Do you send food back when eating out?

[Britpopbaby]

I’ve just sent some cake back due to how dry it was and I am not afraid to do this at all. Do you send food back?

Yes. Most recently a fish finger sandwich. They were really salty and I'd asked for the tartar sauce to be on the side, but it was globbed all over the inside. Sent it back and got lovely scrambled eggs on toast.

Yes, we cut into a slice of cake and discovered mould growing in it!

When complaining, the server asked if we'd like another slice instead??? 😱😠

He seemed put out when I kindly suggested he binned the entire cake and maybe check the other ones on display. 🤦🏻‍♀️

To clarify: we both ordered slices of the same cake and it had mould on the bottom so clearly the entire cake was affected.

Ive sent back undercooked chicken to be cooked longer, a butternut squash dish where the butternut squash wasnt cooked. Restaurant manager said the chef wouldn’t be impressed that I thought it wasn’t cooked and seemed a bit stressed about taking it back but then came out relieved and said the chef did indeed realise it wasn’t cooked! And once for totally gone off milk with tea where the waitress spent ages berating me and saying they NEVER have milk that isn’t fresh etc, then came back later to somehow let me know without apologising or bringing fresh milk that it was indeed off because the fridge had broken down. But mostly I just eat and enjoy!

Yes if food is supposed to be hot and it's arrived to the table cold.
Also undercooked chicken or pork has been sent back as it's unfit for consumption.
You're paying for it so basic standards should be there.

Anyone calling me a Karen would get the death stare 🤪

Very rarely but I have when the food has been stone cold and if I’m asked if the food was good I won’t lie. 😂

Of course. Not so much if it was just wasn't very nice, I just wouldn't go there again, but if it was eg cold or hard or something else was wrong with it, absolutely.

I am also honest when waiting staff come around and ask if 'everything is alright'. I'm not going to say yes if it's not.

I have only sent food back on two occasions. Once at Pizza Hut when I discovered the lettuce from the salad bar was covered in green fly. They threw it away, wiped the plate and just handed it back to me and at no point actually removed the container of lettuce.
The second was chicken escalope in garlic butter which tasted like blue cheese and coconut. 🤢 They replaced it with a different main no problem but then tried to charge me for both dinners. I stood my ground and politely said I would only pay for the one I’d eaten. The manager was called and she was unbelievably rude. Really shouted at us in front of everyone that we didn’t know good food and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the chicken. Then told me I was too stupid to know what garlic tasted like and then threatened to call the Police unless we paid in full. Eventually she grudgingly agreed to take the gross rancid chicken off the bill but shouted that we were ‘never to come back’ as we left. Funnily enough I wasn’t considering it. 😂

I never send it back, but I do complain and either ask for something else, or refuse to pay

While out for a meal locally we both ordered steak. The restaurant was under new management and this was our 1st time with the new owners. Unfortunately my steak was more than rare it was definitely raw in the middle. They took it away and I presumed finished cooking it. It was presented on a fresh clean plate with fresh sides. I was given a free glass of red wine and we also received two limoncello liquers. Tbh we haven't gone back and it is under new management again.

I've only ever done it twice and both times involved baked Camembert.

I've sent back nachos before in wetherspoons as it came without guacamole. Server was unimpressed "well, we haven't got any".
Don't let people order it then

I send stuff back if the way they’ve cooked it is a health hazard, e.g. raw poultry or sauce made with milk that’s gone off (we went to a wedding once where the dauphinoise potatoes clearly tasted off, maybe the readymade packets they came in had been stored incorrectly 🤢). I don’t send it back if it’s merely mediocre or not to my taste.

(And before anyone asks, no I haven’t yet had my food talk to me about how it wants to be slaughtered and seasoned. 🤣)

Yes if there is something wrong with it.

I own a restaurant and if something is not up to standard or wrong with food I really want people to tell us so we can put it right. It's not unreasonable. I'd much prefer to have the chance to correct something!

Sure if there's something wrong with it. If it's just not to my taste then no - my fault. I've even done this at an upmarket restaurant in Belgium when my son's steak was inedible - they had dumped way too much salt in it. No issue they replaced it.

You’d complain if the universe failed to explode though, surely?

Yes if it’s really bad.

I ordered a vegan roast dinner once and it came with a Yorkshire which I questioned if it was vegan… it wasn’t so sent it back… apparently I was supposed to specify vegan even though it had “vg” next to it on the menu which meant it was vegan.

They then bought out the roast with no Yorkshire so all good… but the nut roast was ice cold!!! So I ended up having to send that back.

Only other time in my life I sent food back was when I ordered the vegan ravioli and was given the beef one!! That was bad as the lady insisted I had ordered it… she took our order without writing it down so it was just her trying to cover herself.

But generally no I don’t send food back apart from the two examples above.

I did it this week. Fish and chips in a pub, £17.95. This was my colleagues, the fish was ok but quite greasy. My fish was thinner and completely dry and overcooked - so I asked for a new piece. We were both a bit 😱 at the tiny portion of chips!

My friend always does this. I'm sure they must have eaten food someone has spat in at some point, they do it so much 😆

A few times. Once was a burger that was missing half of the stuff it was meant to come with. The second time was a jacket potato I had with a steak. Put some butter on and it barely melted in. Touched the top with my finger and it felt hot. It wasn't until I'd eaten over half of my steak and then cut into the potato and ate it that it was still ice cold in the middle. I asked if they'd mind reheating just the potato. They re cooked my entire meal for me, and the 3rd time was also a jacket potato (different place) all 3 were barely hot so we all sent them back to be reheated. Once they came out though they were cooked perfectly. The one time I probably should've sent something back but didn't was a seafood pizza I got whilst on holiday. Mussels still in shells on top of it and prawns still in shells hidden under the cheese. Oh and a base underneath that was cremated. It had taken ages to arrive. 2 other people in besides us ex was scared about making complaints so told me to just eat it and not embarrass him. By that point I'd already necked a jug of sangria, was pissed cos I hadn't eaten since around 6am that morning and literally had to pick off some cheese and the Un burnt parts of the base. ExH bloody paid for it as well and left them a tip. I ended up calling at the supermarket and buying a tub of Pringles to have for my tea instead.

Places that charge ridiculous prices for shite won't get return customers. I don't understand why they do it.

I’ve sent food back before when there’s something actually wrong with it, like chicken that’s still raw in the middle or similar.

Not if it’s just that I didn’t like the dish very much.

Rather than spaffing it all over trip advisor, I emailed them, quite politely, re the overall disappointing experience. Sweet staff but not confident and not apparently well trained. It's a flagship property for this regional brewery and really it wasn't good. No reply as yet.