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AIBU?

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Original poster

To expect reduced restaurant bill

40 replies

TheWatersofMarch · 23/03/2025 04:52

Ate out at a curry house last night. We ordered veggie samosas as starter. I took a mouthful to find mine was lamb. Told staff, they apologised, took away the whole order, cutlery, plates, etc and a few minutes later brought a fresh order. The same thing happened, except we checked before tucking in. This time my daughter’s was lamb. I kept my veggie one, and they brought a whole new order out for my daughter, this time correct. I expected some financial acknowledgement eg for the samosas not to have been on the bill.

OP posts:
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ImNoSuperman · 23/03/2025 16:49

TheWatersofMarch · 23/03/2025 13:47

Thank you for all responses. I didn’t leave a tip - service was already added to bill. As I left one of the staff handed me a card and offered me 20% off on my next visit if I left a review. I’m not entirely sure that he was aware of the muddle, unless he meant 20% off if I left a review and didn’t mention it 😂

Leave the review. A bad one.

I'd have left after the order was wrong a second time. Without paying for food that wasn't eaten due to their mistake.

Panterusblackish · 23/03/2025 16:45

YABU

You got the right thing in the end.

We don't want to import any more American culture into the UK. We shouldn't start expecting to have stuff 'comped' every time things don't go exactly to plan. It's shocking the way waiting staff are expected to obsequious kowtow to customers in the USA.

We don't want that nonsense here. I doubt you've never made a mistake in your job either.

RawBloomers · 23/03/2025 16:39

TheWatersofMarch · 23/03/2025 13:47

Thank you for all responses. I didn’t leave a tip - service was already added to bill. As I left one of the staff handed me a card and offered me 20% off on my next visit if I left a review. I’m not entirely sure that he was aware of the muddle, unless he meant 20% off if I left a review and didn’t mention it 😂

Given the double error and lack of any effort to make things better, I would probably have asked them to remove the service charge.

PrincessHoneysuckle · 23/03/2025 16:39

They shouldn't have charged for the samosas that's it

ChloeCannotCanCan · 23/03/2025 16:37

TheWatersofMarch · 23/03/2025 13:47

Thank you for all responses. I didn’t leave a tip - service was already added to bill. As I left one of the staff handed me a card and offered me 20% off on my next visit if I left a review. I’m not entirely sure that he was aware of the muddle, unless he meant 20% off if I left a review and didn’t mention it 😂

So you did leave a tip - that’s what the service charge is!

I would have expected an apology and the samosas to be taken off the bill - it’s really shoddy of them to serve meat in a vegetarian order once never mind twice.

SometimesCalmPerson · 23/03/2025 15:58

You should have said something and they probably would have taken some money off the bill. It’s sad that they can’t do the decent thing and offer first though.

SpringIsSpringing25 · 23/03/2025 15:53

FeministUnderTheCatriarchy · 23/03/2025 09:07

Okay...

Personally unless notified of an allergy I would be willing to forgive a first mistake.

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So it's not okay that it would make me incredibly ill, but it's not an allergy. I'm not allowed to be pissed off at someone would serve me up meat when I have ordered something vegetarian.

okayyyyy

MasterBeth · 23/03/2025 14:09

Carseathelp · 23/03/2025 06:35

I don’t think it’s a none event. It could have easily have been an allergen they got wrong not a food preference.

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It's not a none event. It's a non-event.

Original poster
TheWatersofMarch · 23/03/2025 13:47

Thank you for all responses. I didn’t leave a tip - service was already added to bill. As I left one of the staff handed me a card and offered me 20% off on my next visit if I left a review. I’m not entirely sure that he was aware of the muddle, unless he meant 20% off if I left a review and didn’t mention it 😂

OP posts:
FeministUnderTheCatriarchy · 23/03/2025 09:07

SpringIsSpringing25 · 23/03/2025 07:46

First time shows there is something going very wrong in the kitchen, it is not a non-event.

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Okay...

Personally unless notified of an allergy I would be willing to forgive a first mistake.

TheSassyTraybake · 23/03/2025 09:04

If you ate what they brought you it’s totally reasonable to have to pay for it. A gesture of goodwill might have been nice but it’s not like you were ripped off.

Northernbychoice · 23/03/2025 08:22

If they get something wrong I expect something eg an offer of a free drink or knocking the item off the bill.
To do it twice is ridiculous. I get that mistakes are made but the same mistake to the same family at the same meal shows a real lack of care.

Indianajet · 23/03/2025 08:00

This happened to me once - I am vegetarian and was served chicken samosas. They gave me the correct one, took it off the bill and gave us free wine. They took it very seriously indeed.

Threecraws · 23/03/2025 07:56

If it was replaced them I wouldn't expect anything off the bill but personally, i would have cancelled the order after the second mistake and left.

TwentyTwentyFive · 23/03/2025 07:54

LollyLand · 23/03/2025 07:50

It’s wasted stock for them so I can see why they wouldn’t take them from the bill.

It's only wasted stock because they messed up so much though.

I would absolutely be expecting some sort of discount, either the samosas being removed from the bill or an overall discount applied to the bill. It's not a small issue at all and I definitely would trust them to cater for an allergy. I also wouldn't be going back.

Additionally, I certainly wouldn't be leaving a tip even if it was half of what I'd intended, not tipping is not stingy and if they can't even get the basics right then what's the tip for?

SpringIsSpringing25 · 23/03/2025 07:53

Tbrh · 23/03/2025 06:40

But it wasn't. So that didn't happen. Free Samoa's would be nice, but I wouldn't expect it. The fact it happened twice makes me think something quite serious was going on.

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@Tbrh i've been vegetarian 35years. It would make me very ill if I ate meat, when it's inside a meal like that it's quite feasible you would eat some before noticing especially these days when you don't expect it from a restaurant, I was much more suspicious in the early days when it could be a bit hit and miss.

LollyLand · 23/03/2025 07:50

It’s wasted stock for them so I can see why they wouldn’t take them from the bill.

IDontHateRainbows · 23/03/2025 07:48

RatedDoingMagic · 23/03/2025 06:51

I find that leaving a derisory small tip communicates the message that service was poor a lot better than no tip. No tip just communicates that you are stingy and rude. A 3% tip gives a precise evaluation of how shoddy the service was.

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Well, I had a friend that would leave small change, like 30p in coppers, as a

'fuck you' tip. So maybe you're on to something

SpringIsSpringing25 · 23/03/2025 07:48

RatedDoingMagic · 23/03/2025 05:32

You did eventually get what you ordered but not till much later than you would have if they had got it right furst time, so your meal was significantly delayed. I woukd deal with that myself by halving the tip that I woukd otherwise have added to the bill if the service had been good.

halting the tip? Seriously, a restaurant serving to meat dishes to vegetarians and you'd only half the tip??

Would you feel the same if they served up a food someone was allergic to?

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/03/2025 07:46

Slightly off the point but a local samosa place here avoids this by putting a little blob of food colouring on tne samosa - green for veggie, red for lamb and blue for chicken.

SpringIsSpringing25 · 23/03/2025 07:46

FeministUnderTheCatriarchy · 23/03/2025 05:14

After it happened a second time I probably would have expected the samosas to be taken off the bill.

First time is a non event, second shows something is going wrong in the kitchen.

First time shows there is something going very wrong in the kitchen, it is not a non-event.

SpringIsSpringing25 · 23/03/2025 07:45

FeministUnderTheCatriarchy · 23/03/2025 05:14

After it happened a second time I probably would have expected the samosas to be taken off the bill.

First time is a non event, second shows something is going wrong in the kitchen.

No, it's not a non-event, a restaurant serving meat to a vegetarian order!

If they can't even get that right, I certainly wouldn't be trusting them with any kind of life-threatening allergy.

Then to serve something else, not vegetarian is beyond bloody ridiculous.

@TheWatersofMarch yes I would've expected some some acknowledgement of their monumental fuck up!! I hope you are doing lots of honest reviews this morning. As a fellow vegetarian, I would want to know it's a place to avoid.

dialfor · 23/03/2025 07:41

I would have walked out after they served meat the second time. I would have paid for any drinks but not the starters I hadn’t eaten. There is no way I would continue my dining in a place who couldn’t serve a basic samosa correctly, twice.

DurhamDurham · 23/03/2025 06:54

I'd have asked for the samosas to be removed from the bill. To get it wrong twice isn't great, I'd be wondering what else was going on in the kitchen. I wouldn't go back but before I left I'd have asked for the bill to be amended. I've learnt that it's better to be clear about expectations at the time than to come away feeling aggrieved.

bifurCAT · 23/03/2025 06:54

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