What should the restaurant have done?

[Globules]

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?

The air con should be on in this heat but they had no rights seating you there. Where you went wrong was not asking to be moved to another table instead of playing cat and mouse with the air con!

Agree solo diners get treated like second class citizens probs due to receiving less money /tip for meal than say a larger booking

As a fairly frequent solo diner, I tip well if I’m treated well. But I’ve been landed with the worst table in the house often enough that I’ve learnt to be assertive about where I want to sit. They may make less money out of me, but I’m also less work for them.