Due to the crazy awesome response from the last Can I Get a Consensus? I’ve decided to make this a permanent feature.
This weeks question is – If you go to a restaurant and the food you order is inedible, is it acceptable to refuse it? What are your options? I had a truly revolting eggs benedict last weekend that was 90% hollandaise but being hideously hungover, starving and lost in the CBD of Sydney (everywhere else was closed) I had little choice but to scrape off the offending sauce and hold my nose as I devoured the remaining soggy eggs and toast. The coffee was appalling. Mr Smaggle’s breakfast was even worse with vinegar flavoured eggs floating in water and slimey spinach. The waitress asked us how everything was and I replied that it was bad. Really, really bad. She just kind of laughed and said ‘Oh. Yeah.’
Obviously we had already eaten the food and therefore felt we should pay for it but if we hadn’t eaten it would we have been entitled to leave without paying? What’s the protocol? Can you request that they make it again? Would you trust a restaurant to re-cook your food after you complained about it? Are there any restaurant owners out there who can shed some light on this issue?
What do you think?
Love Lady Smaggle
xxx
P.S This argument is not about fussy eaters. I was so hung over I would have eaten shit on toast. Which, ironically, is pretty close to what I got. The point is the food has to have something obviously wrong with it. Consumer tastes are irrevalent. If you order food and you don’t like it when it arrives, tough.
31 Comments
-
I have sent food back before. I had fish that was so overcooked it tasted like rubber. This was after I’d waited 20 minutes longer than everyone else at my table to get my order. I sent it back and demanded another meal. I got it and it was much nicer. A friend at the table warned that it’s possible someone may have spat in it, though.
I wouldn’t ever eat a whole meal if it was terrible. Then you have no recourse to demand that it’s free. I wouldn’t leave without paying either, unless the replacement mean was also terrible. THEN, I think you have enough reason to leave and go elsewhere.
-
Hahaha oh dear god, whereabouts in Sydney was it?!
To be honest, if it was terrible the first time around, I wouldn’t want a repeat performance – I would just want my money back! I hate, hate, hate complaining, but I hate, hate, hate paying for extremely average service/food even more.
-
im way too polite when it comes to these things. My boyfriends parents are chronic restaurant complainers and it embarrasses me to no end when they send back their fish because it tastes ‘too fishy.’ i have been served horrible food only to not eat it, tell the waiter it was fine and pay. But i will never visit a restaurant twice if I get served inedible food, and i will tell everyone never to go there. I guess that is my revenge!
-
I wouldn’t eat it – I would send it back and get something else. I know I’m not picky or fussy so if I think something is really bad, it has to be bad. That said, I don’t like causing a fuss, so I’ll do it in the nicest way possible, because I know things happen. If the food comes back and it’s equally as disgusting – well, that’s when I gotta leave – and I’m not going quietly.
-
It is completely acceptable to send it back. I waited tables for 5 years, and never worked at a place where this was a problem. All the waitress has to do is appologize, take the food, have them remake it ‘on the fly’ and get you a corrected order. The waitress doesn’t have to pay for it. NOT A BIG DEAL. Also, servers DON’T spit in peoples food. The worst they do is go to back and talk smack about you.
However, when you told the waitress that the food was bad, and she laughed, she probably thought that you were being one of ‘those people’ who scarf down all the food and then think they are the first person in the world to make the joke ‘it was terrible, i hated it.’
Bottom line is: if you don’t like your food tell someone, and they will fix it. -
I would probably suffer through it, because I am really shy when it comes to complaining about stuff like that (like The Mumma said, I am always wary that someone will spit in it)! I think that if you told the waitress it was really bad, she should have offered you your money back. I know they could offer to make you something else, but really, would you want them to?
-
I think if the food comes out and it’s inedible because something is wrong with it, you should most certainly, politely, ask the waiter/waitress if you could have another meal because xyz is wrong with this one. You would hope that no one would do anything nasty to the food after this, but I’ve heard so many stories I think my preference would be to ask for my money back, but then if others are eating, your stuck looking sulky whilst others devour what could be a lovely meal…
Think of it like a frock. If you went to a shop and saw a lovely dress you wanted to buy, and the salesperson went out back to get you one already wrapped up, and you got home and pulled it out and the pockets were in the wrong place and the hemline crooked, you wouldn’t think twice about taking that back!
-
I don’t know what the situation in Australia is, but in many countries you are legally obliged to pay for the cost of the food once you have ordered it. As in, you would pay the cost price of two eggs, two slices of bread and whatever out-of-a-packet sauce they put on the eggs. Under 1$ I would guess. Most places would be embarrassed to make you pay it though and would just give it away for free.
I’ve never refused to pay having eaten the food. I have however, refused to pay after ordering food that took so long to come, every other person in my group had LONG finished their meal. When my toasted sandwich (I KNOW!!) came, it was burned. The bread was totally blackened. A long, long argument with the staff of the diner ensued, along with a security guard who refused to let me leave until I had paid.
By the end of it, I cried. Worst restaurant experience ever.
I looked up my rights afterwards…
-
I used to be a waitress (it was at a very nice restaurant so my experience is a little different than a diner or something) but as long as you request nicely that there is a problem with your food, then there really shouldn’t be any problems. You bet your ass if someone was super rude to me about their food then I told the cook they were. I never knew of them doing anything, but at the same time, I didn’t watch them cook the new meals π Anyway, usually if there was something truly wrong with the food, the manager would make the meal (or depending on how big of a fit they through) the entire groups meals for free. And they always either got a new plate of the same thing or something different if they requested it.
You can usually tell if there is someone who just likes to bitch about it to try and get it for free (there are actually a LOT of people like this out there) compared to someone who genuinely doesn’t like the food or thinks there is something wrong with it. I used to never tell the waiter if there was something wrong with my food when I was younger, but now if in fact there is something wrong, I will definitely politely mention it to the waiter and see if we can have it fixed. I’ve never had any problems.
-
My man and I were just talking about this. We’ve worked in the food industry and we know what happens to your food if you’re too picky. So my rule is that if it’s not done right, send it back. The cook/server should respect that. For example, I had an Eggs Benedict and the eggs were not fully poached. They were just that gross white filmy stuff. Gross and inedible. So I sent it back. A week later, his eggs were a little overcooked on his skillet. So he didn’t send them back because they were still edible. You just got to ask yourself, is this done okay or am I just being a bitch?
-
I am of the non-complaining, non confrontational, suffer through it, scrape it off and just eat it type. However, I think if you take a bite or two and it’s terrible, it has a hair (!) or just generally not right, then of course, politely tell the server what is wrong and why.
I think it’s all in how you say it and your attitude about it. If you are polite and nice about it, most people will fix it happily, be it with a different meal or a comp for the cost. If you are rude and pushy, they’ll get defensive.
And definitely, don’t take the terrible meal out on your server and his/her tip.
-
once we eat more than a 1/3 of the meal you gotta pay, less than 1/3 no way.
-
Establishments that care little about the quality of the food they serve, and whose wait staff laugh when you comment upon the poor quality, are likely to be the ones you probably do not want to risk requesting another meal in case it is spat in.
I have complained before at restaurants, for the same reason as a couple of the others mentioned, waiting 10minutes longer than my friends for meals, it not being freshly prepared etc. I simply refused to pay for it, but had bought it to the waiters attention whilst waiting, and during the meal, and given them an opportunity to rectify it.
I think if you have eaten it, then you are within your rights to complain, but do not think it is unfair to ask for it to be complimented as well. Because to use the analogy Sarj did, if you were not happy with the dress, you could not ask for a refund, and then also want to keep the dress.
-
Sorry that should read ‘do not think it is FAIR to ask ‘
-
I am so glad you asked this question Miss Smaggle, because I have this dilemma now and again, and it drives me crazy trying to figure out the protocol! I’m fine at returning things like clothes etc if they are faulty, but when it comes to food I feel like it’s more personal, slagging the chef/cook off because it’s poorly cooked…and she’s/he’s right there….
I’ve gotta toughen up, obviously! -
I’m too scared to complain about bad food after the Coogee Bay hotel ‘brown’ icecream fiasco.
-
Oh yeh this is tough for me too. There’s only been a couple of times where I’ve really needed to complain – Usually I just keep my mouth shut.
Once it was when our food was taking forever. I mentioned to the waiter after we finally got our meal and he gave us our drinks free.
The other time I ordered an omelette that was meant to have all sorts of yummies in it but it was just plain egg. I ate it anyway but when I told the waiter he didn’t charge me for it. Both times I was super polite cos I don’t want to kick up a stink. I wasn’t expecting a full refund on the second time since I had eaten the food.I think if you’re really nice about things and don’t expect much you will be pleasantly surprised. Of course that doesn’t rule out the fact that some establishments are just nasty but I don’t think there are that many out there so I guess sometimes you just cop it on the chin and don’t ever go back. And make sure everyone knows about it too.
-
I may have an American point of view on this, but if the food was horrible, don’t eat it and have them remake it, with a request of ‘no sauce’ or ‘sauce on the side’…if it still was horrible, don’t eat it, but ask to speak with the manager, who should actually do something to make you happy verses complaining to your server, who would just talk a bunch of shit about you after you leave…
But whatever you do, don’t eat it because they’ll assume you liked it and was just joking around or was one of those people who will eat anything and then complain just to get a free meal…and you wouldn’t want to be like that…
Now that we can’t turn back the clock, just don’t go back or recommend anyone to that place…and if someone suggests going there again, be very vocal with your experience and move on…
-
I love you and I love this site.
Its now a fav of mine.Send it back baby- fuck it riiiggghhhttt back π
we miss you xox
-
I’d never refuse to pay for a meal but I would send it back.
-
I don’t tend to complain, I just don’t go back. But as people have said above – that’s just me, I’m shy and don’t like to cause a fuss.
My sister is swanning around in Panama on a catamaran with some American captain, and she’s about to jump ship, so to speak, because he keeps abusing the staff whenever they eat at restaurants/cafes – nothing is ever good enough for him (though she maintains they haven’t had any truly terrible meals yet … she’s travelled a lot over there and has had BAD meals before).
I think the key would just be returning it back politely and making it clear why you’re doing so. Politely. Very politely.
-
I worked in cafes and bars for years and never saw the kitchen staff do anything bad to food that was sent back. Usually the wait staff are so mortified they will be hurrying them along as well.
π -
It is certainly acceptable to send back food that is inedible, or not what you ordered. For my boyfriend’s birthday, we went out to a really schmicko restaurant, and we each ordered a $30 steak. I ordered mine “very well done” and BF ordered his rare. When the steaks came out, there was no discernable difference between his and mine. My steak was pink and bloody and I nearly gagged at the sight of it. When I complained to the waiter, he took it back and brought me a new meal, but he acted as though it was the hugest effort in the world.
Also, I worked as a waitress for years, and I can honestly say I have never witnessed a member of the kitchen or waitstaff do anything nasty to a person’s dish. As several previous posts have mentioned, the worst a waiter is likely to do is whinge about you behind your back.
-
When I worked in a restaurant, I used to go by the % rule. So, if someone said their food was terrible, but they’d licked their plate, well “it sucks to be you; you ate the whole thing”.
If they drew my attention to it straight away, no worries. We’d rectify.
I’m thinking that you needed food straight away, and asking for a new meal, or your money back so you could go somewhere else was not an option.
I guess chalk it up to experience. And next time you dine there, tell them how you like your Eggs Benedict. π -
Definitely send food back if it’s bad. If you paid for a dress and you found it had a fault in the seam and was coming apart, you’d take it back. Same deal with food. Unless they advertise it as ‘food that is horrible and you won’t want to eat’ then they are obliged to provide edible food.
-
If it had been extremely horrible food, I would have said to the waitress that it was gross and I would have left right away. Your health is more important than the embarrassment you might have felt (although you shouldn’t feel embarrassed)
If the meal was just medeocre (sp) I would have asked for another meal, praying they wouldn’t spit in the next one.
But sometimes, you are starving and you will eat anything lol
-
I have worked in restaurants and people do send food back. If the quality is poor, you should not have to pay for it. That being said, don’t eat most of it before letting the server know…send it back right away. Give the place a chance to correct whatever they did wrong and try again. If it still sucks, the restaurant is off the list and there is no hope. Cut your losses and never go back!
-
NEVER, ask for food to be remade… I have heard way too many horror stories involving people spitting in food, or WORSE, and would not trust them. Chef’s are generally fairly angry people, best not to upset them more!!
The most important thing to remember is don’t take it out on the waitress or waiter, it’s not their fault. (Of course, if it is their fault, be angry at them).Yes, if the meal is terrible, do not eat it and request that you do not pay, and not if you are just a fussy eater either.
-
Send it back and order toast or something that can’t possibly get messed up. Here’s my theory (and as I’m American, it’ll probably sound pretty pompous but keep in mind I don’t do this when I visit anywhere off the mainland). My country was built on hard work and the idea that the customer is king, I return everything that doesn’t meet or exceed my expectations. I have even exchanged an ice cream cone because the flavor I had chosen was not up to my standards. (I must not have been the only one because the next week the odd-tasting flavor was no longer available.) I think having food poisoning twice also has something to do with my being very picky when it comes to food preparation and service.
It is tricky when returning or exchanging food, especially if it’s in a restaurant that you don’t frequent or know well at all. Definitely send it back though. Businesses need to know what they are failing at even if they don’t want to hear it. Toast and bacon are a good option as a replacement order if the benedict is off, or the sauce is a little grey, or the idea of seeing your breakfast again is more certain than not.
As for whether to pay…if you don’t eat it, you shouldn’t pay for it. That’s just logic. It has nothing to do with manners. If you walk into a shop and look at something, hold it in your hand, do you pay for it even if you don’t take it with you? No. If you do eat it…even if it’s horrible, then yes, paying is sort of a requirement.
What to do next? Tell people, blog, tweet, email. Word of mouth can make or break a business. Shout out the name of the restaurant, what was so bad, what needs to change. Keep others from making the same mistake. And the business will hopefully get the hint and hire a new chef.
-
That’s appalling. The eggs, yes, the waitress’s response, yes, but namely the fact that you were in Sydney and didn’t gimme a holla! Sad, sad bek, Naughty Lady Smaggle. Loving everything you write by the way. x
-
I hate complaining so I probably wouldn’t, but dammit you deserve great food (especially when hungover)! π
