Sunday 24 February 2008

What To Complain About In a Restaurant


I think that being a waitress or waiter is a very thankless job and many people tend to treat them as servants rather than a person doing their job.I think that most customer service related jobs always demand patience and understanding and I am always careful not to be to hasty to get angry with staff that wait on me in a restaurant or cafe.There are many things that diners can get angry about and I think if there is a genuine complaint it should be made straight away to the serving staff so they can remedy any misunderstandings as soon as possible..In my opinion there are certain types of things that the waiting staff can control like:

1)If the table staff are rude, the customer has every right to be annoyed and ask for the manager. Someone who does not like dealing with people should avoid job in customer service in every way. The person who is waiting tables is the first person that a diner come into contact with and can have a drastic impact on their dining experience.First impressions do count and they do last for the whole of the meal and possibly longer especially if they decide to write a review.
2)Dirty tables and are also another thing that annoy customers and is definitely justified. Although it is the bus boy's duty to clean the tables and make sure that all the crumbs are swept out of the dining tables it is the server's job to ensure that the table they seat their customers are clean.
3)Service is a really big issue if its not included in the cover charge and nothing can be more irritating to the diner when he or she is being ignored or neglected. It is definitely alright to blame the waitress/waiter when glasses aren't refilled, plates aren't removed, and they don't ask, "Is there anything else."
Now to the real topic of conversation,when its not alright to blame your waitress/waiter and should not determine the tip you will leave behind.
1)When your food isn't cooked the way you wanted it how can you possibly blame your waitress/waiter? Its the cooks fault not the servers and it is very unfair to blame him or her for this problem but it should not stop you from complaining and finding out what the chef is upto. It is the same with drinks that may have been ordered from the bar. Is the server suppose to taste it before she serves it? Blame the bartender and ask for it to be sent back.
2)Don't blame the waitress/waiter when your food isn't served as promptly as you think it should be. If the restaurant is busy they have other tables to wait on and if the cook is not doing their job the server can't get the meal out any faster.
3)And now for the last thing, be realistic. The waitress/waiter can not be blamed for items the restaurant doesn't serve such as salad dressings or vegetables. They should not be blamed for the prices or the portions.
When dining in a restaurant always remember that the waitress/waiter's job is to take your order, serve you your meal, and ensure you have what you need. Don't be rude because they don't have control over every aspect of the restaurant.

4 comments:

Springs1 said...

"1)When your food isn't cooked the way you wanted it how can you possibly blame your waitress/waiter? Its the cooks fault not the servers and it is very unfair to blame him or her."

You can blame them because:
1. They put in the order wrong into the computer, so the food came out wrong such as pressing the medium rare button instead of the medium well button.
2. They brought out the food with the food obviously not cooked properly such as bacon on the side of the plate that you can tell isn't crispy when it was ordered crispy. Steak that is red as can be when the customer ordered it well done. Not only would you see the color difference in that example, but you could also know how LONG the food took to cook if just happen to put the order into the computer not that long before. Fries that were ordred "not overdone, lightly cooked", then the server brings them out as brown as can be instead of yellow. I don't care if the ticket was correct, it's the fact that the server isn't BLIND that they BROUGHT the food out wrong to you is the issue. It's up to the SERVER to NOTICE these type of cooking mistakes that are VERY OBVIOUS to the server's EYES. That's their job to BRING out the food correctly if they bring out the food.

"They should not be blamed for the prices or the portions."

If I was charged the wrong price, that fault is on the server for not noticing it BEFORE the customer did. If I am given the wrong portion that I ordered, that's on the server as well. Such as if I said I wanted 3 sides of ranch, you give me 2 sides of ranch, that's YOUR FAULT, NOT the kitchen staff. If I ordered a "whole order" of an appetizer and you bring me a "HALF-ORDER" that's YOUR FAULT, NOT the kitchen staff's for not noticing it was OBVIOUSLY very wrong.

"It is the same with drinks that may have been ordered from the bar. Is the server suppose to taste it before she serves it? Blame the bartender and ask for it to be sent back."

It depends on if the mistake is a VISABLE one that you DON'T need to "TASTE" it such as if I order "Salt" with my margarita, it should be on the rim of the glass. That is something obvious the server could notice. If I say "no cherry" on a pina colada, if there's one on there, that's YOUR FAULT you didn't tell the bartender he or she made a mistake with making the drink. You don't have to TASTE those mistakes to know those things were wrong. One time I ordered a "white russian" the dumb waitress brings me a "black russian", which this was a CLEAR GLASS, so you could SEE there was NO MILK or CREAM to speak of. It just depends if the mistake is VISABLE or not to the server. If you cannot tell the difference by looking at the drink, how could I blame you unless you told me you put in the order wrong? Putting in the order wrong has happened to me before.

Basically what I am saying is, it's FAIR if the server can CATCH the MISTAKE BEFORE they bring it to the table to say it's their fault for ((BRINGING)) it out wrong. It's up to the SERVER to notice the mistake before the customer gets the mistake if the mistake is something the server doesn't have to touch the food to notice the mistake.

Stephanie Brown said...

Hey check out itrwb.blogspot.com for more musing on serving

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