Never work in hospitality. Strangest things people have complained about.

[KnopkaPixie]

Here's some to get us started:

"There's broken glass on this steak."
It was fancy coarse ground salt.

"I can't eat from a square plate. It's bad feng shui."

Any more?

It is ludicrous, although the EWM is now actually based in Carlisle!

Even so, I find it extremely hard to believe that Scottish banknotes aren't commonplace in somewhere so very near to the border.

Do you have any idea of the margins that pub/restaurant owners are working on?! A person orders a large glass of wine, which depending on where you are from can cost anything up a tenner, and decides to sit outside amongst nature. Nature happens. So then you really think its up to the venue owner to shoulder the cost of the consequences of your decision to sit outside?! The only way I can see it as justifiable is if they insisted that you sit outside underneath a bee's nest.

Please explain how on earth you think that that is something they should do?

They should be sending up hard-boiled eggs for all the breastfeeding mothers.

Honestly it’s not that difficult.

Yes, quite.

And it's a gross oversimplification when people look at the difference in the cost to the establishment of a bottle and the price they charge the customer for a glass, and then deduce that they must be royally raking it in.

There are so many huge overheads involved in running a business like that, far beyond the simple cost of the basic food and drink, that mean that they need to rely on a certain high margin from every drink they sell to cover it all before they can even break even.

Does it work the other way around too? If their staff member carried too many empty glasses at once, and then dropped and smashed them on the floor, would that be their (their establishment's) own risk (and liability), or would we expect that 'an experienced and wise customer would expect to contribute to the cost of new glasses straightaway without any fuss or prompting'?!

It’s different if you’re eating or drinking at the establishment you’ve purchased at and not at the park, you must see that. It’s also different if you drop something yourself rather than an insect flying in/ bird destroying it etc.

No I’m not a knob about it, truly, but I do think if a restaurant is offering an outdoor area it’s something they should take into account.

If, while eating indoors, a fly or bluebottle flew out of a light fixture and landed on your dessert or in your coffee, would you just spoon it out and continue on too? I mean, a fresh coffee or pudding would be nice in those circumstances imho. I don’t see a huge difference in the circumstances really. It’s the restaurant’s decision to offer outdoor dining, not mine.

I’m never a knob about things, but I kind of resent your suggestion that you almost need to suck up to staff to get them to behave reasonably too. I’m always nice to people but I shouldn’t need to be extra nice or apologetic to get decent service iyswim? That should be standard. It shouldn’t depend on what whether the staff think I’m deserving of their goodwill! What if they’re just having a bad day and not feeling the goodwill thing at all?

Wasn't in Carlisle.
At the time there were EWM shops all over the place. This was a town in the midlands.

Got a Scottish fiver in my purse right now. Bit worried about spending it now. Not been north of the border in 10 years and never had a problem this side before

But taking that logic a little further, what if a bird flew over and pooed on your coat or your head, rather than in your food or drink?

Surely you wouldn't say that, as the restaurant took the risk of offering an outdoor dining area, they should expect to pay for your coat to be professionally cleaned/replaced or for a salon to thoroughly wash and restyle your hair?!

Sorry, I didn't word that very well. I meant that their headquarters are now in Carlisle - presumably where the management decisions such as whether their shops up and down the country can accept Scottish notes or not are made.

Yes I do understand the costs involved.
The people buying are usually not millionaires either.

I’m not talking about people haphazardly wandering outside with food or drink, but people sitting in an outdoor area that the restaurant provides. Not some random or strange customer decision.
And I’m not talking about tiny midges even, but bees are fairly large, house flies, bluebottles…yeah I do think the restaurant should replace a drink if something like this lands in it, whether that’s in their indoor or outdoor space.

Everywhere we go, my MIL will talk about needing gluten free. Every meal, every time. Then she’ll ask the waiter if it’s got gluten in it (for context she will ‘treat herself’ to a normal mince pie, so we’re not talking deathly allergy). Drives us flipping crazy.

MIL to waiter “does this have gluten in it”. My DH “it’s a bloody frittata mother, they never have gluten in”. EVERY TIME….

My husband has taken her on a trip to see family and he looks like he has aged 10 years!

No I wouldn’t and that has actually happened me ( on my head!!!!)

So I guess we’re splitting the risks then aren’t we? I expect them to be responsible for sorting out any animal or insect damage to food/drink//table/seats etc and I’ll look after myself.

Its not about "sucking up", its about attitude.

Your attitude screams entitlement. "I decided to sit outside and a bee landed in my wine, so I deserve a replacement". No, you dont. You bought the wine, its yours. What you do with it after that is up to you. Stay inside and something "nature" happens, fair enough, you wouldnt expect it so in that case I would replace. But outside, nope, not my problem.

If a place offers outdoor dining and you CHOSE to sit there knowing full well that in the UK there are bees, wasps, flies, midges, seagulls etc, then the consequences are on you. Bees, bird shit, whatever. The point is, no one forced you.

I guess what I’m saying is… the drink (for example) doesn’t just become mine and not theirs on the point of ordering. I’m paying for it but also for table service and the whole experience of eating there. (It would be much cheaper at home.) So a complete or finished drink or meal experience is what I consider I’m paying for. And if a bug hops in half way then of course I don’t blame the restaurant, but that’s not what I’ve paid for and it needs sorting.

Worked in an overpriced boutique B&B farmstay place in right out in the bush in rural Queensland.

wake up one morning to the smell of smoke and a lot of commotion. An enormous bushfire is sweeping towards the place. Luckily the staff bunkhouse is in the middle of of a large bare field next to a billabong. It’s easily the safest place for 10 miles in any direction.

we race up to help evacuate the guests down to the staff quarters. get them to safety, then settle them in with coffee and toast. we weren’t set up to cater for anything except the odd late night snack for ourselves, but we did our best.

one was unhappy because we hadn’t stopped to let him have a shower before we evacuated. We offered him the bunkhouse facilities, but no..he liked a shower as soon as he got out of bed. He was really put out that we weren’t prepared to wait for him to get ready properly in his own time. Another one was a tad miffed she wasn’t getting proper cooked breakfast.

i mean, I guess it was a kind of trauma response. A subconscious refusal to process what actually happened. How much danger we were all in. But bloody hell it was hard not to say WhatThe Fuck.

DS works at a Greggs kiosk and a guy today complained that they had no food for his dog! They'd sold out of bacon and his dog can't eat pastry! He was genuinely angry!

By you.

You, who made the choice to sit outside knowing what can happen in an al fresco dining experience. Not by the owners of the establishment who didnt order you to sit there.

And actually yes, once paid for the drink is legally yours. It belongs to you. The only way you would be entitled to a refund or replacement is if the drink was substandard in a way that the establishment would reasonably be expected to be responsible for (wine is corked for example).

If you get table service and you get to eat there then you have got what you paid for.

It's equally valid to say the bugs are part of what you've paid for - assuming you chose to sit outside. You chose to take your refreshment in the more natural environment. More natural -> more nature, which does not respect your personal boundaries.

The more you post, the surer I feel that you would, indeed, have been one of my ridiculous Amazon tourists! You can repeat advice, cautions and information in all required languages: there will still be visitors blaming the hosts for the moths & mosquitoes attracted by the lamps, the fact that if you extinguish the lamps to sit in darkness there will be beetles, and enraged that it's actually illegal to spray the fucking jungle with DDT for their convenience.

You misunderstand me then because I think the Amazon tourists were being ridiculous 😁

However, I know the vast majority of restaurants where I am would offer a replacement drink in the circumstances under discussion (family are in the business) so really surprised by some of the opinions on here as I said. I think those views must hopefully represent a minority position in the UK. From experience I also know that business owners often take better care of their customers than some of their more junior staff, which is expected I suppose, but a pity all the same.

And if the drink hasn’t yet been paid for, which is very often the case?

“Do you have another room, these walls are too pink? I can’t sleep in a pink room”.

(in a hotel) “Do you have a vase for my anniversary flowers?” (Searches all over the hotel) “I have this pot, we can prop it up in the bathroom”….. takes them to the room “this room overlooks the car park”. “ yes, you booked a classic room, this is a classic room”. (In tears) “but it’s my anniversary” 🤦‍♀️ “sorry, that’s the room you booked, I can show you others but there will be a charge”. They then complained and said I’d ruined their anniversary, because apparently me running all over the hotel looking for a vase for them made them feel “like they were being too demanding”

Am I the only one who reads the chippie man story and feels uncomfortable, almost like he was trying to embarrass the woman he was with? I know men who do this all the time to women in restaurants…it’s actually grim.

Also in a hotel looking”can you look after my child while I do XYZ?” “Sorry madam. We don’t offer a babysitting service” guest: “so what am I supposed to do with the child?” 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦‍♀️ parent it maybe?

ALL the breastfeeding mothers.!
Im afraid I was the only one. Both times I was in hospital.
Mothers here don’t do breastfeeding.( or didn’t 20 years ago )

I remember one said her mother told her she couldn’t because she was a blond🤣🤣

So dont drink it, but you will be charged. Been in the business for years. I can spot your sort a mile away.

"Do you know how much I am paying for this?!!!" Yes love, a hell of a lot less than it cost us to pay for everything you have consumed this evening, including the minute by minute rate of the time the staff spend with you, the time it took the chefs to cook, the overheads, the cleaning costs, maintenance, upkeep and last and very much least, what the owners get paid. Why do you think that the only hospitality venues left are very very high end or chain places? Independents have all but given up.

But because you choose to sit outside and refuse to accept the consequences of that, we should lose more than what the pot washer earns in an hour to replace your wine? Really?