Restaurant misunderstanding.

oystercatcher

Husband and I went for lunch at a local attraction/garden centre type place which has a small to medium sized restaurant.

I decided I wanted a cheese and tomato panini , which comes with chips and salad, husband went to the till to order. Came back and said they were making it specially for me ...seemed weird but OK...

20 minutes later someone appeared with a bowl of cheese and tomato pasta. I said I had ordered a panini and waitress said oh no you ordered penne. She said she could make me a pannini but would have to charge for the pasta as it had been ordered. After a short debate I decided to eat the pasta as I didn't want to wait another 20 minutes and wasn't sure if they were then going to make me pay for both meals.

Husband says he asked for Panini with chips and salad and someone had said Penne but he didn't know what that was as he never eats pasta due to being allergic to tomatoes, (he knows a panini as he eats them himself!) .... I would never normally order pasta in tomato sauce when I am out as it's so simple and boring, and this was, the tomato sauce tasted like tinned tomato soup. Definitely not worth the £8 they charged me for it, and it didn't even have the salad garnish as advertised on the menu. The panini would have been £5.49, one of the reasons I ordered it was because it was a slightly cheaper option.

Is it right that a resaurant can charge for a more expensive dish when it wasn't what we ordered. I know it's only £2.50 but I am still annoyed about the whole thing now we are home !

whitewing

I think it was probably a genuine mistake rather than gross incompetence.

Maybe just drop the garden centre a short, polite letter to express your disappointment at the mistake and the lack of value of the meal itself because that seems like valid feedback. (If what you had had been nice, I would have said let it go).

halibut2209

Sounds like you are saying that your husband asked for Panini, but they repeated Penne back and your husband said yes, though not sure what it was.

In that case, the restaurant acted in good faith, and I'd be asking your husband to take you out for another meal but make sure you do the ordering!

jacques_chirac

oystercatcher wrote: »

Husband says he asked for Panini with chips and salad and someone had said Penne

What did he reply when someone (the cashier?) said penne?

spacey2012

You can reject it up to the point you actually eat it.
So I would have sent it back and left.

mo786uk

spacey2012 wrote: »

You can reject it up to the point you actually eat it.
So I would have sent it back and left.

Agree, you lost all 'power' the second you accepted it.

It also sounds like your husband may be at fault somewhat.

OlliesDad

spacey2012 wrote: »

You can reject it up to the point you actually eat it.
So I would have sent it back and left.

Really?? So if I ordered everything from a menu and then rejected it all when it came out I would be entitled to a full refund? The restaurant couldn't even claim the expense incurred by them due to my actions?

I doubt this is right.

thecaveman

spacey2012 wrote: »

You can reject it up to the point you actually eat it.
So I would have sent it back and left.

Legally, you are actually allowed to consume the product up until entirety and then still demand a full refund and they would have to honour it, although you would probably have an argument on your hands as it is often overlooked.

OlliesDad

thecaveman wrote: »

Legally, you are actually allowed to consume the product up until entirety and then still demand a full refund and they would have to honour it, although you would probably have an argument on your hands as it is often overlooked.

Which law is that?

oystercatcher

jacques_chirac wrote: »

What did he reply when someone (the cashier?) said penne?

He says the staff were argueing about which shifts to work, broke off and someone said " it's Penne " and he said "I thought it was Panini"

I think it was a genuine misunderstanding but I thought most restaurants would take it back and give you what you were expecting, they said I had to pay for the penne so I thought I may as well eat it if I was having to pay.

I wasn't in a fit state to order or argue when it arrived as I was recovering from a major vertigo attack. Husband had had to read the menu to me in the first place.

I think a polite letter may be in order. We won't be returning there for sure.....

Tiddlywinks

Oh for goodness sake...

Your OH should have corrected the 'penne' comment from the cashier and said 'Panini' - would that have been so hard to do?

Face it, your OH didn't know the difference between a Panini and a penne - plus what he paid was more than the menu price for a Panini... how is that the restaurant's error?

If you want to look like a couple of hicks who don't know the difference between a pasta and a bread roll then go ahead... I'm sure the restaurant will be only to willing to point out who was at fault!