What are my rights with rubbish restaurant service?

Help1234

Hello,

Recently I have noticed I seem to experience a lot of bad service when I eat out in restaurants. This includes service that is mildly inconvenient - such as very slow service to the extent where you have to go and find waitresses to serve you after waiting so long even though the venue is relatively empty. And service that is just horrendous - such as the manager hammering shelves while we have our coffee in a tiny venue so the noise was so loud we were unable to have a conversation. Everytime, I always pay what I owe. I just want to know my rights. I understand if the service is bad I don't necessarily need to pay service charge. But can I refuse to pay for part of the meal?
Thanks

Keep_pedalling

Just don’t go back.

peachyprice

Not once you have eaten it no, you can't.

If it was so terrible why did you stay to a) order food and b) eat the food?

pmduk

It's a moot point as bad service is so hard to define. Some people will go to a budget establishment and demand 5-star service.

NineDeuce

I have worked in a bar/restaurant when you see the customer sit down and eat everything and then complain they want their money back after.

They come across as rather irritating characters.

Plus, other people are probably fine with the standards of the restaurant. Why should it be one rule for one person and another for a foodie?

Help1234

OK what about I'm gluten-free and go to an establishment I have attended before to have a Sunday roast. I know they do it gluten-free as I have attended it before without any problem. However today I order the roast and they bring it to me without any gravy and tell me they don't have any gravy that's gluten free today. Don't you think they should have told me that before making the meal so I could change to have something else? I personally don't like bone dry roast dinners. But instead of telling me, they instead went ahead and cooked it and served it to me. I can now request a different meal and eat separately to the rest of my group and wait a long time before I end up actually eating. Is this not bad service?

JJ_Egan

Did you order Gluten free gravy first .Or did you just expect it to be Gluten free ??

seashore22

The story makes no sense. Did this actually happen (it isn't clear from your post) or is this a hypothetical example?

If you mentioned gluten free gravy then they would have told you then, wouldn't they.

If you didn't mention that you needed gluten free, how did they know not to bring the gravy.

What exactly happened?

seashore22

As for the slow service and having to find a waitress to serve you, walk out. I've done that on a few occasions and it works fine.

If it goes very wrong then I would very politely complain and see what they say. On the very rare times that I've had to do this I've had a free pudding or something knocked off the bill. No drama needed and I've never had to refuse to pay for what I've eaten. To be honest you lose all credibility if you kick up a fuss after consuming the food.

Gavin83

Help1234 wrote: »

OK what about I'm gluten-free and go to an establishment I have attended before to have a Sunday roast. I know they do it gluten-free as I have attended it before without any problem. However today I order the roast and they bring it to me without any gravy and tell me they don't have any gravy that's gluten free today. Don't you think they should have told me that before making the meal so I could change to have something else? I personally don't like bone dry roast dinners. But instead of telling me, they instead went ahead and cooked it and served it to me. I can now request a different meal and eat separately to the rest of my group and wait a long time before I end up actually eating. Is this not bad service?

Did you eat the food?

takman

Help1234 wrote: »

Hello,

Recently I have noticed I seem to experience a lot of bad service when I eat out in restaurants. This includes service that is mildly inconvenient - such as very slow service to the extent where you have to go and find waitresses to serve you after waiting so long even though the venue is relatively empty. And service that is just horrendous - such as the manager hammering shelves while we have our coffee in a tiny venue so the noise was so loud we were unable to have a conversation. Everytime, I always pay what I owe. I just want to know my rights. I understand if the service is bad I don't necessarily need to pay service charge. But can I refuse to pay for part of the meal?
Thanks

You need to inform them of the problem as soon as it happens so they can resolve the problem. But like others have said don't eat all your food and drink all your drinks and then expect to not pay for it.

Help1234 wrote: »

OK what about I'm gluten-free and go to an establishment I have attended before to have a Sunday roast. I know they do it gluten-free as I have attended it before without any problem. However today I order the roast and they bring it to me without any gravy and tell me they don't have any gravy that's gluten free today. Don't you think they should have told me that before making the meal so I could change to have something else? I personally don't like bone dry roast dinners. But instead of telling me, they instead went ahead and cooked it and served it to me. I can now request a different meal and eat separately to the rest of my group and wait a long time before I end up actually eating. Is this not bad service?

If you ordered a gluten free roast which comes with gravy and they didn't tell you that they had run out of gravy until they brought it out then it isn't very good service. So if you didn't eat the roast then you don't have to pay for it.
If you were concerned about replacement food taking too long then you could have discussed what food they could prepare quickly and get to you in a reasonable amount of time so everyone wasn't waiting for you.