Restaurant etiquette - Portion size/When do you complain?

PurpleElmo

I just wanted to add in response to Viper_7's comment. DO NOT just walk out of a restaurant. if you've not complained specifically about the food or the portion size to the manager and just walk out saying nothing, the waiter/waitress will be left to pay the bill and trust me the credit crunch is affecting us too and we can't afford to pay for your dinner!

In terms of portion sizes, this is not something I have noticed recently however I also plan where I'll meet people for lunch depending on what vouchers are available on this website!

Fuchsia_a

PurpleElmo wrote: »

I just wanted to add in response to Viper_7's comment. DO NOT just walk out of a restaurant. if you've not complained specifically about the food or the portion size to the manager and just walk out saying nothing, the waiter/waitress will be left to pay the bill and trust me the credit crunch is affecting us too and we can't afford to pay for your dinner!

Wouldn't that count as an unlawful deduction from wages?

chnelomi

good to know it's not just me that has noticed the declining sizes. OH says i imagine it cos i'm a gannet lol.

We went to a local pub for a late lunch one day a couple of weeks back and i was so mad as i could have made a better meal for 20 for less than the price for 4.
DD is 11 and has my appitite and we nearly always get her adult portions but this trip she wanted steak and the adults portions would usually on the old portion sizes have been to much so i got the adults portion she got the kids.

When the order came out the waitress stood behind our table and the OH remarked she looked confused when she eventually put the food on the table i understood. we couldn't see any difference between the potions despite one being adult at £5 more she couldn't get away fast enough.

When i went to complain to the manager he wasn't interested kept going on that the kids portions were value for money so i pointed out that the adults is a rip off then(not in those words but). What really got me was that he was not interested in discussing it giving us the old sorry cannot refund for food etc as they charge for food before you get it. I would have been happy with a dessert for the kids or a round of drinks.

So His attitude has cost him our custom as well as my mums who was in their a couple of times a week with her friends. And we have noticed since then that it has been really quiet you used to need to reserve a table after 4 as they were so busy and used to be value for money now when we pass half the tables are empty and they have just added 2 for 1 meals to the menu. desperation i think.

PurpleElmo

Fuchsia_a wrote: »

Wouldn't that count as an unlawful deduction from wages?

It is not taken from our wages but out of our tips. And unfortunately the only solution would be to withhold the money from our employers but that would lead to us being told not to come back ( most restaurants do not use contracts and if they do they have very clever clauses!)
Restaurants can get away with it because it is so easy to replace a waiter/waitress! However it is not so easy for us to get another job in this current climate!

As for the manager refusing to refund the steaks because they had already been paid for. That is the most ridiculous excuse I have ever heard. If a customer has a legitimate complaint about the food, they should be offered both another meal or a refund. It doesn't matter when it was paid for. Most thing are paid for before you use them. This is why consumer rights allow you to get refunds and exchanges!

chnelomi

PurpleElmo wrote: »

As for the manager refusing to refund the steaks because they had already been paid for. That is the most ridiculous excuse I have ever heard. If a customer has a legitimate complaint about the food, they should be offered both another meal or a refund.

That is what really got me i have worked in restaurants for years(hated every day lol) but when we had a customer complaint the minimum we would do was a round of drinks for the table. Would bend over backwards to please but now even despite the financial market most places don't care. Once they have your money they don't care and neglect the fact they need returning customers to sustain profits and good word of mouth for that matter.

I think allot of these managers need educated on how hospitality works you cannot expect someone to return to your premises when they know/think they are being cheated and you do nothing to appease them. I do not mean make them selves bankrupt but common curtsy would have sorted the problem. instead all i could think of was what if i had a serious complaint ie cleanliness and that is who i would need to address about a serious complaint.

rcherryuk

Primrose wrote: »

our local Chinese who offer the usual Eat As Much as you Like for £xxx

Umm, If it's an Eat as Much as you Like deal it's good that the portions are small isn't it?

You can order again & again and the restaurant keeps it's wastage low,hence keeping it's costs low,hence (hopefully) reasonable quality ingredients.

Just my 2c

Rob

MrSmartprice

steveo3002 wrote: »

ive had a couple of lousey pub meals in the past few weeks , was also tempted to complain but didnt bother ...i simply wont return

funny how theyre prepared to send you away unimpressed over a few potatoes and a bit of veg that would fill the plate out for a few more pence

That's right! The cost of providing a meal with a decent portion cannot be much more than a measly portion. Most of the raw ingredients cost a small percentage of the price of the meal.

There is no excuse for a mean portion in a restaurant. A ruined meal or a problem with service can sometimes happen, but piddly portions are not worthy of a second chance to a restaurant.

Primrose

I don't know how other people think, but I feel somewhat embarrased at having to ask for a second helping. It somehow feels 'greedy'. I would much prefer to have a reasonable sized portion at the first go and then not go back for any more. At a restaurant recently our host had to ask for two additional top-ups because the servings were so small, and that left me feeling very uncomfortable about our eating habits. Causing customers to feel like that is not a good way of encouraging them back. If we go back there - it is one that we like to visit - I might take the owner quietly aside and tell him how that experience made me feel and see if he takes it on board.

iBag

A couple of days I was in an Italian restaurant with the family. They all had pizzas but I ordered a risotto. The pizzas at £7 or £8 were a decent size, but my risotto, at £10, was absolutely tiny. It is no exaggeration to say that it was about the size one would expect as a starter. The risotto was very tasty, but I left the restaurant feeling hungry and ripped off. Obviously I won't eat there again, but I am interested in the legalities of this situation.

If the risotto had been poorly cooked, or if it was lacking some advertised ingredient then there is no doubt that I could complain and, ultimately, refuse to pay. But can one do that in respect of portion size? It is a rather odd situation: you generally order food in a restaurant at a set price without knowing how much you are going to get. You would never do that in a supermarket.

The basic question, I think, is to do with when a contract is created. It is tempting to say that placing the order creates the contract, and hence the customer's obligation to pay. But that cannot be right as the example of refusing poorly cooked food shows.

So does the contract exist once the restaurant has offered you your food and you have accepted it (subject to tasting)? Would I have been within my legal rights to say, when the risotto was offered, that I didn't want to proceed with the purchase as the portion was too small for the money?

Are there any legal experts out there who can answer this one?

bengal-stripe

Primrose wrote: »

.......and our local Chinese who offer the usual Eat As Much as you Like for £xxx) the portions have been miniscule.

How can the portions be miniscule at an “Eat-as-much-as-you-like”-deal??? - The mind boggles!

Just eat more portions!!!