PrintWhat Would YOU Do?
Recently 10 of us went out to an upscale restaurant to celebrate my birthday. One of my friends informed the manager that he would like to have a slice of cake with a candle on it presented to me for desert. You know, the whole embarassing "Happy Birthday" to do. When the slice of cake came (which was supposed to have been complimentary) it was inedible. I later found out that it was something the chef had "experimented with" which he had no intention of serving. (A horrible cinnamon & chocolate concoction). When the bill arrived we had been charged $9.00 for the slice of cake. I asked our server about it and he said it was their practice to charge for the dessert in situations like this. Fine. However I mentioned to the manager that if we were going to pay for the cake I should have had a choice of what I wanted. The manager looked straight at me and said, "You're just trying to get something for free!" I was so taken aback that I paid the check myself and swore never to return. I don't have any recourse....do I?
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18 Comments:
Since the manager would not remove the charge, what you can (and should do) is make your unhappiness known to all of your friends and acquaintances. Hit 'em where it hurts, the wallet.
gb944 at 10:23AM on 04/01/08
I would write the owner of the establishment a letter and explain the whole situation. If the manager that you mentioned is also the owner, I'd write a letter anyway. This will give them a chance to make right. Perhaps they would offer you a complimentary meal, or complimentary dessert.
If you get no response or a response similar to what you got in person, I would find all the widely-viewed websites where local restaurants can be reviewed (starting with Yahoo's and AOL's local review sites) and give an honest review of your experiences. Explain what happened with well-considered comments and if the food was good, say that, too. And as gb944 said, word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to get your point across.
You definitely should have had your choice of desserts. Even if the cake had been "on the house," it was poor judgment on the restaurant's part to serve up an experiment gone awry.
MelsDiner at 11:13AM on 04/01/08
Agreed. Tell all your friends. Spread the word far and wide. Use city blogs and restaurant review websites. Keep to the facts, don't name-call.
Is the manager also the owner? If not, talk to the owner.
In any dealings with the restaurant be polite and don't lose your cool. You don't want to give them reason to label you as "difficult" and politeness goes far.
If the chef had no intention of serving it he shouldn't have and the waiter's attitude was inexcusable. I can almost forgive the $9 charge if it weren't for the other negative things.
CanadianFoodieGirl at 11:17AM on 04/01/08
I'd moon 'em, Richard.
Karen Resta at 12:00PM on 04/01/08
Too funny, Karen! You're quick with the wit!
hatlady at 1:07PM on 04/01/08
I've written everywhere I could think of about a local place where I had a nasty experience - AOL, Yahoo, Chowhound, etc. Each one of my comments, which was factually written, was taken down.
[I stated that I didn't get the dish I ordered (I could hear the cook yell at the server and tell her he refused to make the dish I ordered because he was sick of requests and what he made was perfectly fine), my husband got live insects in his dish, and we were yelled at from cross the restaurant to pay for the entire meal that we did not touch.]
It really is the only way that I can think of to spread the word, so I hope that works for you...
Cassaendra at 1:50PM on 04/01/08
"When the slice of cake came (which was supposed to have been complimentary) it was inedible."
@RichardCrystal: What kind of verbal or written representations did the restaurant make to communicate that the cake was free? Any advice I could give depends on your answer . . . .
Susquehanna at 2:02PM on 04/01/08
The waiter to whom my friend spoke when we first came in told him that there would be no charge for a slice of cake as this was their custom. Perhaps the waiter spoke out of turn??
RichardCrystal at 3:32PM on 04/01/08
Oh my thank all the Gods my mom was not there she would have really done a job on that manager.
rabbitriddle at 4:00PM on 04/01/08
I don't have any recourse....do I?
@RichardCrystal: This situation certainly smells bad.
Just so I'm clear, though, did you want "recourse" as in a small claims court judgement? Or "recourse" as in ideas to put in a nasty letter to the manager or in an online restaurant review?
Sadly, if you were indeed curious about the small claims route, the claim filing fees may be more than the nine dollars in cake cost restitution you seek.
Basically, you've recieved some fine advice in the commentary above, particularly by MelsDiner and Cassaendra. Talk to the owner to exhaust the nine dollar refund possibility . . . and if the owner doesn't cave, go ahead and give the restaurant a bad online review. As someone else mentioned, a candid bad review would keep patrons away and that could cost 'em a lot more than nine dollars.
Susquehanna at 4:29PM on 04/01/08
@Karen - Thanks for the laugh today!
@Richard - Did the quality of your dinner leave you with a desire to return if you had not been treated so poorly by the manager? If so, I would try to contact the owner as MelsDiner suggested and hopefully for starters, receive an apology for the inappropriate treatment. You should also receive a complimentary dessert for your next visit. If you feel strongly about not returning, blast them on all the review sites! It will get their attention.
I posted a complimentary review on a local restaurant (on CH) and I actually received a call from the GM thanking me. He could tell from what I had ordered and the review which reservation we were. He also asked me to introduce myself next time we go because he would like to offer a glass of wine and an appetizer on the house. Needless to say, I was surprised.
crazyspice at 5:51PM on 04/01/08
I'd just forget about it.
srhcb at 6:18PM on 04/01/08
I paid the check myself and swore never to return. I don't have any recourse....do I?
I think you just had it - and you need to spread it around even more. You need to make sure EVERYONE KNOWS that this happened. Speak with your wallet - and a bullhorn - and you may never see your $9 again but you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you made an impact.
Review the restaurant on different sites. Be honest. Be truthful. Do not embellish or make things worse than they actually were. As a matter of fact, the story as told in your original post would be damaging enough. And the fact that you had so many witnesses to corroborate the facts makes it all the better. Think about it... ten people (with wallets!) saw this happen. If they told ten friends... My math, sheesa no so very good but I think you get the idea.
chiff0nade at 6:32PM on 04/01/08
@Karen...LOLOLOL.
chiff0nade at 6:33PM on 04/01/08
So off topic, but does the title of this thread make anyone else think of Team America (Freedom Isn't Free)?
renzata at 6:48PM on 04/01/08
If the manager had been smart, he would have taken it off the bill, regardless of policy, especially since you didn't like the cake. If there were 10 people at the table, he has alienated a minimum of 10 returning customers. Add to that the number of people those will tell of their experience (even at 5 each, that's 60 lost customers, more were they not dining alone). I'm guessing the lost revenues from the poor recommendations from your party was more than the $9 he would have lost by comping the cake.
beth1 at 1:14AM on 04/02/08
If I get bad service, I'm a big fan of writing to the owner/manager/corporation, and I've got to say that most places will respond with apologies and sometimes coupons or freebies of some sort. The way I figure, they don't know about employee problems unless people tell them, and unless you've actually contacted the owner, you don't really know if they care about fixing the problem or not. It's worth giving them a chance to make things right.
Once, I had an issue with a chain Italian place, and I wrote to the corporate office. It was over some sort of lunch snafu, and an attitude problem. It was one lunch that was messed up, but it was the attitude that made me write to them. The corp office sent me coupons worth maybe $25 and they forwarded my email to the store. The manager there apologized profusely and sent a gift certificate for free lunch for a party of 10. Obviously, they were interested in making things right.
dbcurrie at 2:04AM on 04/02/08
I'm appalled that the chef would serve an experimental dish.
It sounds like the server was clueless and should have clarified the policy before telling you the dessert was free. I hope you pointed out that even if that wasn't the policy, the fact that you didn't care for the dessert should have had some effect on the manager's decision. I can only assume you weren't the first person to voice his/her displeasure that evening and you were, unfortunately, the recipient of the manager's angst.
Bottom line: don't go back. Tell your friends about the experience and contact the owner, providing he/she isn't the a-hole manager you dealt with that night. My dollars will make a louder noise than my vocal chords, so when someone does me wrong I just don't return unless I hear things have drastically changed. Best of luck to you- I do hope you get some kind of revenge....I mean recourse.
AuntJone at 1:56PM on 04/07/08