Some Restaurant Questions

[Joe]

1. Sometimes I will go into a restaurant (often this seems to happen in "chain" restaurants) and some guy will come up to me and start firing questions at me. "Is everything all right? Is the food good? Are you happy with the service?" I want to answer, "And who the hell are you, dude?" I don't recall ever getting a good answer. These guys never seem to have a business card. They are usually not the manager but some sort of floating inspector or something sent by the "chain," I guess.

Who are these guys? What are they really doing? Are they really evaluating my waiter/waitress? Shouldn't my waiter or waitress be the one asking me these questions?

2. I ordered some food that could be eaten with a knife and fork, but which is often eaten with one's fingers. So I asked my waiter to bring me some extra napkins. (This restaurant uses plain paper napkins, if that matters.) Does the waiter bother to bring me any extra napkins? No. Why bother? So, what is the deal here? It is often very difficult to get an extra napkin or two. Why?

3. I go to a restaurant that has one price for a cup of soup, but a substantially lower price for the soup if ordered with an entree. I ordered the soup and an entree. So the waiter zooms by near the end of the meal and places the bill on the table and zooms off. I am being charged the full price for the soup, as if I did not order it with an entree. So I subtract the difference from what would otherwise be his tip, and leave a note on the bill as to why his tip was so low. Did I do the right thing? I would have spoken to him if I saw him around, but he did a RoadRunner and sped off somewhere.

 

[KLS52]

1. I have no idea who these people are. I think I always assumed it was a manager or owner.

2. I steal napkins and silverware from nearby tables if my waiter or waitress is neglecting me, lol.

3. I would make more of an effort to find someone who could help me with the bill, especially if there is a cashier. I do not think I would subtract anything from the waitstaff's tip.

 

[Amy SF]

If I thought I was being overcharged for something, I'd try to work it out with the waitperson or another employee first.

 

[Joe]

I still napkins and silverware from nearby tables if my waiter or waitress is neglecting me, lol.

It seemed to be the practice of this restaurant not to put out silverware or napkins on tables until the customer sat down at a table. So there was nothing on other tables to "steal."

 

[Joe]

I would make more of an effort to find someone who could help me with the bill, especially if there is a cashier. I do not think I would subtract anything from the waitstaff's tip.

If I thought I was being overcharged for something, I'd try to work it out with the waitperson or another employee first.

Ok, but there were no employees around and the restaurant did not have a cashier. If the waiter had checked back with me, I would have talked with him. But he disappeared.

 

[PTree15]

1. Sometimes I will go into a restaurant (often this seems to happen in "chain" restaurants) and some guy will come up to me and start firing questions at me. "Is everything all right? Is the food good? Are you happy with the service?" I want to answer, "And who the hell are you, dude?" I don't recall ever getting a good answer. These guys never seem to have a business card. They are usually not the manager but some sort of floating inspector or something sent by the "chain," I guess.

Who are these guys? What are they really doing? Are they really evaluating my waiter/waitress? Shouldn't my waiter or waitress be the one asking me these questions?

2. I ordered some food that could be eaten with a knife and fork, but which is often eaten with one's fingers. So I asked my waiter to bring me some extra napkins. (This restaurant uses plain paper napkins, if that matters.) Does the waiter bother to bring me any extra napkins? No. Why bother? So, what is the deal here? It is often very difficult to get an extra napkin or two. Why?

3. I go to a restaurant that has one price for a cup of soup, but a substantially lower price for the soup if ordered with an entree. I ordered the soup and an entree. So the waiter zooms by near the end of the meal and places the bill on the table and zooms off. I am being charged the full price for the soup, as if I did not order it with an entree. So I subtract the difference from what would otherwise be his tip, and leave a note on the bill as to why his tip was so low. Did I do the right thing? I would have spoken to him if I saw him around, but he did a RoadRunner and sped off somewhere.

1. I haven't gone to many chains, so I don't run into this, but if I did, I would ask who the person is, and if I don't get a satisfactory answer, I wouldn't participate. The waiter or waitress should be asking whether everything is fine with your meal after a few minutes in case there is a problem.

2. If the waiter doesn't fulfill my request, I'll often flag another waiter and ask him.

3. I would not have subtracted the difference from the tip without having tried to work out the bill. I would have sought out a manager if the waiter wasn't available. You could ask the maitre d to help you with that.

 

[shyvas]

1. Sometimes I will go into a restaurant (often this seems to happen in "chain" restaurants) and some guy will come up to me and start firing questions at me. "Is everything all right? Is the food good? Are you happy with the service?" I want to answer, "And who the hell are you, dude?" I don't recall ever getting a good answer. These guys never seem to have a business card. They are usually not the manager but some sort of floating inspector or something sent by the "chain," I guess.

Who are these guys? What are they really doing? Are they really evaluating my waiter/waitress? Shouldn't my waiter or waitress be the one asking me these questions?

2. I ordered some food that could be eaten with a knife and fork, but which is often eaten with one's fingers. So I asked my waiter to bring me some extra napkins. (This restaurant uses plain paper napkins, if that matters.) Does the waiter bother to bring me any extra napkins? No. Why bother? So, what is the deal here? It is often very difficult to get an extra napkin or two. Why?

3. I go to a restaurant that has one price for a cup of soup, but a substantially lower price for the soup if ordered with an entree. I ordered the soup and an entree. So the waiter zooms by near the end of the meal and places the bill on the table and zooms off. I am being charged the full price for the soup, as if I did not order it with an entree. So I subtract the difference from what would otherwise be his tip, and leave a note on the bill as to why his tip was so low. Did I do the right thing? I would have spoken to him if I saw him around, but he did a RoadRunner and sped off somewhere.

I would imagine that the person that was asking you about the service in this kind of a restaurant would by the duty manager. They should however at least introduce themselves as being a customer you are not aware of who is who
in a large restaurant.

Taking into account that the waiter didn't bother to come back with extra napkins and furthermore that you were overcharged for the soup, you would have a right not to be happy with the service. It seems that this particular restaurant is either under staffed or doesn't really value customer satisfaction. Furthermore, it is also strange that there is no cashier and that the waiter has to manage multiple tasks. This often results in poor service and mix ups.

As a customer you did the right thing to deduct the price of the soup as you had no other alternative. You are the one who is paying for the food and service and should not also have to bear the stress of poor management and poor service.

I certainly would not have justified why I was giving a small tip and would have written a letter of complaint to their CS at the HO.

 

[Clueless Git]

There's only one justification for poor service, imho.

That reason would be that the place in question caters for poor customers and prices accordingly.

If the eatery was charging poor people prices then fairie nuff, in a way.

Otherwise don't 'kick the cat', as it were.

Find the muddy sod who sets the non-poor prices and give him/her some serious ear-burn.

 

[KLS52]

Technically, I suppose since you did leave a note explaining you were overcharged, the waiter could get back the deducted portion of the tip once the bill was adjusted.

Is there a 'fill station' somewhere that houses the silverware and napkins? Usually they have to be somewhere accessible. They are not normally kept in the back totally out of sight.

That said, I'm not excusing the bad service at all. I'm just trying to come up with alternatives. Especially with chain restaurants, I normally can see an area where the silverware, napkins and other items are kept. I have helped myself on occasion.

You were within your rights under the circumstances.

 

[Amy SF]

Joe, if I were you, I would also send an email to the company's corporate office telling them about your experience. If they have any integrity, they would look into it and see what they could do about improving customer service (and personnel issues) at that location.

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

 

[ledboots]

If I thought I was being overcharged for something, I'd try to work it out with the waitperson or another employee first.

In the olden days before computer restaurant checks, my dad used to always check the arithmetic and items on the bill before he paid. He was a very good tipper, much to my frugal mom's dismay!

I think emailing the manager is a good idea in this situation.

 

[beancounter]

In the olden days before computer restaurant checks, my dad used to always check the arithmetic and items on the bill before he paid.

I still do. Most people don't do this?!?

 

[Amy SF]

My sister and BIL do that but that's because my BIL is an accountant and it's something they just do automatically. I hardly ever eat at that kind of restaurant, so it's not something I think about unless someone mentions it.