how do you deal with terrible service at a restaurant
By waqasrabbani
@waqasrabbani (24)
Pakistan
August 1, 2012 12:48am CST
i went to this one restaurant near my office with some friends of mine at lunch time, we ordered chicken steak, and pasta
the menu said dishes would be prepared in half an hour, so we also ordered a starter of soup because it said in the menu that soup is available in 10 minutes.
well it took at least half an hour for the soup to come, and then it was the wrong one, but we were so hungry that we could not say no.
then came the steaks, but they were beef instead of chicken, and 2 of the steaks felt like they were still raw and uncooked and one of the dishes was totally cold,
i was so embarrassed in front of my friends because i had recommended the place to them. i was not able to look them in the eye all through lunch, i paid for it all, and i didnt give them tip, and before going i said to the manager that the food and service totally sucked. and wrote a very negative comment card.
i never went back to that restaurant again.
what would you have done if you were in my place..
10 responses
@waqasrabbani (24)
• Pakistan
1 Aug 12
thanks for the welcome really appreciate it, looks like you've been here a while... how has your experience been..
for me so far it's been awesome.. i really like talking and typing and there are just so many thoughts in my head, it's awesome that i finally have a platform to get them all out.
1 person likes this
@sishy7 (27169)
• Australia
1 Aug 12
Seems that you are starting off pretty well. If you have not done so, please familiarize yourself with the Guidelines and FAQs. They will help you to enjoy the most of this site.
I enjoy being here, to the point of being addicted at times... 
We better go back to this discussion's topic or risk being deleted for irrelevant post. Is the restaurant just newly operated or has it been serving people for a while? It sure sounds like a terrible service that they provide to customers.@waqasrabbani (24)
• Pakistan
1 Aug 12
the restaurants been open for a very long time, i think it's one of the oldest in the area, and so many people give it such awesome reviews, but last time a friend of mine went there they had the same problem.
i think i heard somewhere that they had gone through a management shift. so it could be the reason that the quality is not that good anymore..
perhaps their chef left or something and the quality manager. i guess that should be the logical reason.
i really felt like i should have acted out a bit more.
i remember seeing this picture where this guy actually uses the ketchup bottle to write "YOUR SERVICE SUCKS, WE WAITED 30 MINUTES FOR A PLATE OF FRIEs" in huge block letters right on the white tablecloth.
trust me all through my mean i was mentally destroying their tablecloth in a million different ways.. it was pure torture.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
1 Aug 12
In your situation I would probably have done the same thing. I would express my opinion about the low quality of the food and the service and I wouldn't leave a tip. In the future I would avoid that restaurant. I would probably joke about the fact that I recommended the place and promise my friends to recommend better places in the future 
My husband and once experienced the same situation. We were having lunch with some friends and my husband recommended a restaurant in the town where he used to live. We got to the restaurant and ordered some food. We waited a long time for our food and when we finally received the food one of the steaks was was overcooked and one of the steaks was cold. Our friends joked about it and teased my husband because he had recommened the place. I am sure that he is never going to recommend that place again!
My husband and once experienced the same situation. We were having lunch with some friends and my husband recommended a restaurant in the town where he used to live. We got to the restaurant and ordered some food. We waited a long time for our food and when we finally received the food one of the steaks was was overcooked and one of the steaks was cold. Our friends joked about it and teased my husband because he had recommened the place. I am sure that he is never going to recommend that place again!
@Shellyann36 (11385)
• United States
15 Aug 12
I would not have eaten the food. I would have sent it back and not paid then I would have stopped at McDonalds on the way back to the office. Uncooked chicken is dangerous for certain. They would be really lucky if I did not call the health department on them and have them inspected!
@francis920176 (84)
• Philippines
1 Aug 12
sorry to hear about your tragic story. i can relate to this situation as i my self served my friends with a pasta that one of my friend said "is this new? soap flavor?"
probably i will do the same if i'm in your situation. and that is very discrete because if have my wife with me, its a doomsday for that shop. she can throw a word like "don't fool me!", "you are lying to me" etc.
if you felt that you haven't avenge yet, you can call their shop and look for the manager. if that is a franchise, they are in big trouble. good luck!
@paulli3 (312)
• China
2 Aug 12
what a terrible lunch! i may get angry when i meet this kind of service. i won't give tip to them and i will tell my advice to there manager, i will tell the manager that i won't go there again and i'm very unsatisfied with this meal and the terrible service and never come there again. what you did is good.
@jackyang (55)
• China
13 Jan 13
you are a very kind man, I won't have patience to deal with this terrible service, I will never pay full money to the restaurant if they give me the wrong food, they must give me some discount if I accept wron food, and if they reject my discount request, I will leave restaurant and say to them : I will never come to here, hope your restaurant will be closed tomorrow!
@bjc66bjc (6730)
• United States
1 Aug 12
Hi waqasrabbani...It seems as tho you handled it quite well...
much better than I think I would have..I would have called the
manager over to the table with the very first error..
I don;t think any business wants negative feedback because it
does spread much quicker than the good feedback..So I would have
hoped the manager would have stepped in with not only apologies
but possibly a discount for your inconveiences...
@deazil (4723)
• United States
1 Aug 12
The same thing happened to me. My manager worked at a site about 1 1/2 hours away. The other person I worked with had transferred to my site and lived the same distance away as our boss. One day the boss came out to visit and he said he would take us to lunch. I was the only one who lived here so they relied on me to pick a place. I knew a great restaurant that I really liked. Great food, good service. What I didn't know was they had changed ownership and had new chef and staff. I raved about the place so they were expecting a really good meal. Yeah, it was bad. Overdone steaks, cold vegetables, lousy service. I was so embarrassed. All I could say was I don't know what happened. They USED to be really good. Very humiliating. I know how you feel. I would have done what you did. In my case the boss was paying. He didn't leave a tip. And welcome to mylot. I am a newbie too.
@redouano (17)
• Algeria
1 Aug 12
I would probably leave the restaurant in the first 30 minutes, enlese if the wiater was polite and tried to catch us till the dishes are ready. sometiems we can understand maybe no workers or something eles, but they should'nt put in the menu the preparing time.
@debbygirl (213)
• Philippines
1 Aug 12
wow that's really annoying if that happens to me.
Well, if that will happen to me, i will do the same. I think i will talk to them or to the manager and say my complains. It's hard just to leave without letting them know what kind of service they gave. It's for their own good.
You know, don't mess with the hungry once or else... :)
