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Original poster

What should the restaurant have done?

53 replies

Globules · 07/08/2026 17:58

I've just returned from a solo meal out in a restaurant. I was seated under the full blast air con.

I moved to each seat on the table before my drink arrived to try to avoid it. Each seat had an equal amount of wind factor.

When my drink arrived, I asked to swap tables due to the air con. They said to stay where I was and turned the air con off. Great result.

4 times whilst I was eating, it came back on. Every time I highlighted that it was on, they turned it off again.

I had finished my meal, contemplating a second drink and pudding when the air con came back on. Again I asked the waiter to turn it off. He said he couldn't as the table of 4 close by who came in not 5 minutes before had asked for it to be on.

I picked up my coat and drink, moved to the bar and immediately asked for the bill. The waiter could tell I wasn't impressed, but I think he'd been hamstringed by his manager.

If they'd only swapped tables at the start...

Who's right in this situation? Should the restaurant have left the air con off for me, the existing customer, or turn it back on for the 4 who had just entered?

OP posts:
MinimumRage · 07/08/2026 18:00

They should have the air con on. They should not have any table positioned so you’re being blasted by air con. They should have re situated your table.

Betadelta · 07/08/2026 18:01

I think in this hot weather, most people would prefer air con on. It's a shame they didn't move you to another table though.

Silverbirchleaf · 07/08/2026 18:01

I think they should gave moved you at the beginning, or offered to move you when the air con went back on. How busy was the restaurant. Were tables available?

Randallscandal · 07/08/2026 18:03

I would imagine that other diners preferred the air con on

Randallscandal · 07/08/2026 18:04

Were there tables for 2 svailable? perhaps reservations were due to arrive shortly?

Coconutter24 · 07/08/2026 18:06

Air con turned on. It’s hot anyway let alone sat in a restaurant trying to eat. They should of tried to move you though

Original poster
Globules · 07/08/2026 18:07

Other tables were available, but people were coming and going. They may have had reservations on them 🤷

OP posts:
IwanttoWFH · 07/08/2026 18:09

They should have kept the air con on and moved you to another table.
I’m always cold so always take a cardigan/jacket to restaurants with me as they always have air con on/no heating!

Original poster
Globules · 07/08/2026 18:09

I'm not anti air con btw.

I'm anti being blasted with freezing air that's strong enough to blow a napkin out of its holder.

Maybe I should have suggested I change tables with the people who'd just been seated.

OP posts:
Snoutywoofs · 07/08/2026 18:11

I want to go to this restaurant and have this table. Sounds glorious.

Arlanymor · 07/08/2026 18:12

I would have suggested to the waiter that I swapped tables with the people who wanted the air con on. Seems an obvious solution that doesn't interfere with the reservations on other tables that others had made?

Randallscandal · 07/08/2026 18:19

Globules · 07/08/2026 18:09

I'm not anti air con btw.

I'm anti being blasted with freezing air that's strong enough to blow a napkin out of its holder.

Maybe I should have suggested I change tables with the people who'd just been seated.

busy restaurant? Were there other tables for 2 free?

did you enjoy the food?

DonaldWheresMaTweezers · 07/08/2026 18:22

I'm getting fed up with air con. I'm up north - it's barely reaching 20 degrees most days, yet places have got their air con on full blast and it's freezing inside.

Randallscandal · 07/08/2026 18:26

DonaldWheresMaTweezers · 07/08/2026 18:22

I'm getting fed up with air con. I'm up north - it's barely reaching 20 degrees most days, yet places have got their air con on full blast and it's freezing inside.

Down south it is averaging mid late twenties at least. Bloody perfect. Best summer I can ever recall

SusanJJ · 07/08/2026 18:32

Globules · 07/08/2026 18:09

I'm not anti air con btw.

I'm anti being blasted with freezing air that's strong enough to blow a napkin out of its holder.

Maybe I should have suggested I change tables with the people who'd just been seated.

Seriously yes you should. They may have been boiling and glad of the breeze.

VeloHostage · 07/08/2026 18:37

The office I worked in for a couple of years was owned by a small company that did air con. This meant they did ours.

When a new boss started, he looked everywhere for the aircon controller remotes. In the end he called the owner who came round and explained that the controller had been deliberately taken away as "No one knows the first thing about how to set up air con" (or words to that effect in manspeak).

To be fair, in those 2 years no one ever had to turn anything up, down or any other form of tweaking. It was always "just right" to work in.

JustPlainStanfreyPock · 07/08/2026 18:37

It is a known fact that solo diners, especially female, are always offered the worst table in the room, so it figures.

Was it by the toilet door too, or right next to the noisy coffee machine?

I used to travel a lot for work so often got this, became very good at quickly assessing a table and rejecting it!

Randallscandal · 07/08/2026 19:05

JustPlainStanfreyPock · 07/08/2026 18:37

It is a known fact that solo diners, especially female, are always offered the worst table in the room, so it figures.

Was it by the toilet door too, or right next to the noisy coffee machine?

I used to travel a lot for work so often got this, became very good at quickly assessing a table and rejecting it!

To many of us… being seated by the air con would NOT have been the worst table

JustPlainStanfreyPock · 07/08/2026 19:52

Randallscandal · 07/08/2026 19:05

To many of us… being seated by the air con would NOT have been the worst table

Show quote history

I'm afraid I'm with @Globules on air con, but am a post-menopausal Scotland dweller, so have not been suffering the heat like some of you!

Idontjetwashthefucker · 07/08/2026 21:24

I understand OP, as soon as it gets over 20 in our office the A/C is blasting out, full fan at 18°...everyone sitting there in jumpers and coats.

Sartre · 07/08/2026 21:27

I’d have moved when it kept coming back on intermittently. Sounds annoying.

PuppyMonkey · 07/08/2026 21:33

You put up with the air con. Very simple.

Original poster
Globules · 08/08/2026 05:12

PuppyMonkey · 07/08/2026 21:33

You put up with the air con. Very simple.

Really not.

I don't want to eat in a gale force icy blast

OP posts:
Original poster
Globules · 08/08/2026 05:13

JustPlainStanfreyPock · 07/08/2026 18:37

It is a known fact that solo diners, especially female, are always offered the worst table in the room, so it figures.

Was it by the toilet door too, or right next to the noisy coffee machine?

I used to travel a lot for work so often got this, became very good at quickly assessing a table and rejecting it!

No, it was a lovely table! I was very happy sitting there without the aircon.

Oh, and I had a jacket with me @IwanttoWFH. It wasn't just the temperature that made things uncomfortable. It was the strength of the blast. If air con means that napkins on the table below are being blown about, the aircon is on too strong.

OP posts:
Randallscandal · 08/08/2026 05:43

When you arrived the air con was on.

It was obviously what the restaurant felt the majority of diners wanted.

You wanted the restaurant to adapt to you. I could understand your stance if they had turned it on for the first time whilst you were mid dining. But they didn’t. When you arrived it was on. You should have left if the temp didn’t suit you

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