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Original poster

Soaked by spilled drinks in restaurant

111 replies

Rae36 · 21/10/2020 15:31

Out for lunch, put a nice top on, haven't been out in ages. Waitress dropped a tray with 3 1l jugs of water, pint of blackcurrant and soda, pint of lime and soda and 3 open cans of coke all down my back. I was completely drenched.

They were very apologetic, gave us money off, told me to bring in the dry cleaning bill, I changed into ds14's jumper, and apart from a damp bum and bra we had a nice lunch.

The manager kept coming over to ask how I was and what they could do to make it better for me. I couldn't think of anything they could do really, what could they have done? He asked 4 or 5 times and he was clearly desperate for me to come up with something they could do.

What could I have said? Thinking about it now I'm home and dry, could they have offered to dry my top for me (assuming they have laundry facilities for towels and tablecloths)? Could I have asked them to get me a dry top from somewhere? There was no obvious shop or anything around. Should one of the staff have offered me their jumper from the staffroom? We had the car but a taxi home if we'd been walking? My jacket had been hanging over the back of my chair so was also soaked. A hairdryer if one of the staff had one in the locker room? I guess they didn't or they would have offered. Use of the staffroom to wash the sticky coke off privately instead of at the public sink in the ladies might have been good. I didn't think of that at the time.

I did say I thought the tray was way too heavy, one of the jugs hit me on the shoulder and it was heavy. They agreed and apologised.

If you've been a waitress what would you have done to fix up a really wet customer? I couldn't think of anything to say. Now we are back home the kids are coming up with more and more ridiculous suggestions.

OP posts:
Sobeyondthehills · 21/10/2020 16:47

@emilyfrost
all your suggestions are, quite frankly, absolutely ridiculous and unworkable.

That is the point of the OP

Goodbee2052 · 21/10/2020 16:49

They should have paid your bill!

Coldandwet123 · 21/10/2020 16:49

The waitress could have thrown red wine down your top followed by white, just so that she was proactive in getting the stain out. Other than that, I dont know what I would have suggested either Grin

EmpressSuiko · 21/10/2020 16:50

This post has gone over a lot of people heads.

OP clearly felt they did all they could and was baffled by the manager constantly asking her what more they could do!?

orchidsonabudget · 21/10/2020 16:52

I was that waitress as a student
Two bowls of pea and ham soup
Over a white angora jumper ShockSad

Rollercoaster1920 · 21/10/2020 16:53

The manager may well have been worried about a personal injury claim.

Also asking you to suggest the resolution to the incident is from restaurant management 101:

Angry customer upset by something.
Manager lets customer vent
Customer gets over the initial emotional outburst and starts calming down. Usually they ask the manager to 'do something'
Manager calmly apologises and asks the customer what "something" would they like?
Most customers ask for a free meal, or drinks or whatever. Manager might haggle a bit. But the key thing is that the solution is suggested by the customer, so when agree the customer has what they want, and goes away 'happy' (or at least as happy as can be in the circumstances).

kingdomcapers · 21/10/2020 16:53

I've been on both sides of this. Spilled coffee over a customer when I worked in a department store cafe. Tbh, it was probably more 50/50 as she tried to grab the tray while I was still putting the cup on it, but she acted like I'd done it on purpose.She got a pair of trousers that was the closest match to what she was wearing because she made such a fuss. Then, similar to a pp I was in a restaurant and had the juices and grease from one of those platter style dishes spilled over my arm. Of course I was wearing a new white shirt. But I just asked for a cloth and some water and sponged myself off. I said to the waitress not to worry but the manager came over gave us the details of where to send cleaning bill or even receipt for replacement and we got money off our bill without asking. Tbh I think they handled it pretty spot on. I hate overly attentive waiting staff when you don't feel like you get peace to enjoy your meal.

DelphineWalsh · 21/10/2020 16:54

If you couldn't think of anything else that they could have offered to compensate you then there was nothing else to be done.

yetanothernamitynamechange · 21/10/2020 16:55

Lots of restaurants the staff wash their uniform at home and bring it in. Lots do have washing and drying machines for hand towels/aprons but they are really brutal on clothes - normally big rattly things that wash things/tumble dry them very hot. There is no way I would trust my own clothes to them. At the very least it would probably set the stain.
If I was the waitress I would probably have either burst into tears or laughed at the horro of it all (I have an innapropriate laugh response).

letmepeeinpeace · 21/10/2020 16:57

This thread is hilarious!! The reactions of some posters! It was light-heartedHmmConfused

TheOrigRights · 21/10/2020 16:58

TheOrigRights

I would have said.

"What I would like is if you can please stop asking if there is anything you can do so I can enjoy my meal"

Damned if they do and damned if they don't hey? the glorious life of waiting staff.

Noooo, I would explain that I really appreciated them asking and that I was fine and there was really no need to keep asking because it was getting embarrassing.

Would that be better? Honestly, I am very polite to waiting staff, but I also like to be clear.

I have waited on tables, and once dropped a bread roll between the back of a chair and the mayor of the town. It got wedged, but I managed to hoik it out before he leaned back.

HelloDaisy · 21/10/2020 16:59

Same thing happened to a friend of mine when she was in the pub with the boys from work. The waitress tipped the tray of drinks all over my friend who then stood up and said “who wants to lick me off?”...

Bunnybigears · 21/10/2020 17:03

I think they ask of there's anything they can do a lot so if you make a complaint and say they didn't do x,y and z they can say you didn't ask them to do that at the time.

IHaveBrilloHair · 21/10/2020 17:04

I'd have demanded a Limo ride home the limo being driven by Kimi Raikkonen and a wee bunk up in the back Grin

Al1langdownthecleghole · 21/10/2020 17:05

To try to answer your OP, if they had any clean uniforms, perhaps the loan of a dry top would have been handy.

They did the usual money off the bill, I suppose they could have offered free wine for a future date to encourage you to go back!

Bluntness100 · 21/10/2020 17:06

Honestly are you all really sitting thinking up things you should have asked for, inc the staffs own clothing? Really?

It was an accident, they offered to pay, you handled it well at the time, don’t teach your kids it’s good to sit and thing of the grabbiest thing you can think of and ask for it.

CottonSock · 21/10/2020 17:07

I'd demand a very large glass of nice wine...
This happened to me, but it was oil and balsamic vinegar. I think they took my meal off the bill.

2bazookas · 21/10/2020 17:10

I'd have expected him to say "Lunch is on the house" (for you and your companions) and not bring a bill. pLus pay for any dry cleaning.

BLASTPROCESSING · 21/10/2020 17:15

"I'd have expected him to say "Lunch is on the house" (for you and your companions)"

Why for OPs companions?

KiposWonderbeasts · 21/10/2020 17:16

I like your son's thinking!

How about a sedan chair to the nearest boutique to choose something new?

Staff member with a palm leaf to fan you dry?

Or they could spell We're So Sorry on your front garden in rose petals?

Feedingthebirds1 · 21/10/2020 17:20

don’t teach your kids it’s good to sit and thing of the grabbiest thing you can think of and ask for it.

If OP was being serious with her DCs you'd be right. But it's clear they are all having a good laugh and coming up with more and more ridiculous things that they know would never have happened.

Doodiesbear · 21/10/2020 17:22

I'm normally the first one to jump in and defend staff in situations like this, because I've been on the end of some real arsehole customers in my time and am sort of waging a one person war to try and get people to treat those in the service industry like humans.
That said I took this thread as completely light hearted and some of the suggestions amusing.
On a serious note though the manager will have been trying to make it right for fear of you sitting there saying it's all ok, smiling, agreeing they did everything they could there and then and then going home and leaving a scathing review on Tripadvisor. An awful lot of people do that, exaggerate the situation and conveniently leave out the compensatory things given/offered at the time, or say they were nowhere near enough etc, despite leaving apparently happy with what was done at the time. Especially at the moment that can be disastrous, and really demoralising for the staff involved too at any time.
I've had it happen to me and been personally 'named and shamed' on ta for my handling of it, though it was a different incident to yours and therefore handled differently. Though the customers left apparently happy, laughing about it and thanking me for what I'd done to put it right, then wrote a review claiming I wasn't bothered and I just thought it was funny. That wasn't the case at all, I did laugh along with them and at their jokes and hiding under the table etc when we approached with other items. I was left wondering why I bothered at all to be honest.

IntermittentParps · 21/10/2020 17:26

He sounds a bit overbearing but I guess he was just very contrite and probably genuinely sorry, as well as scared that you might give them a bad review/word of mouth, which no restaurant needs right now.

They sound like they dealt with it well, apologising, giving you money off, telling you to bring in the dry cleaning bill etc.

I don't think you could have suggested anything else, and the suggestion that the tray was too heavy was a good one; hopefully management will look into how they can manage the staff not to carry things that are too heavy or unbalanced.

Rhine · 21/10/2020 17:35

When I was a teenage waitress in a hotel I spilled scalding hot tea all over an American tourist. Sometimes it happens. All you can do is apologise.

karala · 21/10/2020 17:40

Massive congratulations to those who recognise the OP is lighthearted and not entitled.

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