To think the kitchen were deliberately trolling her?

[Bernadettebleu]

DD is vegan. She went for dinner with a friend at Wetherspoons last night. She ordered a vegan burger. When she took a second bite she bit into a piece of streaky bacon in the middle of the burger. It’s hard to see how that could have happened accidentally. She sent it back politely and a new one was brought out. The server said ‘I hope it’s vegan this time!’. She opened it up and there was a piece of bacon in the middle again.

DD is very quiet and conflict averse some said nothing and ended up just paying the bill and leaving. She wishes she had made more of a fuss though.

I can’t see how this could have been accidental, twice. It definitely feels as though someone in the kitchen was trolling her. AIBU to think this?

Inread it as the bacon was inside the burger patty "right in the middle of the burger" which sounds to me like a disaffected worker at the burger production factory. So yes a complaint, but no, spoons couldn't have known.

She needs to complain, if this had been an allergy it could be been very serious.

@ComDummings they don’t come prepared as in bun and fillings like a rustler lol
the patties are yes, but they are in the majority of pubs and restaurants.

im guessing this was a genuine mistake OP
chain restaurants have strict allergy code, they would never ‘troll’.
most probably whoever is in the line in the kitchen for putting the finishing touches to the food isn’t very good at their job.
just email and complain you’ll probably get a voucher and your money back.

I wondered how long it would take for the covid bullshit to be spouted. I really wish people would listen when Wetherspoon staff say they weren't treated badly during covid 🙄

I too think it was a production and labelling issue.

As for the customer service of not checking the second burger - well it's kind of what happens when the food isn't prepared freshly and everyone is on minimum wage.

So the kitchen will check that the burger says Vegan on the label and if so pop it in the microwave. The server may ask "Is this burger vegan?" and the kitchen staff will say yes based on the label. At those prices you can't really expect the staff to do much more, particularly as there is highly unlikely to be any tip.

So I don't think it was trolling and I can totally see why a teen may not have learned the art of a gentle complaint.

As horrible as it is, you'll find that kind of thing happening in lots of kitchens.

A friend of mine works in a kitchen and just puts normal ice cream on the vegan desserts, gravy with meat fat in it on the meals, and normal cheese on pasta dishes.

It's horrifying.

Yes, trip advisor or Twitter if she’s on that, with the photos. They’ll take notice.

Yup. Haven’t been since I was a teen and we found hair in the food, and the waitress accused us of putting it there ourselves to get money back. Grim, shitty place.

As other posters have said, there are inaccuracies in this Spoons-based tale.

I know Tim Martin is widely loathed but his business model is that the customer pays up first, for example; and that his pubs don’t risk huge fines for making people ill with the wrong food (see: Jamie Oliver restaurant Gunwharf, Portsmouth, £20k fine).

My son has been in Wetherspoons many times when he was still 17 and ordered just food and soft drinks.

He (and dd) are both autistic and although I think dd would stand up for her rights (she has a customer facing role in a hospitality based industry herself), I don't think that ds would. It was a big thing when he started being able to go to places and have more independence. The victim as such shouldn't be blamed for not being assertive enough. Some people find this rally difficult.

Weatherspoon's food is worse than school dinners (I eat there, but, you know, I do know what I'm getting). Everything's basically pre-prepared, delivered, and they nuke/grill/fry it, with the odd thing like eggs being cooked in the kitchen. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the wrong burgers in the wrong box or something stupid. She should complain though, because it's a basic fault that shouldn't happen.

Agree @Comefromaway plus the DD did complain - she raised the bacon issue first time round. You do need to be reasonably assertive to handle a repeated mix up.

A friend of mine works in a kitchen and just puts normal ice cream on the vegan desserts, gravy with meat fat in it on the meals, and normal cheese on pasta dishes.

If it’s true, you have lovely friends. 🙄

Also, as if vegans wouldn’t be able to tell. People can’t have it both ways. Apparently ‘that vegan shit’ (quoting from many threads) doesn’t taste nice, nothing like them real thing etc, but then your friend is doing this....and no one notices. Biggest pile of shit I’ve ever read.

(I eat there, but, you know, I do know what I'm getting).

Ds actually sees it as a "safe" place to eat as he has food sensory issues.

I

@RomanceOnARooftop It’s absolute shit, agreed, from a tedious show-off.

A friend of mine works in a kitchen and just puts normal ice cream on the vegan desserts, gravy with meat fat in it on the meals, and normal cheese on pasta dishes.
It's horrifying.

That is appalling. I'm not vegan and I detest the vegan activism that some indulge in but to tamper with peoples food like that. Someone could die.

Yeah, because stopping them trading and the staff all losing their jobs is a MUCH better way to treat them!

I knew it would t be long before the predictable response picking my post apart and suggesting it was untrue!

Shw did pay before, I had misunderstood.

And as I said, she knows she needs to get better at speaking up for herself.

Honestly, I have better things to do than make up stories about Wetherspoons.... I wasn’t even aware of the Brexit or Covid issues surrounding them.

Not on Twitter but will definitely be emailing today and cc’ing their press office, and reviewing on google and tripadvisor.

My dad used to cook food in a pub he ran with my mum

I caught him doing veggie sausages in the same oil as meat sausages and bollocked him for it

He didn’t care. I couldn’t tell the customers either because my dad is a bastard and I would have gotten the bad end of it

That's terrible! I imagine they'd get into a lot of trouble for serving a Muslim or Jew bacon. (I'm not saying this to be facetious; I'm one of these religions myself).

That's completely outrageous! I think Twitter is the way to go - certainly they need to be made aware and a public forum is a good place to ensure that the customer services team are informed
I would make sure the story was accurate before I went public tbh.
It's not adding up.
Apart from paying at the end, the staff come round to check your food is alright. This has happened in every sppons from Scarborough Dumfries, zHull Preston, Cluster etc. Im a spoons regular by default!!!

They often don't come round at the Tottenham Court Road one.

Again notacooldad, I have better things to do than make up stories about Wetherspoons! I can assure you it’s true and we have photos and receipts.