Accident in restaurant AIBU

[MotherOfChickens]

Just wondering if anyone can help me with this.
Over 3 weeks ago I visited a chain restaurant to celebrate my nephews birthday. Towards the end of the meal a member of staff spilt an espresso down my bare arm and into my lap. Although my arm was scolded thankfully no lasting damage was done however my dress was badly stained.

The assistant manager was very attentive and filled in the accident form. I was informed that this would be processed and someone would be in touch within a couple of days. A week later and I had still not heard anything and so I called the manager who apologised and said he would chase it up, 3 days later I had still received no call.

I then posted a message on the companies Facebook page as I felt that my previous enquiries were getting nowhere and was told that the customer services team would contact the branch. The restaurant manager did call me back and again said that the relevant department would be contacted.

A few days later I had a call back from the branch manager advising me that my incident had unfortunately been "lost in the system" but that they were now able to process it and offered me a gift card as compensation.
I explained that as my dress was ruined it was actually that which I wanted compensating for and so have been advised to buy a replacement and take the receipt to the restaurant to be reimbursed.

The problem that I have with this is that upon checking online the dress is no longer available from the store where I bought it and in order to buy similar it would entail a shopping trip (at my time and expense) and a trip to the restaurant (again at my time and expense) to be reimbursed. I have also been informed that this would have to be after the 8th of September as the manager is on holiday until this date.

I accept that accidents happen however I believe that I should be reimbursed for the damage done without having to inconvenience myself further. I sent an email to the customer services team 2 days ago outlining this but have yet to hear anything. AIBU in expecting them to reimburse me for my dress without going to the hassle of trying to find a new one?

It was brilliant of them. They mopped me up and calmed me down. It was about 20 years ago and I still go there. I probably still would, because it wasn't their fault and I like it there, but wow, it was fantastic customer service and over the years it's more than paid off for them.

What the dress cost shouldn't make a difference. The fact they're making you jump through hoops for just under £40 makes it worse. The bill for your table must have been that or more. And the waitress scalded your arm. Accidents happen but it's the way people deal with them that distinguishes them - or not.

Name and shame them!

Restaurants have insurance for this sort of thing.
There is no excuse for them not compensating you straight away.
They have injured you and ruined your dress, you are not being unreasonable at all.

It's daft to recommend dry cleaning. Not only because it's a large part of the original cost of the dress but also because I've never heard of a dry cleaner who, when accepting a stained dress, doesn't tell you it might not come out. And it usually doesn't.

Speed is your best bet. It's best to sponge out stains with plenty of water - after you've scraped any solids off

When my DSS had a hot drink spilt over him in a restaurant (not the waitresses fault, a child was running around and knocked into her!) they asked how much his outfit had cost and gave us the money straight away. They also gave us the meal for free.

The restaurant shouldn't be quibbling this, it's their fault and it should of been sorted immediately IMO.

The final bill was three times the cost of the dress, We did get our coffees for free though
Thanks for all of your comments. Now that I am assured that I'm not being too unreasonable I shall persue this further. I've just tweeted them so hope that they get back to me soon, if not I'll have no hesitation in naming and shaming!

OP. you say you've washed it 3 times but did you Google how to remove the stain and try one of the tried and tested methods, or was it a case of chuck it in the washing machine as normal 3 times?