Would you eat unappealing food, just because you paid for it?
By ZenDove
@ZenDove (698)
United States
March 11, 2007 3:11am CST
My husband bought home some Chinese take-out last night. He walked in the door fussing about the price of it all. We had chicken egg foo yung, shrimp fried rice, sweet&sour chicken, crab ragoon and egg rolls. It was all gross. It was greasy, bland, the shrimp were not deveined and the chicken was over fried. The ragoon was soggy and the egg rolls were virtually all tough cabbage. Yuck! He kept trying to choke some of this "food" down, claiming it was such a waste of money. I gagged down a few forkfuls and wouldn't eat any more - I didn't care what it cost, I'd rather not eat! Finally, it was too bad even for him. He was really p.o.'ed. I tried to take it in stride and say that it's a risk you take with a restaurant you haven't tried before. He said that I was spoiled. I didn't have to care about the money because he is the one who works and that I didn't have to be grateful because I'm not one of the starving poor. We actually argued about this disgusting food! Okay, mylotters, what would you do if you'd paid good money for take out and it was just too gross to eat? Eat it anyway or take the loss and learn the lesson?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@shmeedia (1044)
• Canada
12 Mar 07
it sucks to waste food but if it's really too gross to digest, you gotta toss it :)
i would have called the restaurant to complain over the phone. not so much to get a refund but to just tell them i was an unhappy customer. they may have even given a credit or your money back in such a case if they were decent people.
if the shrimps were not deveined, and some of the stuff was bland or greasy, i would have kept it to toss into a home-made dish, like maybe a stir-fry (and devein the shrimp). adding your own seasoning would solve the blandness problem. and the grease would just help your stir fry along, without adding pan coat or cooking oil/butter.
sometimes i do end up improving the taste of crummy food in this way :)
@shmeedia (1044)
• Canada
15 Mar 07
fair enough! that's understandable. i guess in your place, i would have stepped out for a quick fix just to not be hungry. and i would have used the nasty leftovers to create a new feast when you were up to cooking (say, the next day or whenever).
@bicklelady (1404)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Gross! That would make me so mad. I figure your husband works hard for his money so if that was me, I would gather the food back up and take it right back to where I bought it. I would ask for the manager and politely ask for a refund. I use to own a little book store that sold ice cream, hot dogs and subs along with drinks. When some one was not satisfied with my restaurants service, I would refund the money. I had one man come in and order about 6 hotdogs. He came back with 2 hotdogs left. He said they was not good. I asked him where the other 4 hotdogs was? He said that he had eat the other 4. Well I figured it took him 4 hotdogs to relize that he did not like my hotdogs? Or was he just full? I refunded him the money for the 2 hotdogs that he brought back and give him a coupon for a free scoop of icecream. Most restaurants want your service again. They do not want you to bad mouth there restaurant. So they will usually do everything they can to satisfy you. That is just what I would have done.
2 people like this
@ZenDove (698)
• United States
14 Mar 07
Well, like I said, we were being lazy that night which was why I ordered out to begin with. So, to get in the car and take the food back just wasn't going to happen that night. You, and shmeedia, are right though, I should have complained to the management. I once wrote restaurant reviews for a radio station and for a magazine. Most managers do care about customer satisfaction. I will admit that the 2 times that I complained at a Chinese restaurant, they preferred to argue with me rather than resolve the situation. I don't want to argue over food that I have paid my money for. Funny story about the guy and the hotdogs, makes me think of something that happened to me that might make a good discussion! Thanks!
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
11 Mar 07
my son would not eat it and I say that is his choice. I am like your husband and will eat it because I hate wasting food but if comes to a point I gag on it I won't eat it either. We feed it to our cats if they want to eat it at that point. But we don't argue, I would never dream of forcing someone to eat bad food, but as long as it is eatable, meaning hadn't gone rotten or something like that, I will eat it, or at least try to.
2 people like this
@ZenDove (698)
• United States
11 Mar 07
Sure, I don't think anyone likes to waste food or money. But even though the food was not spoiled or rotten, it was flat out ill-prepared and nasty. Once, I cooked some chicken that was so "unsuccessful" even my mother's cats turned away from it. My brother's dog sniffed it and walked away! lol Even animals can be picky!
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
11 Mar 07
If it was that gross I would not eat it just because I spent money on it. I would throw it out and if I had nothing else to prepare I would make a peanut butter sandwich.
2 people like this
@SilPhil (267)
• Australia
11 Mar 07
I'm really fussy, and there's no way I would eat it!!
Depending on the circumstances though, I would complain. If everything was bad, I would go back and complain. However, if its just a few things I would phone up and see what they are prepared to do about it.
Having worked in fast food, I know that most places will offer free food or meal vouchers to keep a customer. Although if the food is that bad, I guess a meal voucher wouldn't be too useful.
2 people like this
@ZenDove (698)
• United States
11 Mar 07
Hah! No, I wouldn't accept a meal voucher from them and would have laughed if they had offered it. Meal vouchers work best if there is a complaint with service. If the food is nasty, I would hope for at least a partial refund. I wouldn't demand a full refund because at least they tried, right? Hey, the cook could have just been having an off nite - of course, he won't get the chance to experiment on ME again!
@himanshugpt (74)
• India
11 Mar 07
na the first thing is taste .... n if it is unappealing who is goin to bother money losss for it.. let it go.. ur health is more imp then money,,,, as u can always earn more//
2 people like this
@ZenDove (698)
• United States
11 Mar 07
Haha! I can just imagine my husband's face if I ever said to him Hey, don't worry about money - you can always make more! He'd go through the roof. I understand your point about priorities (health over money) and I agree with you. Thanks for responding.
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Well depending on if the food was gross as far as my tastes go or gross as far as "bad" food. If it was gross tasting & was food I liked normally I'd take the loss. Now if it was due to bad cooking/preperation I'd be driving back requestiong my cash back. I am a fussy eater and don't eat too much foriegn dishes. When I do I prefer to go to the varied buffets around as I can try a little tad then decide my tastes and wants. Thanks for a great discussion also.
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