to ask if there's a law to ask if everything's ok with your meal?

[poaspcos]

Just wondering if the mid mouthful "everything ok for you?" Doesn't happen anywhere - even McDonald's asked me yesterday perhaps I give off odd food vibes

Nando's do it well, they have that bird on a stick thing that sits in the rack with your menu etc, if it is there when you are eating then they come and ask and then remove it so you aren't asked again. Now that we're into it I always take it out and may not down on the table and no one bothers us

Yes it's the law.
It's the only thing in our contract and we receive stringent training to spot when would be the most inconvenient time to ask.
Sprint training is given in case you miss the tiny window as we aren't allowed to arrive at the table whilst anyone has an empty mouth

Knew it Armful

strange this came up today as I've just done a review of a place where we weren't asked. In fact we were just about ignored from the time the food was served right up to the time we had to chase for the bill. Not even asked if we wanted desserts or anything. The serving staff seem to have been trained in the art of how to avoid customers. They weren't even busy.

I've noticed we've started to be asked so soon that we haven't had a chance to try all the meal. But always when we have a mouthful!

It is annoying when they don't wait for the right moment - just steam up and interrupt. Went for a meal once where there was a problem, waitress came up 'is everything alright' 'actually it's not, the X tastes slightly odd' 'oh dear' she said and walked off.

I wonder what happens if you complain with 'I don't like it'. :-)

I have complained once as my pizza base was uncooked. It was sorted out(cooked) and I think I was offered a free coffee at the end of the meal.

I find it really annoying that so on so many meals out, it takes ages to get the waiter's attention to place my order, then again when I want to pay the bill. At those times I am looking around, clearly trying to get their attention. Yet once I've got my meal and I'm busily eating, talking, happily occupied - then they can't bloody stop interrupting me mid-mouthful to ask if everything's okay. Yes, it bloody is, now make sure you look out for me trying to pay later!

I hate when they do it.

I will tell you if there is something wrong and I always have a mouthful of food so it's just awkward.

To be fair, you might have 15 sets of diners in your section. The perfect time to ask will often coincide with someone else needing something. Knowing exactly when each of thirty or so people might need you is a real skill.

Having a maitre d' type overseeing helps.

I got a meal the other day that was so salty it was inedible. The waiter did the usual 'everything ok?' and I said it was too salty. So he looked confused, said no one else had complained and when I said I couldn't eat it, took it back to the kitchen. I'm sitting waiting for him to come back with an offer of something else, when he brings the plate back and said he and the chef and the manager had all tasted it and it was fine. Great, so now I've also had three people troughing in my salty dinner. By this time everyone else was nearly finished, do I said just to take it off the bill. And they refused because apparently it was FINE. I may have satisfied myself by leaving crap reviews.

I am a waitress at a ridiculously busy restaurant and always try my best to check on a table. People who complain have often told me that everything is lovely when I checked midway through their meal. Some people come in hellbent on complaining from the start!

DP is a chef and he says people eat all of their food then complain about it all the time! People are cheeky fuckers. They want free meals or discounts so will complain about anything to get money off. I wish they wouldn't do it, purely so I could eat my meal in peace without someone hovering around asking if it's ok. So annoying. It is always mid mouthful, or it interrupts the conversation at the table so if someone is telling a story, they lose where they are because the waiters will just butt in. And they never apologise for it?! I know it's not their fault but I really hate it.
If something is wrong with the food I will tell you!!

Good customer service and allows them to be able to rectify any problems you have, to stop people complaining after their meal that it wasn't cooked, or cold etc. To stop people refusing to pay at the end of their meal, they have agreed everything was ok, or answered it wasn't and been sorted.
I used to teach customer service amongst other things.

If everyone at the table is happily chatting and eating, then surely that is a sign that everything is OK?

If the waiter hovers by and no-one responds or looks at them, then the waiter doesn't need to interrupt? If someone wanted to complain, or another drink, they would look at the waiter wouldn't they?

DH and I had a very disappointing meal a few weeks ago. We put down our cutlery after two bites and were actually waiting for someone to come and ask if everything was okay. Poor guy looked totally taken aback when I said, "No, it's not"

The most relaxed meal I've had was in a steakhouse in Manhattan earlier this year. Each course was served and then you were left to eat in peace. There wasn't a single member of the wait staff visibly hanging around but they were so attentive; someone would appear beside you to top up your water or clear your plates away without a word. Bliss.

We have to do it; the idea is as others said to give the customer opportunity to complain so we can rectify it prior to them leaving. It's said that if a person has a good experience at a restaurant on average they tell four people. If they have a bad one, they tell ten. So the way to stop that from happening is to give the customer every chance to let us sort any issues. But I agree it's annoying mid mouthful and I do try my best not to ever ask if that's the case!