Last year, I went to a restaurant called Stacked and I was not impressed. Slow service, average food, and the seating was atrocious as a large group literally stood over us and there were many other places to sit. Anyway, I reported my experience on a review site and got an apology from the manager. In reading the reviews, this person replied to almost everybody and even went head to head with those who he felt were trying to get over. At the end, he asked for my address to send over a gift card. The experience was so awful that it took nearly a year for me to use it. Well, today was that day and they improved their menu, service was excellent and though it took a minute, my gift card was honored. The last time I made a formal complaint about an eating establishment, the owner apologized with a promise to comp my next meal but I never took it since I was visiting the area. I guess it's safe to say that some people care about customer service.
I will sometimes complain. I am not used to having much money. I mean, I was raised with money. But as far as making my own way in the world, I have never really made much money, although I am much better off these days. Anyway, when I spend money I do it with that mindset - that if I am paying the service needs to be on point. If it is not, I am highly likely to complain.
But did you go back to the review site and write an updated review? That's only fair considering the restaurant owner was considerate enough to listen to your complaints and right the wrong. Those types of negative reviews can do a lot of damage to his business for years to come. Honestly, I feel kind of bad the impact many of these review sites can have on small businesses - particularly restaurants, because it only takes a few bad reviews and that can dissuade a lot of potential customers indefinitely. Even when the restaurant owners make an earnest effort to improve things, they have no recourse to get those reviews updated or removed. Many people are more inclined to write a bad review, than write good reviews about places they enjoyed. Not to mention, these restaurants have to deal with competitors writing fake negative reviews about them as well.
It has to be really bad to complain and usually I would do it there and then. Only if the staff didn't deal with things or want to then I would write to the owner or head office. These days people use social media instead as it guarantees a faster reaction because of the publicity. I would only write if it was something out of their control, things like rowdy customers, or if they ran out of my favorite dish, or no air conditioning are things they cannot control and people are petty complaining about them. Now if the food was undercooked, or the service was slow and no one apologized then those are things that could have been dealt with.
I'm glad the management did get in touch, apologised and gave you a complimentary meal. I don't always complain, because sometimes it's just not even worth it, plus I wouldn't want my food spat in LOL But seriously, on of the few occasion I complained when I went to this Thai restaurant and ordered a dish with prawns in it. I explained I had a shellfish allergy, but could I have that same dish, just minus the prawns. They said yes, but I had almost polished off the whole lot when I made the gruesome discovery at the bottom!! I complained to management, who apologised profusely and gave me a complimentary meal for the next time we visited. Ever since that one mishap, it's all been plain sailing
Wow, I am going to have to remember this. I have never thought about it before. I have ripped off fast food restaurants. They have most put in measures not to be able to do this anymore. But still when I do complain and take my receipt from earlier in the day, I get an attitude. What happened to the customer is always right?
Not only in restaurants but in any other establishment, we complain when there is something wrong with the product or services. It is not only for our own sake but also for the benefit of future customers and even the establishment itself. One time a salad was served to us with a wriggling worm. My husband took a video for evidence before complaining. We were given 50% discount on our bill for that.
I I really don't complain much in restaurants unless I have obviously been served badly. Or if the restaurant choice is not what I ordered. I find that most restaurants want to retain their customers and will go out of the way to make it up to you. I once didn't get my bread toasted on a club sandwich and got like a 30 dollar restaurant gift certificate! So, it can be helpful to say something if you don't get what you ordered or are not happy with it. However, usually I tell them everything is good, cuz it is!!!
It's always worth complaining if the service or food wasn't up to scratch. Most places are only to happy to offer some kind of discount, providing your complaint is reasonable. With regards to reviews on Yelp etc., it really is only fair to update a poor write-up if the restaurant have since tried to make amends.
I only complain when there is terrible, terrible service. But most of the time, we get good service from restaurants. I cannot even recall the last time we complained to the manager about a restaurant's service. My MIL though is a different story. I think whenever we eat out, she always has complains about a restaurant's service. Be it the food, the waiter or the water lol. It is quite embarassing to be with her. She is one of those people who just has a lot of complains about lot of things.
Yes, I even described how the matter was settled without going into too much detail. This restaurant has heavy competition as the shopping center is undergoing a dramatic change. The overall goal is to attract as many people as possible who are looking to spend $$$. Sounds basic but this place had gone downhill and over time, became a hangout spot for people who had no money to spend.
Wow! That's all? Not trying to be funny but that worm could have been a parasite, which is dangerous to ingest. Good thing you caught the critter on film.
Yeah I still get the creeps when I think about Brad Pitt in Fight Club where he took a whiz in some hot soup at an event. The nice thing about this restaurant is that the gift card could be used at a tablet on the self-serve table. I've had verbal comp offers and never used them for the reason you just mentioned.
Rarely, and I mean very rarely, have I ever had to complain at a given fast food establishment or restaurant. I've had mediocre service, but things have never been so bad that I've felt the need to complain. There are definitely those times where complaints are necessary to make, though. If you feel the conditions or whatever are bad enough, then a complaint to the right person can actually lead to positive changes.
Over the years, my family has been on the receiving end of poor service or food at restaurants. My husband and I do not make a habit of complaining unless we feel the service or food was really terrible. Usually we show our displeasure by leaving a smaller tip. The few times we have complained we've had a good response from management. We sometimes contact the manager while we are still at the restaurant and we have had our meal comped. Once I complained on the restaurant's website and the manager called me at home to apologize for the poor service by our waitress and offered a free meal the next time we in the restaurant. He was glad I let him know about our experience at the restaurant so they could learn from it. So feel free to inform restaurants of either poor service or food.
If the server is having a bad day or the kitchen is a little slow but the food is good, I don't fuss. Even if there's a mistake on the food, if it's an honest mistake and the server corrects it, no problem. I used to be a server. It can suck. I try to be understanding about normal little things. If there are things that prevent us from enjoying our meal to the point that we do not want to stay, I complain to management and ask them to move us away from the problem, pack everything to go plus free complimentary desserts, or comp our meals but I won't complain on review sites for a transitory problem like rowdiness of a particular group of other diners. If I notice things that seem unsanitary or health issues or unsafe food practices, then I complain AND post poor reviews everywhere I can think of to warn others.
Like many people in this thread, I only complain when the service is egregiously awful. If I'm polite about it, most restaurant workers don't mind giving me a little compensation. That being said, many people tend to take advantage of this kindness. My father works in the food industry, and the number of people who complain but are actually just looking for some free stuff is ridiculous. People will complain about ANYTHING, then demand compensation. He told me that someone complained that his steak was cold only AFTER scarfing the whole thing down. Management didn't want to make a big fuss, so they just gave him a free meal. While I do believe poor service deserves compensation, the number of people who take advantage of this system is ridiculous.
