Restaurant refund??

seashore22

The op didn't say that they hadn't eaten the food. If you eat the food you pay for it. What you don't pay for are the extras, like tipping.

If you complain before the meal is eaten most restaurants will throw in a free pudding or take something off of the bill.

In any case the op hasn't provided even a minimum amount of information for anyone to really judge what the restaurant should have done in this case.

Edit. Apologies for sounding so snippy. The news and election is making me a bit grumpy in my posts the last couple of days. All I meant was that it must be a rare situation in which you have eaten a meal, paid for it and then had to ask for a refund. For the most part it never needs to get that far. More info from the op would have been useful and they would have received more helpful replies. Hopefully.

societys_child

Will the op be back to answer the questions?

Maybe, maybe not. They didn't in their other thread . .

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/68567207#Comment_68567207

arcon5

seashore22 wrote: »

The op didn't say that they hadn't eaten the food. If you eat the food you pay for it. What you don't pay for are the extras, like tipping.

If you complain before the meal is eaten most restaurants will throw in a free pudding or take something off of the bill.

In any case the op hasn't provided even a minimum amount of information for anyone to really judge what the restaurant should have done in this case.

Edit. Apologies for sounding so snippy. The news and election is making me a bit grumpy in my posts the last couple of days. All I meant was that it must be a rare situation in which you have eaten a meal, paid for it and then had to ask for a refund. For the most part it never needs to get that far. More info from the op would have been useful and they would have received more helpful replies. Hopefully.

No op hasn't provided enough information. Hence why saying she shouldn't get a refund is premature!!!! A blanket no simply because it's a restaurant is insane

Dragonfly1

Reminds of my recent experience!

We stayed elsewhere in the U.K. for a few days and visited a Brewers Fayre.

As normal for the resturant, we paid in advance at Brewers Fayre with either a 20% or 25% discount on all food and drink as we had the employee discount thanks to a family member who was at the dinner table with us whom is assistant manager at another branch of Brewers Fayre.

All going well until the food came, and then I wanted the Earth to swallow me up The family member knew, of course, exactly how food should be prepared and the standard of food to be expected - because they work in the same chain with the same food delivery company.

Firstly, the jacket potato was covered in mud. As per company policy, jacket potatoes come in non-washed and then must be washed on arrival at the restaurant. Instead, it was a very small jacket potato (company policy states 2 should be served if below a certain size - only 1 was served) and the skin was covered in mud... So that went back without being touched - and they were then put off the food so didn't want it re-made etc, just refunded.

Then the steak was incredibly tough and also had to go back.

Cue the manager of the Brewers Fayre being told that their restaurant is a disgrace to the name of Brewers Fayre and how it is far below company standards, and damages the brand, and therefore damages the Brewers Fayre back home. We all got offered complimentary drinks, and they told her how would that fix the problem !? She said how much money off do you want, and he said how much do you think it should be, considering I'm in a right mind to take this to head office internally.

End result, the 2 meals of the 7 were sent back uneaten and £50 off the bill, that had already got the 25% employee discount applied. After everything, probably paid £30 but it was a horrible experience as a group - probably most so because 2 people went hungry as nobody dared touch desserts after the main course disasters.

I do think the family member was right to complain - and our family member was embarrassed that they recommended the place to eat and it didn't meet anywhere near their own restaurant standards.

On the other hand... It wasn't the most comfortable few minutes whilst they argued company policy, how they had been too lazy to wash the jackets, how can you ruin a steak that is from the same delivery company as us etc etc!

macman

I try to avoid any catering establishment that offers 'fayre' on principle.

daytona0

Dragonfly1 wrote: »

Reminds of my recent experience!

We stayed elsewhere in the U.K. for a few days and visited a Brewers Fayre.

As normal for the resturant, we paid in advance at Brewers Fayre with either a 20% or 25% discount on all food and drink as we had the employee discount thanks to a family member who was at the dinner table with us whom is assistant manager at another branch of Brewers Fayre.

All going well until the food came, and then I wanted the Earth to swallow me up The family member knew, of course, exactly how food should be prepared and the standard of food to be expected - because they work in the same chain with the same food delivery company.

Firstly, the jacket potato was covered in mud. As per company policy, jacket potatoes come in non-washed and then must be washed on arrival at the restaurant. Instead, it was a very small jacket potato (company policy states 2 should be served if below a certain size - only 1 was served) and the skin was covered in mud... So that went back without being touched - and they were then put off the food so didn't want it re-made etc, just refunded.

Then the steak was incredibly tough and also had to go back.

Cue the manager of the Brewers Fayre being told that their restaurant is a disgrace to the name of Brewers Fayre and how it is far below company standards, and damages the brand, and therefore damages the Brewers Fayre back home. We all got offered complimentary drinks, and they told her how would that fix the problem !? She said how much money off do you want, and he said how much do you think it should be, considering I'm in a right mind to take this to head office internally.

End result, the 2 meals of the 7 were sent back uneaten and £50 off the bill, that had already got the 25% employee discount applied. After everything, probably paid £30 but it was a horrible experience as a group - probably most so because 2 people went hungry as nobody dared touch desserts after the main course disasters.

I do think the family member was right to complain - and our family member was embarrassed that they recommended the place to eat and it didn't meet anywhere near their own restaurant standards.

On the other hand... It wasn't the most comfortable few minutes whilst they argued company policy, how they had been too lazy to wash the jackets, how can you ruin a steak that is from the same delivery company as us etc etc!

The experience for the group was probably bad because your "friend" went full crank on the employees instead of just sending the meal back and having it replaced! That's what most normal people do in that situation, not start having a pop at the staff! A bit of mud?! Where do you think that potatoes come from? :rotfl: Fair enough it will need a scrub, but don't be so squirmish! Just have it taken back and washed.

People make mistakes. Cope with it!

Sounds like you got 25% off, plus £50 off and then maybe some complimentary drinks?! Talk about a cheap night out! No doubt the manager of the restaurant felt intimidated by your friend who no doubt made it clear that they were "assistant manager" of another store and no doubt it was suggested that head office were going to be involved...

Certainly not something that the average punter could pull off if there was some mud on their potato

Ironically, after listening to your story, I would much rather go to this "terrible" restaurant as apposed to the one where your friend works!

Dragonfly1

daytona0 wrote: »

The experience for the group was probably bad because your "friend" went full crank on the employees instead of just sending the meal back and having it replaced! That's what most normal people do in that situation, not start having a pop at the staff! A bit of mud?! Where do you think that potatoes come from? :rotfl: Fair enough it will need a scrub, but don't be so squirmish! Just have it taken back and washed.

People make mistakes. Cope with it!

Sounds like you got 25% off, plus £50 off and then maybe some complimentary drinks?! Talk about a cheap night out! No doubt the manager of the restaurant felt intimidated by your friend who no doubt made it clear that they were "assistant manager" of another store and no doubt it was suggested that head office were going to be involved...

Certainly not something that the average punter could pull off if there was some mud on their potato

Ironically, after listening to your story, I would much rather go to this "terrible" restaurant as apposed to the one where your friend works!

Different people have very different food hygiene standards. Plenty of people I know are happy to eat food off the floor (5 second rule etc) whilst others will not eat food when it has mud on the plate, from a jacket potato. Fair play to them rather than just leaving it untouched and not saying anything, because I too find it very poor from a restaurant. It's systematic of corner-cutting and - if you can see poor hygiene standards - it's strongly suggestive of plenty of worse practices happening within the kitchen.

If I've had to complain about food, I certainly wouldn't go back to the restaurant unless it's one we've been many times with no problems.

A round of free drinks was refused, FYI.

It's not OK for 2 out of 7 guests to eat nothing because a company is not following their own protocol. It's up to them if they wanted to give the money back. If they felt it was all OK, as you are suggesting, they could vigerously defend themselves. The very fact they would otherwise give £50 back suggests they knew they were in the wrong (Apart from the fact over £20 of food was sent back). The managers are very rarely "intimated" - they work in an industry where punters try it on all their time - where people climb out of the ground floor windows in an attempt not to pay. I would argue the assistant manager of the exact same chain should know exactly what is acceptable, ludicrous to suggest that perhaps they were trying it on with their own chain :rotfl: Apologies if that's not what you're inferring, it just reads like that to me.

Another small anecdote: We walked out of a certain pizza restaurant when you could see the chef preparing the pizza (open-top kitchen) and they had a full blown cold and keep wiping their nose with their hand and then carrying on preparing the pizza. And in this situation, they offered us our drinks free once we said we were leaving because it was not hygienic (soon after ordering), yet we insisted on paying for the drinks. Plenty of other families happily staying though. Everybody has vastly different food hygiene standards.

Yes, you go to this rubbish restaurant and I'm sure you're exactly the kind of person to love it And some people will love it. Others will find it very sub-standard compared to the same chain elsewhere in the country.

To the OP - If you're not happy with a meal - then say something as most pubs/restaurants should do a table check near the start of the meal. Don't eat half the meal and then complain, or even worse, wait for the bill and complain. That is not on. Let them know early on. And if you send a meal back untouched, you should expect a full refund for that meal at the very least (Or a replacement, if you would prefer)

seashore22

When I mentioned cheaper end restaurants and low expectations it was Brewers Fayre that I was thinking of. We haven't eaten in one for about a decade now, but we did sometimes go with a group of friends and one particular friend was always getting free puddings when they complained about the food. Personally I would have stopped going, but a free dessert is a free dessert I guess.

I'm fairly relaxed about food hygiene myself (our favourite chinese takeaway has a 1 rating), but I would hate to eat a dirty, gritty baked potato and I would have complained about it too, or alternatively beaten myself up for eating in a Brewers Fayre in the first place.

I have walked out of restaurants before ordering and I have had to complain and had things taken off of the bill, so I'm not a complete pushover.

In any case it appears that the op has long gone and we are arguing between ourselves.

marliepanda

Dragonfly1 wrote: »

Reminds of my recent experience!

We stayed elsewhere in the U.K. for a few days and visited a Brewers Fayre.

As normal for the resturant, we paid in advance at Brewers Fayre with either a 20% or 25% discount on all food and drink as we had the employee discount thanks to a family member who was at the dinner table with us whom is assistant manager at another branch of Brewers Fayre.

All going well until the food came, and then I wanted the Earth to swallow me up The family member knew, of course, exactly how food should be prepared and the standard of food to be expected - because they work in the same chain with the same food delivery company.

Firstly, the jacket potato was covered in mud. As per company policy, jacket potatoes come in non-washed and then must be washed on arrival at the restaurant. Instead, it was a very small jacket potato (company policy states 2 should be served if below a certain size - only 1 was served) and the skin was covered in mud... So that went back without being touched - and they were then put off the food so didn't want it re-made etc, just refunded.

Then the steak was incredibly tough and also had to go back.

Cue the manager of the Brewers Fayre being told that their restaurant is a disgrace to the name of Brewers Fayre and how it is far below company standards, and damages the brand, and therefore damages the Brewers Fayre back home. We all got offered complimentary drinks, and they told her how would that fix the problem !? She said how much money off do you want, and he said how much do you think it should be, considering I'm in a right mind to take this to head office internally.

End result, the 2 meals of the 7 were sent back uneaten and £50 off the bill, that had already got the 25% employee discount applied. After everything, probably paid £30 but it was a horrible experience as a group - probably most so because 2 people went hungry as nobody dared touch desserts after the main course disasters.

I do think the family member was right to complain - and our family member was embarrassed that they recommended the place to eat and it didn't meet anywhere near their own restaurant standards.

On the other hand... It wasn't the most comfortable few minutes whilst they argued company policy, how they had been too lazy to wash the jackets, how can you ruin a steak that is from the same delivery company as us etc etc!

If it was 'that bad' he'd have reported it to head office and not just bartered it down for cheap.

[Deleted User]

marliepanda wrote: »

If it was 'that bad' he'd have reported it to head office and not just bartered it down for cheap.

It's a difficult choice though. Stick by your principles and do the right thing, or get a free jacket potato.

Tough one.