroftheNorth

I find that I actually have more of a problem with take out or order in meals than those in the diningroom. A lot of restaurants take less care with those than they do with face-to-face customers for the obvious reason that most can't be bothered to complain. There are some restaurants I don't order from anymore because they fuck up the order almost every time.


Now that I've had on numerous occasions. The Papa John's in my former town always always forgot our soda. The first time I let it go and just didn't pay for them when they delivered our meal. But when they continually forgot I just stopped ordering from them.

The second time was a local pizza joint in the same town who always always got our orders wrong...everything from wrong toppings to completely different meals from what we ordered. Again, first time I told them it wasn't ours and they came back with the right order. Second time I took the order because I was exhasperated. Third time I called and complained, refused the order and a new order and refused to ever buy from them again.




Twice now Double Pizza sent the wrong pizzas which is annoying because it wasn't exactly complicated: all dressed with extra pepperoni and cheese. What we got was extra pepperoni and cheese. [8|]

Yummy pizza but I don't think we'll be ordering from them again.



LinnaeaBorealis -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/28/2011 7:15:03 PM)

It amazes me how many businesses could do so much better if they would just focus on doing things right for the customers. If I am treated right, they get my order right, or at least attempt to make it right, I will not only keep coming back, but I will tell my friends to buy from them also. And the reverse is true also.



soul2share -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/28/2011 8:54:04 PM)

I'm the type of person who won't necessarily mention a good experience from restaurants, be them take out, delivery or sit down.....I figure if I keep going back, then that's my way of saying they do it right.

Now, one bad experience will turn me off, and I'll spread the word.  What these places don't get is that is usually how most folks react.  And from what I understand, that's like Restaurant 101.......the customer is the best free advertising out there. 

Linnea, I'm sort of surprised about your truck stop experience.  I've always had excellent service at them.  I traveled alot either thru the military reserves, or getting my son back and forth to his dad, and when I needed an actual break from driving, would sit down and eat at the truck stops. 

The biggest complaint about places like Mickey D's, HFC, Arby's, etc is that the damn workers don't speak frickin' English!  I rarely hit a drive thru for this reason, and don't even go in and order much anymore.  I realize that the immigrant poplulation will work for less, so fast food employers hire them, but dayum......how can you expect them to get even a simple order right when they can't even say the ingredients!  It's easier for me to make the stuff myself, or hit the local grocery store for their meals.



Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/30/2011 9:20:58 AM)

I have never sent anything back. There was one meal I didn't find tasty, but I just didn't eat it.



Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/30/2011 7:18:40 PM)

I forgot about the time I had a spinage dip once and it was super garlicy and when our server asked us how everything was I told her the dip was super garlicy and a bit greasy, and she could tell right away it wasn't made right so she comped us for it.



WinsomeDefiance -> RE: Sending meals back. (8/31/2011 2:19:33 AM)

I don't think I have ever sent a dish back.  My sister on the other hand, will not only send her dish back, but she'll send back anyone elses dish at the table, if SHE feels it wasn't cooked correctly - no matter what the person she's dining with says to the contrary.  My eldest son is just like her, and I wonder if he isn't her changeling.

WinD



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