Is it OK to complain?

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dobbiesloan
dobbiesloan Posts: 2,211 Forumite
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Is it OK to complain about a free meal?
A group for us went on a freebie, rather than complain on the night and cause a scene I emailed restaurant next day.
Some of my colleges got upset about this claiming "it was free and I have embarrassed them"
Was I right to complain?
GONE ENGLAND
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  • marliepanda
    marliepanda Posts: 7,186 Forumite
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    It depends, in my opinion.

    Why was it free? Why did you complain? What exactly did your complaint say?

    For example: if it was free because it was their opening promotional night and you complained service was slow or the waitresses mixed up your drinks orders, then I'd say complaining was unreasonable. If you complained because the food was raw, then maybe not so much.

    It really depends. It being free doesn't remove your right to complain but it would perhaps change how I'd complain and change/remove my issues I felt I needed to complain about...
  • dobbiesloan
    dobbiesloan Posts: 2,211 Forumite
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    Standard of the food, not as described in menu.
    GONE ENGLAND
  • marliepanda
    marliepanda Posts: 7,186 Forumite
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    Answering one of my three questions isn't going to help me give you an answer.
  • NineDeuce
    NineDeuce Posts: 997 Forumite
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    No. You should be ashamed of yourself.
  • DCFC79
    DCFC79 Posts: 40,598 Forumite
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    dobbiesloan wrote: »
    Is it OK to complain about a free meal?
    A group for us went on a freebie, rather than complain on the night and cause a scene I emailed restaurant next day.
    Some of my colleges got upset about this claiming "it was free and I have embarrassed them"
    Was I right to complain?

    How have you embarrsed them ?

    Is it a regular place your colleagues go to for a meal ?

    Based on the info provided I wouldn't have complained about a free meal.
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
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    Depends on WHY it was free ... if it was in compensation for a prior poor experience then a complaint would be justified - the venue would have yet again let down the customer.
  • neilmcl
    neilmcl Posts: 19,460 Forumite
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    OP, you really need to explain in more detail what this night was all about.
  • takman
    takman Posts: 3,876 Forumite
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    Depending on why the food was free you could give feedback about the meal instead of making it a complaint.

    Any decent restaurant would welcome friendly feedback explaining that you thought the food was not at the required standard and why. If you word it in a way that doesn't suggest you want any kind of compensation and you just wanted to inform them of your experience it shouldn't cause any bad feelings or embarrassment for anyone.

    But like others have said we don't have enough information to determine which approach is most suitable.
  • seashore22
    seashore22 Posts: 1,443 Forumite
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    edited 20 September 2017 at 12:47PM
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    dobbiesloan wrote: »
    Standard of the food, not as described in menu.

    What does that even mean?

    We eat out a fair bit and it's almost impossible to tell the quality of the meal by reading the description.

    Also drip feeding answers is a bit frustrating to anyone inclined to help you.

    Edit - Looking at the op's other posts, I assume they want another freebie. Don't know why I bother sometimes.
  • peter_the_piper
    peter_the_piper Posts: 30,268 Forumite
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    Email to company should be ok, it'll help them make sure they don't do it again. If someone does not say they are not to know that an error was made. Immaterial whether paid for or free.
    I'd rather be an Optimist and be proved wrong than a Pessimist and be proved right.
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