Waiter dropped a pizza on me and caused a burn and ruined my dress (Joe browns) what is the least you would expect?

[snoopywife]

this happened yesterday. We just arrived in Pisa and went for lunch. The waiter brought the food over and as he was leaning over an entire, burning hot pizza slid off the plate and all down me. He apologised and started crying so went inside. I have a nasty burn on my tummy, plus it ruined my dress, bag and trainers. We were given a bill for the full amount, and we queried it with the manager. What would you expect in this situation?

I would have expected them to adjust the bill. But would have cleared it with them at the time it happened. Not waited at the end of the meal.

Assuming it wasn’t eaten by anyone else in your party. If it was, then no.

If you stayed then the owner will have thought you alright.

charging for food they dropped is really next level. I wonder if they also charge for meals the chef might drop in the kitchen..

As an Italian living in Italy I’d expect, an apology,
to be asked whether I required any medical assistance and if I decided to proceed with the meal, I think most places would knock money off the bill.

Basically, if you are hurt enough to not continue with your food, they should be be giving assistance on getting medical attention and nobody would be thinking of bills.
Similarly, if your clothes are ruined to an extent that you can’t reasonably sit and eat in that condition, then, depending whether there were shops nearby, they might try and provide something for you to eat in. Otherwise you’d go home and the restaurant would cover the bill.
Generally a pizzeria wouldn’t be offering pay for dry cleaning because of a few marks which weren’t bad enough to require a change in clothes.

Theoretically, a pizza straight from the oven could leave a really nasty burn on bare skin, but had that been the case then you wouldn’t be sitting there and continuing with a meal.

of course it could - melted mozzarella & tomato retain heat and if the dress is a summery thin one it could easily burn

I will never understand MN. Some of these reponses are crazy.

That sounds like an awful shock for what should've been a lovely lunch, and I really hope you have got that burn checked out properly rather than just treating it as a graze, because hot cheese and sauce can burn deeper than it looks at first. Being handed the full bill after that happens is a bit much, so I'd say the very least you'd expect is the meal being refunded completely, plus proper compensation for the dress, bag and trainers at what they'd cost to replace, and something on top for the burn itself and the ruined afternoon, especially if you needed any treatment or it affected the rest of the trip. If you're still out there I'd get photos of the burn as it heals, keep hold of receipts or rough values for the ruined things, and try to get any promises from the manager in writing rather than just spoken, because chasing it up once you're home would be a real headache otherwise. Might also be worth checking if travel insurance covers something like this.

Why are you so desperate to see photos of a random stranger’s abdomen? It’s really bizarre.
It’s an online forum. No one owes anyone photos. Why don’t we just accept that the OP has a burn? If you don’t believe her, why bother commenting on the thread?

Some very unhappy people out there I think.

Ok 👍

The issue is if it’s somewhere people go to because of where it is and people go inside because it looks nice when they walk past people won’t see the reviews and they’ll carry on making money

Was the waiter crying because he's going to get fired? Sounds like management aren't particularly nice...

How does melted cheese stay on your body long enough to burn through fabric.

did you not stand up - did you leave it on you?

I know, but perhaps at least some people will research restaurants before they go.

You’re wrong btw.

In British English, “class” can function as a verb meaning “to regard as belonging to a particular category.” For example:

• “The law classes that as theft.”
• “It’s classed as a misdemeanor.”

So “it only classes as ‘harm’ if it’s life changing” is perfectly acceptable British usage.

Your correction (“should be ‘classifies’”) reflects American English preference, where “classify” is more common. But grammatically, “classes” is valid and idiomatic in UK English.

do you know how hot commercial woodfired pizza ovens are - easily double the temperature you'd cook a pizza at home. that cheese is so so hot.

because the oil on the cheese can soak into the fabric and burn and she can’t just strip off mid restaurant. I’ve got an old scar on my hand from melted cheese.

I would probably expect them to make a new pizza and maybe a round of drinks if it was just the two of you.

Honestly it does sound like a vile place to work. The waiter reaction and management reaction is very telling. Hopefully you will be able to get the stains out the the trainers and dress etc. If the stains are oil try damping and rubbing with liquid handsoap. Might be worth popping into a pharmacy and getting the burn looked at. Might be worth covering with a dressing particularly if the weather is warm. It will keep sweat off it.

Waiter will be crying because you could sue the company, food shouldn"t be coming to the table while hot enough to cause burns, in that scenario the waiter would almost certainly lose their job as they carried the too hot food to a table but the company would have to cough up compensation.

@snoopywife He apologised and started crying so went inside. I have a nasty burn on my tummy, plus it ruined my dress, bag and trainers. We were given a bill for the full amount, and we queried it with the manager. What would you expect in this situation?

Cleaning bills paid for clothing.

I'm not sure how clothing can be irreversibly "ruined" by food though, and I'm not aware of a case in which that has happened.

This is a tricky one, I used to work in travel and we were always told not to compensate for an injury, the correct procedure would be to:

1. fill out an accident form for the burn
2. compensate for the damage to the clothing.

It would be then up to you to take legal action for the injury.

I would have given you a free meal for the damage to your clothes though and offered to pay for dry cleaning receipts.